No wifi in alpine huts

Sorry I didn't relise how long it's been. After lyon I did make it ti chamonix. Chamonix is amazing! It is right at the base of mont blanc ( not the pens) and is a mecca for all things mountain. It was very clowdey the day I was their so I didn't see all of it beauty but what I did see was amazing! I started walking the haute rute their. It's along trek through the alps from chamonix to Zermatt. The guide book I have recommends that you take at least two weeks to do it so I'm trying to do it in a week. So far I have done pretty good about doubling up the days. The weather hasn't been very good so that makes it hard. We even got snow the last two nights. I have stayed in a bed and breakfast, 2 hostels and 2 alpine huts. I have taken three gondola rides and a ski lift ride to help out with some of the walking. I have seen lots of cows with huge bells around their necks. They all sound different it's almost like wind chimes. I have also seen sheep, goats, donkeys, horses, marmots, ibex, and a tinny snake. The wild flowers are out of this world. When the clowdes do break long enogh to see the mountains their very inspiring. I want to climb them all!
I am not a writer ( if you have been fallowing my blog you know that) I am not a photographer ( I have taken alot of pictours!) I'm not an artist ( I have drawn some thing) and if I was any one of theis things I still could not share with you the experience that I'm haveing. You can't writ about every warm hellos you receive or the sounds you here the smells you smell. I can't take a pictior of every flower every butterfly every glacier every waterfall. Everything is Pictor worthy! And I shire can't draw wat I see. What I feel and how it changes me. I can't wait to share what I can with everyone but even if you can't afford it (like me) just come do it come see it travel! Ta ta travelers.

Back to lyon

Today we rode about 40 miles down to the time trial and watched almost all the pros race by us at incredible speeds. I am really excited about the stages we got to see. I got to see the tour go into Italy for the first time in like 80 years. I got to see the stage where Andy and his brother frank moved into the 1-2 position overall. And then watch Andy lose the yellow less than 24 hrs later to Evens. I really enjoyed the people in my group and the tour guides. If you ever want to take a bike vacation look at adventure travel group. They have been great. I plan to say one more day in Lyon. Everyone else is leaving tomorrow. I need to mail some things off, do laundry, make some plans and update the best I can. I think I'm headed to chamonix to do the haus route. A hut hiking trail through Switzerland. So I won't be able to do any of those things for a while.
Later lions

Dutch corner

Today I had the chance to see the tour de France live again. I started the day by riding the alpe d'hues again. This time was much slower because of all the other bikers, fans, cars and campers. After getting to the top I rode most of the way back down to Dutch corner. The Dutch are huge cycling fans and they have claimed the alpe d'hues as their own. Their is one corner that is just packed full of people dressed in orange singing, chanting, dancing, and drinking. It's probably the craziest most populated part of the whole tour. That's where I stoped to watch the tour. It was very fun and exciting. The riders have to part a sea of orange and I was standing right their taking pictures as the flew past. Getting back down had potential to be bad but everything worked out great. I had a really good day. I was nervous about all the riding. I decided that I would never do the maximum riding option because I didn't want to kill my self. Now it basically over and I can't believe it. I have really enjoyed this trip and I can recommend everyone take a bikeing tour and visit the alps because my pictours and discription will never do it justice! I love this place. Bye bye

another country!!!

I am still traveling with adventure travel group. They are the group that I'm riding and watching the tour de France with. We are staying in a cool little dutch run hotel right in the middle of the alps. It is beautiful beyond description! I really love the alps and I would love to be able to come back and ski here. I am really looking forward to being able to hike through the alps in Switzerland.
Yesterday we had our first chance to see the tour live. We got a ride in the tour van up a pretty big climb before we started ridding we rode about  25 miles before the French police started to give us a hard time. They where trying to reduce some of the traffic before the tour came through. They made everyone get off their bikes and they did not w2ant anyone passing through, but I needed another country! Me and another guy from the travel group where able to sneak to this tunnel that came out it Italy. The Italian police didn't want us to leave after we got their. We took some pic's of the Italian flag, signs, and police men, then we hung out and waited for the tour. about an hour before the riders come through their is a big caravan of sponsor cars that come through. They look so crazy their like parade floats that are molded out of plastic, so the car looks like a smurf or a tire or a pair of sunglasses, watch, bike bread pedaler, etc. they all have people who are hanging out the back and had on a harness throuhing junk out the back. Its Crazy!! Then the riders came through and the where flying! we where standing really close and they where just a blur when they passed. When the Italian police finally let us ride back into France Their was a lot of traffic on the road and we ended up weaving in and out of moterhomes all the way down the mountain. The ride back to our hotel was about 50 miles. Their was a pretty good climb in their to. (the same climb the tour did today) We meet up with everyone and got back to dinner as fast as possible. We sat down and ate in our bike outfits. It was a very long day. Every day the rider from our group with the yellow jersey passes it on to another person. They gave it to me yesterday for being a quiet profesinal (?) I felt honored. I feel like I have been riding pretty hard espescialy for not training, but I definetly think their are other guys who are riding very strong as well.
Today we had the option to ride back up to where the tour was coming through. Their where going to be more people and more traffic. We just did the ride yesterday, so it wasnt sounding like much of an option for me so I decided to take another recamended ride. One that the tour organized recamended as the most beautiful around. It was stunning! I rode with to other people from the group and we couldn't go very far at all with out stopping to take a pic of another waterfall, or mountain or wildflowers or something else beautiful! I really am so lucky to have the opportunity to see the things I saw today! I took so many pictours that my battery died not that it matters because they could never do it justice. I love the Alps.Later gators.

The alps

The alps are so beautiful! I have said that I liked Spain and even Paris because you have to say that to be nice but nothing is like the alps.
Yesterday we rode 60 miles with 7,100' of elevation gain. We do two passes that yo will see in the tour sometime between the 21-23. They are col du telegraphe and col du galibier. It rained on us the entire time. Vegas doesn't have much to offer for cold or wet weather cycling so I really wasn't prepared. I got soaked but I stayed warm and was smiling ear to ear when I finaly got to the top. Today we are driveing to a diffrent spot. Maybe their I'll have more time for updates. If you fallow adventure travel group on facebook they are posting Pic of our rides. C ya cyclist

paris

I have added some pictors and I think I have it figured out so I can add more. I am nervous about starting my tour de france  ride in the morning, and I'm tiried from a very long eventful day in Lyon but I never updated about Paris so I will do that very quick. I saw most of the Bastille day parade before my battery in my camera died (the French military where funny hats). I felt like their was still a lot to see so I left I bought a new battery and headed to noter dame. It was really cool. You can climb up to the top of the towers for a great view of the city but it cost money and their was a long line so, I jumped on a boat a did a tour by boat of the city before geting denied at the effile tower. Because it was Bastile day no one could go up because thewy where haveing a big concert right under the tower. I was takeing some fun pictors and meet some couch surfers who where in Paris on theirr honeymoon from Poland. They where really nice and I hung out with them for a bit I even met their host. I really like couch surfing its such a cool community. I let with out even saying good buy to make it back to dinner with Richard. Richard took me to a outdoor street corner Paris cafe for a great dinner, and even better desert. We had a great conversation and he was so nice. He would not let me pay eventhough I was allready staying in his house he spoiled me with a very nice expensive paris dinner. They where haveing fireworks at the Effie tower which would of been awesome to see but I was pooped and looking forward to an erarly morning travel and long day of exploring so I packed it in. I really enjoyed my short stay in Paris and im trying to make it back towards the end of my trip. Farewell followers.

Im alive

 The bay where I camped for three days

 Sunrise from my tents hidden location

 View from my hotel room baloney in Mallora

 The bells of Mallorca. You could here and see sheep under all the trees in the fields. And another sunrise shot. the photo just cuts off one of the caves I was climbing in.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Im in the airport in Palma de Mallorca for just a min before I fly to Barcelona to catch a train to Pamplona to start the san fermins. The festival of the running of the bulls. I have not been able to up date because I have been camping on the beach here. From a climbers stand point Mallorca is famous for its deep water soloing. (climbing over the ocean so if or when you fall you fall into the ocean) So thats what IO have been doing all week. The Climbing is amazing !! I cant upload a pic now but that wouldnt do it justice any way. Its really cool lots of need limesone. Update again soon buy guys

Lyon

So I have made it out of Paris and down to Leon. I spent the morning walking all around the city. Its a very cool city and I am staying with a host from couchsurfing.com who has hosted 17 couch surfers so she has had the chance to show a lot of people around. We even took some rental bikes for a quick ride. Rental bikes are cool. They are locked up at bike stands all over the city. You put a credit card into a machine for a deposit then a small fee and its yours for as long as you want you can return it to any rental stand, theyre all over and pick up a new bike from whereever. Their very sturdy kind of beach cruser/comuter bike style with a basket and a bell. We are going to take them out again this afternoon. Its all prep for starting my tour de france ride tomorrow. I realy feel like I have been off my bike for to long. Ill see how it goes tomorrow.
I just got back from another rental bike ride I really like riding those bikes. I get to ride them instead of feeling like I have to ride my road bike. It's relaxing and fun. Riding next to the river at sun down with the lights coming on and reflecting off the river was something else. I have really enjoyed my whirl wind tour of Lyon. Rideing the rental bikes really sticks out. Riding through a central park type park with a zoo that we also rode through. And riding down the river at sunset. Wow! very beautiful city> I had a great host who made really good food for us so I haven't had to by a bit. The world definetly has some friendly generous people in it. C-ya CS ( thats couch surfer)

wee wee

Hey I'm speaking French I'm not being dirty.
Leavening Pamplona yesterday the train went through the Pyrenees mountains on the way to Vitoria ( I think those where the Pyrenees)  The mountains where really lush with some small mountain farming communities and the bottom and beautiful limestone cliff above. It started to rain in the mountains and fallowed us all the way into Vitoria. The rain was keeping everyone trapped in a small train station. My five hour layover was starting to look really long, when the rain stopped. I ran out...
 as much as I can run with a 50lb pound pack on my back and a 30lb pack on my front. I brought to much stuff and I'm trying every chance I get to slim down. I gave away my tent to a kid headed to Pamplona in the rain with nowhere to sleep.After I ride the tour DE France and maybe do some climbing in the Alps I hope to be able to fit everything into my day pack. It would be so much better than traveling around with this much junk.
Anyway I ran out to the movies. about two and a half hour before I caught my almost midnight train to Paris I watched midnight in Paris. Crazy right. Then I finally bored the train just before midnight. It wasn't bad I slepet in a reclining chair with a foot rest kind of like a lazy boys. With a chair like that some ear plugs and the eye covers I slept like a baby, Until I got to country number 2. I was able to make the two subway transfer in Paris fine it was the walking I screwed up. I over shot the apartment by almost a mile, with my heavy pack. ( quick recap of the last two days travel: I took a mid rage bus a short range bus a cab mid range train over night train two subways and lots of walking.) So even though I over shot the apartment by a ways I had plenty of time to kill making it right. I got to Paris about 9:30 and I couldn't put down my pack until 5
This is did give me some time to work on my photo assignment. I'm trying to take photos of interesting doors and bikes and Europe especially Paris (so far) has a lot of both.
I also am already way more impressed with the food in France than I was in Spain. You can even smell it here. I just ate at a place like Chiles but I also had a creme bile and an eclair. French desserts rule! well I'm in and showered and its time to go see Paris at nite. so Bonjour bloggers ( thats hello but its the most creative French thing I could think of)

The time has come

I can't believe my time in Spain is almost over. I go back to Pamplona in the morning to catch a train to Paris. I have really liked Spain but not for why I thought I would like it. The people arent as friendly as I expected but they are beautiful. The two meals I paid alot for where delishius, but the food in general was ok( I didn't lose any weight or go hungry) it's not as green as I thought but the water was bluer than I would have imagined. Traveling itself has been good. I have made some mistakes and I brought way to much. I try to slim down every chance I get. Theis to much to go through again but I haven't talked about smells, and sounds.

Smells. The food doesn't have much, alot of sandwiches and other things without much smell. The people don't stink. Really not even on hot days in tight spaces or after partying for days on end. I meen theis is some bo now nad then but for the most parttheir good. They did pretty good with public tolietes but their are to many people and to much drinking for their to not be some public urinating. But they do a really good job of literally washing the streets down at least once a day. They pick up tons of trash. It's unbelievable the trash mounds that show up daily. In olite. I got some old stale air and pigeon poop smells in the castle and of corse some wine smell in the bodegas
Bells I guess is the sound that I have heard in all three city's. Bells around the sheaps necks that grazed around well spaced none discript trees in the rolling fields in Mallorca. The church bells in olite and the deep bong of the heavy bells around the bulls necks in Pamplona. I also really liked hearing the sound of the waves when I went to sleep on the beach in Mallorca and all the diffren languges I could hear their. The sounds of all the music and siging in pamploma and all the birds I could hear when I woke up to seer the sun rise implore. Any one of these places is worth the trip. I have really enjoyed Spain and I lookforward to comeing back and to moving forward into France. See ya señor!

Parador olite

Well I made it through another uneventful run with the bulls. Ha ha. No it's really nice knowing what's going on before it happens. I started a little farther into the corse hopeing that I would have more of a chance to run with them... It kind of worked. I was able to get a little closer even hit one with my newspaper. It was cool I also made it into the bullring. After the run they let out some vacas. I guess that's a female bull. Anyway their smaller and they put leather caps on their horns but thats where way more people get hurt. It was crazy in their so I jumped out after the third bull.
Then I started a long day of travel. I took the bus about 45 min northeast to a small town called olite. The problem was I was not the online trying to get out of Pamplona. It was hard to find a bus. But I did and I'm here. The parador in olite is a castle that they have turned into a hotel. Cool right. Well it's really cool and theirs another huge castle next to it that you can walk all through. It's beautiful. I think I have taken more pictures today than I have for the 9 days before this. It's relly cool. And I thought I wouldnt like the old tourist attractions. This town is do small, quiet and unpopulated compared to the last four days. It's weird to not see wall to wall people on every street. I didn't spend any money on food today before dinner but for dinner I splurged. I ate in the castle and they feed me like a king! Really good bread and cheese. Vegetables and lamb. I'm sure this is a sin in someone's books to be in such famous wine country and not be drinking it. The San ferries drink is coke and red wine. I missed out on that to. I plan to have lots of time tomorrow so I'll up date more then. Goodnight knights

look fast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNcl8LKxjTo at the 8sec mark I am on the far right in a red sweet shirt with my sash tied around my head

San Fermin

I guess I could of titled this up date "I'm alive" like I did the last one.
 The first day I got to Pamplona I missed the opening ceremonies just because I didn't plan right. The san fermin is a week long 24 hour a day festival here in Pamplona Spain. The running of the bulls is only a four to five min a day part of this festival. The first day I need to recover from my week in Mallorca so I watched the fireworks from the window of my hotel then went to bed . Because I missed all the nights activitys I decided to rest all day before going into town ( my hotel is about 3miles outside of town) and celibrateing the san fermin.That afternoon I eat and drink as much as I can including a red bull before leaveing the hotel at about 7. I brought white pants and a white shirt with me but I had to find the traditional red sash to tie around my waist and a red banddana for around my neck. I found them at a street vender just outside of the bull ring in the center of the city. So now I feel like I fit in ... kind of I'm sober and an american neither of which I'm finding very many of. I give up trying to find some one who I think that I would like to "party" with until 8 the next morning, but  Its cold here even before the sun goes down around 10:30, so I go looking for a sweet shirt.I didnt find a sweetshirt but I did find two brothwers from DC and New York who I end up hanging out all nite with. We ate from a street vender, walked around and talking until 10 when the toro de fuego runs the rute of tomorrows run. The toro de fuego is a guy with a bull costume over his back that runs around crazy on the bull rute with fire works shooting out of his back. Its something for the kids, but, these are'nt the safe legle kind either theses are like the  behind the counter indian reservaion fireworks the kind that would scare the kides in the states. (because their hair would be on fire).
Then at 11 when its finally darkish they set off a very impresive fireworks display. They have LOTS of fire works and their very progresive, they do all kinds of crazy stuff. They go on for a solid half hour.
At 1:30 we find a jazz conceret (hey I'm not alone. I dont't get to make all the decisions) Then we continue walking and talking dancing and singing and I finaly break down and get that sweet shirt.  7am finaly start to line up for the run. They bring out a saint and put the saint along the route light some candles and do a chant three times before the bulls are let out at 8. I am very close to where they come out and as soon as I see them I start to run like I have never run before. Their is some very good incentive behind me. Theses bulls are HUGE and I can see their eyes. I can smell them, Years, months weeks and today 12 hours of anticipation and it's finaly here. The six bulls are coming up the coblestone hill behind me. I cheek in front to make sure their are no people to trip over ( what Im really scared about)  and then look back to check the bulls again and.... their past  before my heart could really get going Im chasing the bulls instead of the other way around. Their really fast and the people do a better job of getting out of the way for them than they do for me. They continue to gain ground until in just before" dead mans corner" and the police are out on the corse stoping people from chasing them any more. I look around and see a guy being looked after behind the barieres they put up (I see after that the first two bulls trip him up and the others jump over him he is lucky....because he has a good story.) I also find the brothers just before I hear that now their are four steers coming. They are much slower and less agresive. I fallow next to the last one for the rest of the corse to the bullfighting areana. If you get their before the bulls you can go in with them but because the bull just beats me their I'm stoped by the police and I have to turn around. I go to meet at the bar we have set up to meet up at and they are allready playing todays run on the tv so surch for it I'm sure its out their. I dont know if you can see me or not but I'm very early on and I'm whering my sash around my head like rambo. Im strugaling to get pic up and with all my electronic skills ( I set a goal to take classes or practice until im better. Im strugguling with my cameras, with uploading photos and as you can tell with spell check) so ill get them up as soon as I can but until then... I cant wait to run tomorrow and be a little more a part of whats going on out  their Chaoo for now

I made it

The plane ride was very long but I slept for most of it so it didn't seem that bad. My hotel in Mallorca is a long way from the airport and cost 100$ taxi fair to get here but it's beautiful. I'm not sure I'm ready to leave to go camp but I'm very excited to climb. The food at the hotel last night was kind if blan but I think it was just the buffet style food. I haven't found free Internet except for a 15 min trial so that's all for now.