2 July, 2008: Comment di-ton "taper?"
Left Alicia at AMS this afternoon, with the sky darkening. A symbolic
downpour greeted me back at Amsterdam Centraal, and I was drenched by
the time I made it to the hostel and back to the train station with my
luggage. I've seen the last of soft comforts for a while; no more
mattresses and 10 AM wake-ups--from here until Paris it will be hard
roadsides and aches-and-pains sunrises.
At least Tom (who will be sharing a tent with me until the Stage 4 TT
and who just completed Ironman France) shaves his legs. And I also have
the next two days of croissant-loading to savor. But the thought struck
me yesterday at the Van Gogh museum--if Vincent had stuck around until
they invented the Tour de France, he could have kept his ear.
I've found another answer, besides "pain au chocolate" and "I love
cols", to the question of "Why are you doing this?"--
Because I don't know if I can. But I am rested, trained, tapered, and
looking forward to the attempt. 3 days!
