Nulstil søgning
Jim CochranJim Cochran
Rediger rute
Jim Cochran

Jim Cochran

📍 Tyskland Læs mere🇺🇸Iowa City
FølgBeskedStatistikker
    • Europe 🚴🚴‍♀️ 2024
      11

      🇪🇸🇫🇷Some Various Churches🇮🇹🇨🇭

      20. september 2024, Frankrig ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

      We never get tired of seeing the beautiful churches of Europe. 😀

      Se oversættelse
    • Europe 🚴🚴‍♀️ 2024

      🇫🇷☀️Corrèze & Dordogne Districts ☀️🇫🇷

      19. september 2024, Frankrig ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      5:51 / 71 miles / 4,352 Riding 70 miles through the scenic Corrèze district of France is an unforgettable experience. The day began with mist rising from the hills, and as we pedaled through the rolling countryside, we passed charming stone villages, thick forests, and quiet, winding rivers. The terrain was a mix of gentle inclines and exhilarating descents, offering stunning views of the green valleys below. Small roads led us past fields of sunflowers and cows grazing peacefully. We stopped at local bakeries and cafés along the way, refueling with fresh croissants and strong coffee. As the miles passed, the challenge of the ride became more rewarding, with each hill climb revealing a new breathtaking vista. The tranquility of the countryside, with its old stone cottages and medieval churches, made the journey feel like a step back in time. By the time we arrived in Lalinde, in the Dordogne region, we were tired but satisfied. Our Airbnb, a cozy, rustic home, was a perfect retreat for the evening. We topped off the day with a well-earned pizza dinner, savoring the simple joy of good food after a long, beautiful ride. It was the perfect end to a day spent exploring the picturesque French countryside on two wheels.Læs mere

      Se oversættelse
    • Europe 🚴🚴‍♀️ 2024

      😀🚴🇫🇷Finally Some Warmth!🇫🇷🚴☀️

      18. september 2024, Frankrig ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      6:21 / 78 miles / 6,600 ft. This was one of our longer days in mileage, and also one of our tougher days of climbing. The sunshine and warmer weather, along with the beautiful scenery of the Cantal District would help the miles go by quickly. After nine days in legwarmers, I finally took them off because the temperature is warm enough! The Cantal area of France is absolutely fantastic. “The Cantal district of France is a hidden gem, boasting stunning volcanic landscapes, rolling green hills, and charming medieval villages. Its serene valleys, craggy peaks, and tranquil lakes create a captivating blend of rugged beauty and pastoral tranquility, perfect for nature lovers seeking unspoiled, picturesque scenery. The cows of Cantal, primarily of the Salers breed, are renowned for their rich milk, which is essential for producing the famous Cantal cheese. With their striking mahogany coats and sweeping horns, they graze the lush volcanic pastures of the region. Their hardy nature and deep connection to the land reflect Cantal's agricultural heritage.”(Thanks ChatGPT) We got to our airbnb about 5:30 PM, and I took a quick dip in the saltwater swimming pool as Lisa watched me with goosebumps. Our Airbnb was a cute little renovated stone cottage. We had a microwavable lasagna, some other cheeses, olives, and bread. For dessert, we devoured a large chocolate bar. Tomorrow will be another long day of about 70 miles, but the weather is predicted to be very nice.Læs mere

      Se oversættelse
    • Europe 🚴🚴‍♀️ 2024

      🇧🇪 Hugo 🇫🇷 Les Fadas de Puy Mary

      17. september 2024, Frankrig ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      Hugo! Passion, kindness, generosity, love, enthusiasm, friendship, sharing, friend, and love of cycling only begin to explain this expat Belgian living in the Cantal district of France. Hugo fell in love with the Cantal area years ago,and with the beautiful scenery, kind people, and awesome cycling we could easily see why this was his choice for retirement. He has become the organizer of a cycling challenge (not a race!) called the “Les Fadas de Puy Mary” (the fools of the Puy Mary) http://lesfadasdupuymary.eu/html/English/LinksE… it is a challenge to do some of the steep passes (Cols) of the area near Saignes, FR. I highly recommend if you are one of our Warmshower hosts in France. You look this up and try the challenge! I want to remember everything about our experience with Hugo. He is so passionate about his fountain pen writing, his history in the sport of cycling, promoting cycling touring, and sharing his passion for life… oh yeah, he has a shoe invention he is trying to develop, but I have to keep this top-secret. We had an awesome dinner while listening to music. Green soup and the famous dish from the Cantal area called “aligot,” I dare you to look it up and try to make it. It was absolutely delicious mashed potatoes mixed with some special cheese. We had to cut it to eat it! The night was topped off in our own private bedroom with a private bathroom for us with snoopy pillowcases. Ha ha ha! In the morning, we shared more stories, ate bread on our Cantal placemats, and enjoyed some delicious coffee. After breakfast, Hugo led us out of the village along our path toward Jugeals-Nazareth, FR (our next Airbnb.) There are definitely more stories to come about Hugo and we hope to visit him again someday soon! 😀❤️Læs mere

      Se oversættelse
    • Europe 🚴🚴‍♀️ 2024
      1

      🇫🇷🚴🥶Cold➡️Climbs➡️Cantal 🥶🚴‍♀️🇫🇷

      17. september 2024, Frankrig ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      5:25 / 64 miles / 6,542 ft. Saignes, France (The Cantal District) The 9th day of cold, mist, fog, and not the stunning blue skies we were expecting for September in France. Left our Warmshower host at about 9 AM. We knew we had a tough day ahead of us and the cold and misty weather was not going to make it any easier.
      A traditional breakfast of toast and various spreads along with a bowl of coffee to dip it in, got a little warmth in our bellies before we left. Right out of the driveway without any warm-up, we had a 9.6 mile climb of an average gradient of 5.4%. At least finishing this climb would knock off about 1/3 of our climbing for the day. We battled with staying warm, and not getting too sweaty. At one time I was wearing six layers of clothing as we were coming down from the pass and I could still feel the cold air cutting through them. Again, we took refuge in a cathedral from the elements, as we ate a couple of bananas and sipped on a Coke. This was to be one of our more beautiful days as far as scenery goes, but the foggy weather blocked out the stunning views we were hoping for. We did not see the Puy de Mary (an inactive volcano) today, which is the highest point in the Cantal district. Although we did not have the stunning views of the mountains and valleys, we still enjoyed the historical churches, the stone houses, and the fresh air of the mountains. The romanesque basilica of Orcival was amazing, and we chatted with another bicycle tourist as we enjoyed the historical village. With all of the difficult riding, we were worried that we would not make it to our Warmshower host before 7 PM. Luckily, we had tailwinds that pushed us along and we reached Saignes, FR at about 5:15 PM. We found a place near the center of the village next to the centrally located church and had a beer. We reached out to Hugo, our Warmshower host, and within one minute he was joining us. We had an absolutely wonderful night at Hugo’s house. See the post titled “Hugo.”      Læs mere

      Se oversættelse
    • Europe 🚴🚴‍♀️ 2024

      Signs near Signes, FR

      16. september 2024, Frankrig ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

      I decided to show a few pictures of some signs that we see frequently, or ones that we like. I’m a little bit behind on posting about our days, but going to try to catch up tonight.

      Se oversættelse
    • Europe 🚴🚴‍♀️ 2024
      1

      Ruins and Clermont-Ferrand

      16. september 2024, Frankrig ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

      4:57 / 53 miles / 4,300 ft. Off to Clermont-Ferrand ( pop. ~150,000 ) This is one city that we could name all along our trip that people would recognize .We were excited to reach the city as we always are, but then the craziness of rush-hour and road construction made us wish for the countryside again. We did find our way to the center of the city near the Cathedral, which was built with lava rock, so it has a black dirty limestone look. Again, the weather was not cooperative and we have been using most of our cold weather cycling gear. We try to snap pictures when the sky is blue, although we are often shivering to keep our bodies warm. We did find our way to Château de Mauzun, we took a nice hike together and enjoyed the view of the valley through the archway of the ruins. These are some of our favorite times. We enjoyed the small alleyways of Billom, FR, and again enjoyed the evening again with our Warmshower hosts Florence and Pierre. We had lesson on cheese, and home a cooked dinner. Florence and Pierre did a very long bicycle trip with their three boys many years ago in South America and Florence wrote a very nice book about the adventure. Another highlight of the day was when Lisa got on the wheel of a SDWorks pro rider, and stay with her until the top of the climb! 😀🚴‍♀️⛰️Læs mere

      Se oversættelse
    • Europe 🚴🚴‍♀️ 2024

      Some Various Crosses

      16. september 2024, Frankrig ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

      I think we pass 100 or more crosses a day.

      Se oversættelse
    • Europe 🚴🚴‍♀️ 2024
      1

      Praline Brioche and Cols

      15. september 2024, Frankrig ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

      4:10 / 44 miles / 4882ft. Pailhat, FR Our string of Warmshower hosts continues to be awesome. Tonight we found ourselves in a little French village named Pailhat ( pop. ~35) For the seventh day in a row the winds have not been the most favorable and have chilled our bones as they have come out the north. We cherish the moments of sunshine and keep saying, “at least it is not raining.” I never thought I would be wearing my arm warmers and every layer of cycling Gear, I brought with me, including my windproof shoe covers and my winter cap. My thin wool gloves have almost not been enough warmth many times. Leaving Veauche we had about 15 miles of flat riding and the a 12 mile climb of 4.4%. Reaching Montbrison we found the Pralus Pâtisserie Chocolaterie and bought their specialty a sweet praline brioche. We found a nice place in the sun to eat half of it, and as we sat enjoying the treat many sports cars were flexing their muscles on the many drag in front of us. We realized there was a sports car show going on and decided to wait until 1pm to ride and avoid the craziness on the roads. Lisa went back to the bakery to get another brioche for our evening’s WS host family. We continued climbing and found the ruins that are being somewhat restored of a church built around 1079. We crested two different passes, had a long descent, and one more tough climb of about 2 miles to Pailhat. During one of climbs today I saw 25% gradient on my Garmin! We were Yann and Claire’s first WS guests. They were great hosts. We got a tour of their late 1800’s restored farm house. Ate cheesy potatoes (best I’ve ever had), bread, fruit, salad, cold meats, a cheese plate of about 6-7 different varieties, homemade desserts, a liquor Yann made, and lemon balm tea and honey from their garden. Their children Ronan (13) & Eulalie (10) helped host and it was fun chatting with them and trying to get them to practice the English they had studied. Another nice night and got to bed about 10:30pm.Læs mere

      Se oversættelse
    • Europe 🚴🚴‍♀️ 2024
      1

      🇫🇷🌉Crossing The Rhône🚴‍♀️🚴🇫🇷

      14. september 2024, Frankrig ⋅ 🌬 16 °C

      5:18 / 53 miles / 5,354 ft. Veauche, FR. The day ended perfectly with an awesome meal of cheesy rice with chicken and veggies, a cheese sampling, and a gooey personal chocolate cake. Jeff, Séverine, and their kids Tom and Lou were amazing hosts. Tom. Greeted us outside the Optic2000 shop were he is an optician and immediately we were welcomed into his home which was behind the business. We had a private room and our own bathroom and shower, laundry, and we sat sharing stories of travel, raising children, education, and a bit of politics until almost 11:30 pm. 😴 The riding to Veauche, FR was not the easiest. We have heard numerous times, “The weather is never like this.” It was cold again and a lot of north wind which caused us to pedal even on the downhills. Marie-Perrie and Yves provided us a breakfast of breads, coffee, yogurt, and fruit. Then at about 9:25 AM Marie-Pierre led us about 6 miles out of La Verpillière. Chilly Saturday morning riding with low traffic led us to a small village where we found a nice sunny spot out of the wind for a break. we each had two granola bars, and we’re about ready to get back on the road when a man on a mountain bike approached us. He was on holiday from Holland, and his wife also joined us in the town center. We chatted with Ard and Miriam for about one hour as Ard treated us to a coffee. They are a super couple and we hope someday we can visit them north of Amsterdam. We crossed one of Francis major rivers, the Rhône River, in Givors about noon. The Rhône flows from the Alps in Switzerland through Lake Geneva, and then through Southeastern France into Mediterranean sea. In was still cold and windy, but the sunshine was great! Once again, long climbs, led to beautiful views over the valleys. On one of the longer climbs we joined a French junior cycling club as they were having a training day. We joined in the fun and I chased some of the coaches and enjoyed the challenge of racing to the top. This definitely helped us knock off one of our harder climbs with the bit of speed and fun. About 2 miles outside of Veauche we found a nice spot in a farm field entrance to take a break and have a snack. This is one of our favorite times of the day when we know we will make it to our destination on time and we still have a little time to relax and enjoy time together. ❤️Læs mere

      Se oversættelse

    Få din egen rejseprofil

    Gratis

    QR code

    FindPenguins til iOSFindPenguins til Android

    • 2025© FindPenguins
    • Hjem
    • Om os
    • Gruppesporing
    • Presse
    • Betingelser
    • Privatliv & Cookies
    • Hjælpecenter
    • Aftryk