This is an ode to my captain. The person who has steered the tandem for close to 900 miles during these past 5 weeks. He is my hero, my protector, my nursemaid (all too often), my chef, my route maker and my copy editor!

Before we left on this trip we spent time looking at maps and old routes and trying to figure out where to rent villas and where to ride. In the last few weeks before our departure he worked on, and created many routes which had to be altered drastically after my injury. He suffered the disappointment that came with the realization that we would not be climbing Mt. Ventoux this trip. All of those plans for evening walks (and 20,000+ step days) – gone.

Each night he makes a route in Ride with GPS, checks Google satellite view to make sure that the roads are all paved, and then loads it into his GPS for tomorrow’s Garmin Adventure. Then he navigates us through all of the little villages.

Many have been crazy, narrow, confusing, and winding roads. Yes there is the occasional wrong turn followed by a backtrack or correction, but it’s all part of the adventure.

Let’s face it, my injury one day before we headed to Provence could have been catastrophic. Yes, we had trip insurance – but we had planned this trip for almost 4 years and the disappointment of canceling would have been unthinkable.

I am fully aware that I am not exactly the strongest climber when I am at 100%. For our first (at least) 3 weeks of cycling there wasn’t really much power coming from my injured right ankle. Roger just picked up the slack and never complained. We were both just happy to be riding at all.

So I raise a toast, and write a blog to a most understanding, kind and generous man that I am lucky enough to call husband, life parter and Captain!

The trip is all done, almost 6 weeks gone and 900 miles on the bike in the blink of an eye. Thanks for reading and sharing the adventure with us.