Today, Karel celebrates 50 years on Earth. Fifty years of cycling, training, racing and traveling. Of immigration struggles and eventually becoming a U.S. citizen. Of adopting animals and having to say goodbye to several of them. Of getting married (to me!). Of working his way through different jobs and industries, starting a small business, moving to a different country and then a different state. Fifty years of exploring, adventuring, failing, struggling, succeeding, taking risks, starting over, figuring things out—and experiencing all that life has thrown his way. Fifty years of his favorites: croissants, cats, ice cream, chocolate and coffee. Fifty years of becoming the person he is today. On Saturday afternoon, I surprised Karel. I don’t know how I got away with it but it was my 3rd time throwing him a surprise birthday party (I also surprised him on his 30th and 40th birthday). Knowing that Karel is not excited about turning 50, he thought that I “forgot” about his birthday. Litt...
My stats are in after 20 days in France: 761 miles 57 hours cycling 101,536 feet of elevation climbed 62 miles 29,869 yards One race 7 pizzas consumed A bazillion 4 rubs and scratches Too many to count Lots of hellos And most of all, a tremendous amount of gratitude for my body and mind for what it allowed me to do over the past three weeks. thank you body (and thank you Karel for your constant support and being open to my crazy plans and ideas). When I think back on our time in France, the main highlight was the cycling. The mountains. The long climbs. The little villages. The incredible views. The roads that seemed to go up forever. Some days we would leave our Airbnb on our bikes at 9am and not return until after 7pm. I loved those rides. Most of all, I loved the opportunity to live differently for a few weeks. One of the reasons I love international travel is that it teaches me about the world in ways that simply seeing pictures on the internet about another coun...