On the way home during my break-in ride, when I first met the group I bike with took me to the Sta. Rosa, Laguna, trails (break-in ride @ 70 kilometers round trip, mix of on-road and off-road riding!) my friend, DesertFox, who convinced me to start mountain biking shared who he looks up to when it came to cycling: Lance Armstrong. At the time the name’s familiar but I didn’t know anything about him. What made me also become curious and interested in him is the fact that he beat cancer. I have a personal vendetta against cancer because the f*cker took my mom away from me just this year…

Reading and watching videos I can find about Lance Armstrong made me admire him as a cyclist and as a person. I am also learning how the Tour de France works, arguably the most intense and punishing sporting competition in the world. As I learn and read about the places the Tour de France (TdF) go to I slowly feel the urge to visit these places build up in me.

Going there alone or with my 4WD and/or biking friends is a long shot. #1 choice of companion is (and should be) my wife, but I don’t think she’s as fascinated with the TdF places as I am so I had to learn more about France and find out other places that will interest her. I did a little searching and I found this blog/site that shows what the country is all about, aptly named Why Travel to France.

One of the things I like about that blog is it’s run by PT Ford, an “American Expat living, working and traveling in France.” As far as destination reviews go I’d rather stick with neutral sources as opposed to believing what the French Tourist Office says (hey, it’s their job to make France look like the best place on Earth!).

As such, I would have thoroughly checked out the insurance site (for the travel; when the time comes) PT recommended, Assurance vie. Problem is the site is in French and I still don’t know how to speak the language… aside from the words I sometimes say which are succeeded by, “Excuse my French…”

I guess you can also call it semi-good-timing, as the site for bed and breakfast also recommended by, Hotel Paris, is fully booked until November 2009. I mean this would give me time to save up for the trip.

Call me crazy but I want to bring, or rent, a bike when I do go to France and try out the stages of the Tour de France. But I would definitely try to contact the owner of this web photo album I found of the 24-Hour 4×4 de France race. If he’s cool enough he might tour us to the best 4×4 trails around France. Now that would be a treat!

To the TTG (Trails, Travels, and Gears) readers do you have any suggestions, recommendations, tips, warnings, etc., I should be aware of when traveling to France?