We were disappointed that Tadej Pogacar crashed out of the Vuelta a España and will be unable to defend his world title, but there will be plenty of stars on hand. Plenty has been said about the chances of Remco Evenapoel, Wout van Aert and even Isaac del Toro, but why has Mathieu van der Poel talk been practically non-existant?
As if the Dutch superstar had also noticed, he went off on a 174 kilometer SOLO breakaway during today's final stage of the Tour of Luxembourg and won! I don't know what everybody else has been watching this season, but the last thing anyone should do is count out MvdP in a one-day race! Our stay in "La Métropole" will include some rides, as the provincial hub has a very bike-friendly reputation, and we even plan to do a lap or two around the Gilles Villeneuve F1 racing circuit, which is open to cyclist most of the year. We also plan to absorb the French-Canadian culture by taking in a museum or two, experiencing a (French-spoken) mass at the Notre-Dame Basilica (attending the service avoids the entrance fee!) and having a meal at the humourously-named,"Poutineville"! I was also hoping to attend a Canadiens hockey game, but tickets are stupidly expensive, even for a preseason matchup. I found out that the matchup on the schedule is actually a "split squad" contest, with half (which half?) of the team playing in Ottawa! Uh...pass.
We'll move onto Quebec City, which I have been looking forward to visiting for a while. The old part of the city is split by a cliff into lower (Baisse-ville) and higher (Haute-ville) levels, connected by a staircase and the Funiculare (inclined railway). From what I've seen over the years on TV, etc., Quebec seems like the closest thing to being in Europe, without having to leave North America! You know cheapskates like us will be avoiding the tourist traps, but there are plenty of sites to see, even from a distance, like Montmorency Falls, the Citadelle and the Hotel Frontenac.
On the way back towards Pennsylvania, we'll have a bit more rural accommodations on Grand Island, Vermont, where we'll be able to ride the 13.4-mile Island Line Trail, which includes the spectacular Lake Champlain Causeway. There is a actually a 200-foot gap in the causeway, known as "The Cut", that requires a bike ferry!
Our trip will wrap up with an overnight stay with my cousin Sharon in Portland, Connecticut, which is about 15 miles south of Hartford. My aunt and uncle recently moved close by, and I haven't seen all of them since 2021, so it will be a great Larimer mini-reunion.
Before starting to pack up for the trip I was able to finish half of a long-term project that I started early this summer. It mostly involved swapping out parts from two of my friend Brendan's bicycles. One was a 1991 Bianchi Proto, constructed of Columbus Max tubing, and I'll get to that one at a later date. The other was a 1990 Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra in 7-Eleven team colors, and I'm a bit jealous of its beautiful condition, since the one I picked up last summer is requiring some repair/repaint.
Brendan had asked me to swap the mixed Campagnolo group from the the Merckx with the Shimano Dura-Ace that came on the Bianchi. He then decided to look for some delta brakes and a C-Record rear derailleur for the Proto rebuild, so that build has come along more slowly, but here are some photos of the Corsa Extra:
