7/21/06 - Day 5 - Col de Leschaux Col de la Forclaz Lake Annecy

OK. Stupid statement here. I know that when you are a husband and a father you have to say that your wedding day and the days that your kids were born were the best days of your life. But if that's true, then following a micron behind that was July 21, 2006. I truly cannot remember a better day. As a matter of fact, when you talk about BEST DAYS, we had 7 of them in a row. This was the best of those days though. I did not bring my handlebar cam on this ride. I don't know why. I wish I had.

The day started out, as usual with a great breakfast. We were sort of on our own here for this ride. I think that if you wanted you could have ridden out around the lake and had lunch and ridden home and it would have been 20 or 30 miles. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was to someday tell the story of the ride I didn't do in France.

The first climb, again, looks bad on paper but really was very easy. Due to a condition which made it very difficult to sit on a bike seat I was forced to do the climb very slowly while standing so that might have contributed to its ease.

We all gathered together at the top of the climb for some pictures and a snack and then attacked what was supposed to be the easier of today's climbs.

HA!! HA!! The temperature rose with the humidity and this ride was darned uncomfortable. Fortunately my little condition seemed to fix itself so I was able to sit comfortably again.

At the summit of the climb Doug and I stopped for some ice cream in a quaint little village. I don't think anyone in that town has ever eaten as much ice cream as I consumed there. The seemed really surprised when I kept asking for more.

The descents were getting better and better every day and this was the BEST. Rolling turns where you barely had to touch the brakes. At some point I turned and spit right on a beautiful girl on a motorcycle flying down the hill. I say she was beautiful but I never really saw her but I bet she was.

When we finally emerged from the descent we stopped at a little church along the road. The churches patron was St. Blaise who is, among other things, the patron saint of diseases of the throat, wild animals, and young girls seeking a husband. (that's a private joke).

Then we rode around the lake. What a spectacular ride. We stopped at one point to fix a flat for a local on a bike.

Afterwards we bought some beer at a local market and jumped in the lake. I tried to convince the girls that they'd be more comfortable going topless with the locals but they declined.

We all went out drinking that night and took some great pictures (which I don't think I'll post). They roped off the sewers that I almost fell in the night before. I think we almost jumped in the lake again but I don't really remember most of the night.