First 2 days (April 24-25)

First off I just want to let everyone know that I will (or will be trying to) update my blog every sunday from now on

So far the trip has been really awesome and exciting which says it alot since the weather hasnt been too great and my body is painfully getting used to the life on the road. The first day  was rainy, windy, and chilly and my bike didnt not want to bw friendly( poor gear shifting, chain cracking, and wobbly tire) I however managed to ride to neuchatel which was a very beautiful ride through the country  and along Lake Neuchatel. I got to castles, cool little towns, and  beautiful vineyards. When I arrived to Neuchatel and to my host’s apartment, I found myself to be unable to reach them ( no phone) and didn’t not know their last name so could not buzz the doorbell. So if you happened to be on that street  that night you might of seen a man wandering around with phone in air and begging people to let me use their phone( no one said yes!) Once I manage to get into the apartment the 3 girls( maroussia, Julie, and camille) were very nice to me and fed me and served me beer. The next day Maroussia gave me a quick tour of Neuchatel which is a  very beautiful town. I was supposed to bike 100km(60 miles) that day but I left late and had not expected the days ride to be so tough. I biked through the Jura mountains and that was a challenge. I mean I had(have) about 100 pounds of equipment in my bags which was like biking with your brakes on. I was surprised to find out that the Tour de Romandie( smaller version of Tour de France) was going on where I was biking. The Juras had cops everywhere, helicopters and all these cars doing publicity. My favorite part was when I was biking up to one of the checkpoints, a bunch of kids with Swiss flags ran along side me until I got to tthe checkpoint finish line. Now that was encouraging! It was also cool becausee I kept getting people saying that I was  a courageous one and “Alllez!Allez!” People had no idea that I’m actually planning on doing this long bike trip, but still they were giving me thumbs up and shaking my hand. Once I got out of there Juras I arrived in a town called Morteau.  I went into a small store to get an Ice tea and a map of france so that I could figure out how to get too my ddestination for the evening. I went outside and asked a lady who wwas getting into her car if she could show me the way. It was quite windy and she had to wrestle the map to the ground in order to read it. We figured it was 60 Km to besancon ( where I was supposed sleep that night) which was not good news considering that it was 7Pm already. She iisntead invited me to stay at her house with her family. When I got there wwe ate pasta and olives and drank beer. Her husband was really nice and opened  a bottle of  a late harvest dessert wine which he calls Vin Jaune. I think he had had it for awhile and had been waiting to open it.  Anyways we stayed up pretty late and talked about his life and my life. He was very happy and proud to tell me about his town and area and about how it had all the best things. He said the cheese, salumi, and beauty of the area were all that he needed. He was a very nice and cool guy and I was surprised by the generosity he and his family showed me . I slept good that night and the next morning Philippe  ( the husband) refilled my waters, gave me a gel cover for my seat( much appreciated) and a neon vest to make sure people could see me on the road. I hadn’t planned on staying in Morteau but it was a beautiful place and I hope to go back to visit.