22 June Left To Fend For Ourselves

Last full day of riding we were moving as a group through the town of San Moritz Switzerland. The way we stayed together as we moved through towns was that when we went through a roundabout the rider going through would stay near the roundabout until the next rider came, then that rider would take his place and stay until the next rider saw him, and so on. It worked through a number of towns all across the trip but today one of the riders decided not to wait and subsequently four of us had no idea what rest of the group had done. We stopped to consult a map, and we rode back and forth through the town trying to find them. Finally we rode the route to the hotel, and when we arrived we found that the other guys had been there for 30 minutes. The only way they could have been so far ahead is that they did not wait at all, they simply high-tailed it down the mountain.  We were not happy campers, and explained our unhappiness to them clearly and succinctly.

Castellane, France

Today is our rest day in Castellane, in southeastern France.  So far the trip has been quite amazing, with endless moutain views and more curves in each day's ride than I've ever done before.  My riding seems to get better each day, I think.  The group has quite a breadth of riding experience and skill, including a former pro racer and a rider-journalist who tests bikes for a living and writes about them for a variety of magazines.  Our host, Ewe, is an excellent rider as well, and has ridden everywhere you can imagine, including a six-year ride around the world!  I would say that I am in the middle--the fastest of the slower group and the only one riding two-up. The top four riders leave me in the dust quite quickly.
About half the group took a day ride today to the Grand Canyon du Verdon, while the rest of us stayed to enjoy Castellane, do a little laundry and catch up on blog posts.

As I write this, Karen and I have some laundry going a couple of doors down and we're enjoying a lunchtime glass of vin blanc at a little sidewalk cafe.  It was quiet when Karen took the picture of me at this little table, but now every table is full and conversations abound (all in French, of course).  Every couple of minutes another cycle goes by, weaving between the pedestrians who spill off the narrow sidewalks onto the winding road through this section of the town.  It is exactly what one imagine a small French town to look like.

Castellane, France Photos

Nice, Menton and Monte Carlo

It's hard to find words to describe how beautiful it is on the Cote d'Azur --the French Riviera.
We had a wonderful ride along the coast!
Three of us cooled off at lunch time with a quick dip in the Med. What a treat!

A Niçoise salad with grilled tuna made a delicious lunch!

It was a long riding day before we ended up in a small Italian village for the night.

More from Brissago

The view from the room. And a few from the day ride.

Switzerland?

I want to do these posts in some kind of order. However, today we are in Brissago, Switzerland, and here's a sight I never expected to see outside my Swiss hotel!

Our Intrepid Guide

Our amazing guide for the tour is Ewe Kraus. Ewe began is writing career while on a six-year around the world motorcycle tour. Now he writes for RoadRunner in the US and a number of German travel magazines. He is married to Danika, and together they have two children, a boy and a girl.
He's a great guide a lots of fun!