Finish 2010 tour de France

The best of the best-1km from the finish line-2nd floor luxury balcony-absolutely amazing end to the trip of a lifetime-will post more photos asap. We fly home tomorrow-27th. Judy turns left to San Diego- I turn right with the Baxley's-to Visalia - always good to come home-KADALAK

Finish Stage 20

5:00 AM Bus transfer to Bordeaux-bullet train to Old Paris to our luxury suite to view the finish of the 2010 Tour de France. This stage is a formality -Contador wins today- big question- who will win the final sprint?? Hope for a better connection in Paris to share some more pictures-KADALAK

col de Tourmalet

Rain,thunder,lightning-last night-today-all day. We climbed 10.3 km of 18 km col de tourmalet in a blinding rainstorm where the french police shut down the road and turned us around and back to our hotel. After a haircut and lunch we climbed up to a castle with friends and proudly displayed the american flag and the fsu bulldog flag to the world as the tour de france helicopter circled above-let us know if we made the broadcast! Out for now kadalak

Friends, rain, chocolate milk

We are in the final stage of the mountain climbing today for the tour. We have a major storm that rolled in yesterday, rain thunder and lightening. the police have closed the road to the top of the Tourmalet so looks like Phil and Paul will only be able to ride 1/2 way up. The President of France is arriving here also so could be part of the reason for the road closure. Phil is promoting his product here in France, chocolate Milk. He has

everyone convinced it's what they need! Phil with riders from, Canada, France, Holland! This is a busy town with people from all over. So our plan is to climb up to the castle today with our Fresno State flag and usually the helicopters sweeep down and cover the terrain especially the local castles, so look for us in the town Luz St
Sauveur, right before the climb to the Tourmalet at the end of the race day! Leaving tomorrow for Bordeaux for 2 nights and then into Paris for the finish! Bon Jour!

Pyrenees beware Kadalak & Bax are here!

We have connected with the Baxleys in Toulusse! It only took us 1 hour to go 1.3 K, had a little trouble finding the hotel, WOW what's wrong with those GPS systems, Philly's scenic tours.

We met up with our new group at the airport on Monday and bused over to the village of Luz St Sauveur. Another great group, mostly couples about our age and the spa girls! (more on them later oh my) Even a couple from Grand Rapids! The setting is spectacular, we will spend 4 nights here. The cyclists left early this morning about 7:15 to get back before the tour passes thru the village about 2:00pm. Roads will be closed and the activities begin! Phil and Paul will attack the Touramalet on Thursday, don't miss this ride on your TV's at home, it's quite famous.

Alicia and G-pa it was nice to hear your voices again, and Linda don't worry I'll call soon. talked to all my girls now thankful for safe travels to Fiji and Michigan. (Beau don't worry about the telephone bill, I've got it covered) following your games too, nice to see the #'s going up! Thanks for all our faithful followers and the comments, if is fun to here from all of you, looking forward to connecting soon in San Diego! Carter Philip, keep praying for uncle Phil, he likes that! and don't forget to look for the Bulldog flag!

Sophie, Alicia and baby Ella Gracelynn

Alicia, this post is for you! This is part of my tour group!

Sophie was so fun, she used to work in a factory and now her and her sister bought this black van and have started a tour business. She was so happy and wanted to show us her country. We would stop for a baguette and cheese and patisserie shop each day for our picnic! Saw a local cheese factory in Les Saise and a bought some cheese.(Some good competition for Bravo Farms.) Alicia (pronounced Alisha) and Ella were so great to travel with! Alicia gave her husband Jack the Tour de France trip for his 30th birthday! We made alot of new friends and now we will head to the Pyrenees to meet a whole new group tomorrow! Can't wait. TTYL

No room in the Inn

We picked up our rental car in Grenoble France and headed out with our map of France and a few highlighted points of interest that were suggested to us from Sophie. We headed west towards Toulousse were we will meet the Baxleys on Sunday pm and continue with the tour. We enjoyed the beautiful country side and after driving for 5 hours stumbled upon this 2 star hotel. The owner told us there were no rooms, but when we sat down with him to watch the end of the tour stage on his Tv and Phil told him he was a cyclist and showed him his tan lines, he said he actually did have 1 small room we could look at. So wahla we were in and had a lovely meal which he cooked himself. Phil ordered the steak and was served a RAW piece of hamburger, WOW and some

RAW egg yoke to go with it, and of course he ate it and is still up and running 2 days later. WE are in Espana now, I haven't been back here in 30 years since I lived in Sevilla for 4 months in 1980. So nice to understand the language and communicate with everyone a bit easier, no more raw steak for dinner since we can read the menu! Overlooking the Mediteranean and a few groceries for breakfast! Adios Y Vaya con Dios!

Small World

Finally we have an internet connection. The days and nights are getting mixed up. Wednesday was a huge day as we climbed both the col du Galibier and alpe de Huez under extremely hot conditions-30 miles of 6-12% grades!! Lots of bonking occured amongst our group. The first picture is of myself and Paul Baxley's close friend-we met randomly at the top of alpe de Huez-incredible coincidence?? The poster girl below gave me a well deserved kiss on the platform. Last picture-Cadaques,Spain-more later-Buenos Noches-KADALAK

L'Alpe d'Huez, Final Ride

We are winding down our tour only 1 more night to go. Today we are up packed for a 8:30 departure. The cyclists will be transfered to a drop off point to start their ride up 2 big climbs today, the Col deGalibier and the L'Alp d' Huez. ABout a 108K ride or 65 miles.

This is a famous ride and most of the people here came here to do these two climbs.Yesterday we climbed the famous Signal de Bisanne-15 km-8.6%- 11% on top.We enjoyed Stage 9 in a relaxed atmosphere here in les Saisies. Cadel got dropped and after only 9 stages, we have a two man race-Schleck and Contador. Today is Bastille Day- a national holiday in France. We were treated to a spectacular fireworks show last night-this holiday is similar to our independence day. The grazing cows with their huge bells woke us up this morning-a very special alarm clock-KADALAK

King of the MT.

Phil is finally showing his real talent. He has been holding back a bit, you know Phil. He's whooping all the young bucks, and then going back down the hill to pick up all the old guys and helping them finish up. Oh Phil, he is a real stud! The guys got some talent, I'm thinking they should have a senior tour!! We are making lot's of great connections on the trip, especially with Bill the enviromental attorney from kentucky! HA Staying in a beautiful Chalet atop Les Saises, the tour will be by here in about 1 hour! Not as many people here because it is not the finish. We will give you an up=date soon, got to go now to see the riders!

The finish today in Avoriaz!

We are officially on the TOUR DE fRANCE ROUTE TODAY. The riders finished here tonight in front of us about 5:30pm. It is amazing we are staying on the very top of the mt here, a beautiful ski resort. Linda I need a partner that's for sure. i rode 2 days ,but I am hanging it up until Bordeaux. These are some steep A.... mts. I didn't quite train enough. LOL Phil is doing great, he is in his element. Lot's of great riders here, mostly the guys of course, a few women are in pretty great shape too. I will tour with Sophie the tour guide tomorrow and a few other non riders. it is amazing terrain, WOW. The little villages and spectacular mts. make a great back drop. We head out tomorrow to our next stop and will be there for 3 nights. Weather is fairly warm, but we had a huge thunder storm and hail yesterday afternoon, a nice change of pace.

Ambience, wine and food are suberb, and such an interesting group of people, always what we love. We have some great pictures but the are not co-operating for the blog. We will put them on the next post! BonJour P.S. TeamVelo Visalia-Friday-20 miles easy around Lake Geneva. Saturday-35 miles- Les Gets & Ascent to Avoriaz-last 15 miles 5-7% grade-4000 ft of climb. Sunday 35 miles-Col de Joux Plane 6.5 miles 3-11.5% grade, Ascent to Avoriaz-today's stage- 8.4 miles 6-7 %-5000 ft of climb. I spun at 6-7 mph-the pros attacked at 2-3 times faster-these guys are not normal!!! The crowds were unbelievable. We watched the finish at 50 meters, Andy Schleck rocketed past us, quite a ways behind Sammy Sanchez, and as we witnessed on the big screen somehow had enough in his Belgian legs to snatch a pivotol win in the first mountain stage of the 2010 Tour de France!! The big stars all came out to play!!! Will talk about Lance later-KADALAK

This is out of order,but we were having trouble downloading our pictures. We are attending our first official welcome meeting tonight, looks like our entire group has arrived. Riders from San diego, Vancouver, Portland, France, Kentucky, Los Angeles,

Boston, San Luis Obispo, Colorado, several couples and a few singles. We rode around Lake Geneva today about 20 miles, Phil, Judy and Frank. Equipment is great, Phil's bike arrived in tact and we are officially starting our tour tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. We will be ahead of the Teams by 1/2 day. Several teams including Rabo Bank will be checking into our hotel here in Geneva the same day we leave! This Looks to be an amazing experience! So far, so good. Au Revoir PS Denise and Raquel, I am sporting my WELLS FARGO bike shorts, giving Rabo some competition.

Viva la`france

Judy and I have arrived in France. Out flight was filled with some very interesting individuals-from crying babies - to 2 middle eastern looking guys who refused to sit down while the plane was taxiing- both almost came to fisticuffs with the stewards- to a puking in the aisle terrorist looking dude-and we did not know until we got off the plane-there was a dog traveling under the seat ahead of us. Weather is hot. We are struggling to stay awake a few more hours before tonight. I do not sleep on airplanes. We are challenged by a few computer issues-nothing out of the ordinary. All for now - be safe-KADALAK P.S Great news we just met Jessie And Michael-recent Cal Poly grads who write computer software for a living-they are part of our group VeloEchappe-no longer tech challenged-KADALAK

Happy Independence Day

Happy birthday USA!!! We had another eventful day. The girls left for Fiji.The LOOK is realizing no cell phones for 2 weeks. Our neighbors invited us over for a bbq. 20 UCLA students showed up the night before-they really know how to celebrate their independence!!! My bicycle is now packed in the black case below and ready to board Air France. The 2nd to last pic is of the traeger smoking marinated chicken breasts and rack of lamb=BAAHHH-good for us- not so good for the lamb!! French word of the day-Rack d'agneau-bon appetit-KADALAK

The Tour is on!! World Cup counts down. We need to pack now!!

Saturday July 3,2010. We start out with pic# 1 an abstract art rendition of the peloton . Question of the day-which direction is the peloton traveling and who is leading??? Pic #2 our essentials- shoes, helmets, gloves. Pic# 3 - my bicycle- 54cm specialized S works roubaix-comes with a compact on the front-34 cogs & a big cookie-32 on the back. Last pic-our suitcase -we are packing light- shorts,shirts , sandals and tums- if & when we forget something
-VISA- don't leave home without it!! In World Cup action Germany defeated Argentina @ Spain defeated Paraguay to advance to the semi's. I cannot wait to board Air France to witness the most exciting Tour de France in history. USA placed 4 cyclists in the top 11 in the Prologue Stage 1 in Rotterdam. Lance is back!! 4 seconds ahead of Contador- let the attacks begin!!-KADALAK

Matt is back!! 3 little pigs return home!!

The happy, healthy Matt Capel has appeared sporting some extravagant sunglasses purchased no doubt in the budding metropolis of Hudsonville,MI. Matt had a couple of tough weeks adapting to life here in the Valley- but that is ok- builds character. We always set an extra plate or two for dinner at our home- just in case!!The 3 little pigs made an encore appearance - famished- as usual- no not really hungry, but after downing 2 rib eyes, an endless salad, veggies, and the best ever- corn on the cob!!- they posed for this classic pic-Thanks- P.S. Somehow these three were nicknamed the 3 little pigs as Freshmen and the name stuck- you all finished strong -Be strong in college- Becca on the left will attend Trinity Christian College in Chicago, Bre will attend Concordia in Irvine,CA& Dizzy will attend Calvin in Grand Rapids ,MI- once again it is funny where we all end up!!!! KADALAK

Just another strange day in the Valley

Reality check- I asked Pudah- who is that old guy blogging on my computer? She responded- whose reading glasses are those
on the left? and whose wine is that on the right?? Enough said. Gracie our Poodle had her hair- no-her-ah- fur done today. She entered the Sassy Pooch Mobile Pet Salon -a normal curly poodle and exited a stylish patriotic pooch with red white & blue bows in her ears!!! Matt & Jake ate lunch at the famous Taco Truck- AKA ROACH COACH. The 5 gallon bucket on the left side is there for a reason-not just for trash & napkins. The last pic is the best. The boys are painting G Pa's building- it looks awesome. By the way Matt is in the running for the painter's "butt crack of the year award"- funny where we all end up- KADALAK