This is the first ever Orient Express Bicycle Tour put
on by the same Organizers who brought us the Tour
d'Afrique
- the event our own Sudbury Rock!!, Martin Parnell, recently finished.
And another Rock!! has stepped up to this new challenge.
Yes Sheila Yaw-MacLean has jumped in with both feet
and a brand new Marinoni bicycle to take part in the 3690 km. tour
from Paris France to Istanbul Turkey. The event starts at the Arc
de Triomphe in Paris on July 31 and heads east through Germany, Austria,
Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and ending 56 days later on September
24 in Istanbul Turkey.
We will follow Sheila's progress through her update
e-mails. I will also pinpoint her latest known position on the attached
map.
Good luck Sheila!
Progress
Map
Photos
Thursday,
July 28
The Adventure
Begins
Today we escorted Sheila to the Sudbury Airport and
tentatively placed her bike bag on the counter scales. She was a little
nervous as it was way overweight. Not to worry - the bag passed with
flying colours and the only thing remaining were the farewells. Her
mom Jean and friends Albert, Brenda and Vince gave her last bits of
advice and hugs and wished her Bon Chance as she boarded the Dash
8 for the first leg of her trip to Paris and the start of the Orient
Express Bicycle Tour. The parting was emotional but still very exciting
as we watched the plane disappear in the southern horizon. She's really
on her way. Click here for parting photos.
Friday, July 29
"How Cool
Is This"
I made it!
Man Vince, it was very hard watching you and my Mom from the plane
window as
we took off from Sudbury. I had so many doubts, tears and fears. Those
tears turned into little bits of giggles en route to TO as the thought
of
what I'm about to do, I think, just sunk in. The plane rides were
uneventful. Left almost an hour late from Toronto but because of a
tail
wind we arrived on time. I thought they lost my bike. It didn't show
up on
the belt from the flight from Toronto with my suitcase, it was on
the belt
from a flight from Montreal. If Steve helped in getting my bike here,
give
him a big hug. I didn't see him at the airport so I assumed he was
taking
care of it. It made me feel better to think that way cause I felt
soo
alone. I called Trevor and talking to him did help a lot.
Anyway so far, so good. I splurged and took a taxi from the airport
to my
hotel. Lugging that big bag on a bus, as they suggested, would not
have
been fun. I rested for a few hours when I arrived then decided to
take a
walk to find out where the hotel that I meet up with the group is
located.
Once I found that hotel I checked to see if anyone had arrived that
was
registered for the tour. I talked to a guy from Arizona (Chuck) that
is
doing the tour to see if he wanted to come out to play but he wouldn't.
Claiming he's been up for 30 hours and needed to sleep. Hell...we
can sleep
in October. I've even ventured further and have taken the subway to
the
Efile Tower to check out a restaurant that Colin, Steph and Greg's
friend
recommend. How brave is that. I'm actually just down the street from
that
restaurant waiting for it to open for the evening. I had to stop at
a
little cafe first though for a shot of courage. I think I've only
had one
anxiety attack so far, which is good. It was like the 30km mark of
a
marathon where you think 'WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING HERE"???But
all is good
now.
So nothing much going on yet. Just that I made it okay and my bike
is with
me. I will keep you posted.
Oh yeah....when I arrived in Paris and finally got my bike a number
of
people made comment to me that The Tour De France was over and I missed
it
by almost a week.
Take Care
S
Monday, August 1
Tour Commencement and Paris to Troyes (MAP)
Hi Everyone
I'm using a French keyboard so if my spelling/typing is worse than
normal
it's because the keys are not in the same spot.
Where do I begin. We just finished Stage 2 of our journey, just like
the
Tour De France. We actually will be cycling part of the Tours route.
Anyway my second day in Paris before the tour started was spent checking
out
my bike, shopping for things to make the trip easier and meeting the
group.
It was a busy day. I had to change the tire on my bike even before
I
started cycling because I blew the valve while pumping it up. Also
my front
disk brake got slightly bent in transporting. Randy the bike repair
guy on
the tour fixed it, but thinks it should be replaced. He's looking
for one
for me.
Our group currently consists of 11 riders and four support. 5 Canadians
- 1
from Ontario (me) and 4 from Vancouver, 5 Americans and one from Geneva.
4
are women. Apparently at one section our numbers will increase to
20 as
people leave and more people join us.
Stage 1 of the Tour - July 31
The day started off bad as my roommate, Joy (young American girl)
and I
slept in. We were to have our stuff in the lobby of the hotel by 6am...we
didn't wake up till 6:10. Needless to say we had help carrying all
of our
stuff down. We left Paris around 8:15 did the touristy stops at Notre
Dame
Cathedral, Eiffel Tower and the Arc D'Triumphe (spelt wrong) but you
know
what I mean. I had visions of Lance cycling around as we approached
it.
After that we headed out of the City. The first day we biked 104km.
I
cycled with the woman from Geneva, very easy ride. The organization
of the
whole tour is great. They send us out in the morning with directions
to our
next destination. They meet us half way with lunch and when we arrive
at
our campsite they make us supper. I'm the only one that came prepared
with
my own wine glass. Go figure. First night in my tent was good. I only
had
to take it down once before I got it set up right. As it's Sunday
the
traffic wasn't too bad as we were cycling. Our final destination for
the
day was Provins, a beautiful medieval town. Big castle and beautiful
churches. Our campsite had wonderful hot showers.
Stage 2 - August 1
Up at 6am cycling by 8. 75kms to Troyes, France. I biked today with
Joy
and Lincoln (older guy from Vancouver). Our route was mostly side
roads
with wonderful rolling hills, farmlands with acres and acres of hemp
plants.
It was a great ride. We decided to cycle through since there were
very few
towns to explore and arrived here in Troyes at 1:30 stopping really
only for
lunch at the designated area. My tent is up and we've explored a bit.
Tonight apparently we're having curry for dinner.
Have to go. Group meeting every night is 5:45 and dinner will be
at 6.
I still can't believe I'm actually here and I'm loving every minute
of it.
Say hi to everyone. I have tears in my eyes when I write in my journal
as I
read everyone's comments. I miss everyone and wish you all could be
here.
S
