Well, after surviving the first day of biking we slept quite well, although we did wake to pouring rain in the middle of the night. But the sun was shining when we went downstairs for breakfast and to hear our "route rap" for the day. Based on the info sheet that showed the elevations for each day, we knew that today's climbs were going to be similar to yesterdays, which didn't bode well for me. But, there is always the van! The normal route is 55k...

Our sleep last night was not great due to the street sounds below our room. People yelling, cars roaring past (even on the small one-lane street) and scooters all contributed to a less than sound sleeping environment. But, Tuscany was awaiting and we hauled ourselves out of bed and fixed bowls of cereal and yogurt, all provided for in our kitchen.   We had to meet our Backroads tour group at the rail station at 10am, where Eduardo ("call me Ed') was wait...

This morning was an early wake up call, as our train to Florence left Murren at 7:06am. The entire trip would take about 6.5 hours and consist of 5 trains and 1 gondola. On the first three legs Muren-Lauterbrannen-Interlaken, we were the only passengers so we could relax and not feel crowded. However, once we got to Interlaken, our quiet revere was over. From that point, the trains were packed!    We got our Interlaken-Spiez train with no issue and had...

Today dawned with the sounds of rain falling and loud trucks driving on the small slick road outside of our room. Not sure how the trucks get up here, and they aren't very big but they are definitely loud. We slept well, but were still a bit tired from our hiking the past two days.  Our legs were sore and walking down stairs took a significant effort, however if we were to get breakfast we had to brave them.   Since Kyle and Carl were leaving today fo...

With a little chemical assistance, we got a pretty good night's sleep. The first couple of days are dicey due to jet lag...going East just kicks my ass. Trying to sleep at 1030pm here when your body thinks it is 330pm, is not easy. So, for the first few nights I take sleeping pills, then I am good to go the rest of the trip. We went down to our complimentary breakfast in the hotel, which had wonderful meats, cheeses, croissants and yogurt. Paige was sc...