Woke up a bit earlier than I expected this morning and ended up hitting the road by 6:40AM (would have been even earlier but I had to wait for Chris to call and wish me good luck on my last leg.)

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

Pre-ride breakfast = a banana
(knowing that I only had to go but 9 short miles until I’d come upon [drum roll please] Two Fish Bakery in Sea Ranch!)

I dream of the day when I know longer hear the siren call of bakeries, candy stores, and the like but, alas, that day is not today.

And so, I pedaled onwards to the bakery and, unlike yesterday, I did so without going through the thick pot-smoke-air that is the area directly above Fort Bragg. (Seriously, the air was so dense with the smell of pot I almost couldn’t breathe for a minute there!)

About 9 miles in I saw a sign for the left turnoff to the bakery. Bad part: the left was up a very VERY steep little hill (especially steep given my tired legs.) I think you climb like 300 feet in a very short space (like maybe half a mile). Not good for the legs!

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

After having my heart pump out of my chest I made it to Two Fish! And what a fantastic little stop. I was pretty much the only person in that tiny place that they didn’t know on a first name basis, but they were super friendly. In fact, when I was in line this guy just walked out and, upon seeing my bike, walked over to me and said “awesome bike.” At that I smiled and said “thanks” … and then after I got my snack (two pieces of banana bread [one for now, one for later] and a granola yogurt parfait thing), I realized he was still drooling over it. So, we ended up talking for 15 minutes. Best line from him, “you know, the word ‘beautiful’ is tossed around a lot where bikes are concerend, but I think it should really be reserved for titanium bikes like this. This is beautiful.”
Awesome.

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

Turns out he used to sell Moots and other bikes before he quit (no money in it unless you own the place) a few years back.

So after I got a little lesson in what makes my bike so great, I was told “happy riding” and “good luck” by a few more people leaving the bakery before I got back on my (much merrier) way.

The roads out of Gualala down the coast are definitely busier at times - more big trucks, not much shoulder at parts, and because of all the trees and turns, there’s an increased risk that people won’t see you. Thankfully, the only issue I ran into was a crazy pickup truck that was trying to pass a slower car in front of it (this is in oncoming traffic). He ended up going over the double yellow lines and was headed straight at me until he cut back in around the guy. I’m fairly sure he didn’t see me (and I’m fairly sure I peed a little), but it was ok. I ended up going way into the right side dirt and just waited for him to pass.

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

Other than that, the most memorable part of the ride was a climbing section filled with bugs and cattle guards about 30(ish) miles in. The climbing was long (at least it felt long with my backpack on), exposed, and hot. And, because I failed to look at any sort of elevation profile, I just didn’t know what to expect (and I’m not one of those people who likes not knowing what to expect on a ride.) But, putting all that aside, the views were absolutely unreal. The Northern California coast is just absolutely gorgeous - to the point where you are saying in your head, “is this really real?”

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

After that little trial, I hit Jenner and tried calling Chris. No dice. Continued on until I (thanks be to the gods) hit Bodega Bay. In Bodega I was hitting a bit of a low point (30 miles left and I just was feeling soooo slow), but luckily had cell phone reception. I got Chris and my mom on the phone and decided that my mom would continue up the one past Point Reyes station and instead get me before the rollers (which would save me about 9 miles).

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

With that new motivation I felt a bit better, that is, until the few miles going into Tomales Bay. So hot! All that climbing! No shade!
(ok it probably wasn’t that bad but I’m not in good shape right now! And my backpack is heavy!)

And as a side note, you can tell there’s a harder part of a ride when there are mysteriously no pictures for an hour or two.

After all that, I dropped down into little ole’ Tomales. And, per Chris’ recommendation, dropped by their bakery, too. I got some stuff to give to my mom as a thank you but took a quality assurance bite of each — very tasty!

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

Out of Tomales there were some massive headwinds getting into Point Reyes, but I survived! I also passed a couple who was biking down from Canada!

Eventually I made it to where Hog Island is (and where my mom and I were planning on meeting), but she wasn’t there yet so I just started my way down the rollers. I eventually decided to wait on top of one of the hills so I could easily see all the cars coming (so my mom wouldn’t unknowingly pass me!)

I saw her and, in her own words, “never had she seen me so happy to see her car.” I jumped up and down and my two-day tour was over! We went into Point Reyes for some delicious sandwiches at Cow Girl (where I highly recommend you stop on your own biking adventure) and another treat at the Bovine bakery (a must stop for cyclists.)

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

Overall the ride was beautiful, relatively safe, and a great experience. For all your wannabe cycling tourists, this would be a great two-day test run.

My only recommendation: get someone to go with you! It makes the hills less steep and the roads less lonely.

Happy riding!

7:05AM and I was on my bike. The day before I got a nectarine and banana to eat for breakfast, knowing that about 20 miles in I could stop by the Fort Bragg Bakery for breakfast numero dos. Thankfully the weather was super cooperative - warm enough that my ear-covering headband, knee warmers, and hideous neon yellow jacket were enough.

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

20 miles in and I was in Fort Bragg. I rode up to the bakery and at first walked in and left my Moots right out the door. But, after realizing that I was having a mini panic attack as I stared at it from the other side of the glass, decided to just accept that I was freaked out that someone was going to steal it, so I went out and brought it in with me. The woman behind the counter smiled and asked me “so did you bring that in because you think someone is going to steal it?”
me: “Yeah, I just can’t handle it”
her: “Umm… nobody is going to steal your bike here”
me: “really?”
her: “Yeah”
[enter a guy who ended up being her husband]
her: “He and I are both big riders… [looks at him] she’s not going to get her bike stolen here, is she?!”
him: “Yeeaahhhh, no. But what if she did”
me: “Exactly! But what if I did! I’d die!!”
her: [laugh] “Yeah, true”

From there we talked a bit more about biking and my bike specifically. They were both super friendly and as I left with my bagel for now and a “savory pocket” (pastry thing filled with sun-dried tomatoes and feta) for later, some other random woman sitting in the corner yelled out “have a great ride!” How cool is that?

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

I rode down to eat my bagel on a bench when this homeless guy passed me and asked what day it was. And what did I say? “Thursday” … I said “Thursday.” It wasn’t until about an hour later that I realized it was actually Wednesday…

After finishing my bagel I pedaled over to the bike shop I saw on the main drag. Unfortunately, it was closed so I couldn’t actually buy a patch kit and extra tube. I just had to pray that my one tube would be enough. Ended up being ok but that’s not so smart!

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

The cool part about the stop was running into two other cyclists who were waiting for the shop to open. They were actually biking South to North, which is a much harder ride — in part because of the strong headwinds they’d no doubt been battling.

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

From there I just kept pedaling along…and along…and along. At one point there was some construction that required them to stop traffic and let one side go and then the other, which meant waiting for our turn for like 10 minutes. In the meantime a bunch of cyclists ended up chit-chatting. I was the only woman doing touring solo and the only other woman in the pack period (of like 8 riders) was doing it with her husband. I was a bit jealous… biking it great but it’s made so much better when you are with someone else - even if you aren’t talking that much at all! Just having someone to say “wow look at that” or talk with for a short break — those are nice. On the AIDS ride I did last year I was basically riding alone, but the diference was that I’d see people at all the rest stops and just randomly see people on the road from time to time. On this ride I barely saw anyone. At. All. …Ever

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

Anyway, I kept on riding and eventually made my way to Gualala. At first I was nervous I was going to miss it but, like the girl from the motel said on the phone, that’d be very difficult to do. And, in fact, she was right. Most of the “cities” down the 1 are, like, lierally on the 1. “Main street” is the section of the 1 that goes through their town. And that’d be the whole town. So, when I saw the signs for Gualala I realized pretty quickly that I’d better start looking for the motel because in about 30 seconds I’d have biked through city limits!

Pulled up, showered, went to the grocery store next door to get a deli sandwich and chocolate bar for dinner, bumped into some cyclist dudes I saw earlier in the day (they were at that shop still in bike clothes getting lots of beer for their campsite down the road), and then called Chris from a pay phone.

The rest of the night was filled with talking on the phone, walking down to the beach, and watching junk TV.

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

Day One complete!

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

Tuesday afternoon Chris and I left for the long drive up to Westport, and after about four and a half hours we arrived at the Howard Creek Ranch Hotel. Now I know some of you are already judging me — “you stayed at hotels and motels during your trip? Why not camp out and become one with nature and oatmeal?!”
Well, a few reasons
1) I don’t even have a proper rack with panniers, which would just logistically make carrying a tent, sleeping bag, etc. pretty much impossible. I ended up carrying everything for this ride in a backpack (more on the wisdom of that later.)
2) I’m doing this ride alone and while I am confident tons of women have biked solo up and down the coast with no problems, I just feel a little less freaked out by myself in the land-of-no-cellphone-reception when I can lock a motel room behind me!
3) I like sleeping in a bed after biking all day. (This is the “princess” reason)
4) I don’t like oatmeal

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

So anyway, we arrived! The hotel is a bit, in Chris’ words, “kooky,” It’s seriously in the middle of nowhere and basically consists of two big buildings that are across a swinging bridge from each other. The room we stayed in was a tiny little thing in a converted barn. In the living area on the second floor was an indoor jacuzzi (wish I would have realized that before arriving!), a zillion plants pushed up against the windows, and just a hodgepodge of antique(ish) Victorian furniture with trinkets on every empty space. In sum, I loved it. It’s the sort of place you’d go, stay a few days, and basically just get away from everything.

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

That night Chris and I went into Fort Bragg for dinner and, thanks to Yelp, had some truly fantastic pizza (and I’m told beer) at Piaci Pub and Pizza. Not Delfina good, but really good. In fact, you know it’s good because outside in downtown Fort Bragg everything was super quiet… but then you open the door of this pizza place and it was totally packed.

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

After that we got dessert at Cowlick’s Ice Cream. I totally recommend it! I actually sampled the mushroom flavor - totally delicious! More like maple syrup taste than mushroom, but the coolest part is they don’t add any extra sugar outside what’s already in the milk and cream. But it’s super sweet!

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

So after eating all that, bemoaning my lack of self control, and heading back to the hotel, I was ready for the ride to begin!

From Bike Touring: Westport to Point Reyes

Beyond the obvious privacy and data security questions this raises, I think it’s the response from 23andMe customers that’s most interesting and illuminating. I will paste their feedback in below since, unless you have an account, you won’t be able to see it (if you do have one, see it here.)

Title: Results in, my son is not my son?

Yesterday I received a message that my son and my daughter’s results were in. I rushed to carrier status and checked, she was negative for all the diseases. I checked my son’s it stated that he was a carrier for hemochromatosis, I was upset. How could he be a carrier and we weren’t. Well my husband’s result’s weren’t in yet so I would wait and see. Still upset I checked family inheritance and noticed my daughter shared with me, and then I checked my son’s. He was not a match for any of us. I checked his haplogroup’s and they were different from ours. I started screaming. A month before my son was born two local hospitals had baby switches. I panicked and I checked over and over. My kid’s were sitting at the computer because we all wanted to see the results. My son laughed but he looked upset. I called my sister in tears. She being the pragmatic one instantly told me to stop crying. She reminded me we took a thousand pictures of his birth and every breath he took the first few months. She told me to check the traits. When I checked for eye color I noticed he was GG (blue eyes) we are AG. My son does not have blue eyes. I compared genes and I noticed he did not compare with any African Americans. His closest results were European. Then I read a post from another person who had wrong results. I realized these results were wrong. I sent an e-mail to 23andme. I received the standard 3-5 days response.Upset, I sent Shirley Wu an e-mail, she said she would forward it to customer service. That’s it. So far I haven’t heard a word from 23andme.
Later I found my son in my bed asleep and hugging my pillow. He did not go to school today, he said he was sick. I told him it’s a mistake.
Someone out there has new results maternal L2c2, paternal E1b1b1a, and those are my son’s results. I looked at relative finder my son has 56 relatives. My son’s Ancestry painting came up today, it says 99% European. I share with 3 of the relatives. I hope they don’t send an invite. Thank god the results were totally off or I would have been in linbo for days. I hesitated before I sent this post, I wanted to give 23andme time to get back to me with some explanation. I am still waiting. I am still screaming inside………

In the comments section another user wrote,

23andme has just sent my son’s girlfriend a notice about a mistake in her processing and took down her results. She was just about to write in and ask how they determined she was Asian. She has spent the day in shock.
I don’t know if she yet called her mother, but I know she was wondering what to ask. She came back 100% Asian. We talked about all possibilities..and some of them were odd and disturbing.
We have spent the entire day discussing her 100% Asian ancestry painting and taking a new look at her pics. Even the high risk breast cancer results were less disturbing to her than what the ancestry meant.
23andme…time for some mea culpas here…

So why does this matter?

Well, before that, I think there’s an important point to be made: the root problem here is not a direct-to-consumer (DTC) specific one - any lab using 96-well plates could have confused labels (or whatever exactly happened here.)

So what’s this “96-well plate” business, you ask? Basically, when a lab is running the same test on a lot of samples, it’s much easier to have one big plate with a lot of wells than it is to have a bunch of individual test tubes. Think about it — would you rather carry around 96 individual test tubes or one plate with 96 wells in it? Since it’s easier and faster, this plate method also contributes to scalability, which then helps bring down costs. So, not only would a lab sequencing for 23andMe use this, but any lab working with a lot of samples that require the same procedures.
Non-DTC examples:
- BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic testing (which is ordered through a doctor)
- Hepatitis B immunity (checking to see if you have it, that is)

Point being: this mistake didn’t happen because these tests were offered DTC.

Now, what I do think important here is the responses from 23andMe users. DTC companies have long stressed that they aren’t providing medical testing but genetic information (and thus shouldn’t be regulated in certain ways)– but what does all that mean? The first user’s experience (above) shows that the first thing she does when she gets her son’s results is check for carrier status. It’s true that whether or not I’m a carrier for, say, a SNP associated with hemochromatosis, is genetic information — but is getting that information also the result of a medical test? Given the intensity and speed with which she checked for those things, it sounds a lot more like she viewed it as a test than as just “genetic information.” [Maybe I feel this way because “information” sounds so neutral, but “medical test” more closely captures the way we respond to our testing “results.”

To be honest though, I don’t have enough experience with how regulations view the difference to say, but I think the distinction is not so obvious — and the non-obviousness isn’t just a function of how our policies and regulations view the difference. How do people truly view the information they’re given through these tests? An interesting study would be to take people who are told they are a carrier for something and see if they act differently — see if, upon telling their family, if their family treats them differently. How do we process that sort of information?

Why is HIV testing a medical test but the results of a DTC genetic test not? Because an HIV test tells you whether or not you will actually develop certain ailments? The BRCA tests don’t tell you definitely that you will or will not get breast and/or ovarian cancer, but they’re considered medical. Difficult…

Other food for thought:

-The community feedback and advice given to users who wrote about confusing or upsetting results was strong and helpful — I think it shows that, if you’re willing to engage with a community of active and interested participants, you can get constructive information without a doctor middleman. On the flip side, it sounds like users didn’t hear back from 23andMe for days — and thinking you were adopted for a few days doesn’t sound so great.

- DTC genetic testing results aren’t just “for fun.” There were unquestionably traumatic identity crises going on with some of these people. And why? Because when they first clicked through and got their results they were ready to accept those results as telling them deep truths about themselves. They weren’t rapid-fire clicking to carrier status or ethnic background to take a glance, eat some popcorn, and then go out with friends and forget about it. No, this information meant something to people.

It will be interesting to see what comes of this… I’m willing to bet Walgreens is counting its blessings right now, though.

And I was dying.

Thankfully in the end Chris and I puled ourselves together and made it all the way without the need for rescue. And after that, the rest of the weekend was spent with Eric, Kevin, and Adrienne in Monterey and Carmel — hanging out, eating yummy things, and taking loads of pictures.

From Monterey Bike Weekend

So why was this ride so painful? I blame the hardcore leg, back, and ab workout we did the night before. Chris, being smarter than me, took it wwaaaayyy easy during the workout. But did I? No. And did I pay for it? Yes.

Going up Old La Honda (which is the major climb to get up to Skyline) was just painful. My heartrate at the start was 160! At the start! And pretty much the rest of the climb up consisted of me trying desperately (and in vain) to keep my heartrate out of the mid-high 160s. I was a bunny heart trapped inside a giant concrete body. You know how back in the day the power ranger would sit inside that giant mondo machine-dude to battle sometimes? It was like that. Except, instead of a (dare I say) kung-fu fighting warrior inside the machine it was a weak bunny trying to pull an impossibly heavy block of concrete up a mountain… with itsy bitsy levers.

In other words, pain!

Finally, after a freezing descent and moderately painful second climb, we made our way to Pescadero and had some much needed food. My stomach was actually growling by the time we got there, which doesn’t usually happen to me on rides (which tells me part of the pain probably came because I was so tired I wasn’t forcing myself to eat properly.) In Pescadero I ate a good 1/2 a loaf of garlic bread and 1/2 a coke and started feeling significantly better. Not 100% by any means but better to the point where I could at least imagine making it into Santa Cruz.

From there we went down Cloverdale, suffered, suffered, and then oh! A sign about chocolate dipped strawberries and coffee! At that point I took the lead, picked up the pace, and lead us into Swanton farms.

Oh.My.Gosh!! We parked our bikes next to the door and were delighted to find all sorts of sugary delights waiting for us inside! Baskets of strawberries, truffles of all sorts, chocolate dipped strawberries, jams, etc. and in the frige they had these awesome looking strawberry shortcakes and little crumble tart thingies. And last but not least coffee and strawberry hot apple cider!

After my little excited “new foods!” dance, we settled on coffee (for the caffeine), a chocolate dipped strawberry, and strawberry shortcake.

They were all perfect! I’d especially like to point out that the whipped cream on the shortcake was most definitely hand whipped and perfect. One of my favorite parts about biking is the freedom it gives you to explore and find awesome little places like this! Total score!

From Monterey Bike Weekend

After our most wonderful break we made our way (slowly but surely) into Santa Cruz. And, after calling Eric and realizing he wasn’t going to even be leaving his house for quite a while, we decided we’d suck it up and keep making our way to Monterey.

And so we did! I think the only other highlight of the ride was the bike path going into Monterey where these dumb cute little bunnies kept running in front of me wheel to cross the path. Solution? I started making a (loud) high pitched tone as I biked, hoping it would scare them off. And by-diggily — it worked!

If you want to see the nitty-gritty details of our ride (or copy our route in the future) you can see it here.

Once we arrived at our Days Inn (I can now say I prefer Motel 6), showered, and talked with the gang a bit, we headed out to Bubba Gump’s for dinner! We tried a few other places first but they were either busy or no longer the restaurants we thought they were.

I got steamed crab legs (which must be a new addition to the menu, since they did not use to have those at all!) and was quite satisfied. Especially because I ate a big bag of candy beforehand!

From Monterey Bike Weekend

Sunday consisted of a lazy breakfast with huge pancakes, doing 17-mile drive (you should really stop and check out the tide pools!), looking at adorable houses, walking around Carmel, and taking the long way back.

From Monterey Bike Weekend

All in all a great weekend!

From Monterey Bike Weekend

From Monterey Bike Weekend

From Monterey Bike Weekend

But it turns out that neither unpleasantness nor pain are required. Well…maybe a little pain, but once you’ve done a marathon with stress fractures, everything seems rosy!

From Solvang Spring Double Century

Long story short: for those of you reading this because you’re thinking about doing the Solvang as your first double century, you’ve made a very smart decision! Solvang is a fantastic first time double. There is absolutely no crazy climbing, there’s plenty of food, the riding is nice (minus one friggin horribly nasty descent), and the location is fantastic. Don’t believe me? See my data in serious detail here. Please note the mileage is a bit low because my annoyingly incompetent Garmin turned itself off for a good half an hour. And, because it was like 6AM, I couldn’t see that it was off (because it was dark!)

But now to the real ride report:

Total Mileage: I believe it’s technically 193 miles.
Total Climbing: ~7500 feet (a bit of climbing at the start, and a shorter steeper climb near the end [right after the last rest stop])
Average Heartrate (bmp): 136 (me), 148 (Chris)
Number of Rest Stops: 5 rest stops (4 normal ones plus 1 lunch stop)
Total Time (including stops and everything): 13 hours 45 minutes
Ride Time: 11 hours 56 minutes
Average Speed: 16.1 mph
Start Time: 5:15AM
End Time: 6:59PM

Overall I don’t have much to say about the ride… it’s sort of just a big blur! We originally wanted to start at 5AM but didn’t get going until 5:15. In the end it looks like this was to our advantage — Chris read on the bike forums that the guys checking people out where late, so there were like a hundred cyclists waiting at 5AM with nobody there. But, by 5:15, it was all cleared for us!

From Solvang Spring Double Century

We got lucky going into the first stop (mile 42ish) when two tandems zoomed up by us. We, like everyone else in the vicinity, made a dash for their back wheel and were lucky enough to catch on. Since my one and only crash, which landed me in the hospital (crying like a baby), I’ve been very reluctant to “really” draft… so I just sort of get near enough to the back wheel in front of me that I feel some benefit but not enough that if they put on the brakes my life would flash before my eyes.

From Solvang Spring Double Century

Ah… but speaking of drafting, here’s my one giant pet peeve of this event: Moochers. Or dare I say, Wheel Suckers. These are the people who, as you pass them, speed up and try and grab your wheel for dear life and then, once they’re there, stay behind you and draft FOR-EVER. And they don’t say a word! They don’t ask, they don’t announce their presence — they just sit there and friggin draft off you.

FOR-EVER.

There were multiple people throughout the day who would get right behind me and draft for literally over an hour. But this one dude took the cake. This guy, no shit, probably drafted off us for over 30 miles! Without even a word!

Eventually the injustice of it was too overwhelming so I pedaled up next to Chris and told him to slow down so this dude could take his turn (I was still hoping this guy just didn’t know how to get in front of us to offer). So Chris slowed down, I slowed down, and we just sort of looked at him.

And what did he do?

He slowed down too. (!)

Finally, after a long while he decided to step up, be a man, and take a turn. But for how long? Oh… maybe four minutes. Actually, probably less than that. I thought he was joking!

Eventually we just got sick of it and pulled over… at which point he slowed down and said, “So…I just keep going straight then?”
To which I replied “Oh yep!”
To which Chris replied (to me, when the guy was gone): “W.T.F!?”

So yes, these moochers are really really serious on double centuries. It was sort of too bad, really. It’s a cool opportunity to meet and work together to reach a goal (of making it to the next rest stop), but instead these people just make me feel used.

Now I have to be fair here. Later in the day (I think it was mile 120ish all the way through Pismo) Chris and I ran into a really nice woman with a Furnace Creek jersey on and I probably drafted off her for a good 15 miles.

From Solvang Spring Double Century

So how is this different? Well, we traded pulls in the beginning (until it was my turn and I went too fast up a mini-climb and accidentally dropped her) but it became pretty much overwhelmingly clear that she could kick both our asses and still make it back in time for tea. And once that was cleared up we all just chit-chatted and she led the way (with Chris confirming directions) for a nice chunk of the day. Eventually she saw some other faster sexier riders (who I’m telling myself she knew) and she dropped us like a bad habit.

But anyways, to future riders: Don’t be a bad person. If you’re going to draft, take your friggin turn! Or at least say “dude…I’m dying here, I can barely hold on… can I draft for a bit?” To which I’d say “ah, I feel your pain my friend — draft away”

And we’d be good.

But moving on!

The ride was definitely harder for Chris than it was for me and I think that was a nutrition thing. By mile 110 Chris was looking forward to a break and food (which would be lunch, mile 118) whereas I was just pedaling away. And for the rest of the day it was sort of like that… but getting worse. Chris would feel better leaving the rest stop but after a while would just be miserable. And this is in contrast to me who really has a hard time getting going after stopping (and thus is not a big fan of it!)

From Solvang Spring Double Century

So in the future Chris is going to drink two bottles of full dose (2.5 scoops/bottle) Perpetuum per ride segment (usually around 40ish miles) instead of one and a bottle of Gatorade Endurance. The Gatorade just doesn’t have the calories and nutritional benefits (we think) he needs. Oh, and we’ll get some endurolytes (basically salt pills.) At the end of the day I think doubles are really a test of willpower, patience, and proper nutritional planning and execution way more than a test of physical strength. If you can do a century comfortably, you can complete a double like Solvang — with the caveat that you figure out your nutrition and stick to it.

So for the last 90 miles we did our best to keep our speed “up” but definitely had to chill a little to make sure Chris didn’t break up with me. It was touch and go for a while.

The last stop was the best. My booty was ON FIRE and I was oh so happy to get off my little seat (Chris’ butt was just fine… so unfair). And what did we find at this rest stop? Cup o Noodle and our friend Ryan (Ryan also did the AIDS ride last year.) So we all talked and ate for a bit before doing the last 16 miles of the day.

From Solvang Spring Double Century

So…the final climb. It’s the thing you’re worried about (you future Solvang-ers, you!). And I’m here to tell you it’s really not that bad. No honestly, it’s not.

Granted, you’re going to be tired. Your legs won’t be baby-fresh. In fact, you may want to just fall over and go to sleep. But no matter what you can do this. It’s a bit steeper (it’s about 2.3 miles of 6% average but there are some parts that steeper than that [like 11 or 12%]) but it’s doable. And, whatever — take your time! Enjoy the sights! You’re a biking machine!

From Solvang Spring Double Century

But with all that said I would recommend you get your monster-self to that climb before nightfall because the road is horrible. Going up the climb isn’t so bad because you’re going so slow, but the descent is objectively awful! It’s way worse than Tunitas before it was repaved. We are talking seriously bumpy, seriously pot-hole-y, and just plain painful. My bike was rattling so bad down that thing… I just kept thinking “If I fall, at least it’ll be slightly more glorious doing it on a double than doing it back home!”

From Solvang Spring Double Century

So yeah, the hardest part of the ride is staying mentally aware and physically loose on that god forsaken descent.

But after that it’s a super smooth shot to the finish — so go fast! Chris found his last wind and we definitely picked it up (averaging over 20mph).

And that was it! We rolled into the finish, cheered for our own victory, got a glass of water, and vowed we’d never be that crazy again.

The End!

From Solvang Spring Double Century

…So when’s Davis?

From Solvang Spring Double Century

For 2010 so far we have two big rides scheduled for sure:

Solvang Double Century (March 27th)

DeathRide (July 11th)

We’re also toying with the idea of going for the triple crown, which means completing three double centuries in the season. If we end up doing that (which is in large part contingent on me not dying during the Solvang double at the end of March) we’ll likely also do the Davis Double and then one other.

I’m also very much thinking about doing the Super Tour this year. The Super Tour is a two-week biking extravaganza up in Northern (like really Northern) California. You can see their proposed route here (it’s a pdf). To me this sounds epic and unforgettable, but the problem is Chris can’t get that much time off work so I’d have to do it alone. And biking for two weeks hardcore by myself doesn’t sound nearly as fun as doing it with Chris. So we’ll see…

And other than that we have loads of weekend adventures planned, including a two-day event biking to Monterey and back, a one day Santa Cruz-and-back ride, and lots more!

Anyway, back to Pescaderoaasd! On January 16th Chris and I dived head first into our training with our first Pescadero loop of the year!

Summary:

Distance: 60 miles

Elevation gain: 6,463 ft

Average Speed: 11.1 mph

Max Speed: 39.7 mph

Average Heart Rate (HR): 132 bpm

You can see all of my stats here. And all of Chris’ here. If you get bored, it’s sort of fun to compare our heart rate and watts at different points in the ride.

Overall the ride went way better than I thought it would. Granted, I don’t think we physically could have gone any slower up old la honda and tunitas, but I wanted to be extra cautious with our first longer climbing-filled ride. My legs felt ok and the food in Pescadero was, as always, friggin fantastic. Worth the ride right there!

2010 season, here we come (slowly but surely!)

Last night when Chris and I made our way back to Paris after a day of rain and train stations, we decided we needed to do a bit more food research to make sure we had the most delicious breakfast possible on our last full day in Europe. And, thanks to chowhound, I think we succeeded!

We woke up bright and early and made our way to the famed bakery of Eric Kayser in the Latin Quarter. And oh my god was it worth it! When we stepped inside the magical location all I could smell was bread and sugar and butter and yeast. And my eyes, well they were just in bit of a frenzy — I wanted to freeze time, grow to the size of a giant, and just grab everything all for myself (well, I’d share with Chris of course… a little…)

But, since I couldn’t freeze time, nor turn into a giant, we settled on pain au fromage (cheese bread) and a pain brioche avec chocolat blanc (basically a sweet, light, yet still happily dense brioche bread with white chocolate swirls throughout).

From Europe 2009 Day 7

I only wish I took pictures of the food but, alas, I was too excited! The cheese bread was friggin phenomenal. This isn’t like cheese bread back home - the cheese by itself was amazing, with a light covering and swirls and chunks throughout. Oh god I want more. The cheese here is SO much better!

And the white chocolate concoction was the perfect blend of white chocolate swirls in a bread that was denser than brioche I’m used to but still light enough to scarf down in no time at all (for better or worse.)

Eating good food puts me in an amazingly good mood, so I was pretty much skipping all the way to the Sainte Chapelle chapel (second time’s the charm!)

From Europe 2009 Day 7

And the line to get in was totally worth it - the chapel was absolutely gorgeous. The stained glass windows on the second level were out of this world beautiful and that, in combination with all the pretty fleur-de-lis symbols everywhere, made it feel like I really was in some sort of fairytale place.

From Europe 2009 Day 7

From Europe 2009 Day 7

From Europe 2009 Day 7

After that, Chris and I made our way back to Sennelier to see if it’d be open this time around. (As a reminder - Sennelier is who makes the oil pastels I use).

From Europe 2009 Day 7

The weirdest thing happened while we were walking back over there - out of nowhere I thought I was going to throw up! Like, we were just walking along, everything hunky-dorey and then, out of the blue, I ran to the side of the road and was convinced I was about to puke into the river Seine! But, as quickly as it came on, it was gone… and I was ok. My guess: I ate just a little too much cheese bread! Well worth the pain, though! (get it… the “pain”?? Anybody, anybody??!)

Soon we made our way back to Sennelier and were it luck - it was open! We spent the next 45 minutes or so walking around the rather tiny store looking at lots of artsy things. In the end I bought a few oil pastels and can’t wait to use them in my next painting! The coolest thing we saw, though, were these absurdly expensive Henri Roche soft pastels — I believe I read they were almost 20 euros each!

From Europe 2009 Day 7

Piece of history for you… did you know that oil pastels were in fact invented by Sennelier in 1949. Picasso wanted colors he could use on any surface, without all the hassle of oil paints, etc. and so, Henri Sennelier came up with oil pastels! Viola!

After our artsy outing Chris and I decided to try our second chowhound recommendation - La Charlotte de l’isle on Ile Saint-Louis for some (we were told) out of this world hot chocolate.

From Europe 2009 Day 7

From Europe 2009 Day 7

Dear chowhound, how I love thee! The place was a small, whimsically cluttered abode filled with the most beautiful little foods and trinkets! And, upon entering, Chris told the lady behind the counter we would like some chocolat chaud — at which point we were led to the adjoining tiny room to sit down and order.

From Europe 2009 Day 7

From Europe 2009 Day 7

I got the hot chocolate and a piece of carrot curry cake and Chris got hot chocolate and a lemon/citrus tart. Oh sweet lord that carrot curry cake has invaded my very being since that fateful first bite! An interesting spicy cake that, to much delight, had a very thin layer of rich chocolate on the bottom of it. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. I am trying desperately to find a recipe so I can recreate at home!!

From Europe 2009 Day 7

All in all you absolutely must stop here if you’re in Paris. The hot chocolate is nuts (almost too rich, which is why I recommend getting something spicy or tart to go along with it… no need for much more chocolate!) and the place is adorable. Even the menus, with their barely legible cursive descriptions are to die for!

After all that I was once again floating as we made our way to Notre Dame to meet up with my friend Will and his brother, Chris. Will and I were co-editors of Aleph (UCLA’s undergraduate research journal) and he’s now studying medieval history at Oxford. And his brother, Chris II (we’ll call him), is following in his big brother’s footsteps, studying at King’s College in England.

After we got together (which was after some very interesting people watching at Notre Dame and fun twirl on this little sit and spin thing in a nearby park), we thought it high time for lunch. I was hoping Will, due to his globe-trotting ways, would be full of recommendations for back-alley bistros in Paris. But, alas, turns out he doesn’t know a spot of French and was up for whatever. In the end we settled on a whatever place, but it was nice to get out of the freezing cold, have some food, and chat.

From Europe 2009 Day 7

After a protracted lunch we split ways so we could go to our respective hotels to get extra layers of clothes before making our way to Montmartre for New Year’s Eve celebrating!

We decided on Montmartre because I heard that the crowds at the Eiffel Tower and the like were totally insane - like you can’t sit, you just stand all squished together for a zillion hours waiting for midnight. I’d much rather have some space to sit down, have some food and wine, and cheer in the new year with 1/2 a cup of excitement and 1/2 a cup of relaxation. And, having not yet been to that area of Paris, it was an opportunity for more exploring.

Having decided that I would eat absolutely whatever I wanted during my last day in Paris, I told Chris we had to detour (once again) to my dear Kayser’s for more treats on our way to the hotel! This time we got a pain au chocolat (normal), another cheese bread, and at the last minute I saw the word “mazipan” attached to this very dense looking bread thingie called a “stollen”, so we got that too.

We were supposed to save some of it for breakfast the next morning (since we were leaving before the crack of dawn for the airport) but, and I’m sure this doesn’t particularly surprise you, only the stollen made it. And that’s because the stollen is gross! I was imagining some bready thing filled with mazipan (which would be friggin phenomenal) but it turns out “stollen” is just this raisin filled (and I dislike raisins) fruitcake thing. Ick. But, thankfully, Chris liked it enough!

Being totally stuffed, I fell asleep a little too long at the hotel and was thus about 10 minutes late to meeting Will and Chris II in Pigalle. Well let’s just say at that point we were all even

Walking around a bit, I quickly realized that we were in something like the sex district of Paris. We even saw the Moulin Rouge (which is surprisingly cheapy looking when you’re there). I really wanted to go to a cabaret show on New Year’s Eve (like at the Moulin Rouge or Crazy Horse) but, alas, it was (I kid you not) about 570 euros EACH to attend!!!!

From Europe 2009 Day 7

From Europe 2009 Day 7

So, coming in a close second, we spent much of the frigid night in a cafe drinking coffee and chatting and then, hiked our way up to the top of Montmartre, at which point we all ordered crepes and paninis (some of us more easily than others!) and sat for a very long time in the cold.

From Europe 2009 Day 7

From Europe 2009 Day 7

It’s hard for me to explain in words how cold it was up there. Let’s just say, I was wearing pretty much half the contents of my suitcase and I still could not feel my feet. And my fingers weren’t just cold, they hurt. But (thankfully) it eventually became funny and we all rallied until midnight! (I’m sure the wine didn’t hurt most people’s disposition either…)

From Europe 2009 Day 7

From Europe 2009 Day 7

From Europe 2009 Day 7

Right after midnight (and the less than stellar display of fireworks) we all made a run for the metro! But, sadly, I think the entire bottle of wine sitting in Chris II’s stomach did not appreciate the run… because after being on the metro for approximately two minutes, I turned to discover that Chris II had decided to generously help clear our metro car of any crowd by puking all over himself. I felt so bad for him!! Luckily, though, Chris II was in good spirits and we had fun joking as to who would get to shower first — Chris II or Will. I’m not quite sure who ended up winning.

From Europe 2009 Day 7

Eventually we had to part ways, so I hugged Will goodbye and waved in Chris II’s general direction and then Chris and I made our way back to our hotel and packed up our stuff.

From Europe 2009 Day 7

Tomorrow the journey is over and we make our way back to California!

From Europe 2009 Day 7

Last night before going to bed, Chris and I checked the weather and knew there was a fair chance we’d get rained on today. And, since we only brought one dinky umbrella and it didn’t even fully cover the two of us, we knew lots of rain was going to put a bit of a damper on our plans… especially if lugging luggage was going to be involved at all!

To counter this we decided to wake up a little later (we’ve been setting the alarm for like 7AM) and have a very leisurely breakfast downstairs again. Taking my time, I had like three glasses of coffee… which seemed a good idea at the time but proved to be less than intelligent when I had to pee every five minutes for the next few hours.

After all that, though, we packed up our stuff, Chris made a quick map of Colmar, and then we left our luggage at the front desk so we could make a quick trip to the Notre Dame cathedral in Strasburg and a Christmas market to pick up Chris’ mom’s Christmas present before heading to Colmar.

From Europe 2009 Day 6

On the way to the cathedral guess what we saw? We were walking across one of the canals and we spotted what looked like either a mini-capybara or giant-ass rat! The funny this is – I thought it was “oh so cute” down there in the water nibbling away until all of a sudden it turned and I saw its tail. A RAT TAIL! A giant nasty gross fat rattail!!!! I don’t know what it is but somewhere deep down in my very essence it says “rat tail = gross nasty little beast!!”

From Europe 2009 Day 6

From Europe 2009 Day 6

After much Googling I think I’ve figured out what the thing way… I think it wasn’t a rat but a coypu. Look at the pictures and you tell me what you think!

Anyway, after that little fiasco Chris and I hit the cathedral. Turns out you don’t have to pay to go inside… you just have to pay if you want to stay around lunch time and watch this video they’ve made about their clock. Chris and I passed on the video but had a good time walking around the church. Well… actually… Chris had a good time while I felt sort of creeped out. Basically this church was made in large part by the church, among other things, reinstituting indulgences. So in other words, the church decided to make shit up, scare the crap out of people, and then get lots of money to finish their project because of it. So much of the architecture you see in Europe could be stuck in the book “The really fancy stuff you can make by using religion as a justification for taking lots of money.” Perhaps I was just feeling pessimistic but for some reason all that particularly bothered me at this cathedral. Though I will say it was very beautiful.

From Europe 2009 Day 6

From Europe 2009 Day 6

From Europe 2009 Day 6

After that we stopped by a Christmas market to pick up Chris’ mom’s Christmas gift (I’m not telling what it is!) and then went back, got our stuff, and headed for the train station.

The rest of the entry isn’t so interesting. Basically we got to Colmar, found out they didn’t have luggage storage at the train station, and since it was pouring out, decided we’d just hang around the train station for 6 hours until our train to Paris.

To help the time pass we went to what turned out to be a very tasty restaurant at the train station. I ordered this “salad” that was, I guess, technically a salad in that there were green leaves on the plate… but really that was just garnish for all the other crazy stuff that came with it – onion tart, quiche, lots of meats, and some cheese. Chris got this ultra decadent pasta in this uber cream with pesto and cheese that was then all covered and with fresh prosciutto. So delicious.

Chris and I just sat there talking and talking and eating and eating for about three to three and a half hours. And while there are probably more exciting things we could have been doing, just sitting there with a bottle of wine, lots of good food, and good company was a really lovely way to pass the afternoon as the rain poured outside.

Eventually though, the rain cleared up and I talked Chris into taking a quick run out to “cute” Colmar… even though it meant we had to lug our luggage.

Chris agreed and it was a good thing we did – the walk was really pretty (sort of had this more suburban Paris meets Disney haunted mansion meets gothic New Orleans mansion vibe) and Christmas-market-Colmar was totally adorable!

From Europe 2009 Day 6

We walked through quickly, got a little treat (a delicious cup of cider and a big heart cookie that tasted like lavender infused shortbread), and headed back to the train station.

From Europe 2009 Day 6

From there it was smooth sailing back to Paris.

So a much slower day than we were anticipating but great nonetheless!

We arose in Strasburg and, after double-checking, were happy to discover that our hotel came with free breakfast! And, it turns out that breakfast was better than the ridiculously expensive one in Paris. Chris was a big fan of this yummy cinnamon-bun-esque cake thingie and I, trying to save room for as much choucroute (sauerkraut with bratwursts) as possible, tried to minimize my eating to some cereal and a few licks of precious nutella. Oh and their coffee… because for some reason the coffee over here is, on average, seriously better than that in “the states.”

After a leisurely breakfast and a bit of blogging, we headed over to the train station. We didn’t buy our train tickets to Triberg ahead of time because, unlike the SNCF (the French train system), Deutsche Bahn (the German train system) didn’t allow us to print out e-tickets. After having some issues with the machines, we decided it easiest to get in the very short line for some help.

From Europe 2009 Day 5

Turns out that was the best decision ever. We told the girl (in French, which probably helped) that we wanted tickets to Offenburg and then Triberg (two different lines [the local OSB train and Deutsche Bahn, respectively]) and she let us know that we would save a lot of money if we just bought tickets to Offenburg now and only buy tickets to Triberg once in Offenburg. It would have cost us 172 euros if we bought everything up front but, with her help, we did the whole thing for 53! That’s a LOT of money! So basically buying Deutsche Bahn tickets from the SNCF is a huge ripoff. If in the future you find yourself in a similar situation, I recommend first talking to one of the tellers and second, figuring out if you can just buy different legs as you go along.

The train rides (both legs) were really great. It’s fun to just sit next to a window and look out and see the different landscapes and ways of life… though I have to say, we did see our fair share of poverty out the window. Very near the train tracks there are these shacks that are so small we weren’t even convinced they were homes at first. But, after seeing some with laundry airing out, we figured it out. Seeing how everything is so expensive for Americans in Europe, at first it’s easy to think that everyone over here must be making loads more money than us, but that’s very obviously not true.

From Europe 2009 Day 5

Eventually we made our way to Triberg, with the last bit of the train ride particularly fun as we climbed higher and higher into the mountains, riding through countless tunnels and seeing ever increasingly beautiful snow-covered forests.

From Europe 2009 Day 5

Once we got off the train we had to figure out which way to walk to get to the city center. To help out those of you who go to Triberg in the future, here’s what you do: Get off the train, walk out the station and make a right down the road. Just past the overpass there are stairs on the left side that go down to the road below (so the road that goes under the overpass), take those stairs down. At the bottom of the stairs make a left and keep walking up! Eventually you’ll hit “the real” Triberg!

From Europe 2009 Day 5

The walk was exciting save for the raining bit. We only brought one small umbrella (and a temperamental one at that) so we got a bit wet and, worst of all, my poor little feet got wet through my three layers of socks! Ick!

From Europe 2009 Day 5

But nothing could diminish my positive mood! Triberg is so gorgeous! I only wish I were there in the summer with some good hiking boots – I bet it would be amazing out there!

After a bit of walking we stumbled upon a little bakery-café called Adler’s. In the window I saw these little pigs (probably because of the whole black forest ham thing) that were made of marzipan.) You might not know this but I LOVE marzipan, especially marzipan in cute shapes! So, naturally, we went inside and I got myself one.

From Europe 2009 Day 5

From Europe 2009 Day 5

With the piggie in my belly, we made out way up the road a bit more and decided to stop in at a little shop filled with woodcarvings. The woman there was super friendly and on our way out Chris asked her if she had a recommendation for the best place in town for my choucroute (isn’t he sweet?!) and she recommended both the Tick Tack and Tresor.
So we ended up going to Tresor, with it being a few euro cheaper than Tick Tack and having a few more options that appealed to us.

From Europe 2009 Day 5

Interesting tidbit about the place – when we went in we were fortunate to get one of only two tables left. Now, you’d think when other people came in after us the woman would write their name down or give them some sort of time estimate on the wait. Nope. She just turns them away, letting them know that she’s just full. The reason is (I think) two-fold. First, in Europe people tend to sit down to eat for much longer than they do in the US. And so, it would probably be difficult to estimate when a table would realistically open up. The second reason is that the window of time a restaurant over here is open for lunch is, on average, much more limited. In the Bay Area, I can basically go to a restaurant anytime between 11:30AM and their closing time (so at least 9 or 10ish) and get food. In Europe, at a lot of places at least, there is a window for lunch – and then they close for a while – and then a window for dinner, much like some fancier places are in the US. And with this in mind, she might just expect to have one seating for lunch and that’s it.

From Europe 2009 Day 5

This doesn’t hold for every place in Europe but it’s something to keep in mind when you’re hungry! While you can always get a crepe and whatnot from a street vendor, a sit down place might be a bit different.

From Europe 2009 Day 5

Anyway, our lunch was quite delicious and I’m happy we got a seat! And, unlike much of France, the portion sizes were much more, shall we say, “American sized,” which, where my hot chocolate was concerned, was a welcome surprise!
After a satisfying German lunch we made our way further up the hill and saw the much more touristy Triberg. In some ways it’s great to take the train because as you walk up to that area, you can see the main drag where more of the locals eat and hang out.

From Europe 2009 Day 5

Once we got up there, cuckoo clocks were in plentiful supply. We went into quite a few shops and had the opportunity to see lots of different looking ones and have all the cuckoo clock mechanisms explained.

Eventually I saw, across the street, the Triberg museum and we settled on going there. But first, we thought it made sense to finish our walk up to the very top of the street - and good thing we did!

Near the top of the street (the “top” being where all the shops ends and it’s just road again) there’s a clock place that, right when we entered, we thought had much nicer clocks. It’s hard to say exactly why but basically the carvings seemed more detailed, the wood richer, and the place a bit less touristy (this one not having the 10% discount cards everywhere) and a little more special. I instantly had a flashback to the marionette shop Leslie and I found in Prague.

While the shop was mostly clocks and a few woodcarvings, they had one small display of exceptionally beautiful (and exceptionally pricey) steins. Chris instantly fell in love with one of them. After gazing at it for a bit, we walked through to look at the rest of the clocks.

Before we even came to Triberg I knew I wanted a clock and I imagined I wanted a medium sized clock with a few little people carvings on it doing something cute when the hour hit. You know, something like this. But, as we got to the very last room, I came across a very simple clock that just, for whatever reason, really stuck out to me.

As I was staring at it Chris whispered “oh my god, look at this!” and I turned around to see the absolutely most awesome and unique gnome clocks! They were so amazingly awesome and magical! And so, I looked back and forth between my small dark traditional clock on one wall and a collection of not very “cuckoo clock” gnome cuckoo clocks on the other.

From Europe 2009 Day 5

Not wanting to buy anything yet, we decided to head to the museum. It was fantastic! When we first walked in we thought it was just this first room but it turned out to be pretty big! And, thanks to some English pamphlets, we learned a lot about the clock and automated musical instrument traditions that run deep in Triberg.

From Europe 2009 Day 5

From Europe 2009 Day 5

Speaking of the musical side of things, here is a video that Chris and I have watched about a million times. I’m not sure if it’s just hysterical to us or not but you’ve got to check out my face and body movements about 2/3 of the way through (~35 seconds). All I can say is, let your true colors shine through my friends.

After our mini education at the museum, we made our way to the Christmas market area. Triberg is different from the other places we went because you have to pay to get into that area. But, also unlike the other markets we’d been to, admission also included watching all the locals do little performances and access to the waterfall and a little light show they were doing over by it.

From Europe 2009 Day 5

The market here was totally adorable and much more like what I hoped for! Instead of a zillion cheapy things for sale, there were little stands spread out up the trail and each one was super cute and lovely. And, with all the lights and the gorgeous waterfall, it was perfect.

From Europe 2009 Day 5

From Europe 2009 Day 5

Down near the base of it they had a log fire going and a sign that for one euro you could get a stick and, I thought, roast some marshmellows. Thinking that sounded like the perfect thing to do, we went over. Well, right as they got me my stick, opened a tub and pulled out a white substance that didn’t seem very marshmellow-y, I realized that something got lost in translation. Upon inspection we realized it wasn’t marshmellow but pretzel bread! You got to roast up your own little pretzel tube!
Lacking the correct skills and required patience, my pretzel tube ended up being an interesting combination of burnt (having caught on fire more than a few times) and chewy-gooey (I don’t think the catching on fire bit is particularly conducive to a thorough cooking) but I split it with Chris and we were happy nonetheless!

From Europe 2009 Day 5

After that we speedily made our way back up the hill to our favorite cuckoo clock shop and at the final hour, too – they were just about to close for the night!

The owner, Oli, happened to be around and he spent a bunch of time talking about both the stein Chris was really interested in and then even more time talking about cuckoo clocks in Triberg and how his were made – even a few stories about the gnome ones!

After much internal debate I settled on the smaller, and much much cheaper (though still pricey) cuckoo clock I originally liked. While the gnome ones were seriously awesome (and I’d still love one!) the price was just way out of my league and, when I thought about it, am I really going to potentially pack up a clock that big and nail it to my dorm at law school? The smaller one would be much easier to transport and much more dorm-room sized. And, all in all, much more cuckoo clock-y.
Chris also ended up getting his beloved stein and I’m happy he did – the thing is gorgeous and I look forward to stealing it and filling it with hot chocolate with whipped cream in the morning and Lambacs at night! Perhaps after I pass out from the sugar overload he’ll get a chance to use it himself.

On our way out Chris asked Oli for his recommendation on the best place to get black forest cake in Triberg and, who would have guessed, he recommended the very place from which I got my lovely piggie that same day.

In a merry mood, Chris and I quickly made our way back down there only to find that the place had closed! I was upset (also upset I wouldn’t be able to buy another marzipan pig!) but decided to go back up the hill to the more touristy place with black forest cake. So, for dinner we had dessert (black forest cake and an apple stredel with ice cream) and beer. Well, I got ½ beer ½ sprite and Chris experimented with Radler, which he discovered, is way way way too sweet for his liking. In reality it practically tastes like sprite and beer before you add the sprite in!

From Europe 2009 Day 5

From Europe 2009 Day 5

From Europe 2009 Day 5

After our perfect dinner we made our way back to the train and smoothly back to Strasburg. All in all a great day and everything I could have hoped for from Triberg!

From Europe 2009 Day 5

Germany, I miss you and your food already! We will be back! (Perhaps just not in winter…)
Oh and here are our purchases!

From Europe 2009 Day 5

From Europe 2009 Day 5

From Europe 2009 Day 5