1st Annual Road to Paris Party

Viva la Tour!
or
Vive le Tour!

The month of July brings many things:
-christmas in July
-hot temperatures
-rain (although we aren't getting as much here as I would have thought)
-the most important- a dramatic increase in tv watching hours

This is all due to a little event know as the Tour de France. Thanks to the guys at versus, I was watching 3-4 hours of cycling daily through this past month.

It all culminated on Sunday and to Celebrate the last day of the Road to Paris, I had a little soiree. I grilled and people brought salads and dessert, and Desiree began her cake decorating career in my very own kitchen by making our event cake.

As she stategically moved the cake from the oven to cool into the fridge before putting icing and bedazzling it, the cake accidentally bellyflopped onto the ground. The cake was salvaged and decorated in fine form. You will find the main stage in yellow with a bike and 'VIVA LA TOUR' piped on with her ambidextrousness left hand, and the crumbles and rough road and topagraphy on the top right signifying the challenges the riders faced to get to Paris.

Good times and Congrats to Contador and Shleck. Also to Garmin with their difficult run to Paris but a fine performance from my boys to get to Paris. Ryder ending up 7th in GC after Christian crashing out, and Kiwi for taking up the fast man position for the team after Tyler has to abandon and nearly taking 2 stage wins.

What a tour! What will I do now that i have 3-4 more hours each evening on my hands?

back to the grind

Now that I have been back for about a week and a half, not much has changed with work. It's still there, the people are the same, the patients are the same. Am I the same? Don't think that Greece has really changed me except that my forehead looks like a darker shade of dirty. I should have probably brought a hat with me.

My training is back to full gas. Mid-season break from racing, since the temperature and humidity is so rediculous, allows for some reflection/evaluation of the first half of the season performance. This will now shape and dictate the focus of my training to come.

Last Saturday, I rode with the Saturday windermere group/route and turned off at hancock to head back home to Desiree's. I was doing well setting tempo up the climbs of hartwood marsh and being on my own on hancock nearly averaging 22mph. The last 15 miles of my ride back home seemed exhausting. I was having trouble maintaining 18-20mph on the flats. I could tell my body was done and that I went too hard on the climbs. My legs and muscles weren't flooded with lactid acid or cramping, my conditioning had taken a toll and i was paying for it.

I rode easy with Desiree on Sunday and took Monday completely off. Now i'm back to the grind adding interval training and longer tempo workouts to perpare for the second half of the race season which begins at the end of August.

Greece-isms

1. where are the beautiful people?
- in Athens, they are disguised as the police or airport workers.
- in Mykonos, they are the tourists and police
2. animal control?
- in the city aimlessly roams mostly dogs,
-outskirts of the city- cats
-mykonos- cats
3. traffic control?
-there are traffic lights, these are followed, but motor bikes weave in and out of lanes, between lanes
-nobody honk, no accidents or bumper taps- organized chaos
4. Frappe'?
-maybe similar to our 'starbuck frappuccino,' everywhere had them
5. Hot spot?
-it comes at a premium- most places charge, internet is expensive
6. artwork?
-graffiti everywhere, even on the ruins sites
7. would you like bread with that wine?
-every restaurant that we went to served bread as a starter, however you were charged for it whether you ate it or not, and each person was charged?
8. domestic/import?
-imagine seeing wrangler at nordstroms or saks 5th ave and at 90-100 euros or 120-140USD
9. disco inferno?
-there are fire extinguishers everywhere and in a very non-consipcuous place- when i was cycling by myself 1 morning on the island and saw a fire extinguisher store, i had an epiphany- if a fire did break out anywhere, it would be very difficult for anytype of vehicle much less a fire truck to make it to the location before the place went down. -light bulb *ding*

Day 10- Travels home

The bird has landed and we arrived in Orlando on Tuesday night around 9PM. Over 12 hours in the air and up for over 24hrs. Glad to be home.
Wednesday- relax, unpack, easy on the bike, and recover!

Day 9- Beach, dinner with Michael

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Pics: http://travel.webshots.com/album/578192399lOCTFQ

Day 8- boat ride, island of Delos, dinner

After waking up for an early breakfast, we set off for town at 8AM to catch a boat for a quick day trip to the island of Delos. It's a sacred island with many ancient Greek ruins where Apollo was born. Breakfast wasn't sitting well in my stomach. That in combination with the high winds, choppy waters, and small boat equates to Nguyen Vu getting sea sick. I lost my breakfast into a bag on the boat and once we hit land onto Delos, it took me at least 20 mins to find my land legs walk to a small cafe next to the museum. Hear I told Desiree to drop me off and explore the island by herself. Michael told us a few days earlier that when we are on the island to walk barefoot to feel the positive energy of the land. Desiree did this atop one of the mountains that she hiked up.

I meanwhile slept at cafe until she returned about 2 hours later to see how I was doing. I was feeling better as the hoolahoop feeling in my stomach was no longer there but I was nowhere near 100%. At this time we decided to catch the 12:15 boat back to Mykonos and head back to the hotel. On our way back to port to head onto the boat, I took my shoes off and walked a short distance barefoot and then boarded.

The ride back was on a slightly larger boat the still found waters to be just as rocky. I don't know if it was the size of the boat or the barefoot walking, but I didn't get sick this time. Just felt horrible and in the stage that you feel just before you get sick. Still not a good feeling. We got back to Mykonos around 1 and waited to catch the 2 o'clock back to the hotel. We relaxed napped before getting ready to head to town for normal evening activities.

We attempted to try a restaurant Maria's for dinner however between the rudeness, lack of attention after ordering our food, and the long wait for our food, we decided not to wait any longer and left. Heading to the restaurant where we ate the night before was what we ended up deciding. Good service, good people, and great food all made our choice more obvious. We were getting tired of being treated rudely. Fortunately our experience was just as good as it was the previous night at the fish tavern.

Home and sleep. 1 more day before heading home on Tuesday morning.

Pics: http://travel.webshots.com/album/578100667PtwdbK

Day 7- cycling, pool lounging, resting, dinner

Viva le Tour! In honor of the start of The Tour (tour de France), I went for a ride this AM even with sustained winds of 25+ mph. Unfortunately I went solo because Desiree got a flat just at the end of our last ride together and the one spare that we had left had a hole in it! Next time- pack more tubes. The ride was tough as the head winds up steep climbs make for good training. During my ride I had an epiphany- all the fire extinguishers that we see, it's because it would be very difficult to get a small vehicle much less a fire truck into the area.

After I got back, off to a second breakfast. We then wanted to head to the beach, however the closest beach was about 4km away which would be too far to walk with the stuff we needed to carry and the hills we would walk up. To the pool it was were we stayed for about 3 hours and i slept as usual and Desiree played and relaxed.

Food was on my mind and not in my belly so we were off to find food. A nice local grill was in walkable distance that satisfied the appetite an back to the hotel to nap and relax before heading back to town for dinner.

We walked around town for a bit ending up in the 'local' area of town and casually making our way to find a restaurant for dinner. We ended up at Fish Tavern which has a great concept- you go down to the kitchen and choose your own raw seafood and they would cook and prepare it for you. Desiree ended up with giant shrimp, that looked like they were on steroids, paired with rice. I had spaghetti napolitean that was delicious. As we were leaving the restaurant, we asked our server for a few of the table mats as it was nice b/w photo of 'little italy.' Also, Desiree found an empty ouzo bottle with male anatomical parts and decided to permanently borrow it. Our dining experience was the best yet since we've been in Greece- food, atmosphere, service, people and we got to take home a little art.

While waiting for our shuttle home we saw Michael heading into town and had the pleasure of taking pictures with him. He says we are now friends!

pics: http://travel.webshots.com/album/578084619LHvuIy

Day 6- renting ATV, exploring the island, beaches...

Explore the island was on the docket for today. We went into town early at 8 after breakfast to rent a scooter as the place didn't open until 9AM. I decided that it would be safer to get a 4wheeler atv as some of the road conditions were an uncertainty and the gradients would be intense. We had an hour to burn so we journeyed to find a fruit store that was pasted the day before. After making a couple loops and following bad place arrows, success. We bought bananas (which hasn't been seen since we got to Greece except for at crepe places), apples, oranges, and carrots. Produce comes at a premium here as it is imported onto the island. We then headed back to the entrance of town where the atv rental was and picked up our vehicle. That was the most painless rental experience of any kind. They took my US drivers license and 20 euros and in trade a set of keys and directed us to the helmet bin. No questions asked, no references, and no international drivers permit needed (which is good since I left it back at the hotel).

First stop was the lighthouse that was attempted to be reached yesterday on our bikes. It was a good thing that we turned around when we did yesterday as the atv almost had trouble getting to the gradient and much of the road was gravel. Beautiful views from the NW tip of the island solicited our opticals.

Next stop- the beaches. The main beaches of Mykonos are located along the south border and we ended up at Agrari beach and settled for about 3 hours. What a beautiful beach. Again, I fell asleep as Desiree enjoyed lying in the sun. The water was cold but cooled us down. Big difference between in beaches of Greece over Florida is that there isn't much sand if any. It's walking and lying on tiny rocks which end up making the feet very uncomfortable.

Now it was out to explore the rest of the island and make us all of the petrol that I purchased. We went north and made it to Ano Mera- a town centrally located on Mykonos with a beautiful monastery. There's a little square here but we didn't spend to mug time here but to refeul out bodies. We continued north on some road that on the map are cooler yellow- meaning non-paved roads. Perfect for the atv. We passed what looked like a nursery where the plants looked healthy with rich colors. As we continued north, our expedition was abruptly cut as we ran out of road.

The only direction was to back track and due south. We wanted to check out other beaches as our front desk girl golf us of a beach with water sports. We headed to Dimasto beach but got lost along the way. A local provided us directions to our destination and described that we would end up seeing "Aphroditis' boobs". Sure enough when we got there, there was a hotel called aphroditi and the twin peaks mimicked her boobs. By this point we we're exhausted riding and playing for he past 6-7 hours on the beach/atv that home was now on our minds.

After getting cleaned up and showered, naps were warranted and we woke up to head back to town to return the atv and have dinner. Niko's tavern was chosen and Desiree had a grilled squid dish while I had a pork chop souvlaki dish. Our seats were prime real estate as they overlooked the main walkway allowing for people watching. We causally made our way back to the shuttle pickup for the 10:10 to head home and sleep.

Crazy to travel nearly the whole length of the island on a couple liters of petrol.

pics: http://travel.webshots.com/album/578070495PFGlxx

Day 5- cycling, exploring, exchanging, exploring, dininig

We were exhausted after a hectic day and woke up without alarms and with the sun. Desiree actually got up before I did. That never happens. We grab breakfast and got on our bikes to explore. Our goal was to head to the light house/tower located on the northwest corner of the island. We head up the west coast of the island passing the main port where our ferry dropped us off and continued north but soon found that the terrain was a little too much. We decided that it would be better to explore the other side of town. So we double backed and headed through town and continued east along the south border of the island and ended up at Paradise Beach. We returned home and with the goal to return to the beach and linger for pleasure later. After getting back to the hotel we relaxed at our pool and I fell asleep while Desiree enjoyed the sun and the water.






After dinner last night and a minimal currency exchange in Athens, we needed more euros, so off to town it was and Michael dropped us off at 2PM. It was siesta time as most the shops and restaurants were closing and transitioning from breakfast to dinner time. It must be nice to be in a place where you start work late, get a break mid day to sleep/rest, and return to work for the evening/night shift. We finally found a bank and funds were replenished. Back to the hotel it was for our own siesta before we returned again into town for more exploration and dinner.


We've gotten an opportunity to really get to know our main driver Michael. He lives in Athens but is here in Mykonos for the summer season to work for the hotel and hasn't been home in a month. He lives with his mother and has 2 dogs. He used to have a husky that died from cancer that was his favorite. He a very nice guy who has been very welcoming and a great tour guide when he shuttles us back and forth from the hotel to town. Today is actually his birthday. Don't know his age, but probable in early 50s.


Nap complete and back to town for more to see, shop, walk, and eat. We must have walked to same alleys 3-4 times at it is nearly impossible to return to an exact shop that you're looking for, especially when there are more people and its dark. We stumbled onto the local back area which housed a town school, supermarket, and even a physiotherapy clinic. Upon trying to navigate back into town, we found a fruit market and saw some bananas for the first time since we've been in Greece. Return in the morning to pick up fruit was the idea so that we didn't have to lug it around the rest of the night and have fruit for our scooter adventure tomorrow.

We finally decided on dinner at a small family own and run restaurant where mom was the cook and the son- server. He look like he was 17 but said that he has been working for his mother for a few years now and began where he was age 15. Bread, eggplant salad, lamb gyro, and margarita pizza (cheese and tomato) what what we decided and it only came to 14 euros and I even had a couple slices left over. Back to the shuttle pick up to return to the hotel and call it a night.

pics: http://travel.webshots.com/album/578071370dlpueE