Before launching into day one of riding, I’ll give you a summary of the week. Each rider could choose to ride all days or not. Those of us that rode all six days logged 22 hours of ride time, 40.5 hours of “out” time (ride time plus time spent on the mountain side waiting, hiking, etc., basically this is total chamois time),  293 miles of riding, 50,525 feet of climbing (see update on climbing footage here) and a ranking of 172.54 ft/mi of the tour. Just how did we get those miles? It all began one morning in Grenoble…

In the photo below, we are getting ready to leave Grenoble. Left to right are David Cooper (Ride Strong Bike Tours guide. This company provided two vans, sag support and a minimum of one riding guide each day.), Peter Stackhouse, Bruce Runnels, Ron Kennedy, Linda Kennedy, Ed Shaw, me, Todd Singiser, Allie Singiser, Craig Singiser and Scott Ellis. Todd’s wife Sandy is missing from the photo and could well be the one that took the photo with my camera.

Once out of Grenoble, we rode through stereotypical stunning French country side. Below is a shot of Todd. We couldn’t resist the backdrop and there were kids on ponies learning to jump in the valley below. The second photo shows a close up of the mailbox marker, assembled with incredible attention to detail and a replica of the house below. Clicking on the photo allows you to see the detail. 

The final shot is of a stone, one-way bridge that spanned the valley. Ed and Scott found it irresistible and had to ride across it. 

Day one stats: 69 miles, ride time 4:45, out-time (including a great picnic lunch) 7:16, 10,472 ft of ascending this day.

***Big thanks to Ron Kennedy to providing the lion's share of the data that will be logged in the blogs for this trip. I managed to mess up my Garmin most days, total operator error - having too much fun?