“It was so majestic, I wasn’t thinking of my legs. How beautiful is this?”
The cyclists reflect on their experiences during the second section of the Olive Route Cycling Tour from Milan, Italy to Bordeaux, France. Leaving behind Milan’s historic charms, the riders anticipate one of the tour’s biggest challenges, crossing the Alps from Italy into France. Despite their concerns, they discover that each rider moves at their own pace and has their own experiences and that the remarkable beauty of the mountains is a worthy reward for their efforts. They continue across France’s green fields and along its winding forest roads to Bordeaux where they raise a glass to toast the end of this scenic section.
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I’m a little bit nervous again about the mountains. You were terrified of the Alps. A little worried about the Alps, but we’ll see. I was really afraid that I wasn’t going to be able to cross the Alps on my own. I thought maybe, you know, it’s going to be too big of a day for me. I should probably take the bad. We had a great day actually. Everything looks so majestic. I was I I wasn’t even thinking of my legs. I was just looking around going, “Wow, how beautiful is this?” And that I think was my motivation to keep going just to see more. Sometimes it’s a little terrifying cuz you’re you’re going up this road and then you see up above there’s this ribbon of road going and you’re like, “Oh my god, they’re going to make me go up that.” Doing the ascent has its own rewards other than just the descent because you have time to see these views knowing that whatever photograph you take will never do it justice. Will never do it justice. One of the joys is you get to go your own speed. Go your own speed. Go. Don’t worry about missing out. Everybody’s ride is different. And somehow, whether it’s God or the ride or fate or kismmet, you get a different experience than almost everybody else. [Music] You You don’t know what you’re going to see. You don’t know what you’re going to experience, but you’re experiencing with all your senses. You’re always in the moment, and uh you just need to be open to whatever’s going to happen. Sometimes the route would just take this Alice in Wonderland, dive into these these little tunnels of green and canopied forest roads. You just felt like you were descending down past the mirror into this wonderland. Not having that physical barrier between you and the environment makes it so much more real and and tactile. [Music] Well, I was really excited to be in a chateau. It was really fun. It was kind of fairy talish like you know like uh this is what it’s like to live in a castle and sleep in a castle and cycling up the cypress lined driveway up to it and being able to see it from afar. That was that was great. And usually when we are ending the day and our hotel is on a hill, you’re like, “Oh no, why? Why does it have to be on a hill?” But this time when you saw the castle kind of up on the hill and the beautiful clouds beside it, you know, behind it, you were like, “Yes, that’s my place. I’m going up that hill right now. [Music] This tour has been fantastic. One of the best uh of 16 tours, and I’m just really enjoying it every day. It’s been fantastic. Cheers. [Applause]