Summer break is a new experience for us (since this is Calico’s first year in school).

Generally, we like to travel for a month, but this is the first year we have done it over the summer in peak time. We spent July in Issigeac, France. It is a small medieval village in the Dordogne (see marker below of map).

We got a good deal on an Airbnb with a big discount since we stayed an entire month. It didn’t have AC, but it didn’t get too hot, and we had plenty of fans. The weather in France was remarkably cool, given the rest of Europe was under a massive heatwave.

Mom and Tony visited for over two weeks, which was amazing! We had a lot of fun :)

I turned 42 on July 20th, and it was terrific to have Lindsey, Calico, Mom, and Tony there. That is the first time in quite some time :). We ate Indian food in a nearby town. And, randomly, one of my favorite cousins was on a trip nearby, so we got to have lunch with him and his fantastic family toward the end of the trip.

I did one of these posts last year, and it is helpful to figure out how to train better for the next long ride.

For the Italian bike trip, I was better prepared than any previous ride and felt great.

How did I train for Italy?

• 12 weeks where I ramped up training over time. The last week I rested
• I did 93 hours of rides in that period.
• I did 37 2+ hour rides.
• I did 9 3+ hour rides.

How did I train for this ride in France?

• I did 12 weeks of training. I am going to rest the last 10 days (I might get one or two rides in).
• I did ~73 hours of rides in that period.
• I did 20 2+ hour rides.
• I did 13 3+ hour rides.

The first 4 weeks of training were a mess. I visited Nick in Cannes, and I didn’t bike. And then, my bike had some serious problems, and I was biking indoors while it was in the shop for a few more weeks. That all slowed down my total hours a bit.

The good news is that in that between June 19th to July 17th I got in thirteen 3+ hour rides and they all felt good. Plus, I got a lot more altitude in my rides since I am in rural France. I am hoping that translates into a good tour, we shall see:).

In April, Calico and I did a father/son bike weekend in Northern Portugal. We had a blast, and I wanted to plan out his first overnight bike tour while we were in France. We found a nearby converted rail trail called the Sarlat Voie Verte. It was perfect, as he is too young to deal with cars.

Day 1 – He covered 36km in ~ 2 hours 50 minutes. He even rode a few km on a pretty busy road with cars (I was nervous and took most of the lane so he would be safe). We stayed in a beautiful gite with a swimming pool, and he got to practice his swimming (doing great). And he made some British friends at the local town we walked to for dinner (they made plans to meet next year same town).

Day 2 – After we stopped at a bakery on the way out of town, we rode 21km in 1 hour 47 minutes. And met Lindsey at our pickup point :).