Post!

The helmet lets the natives know you “aren’t”, but when you crash you are safer! Unlike a comment from a Nederlander who told me that they don’t wear helmets because they ( the cyclists) know “how to ride safely”..;(

Kelly, I had read several articles about the ease of traveling with a folding bike. The biggest advantage was the ability to bag it and take it on any train, particularly the high-speed TGV. It's possible a recumbent with a coupler could fit into a bag that would fit. One spec I found for Thalys trains said “with your Thalys ticket, you can take your bike on board. It must be disassembled, including wheels, and stored in a non-rigid cover no larger than 135 x 85 x 30 cm (53 x 33 x 12 in.) No idea what the differences might be for other train systems.

Personally, I found the smaller wheel bike and higher position to be helpful for maneuvering on busy streets in the cities. The bike paths tend to jump around from the left to the right side of the street, especially in Paris, and there's a lot of stop-and-go. I would not have wanted to ride my recumbent there. Barry does not share this view, he's comfortable riding his recumbent anywhere, anytime.

After many tours in the USA, we are doing our first European tour this summer (Spain/Portugal). I don't think my posterior would allow a regular bike seat, but I did find a recumbent with S&S couplers for travel.

I see on your intro page a nice description of the new Bike Fridays. Could you elaborate on that why you decided against taking your recumbents? Curious, recumbent riding, European newbies would like to know!

We are so glad you didn’t give up. I have enjoyed reading your journal immensely. Happy trails to Tucson!

Your writing makes me smile! Thanks for not giving up and providing us such a great record of your experience. Come back soon!

A delightful journal! I'm so glad you discovered CycleBlaze and am looking forward to your next trips!

Thanks David! I look forward to reading more about your tour in Spain; we hope to be there in the fall.

What a great upbeat journal! Thanks…we have really enjoyed following along. Can’t wait till the next one 👍

I can totally see myself doing that too Suzanne, appreciate the heads up on other perils to watch out for.

I can't remember getting off a stop too early, but I have got on the train going in the wrong direction and also on the train on the other side of the platform. More than embarrassing!

We've done the same thing! I totally get the embarrassment!

I wanted to skip the entry for this day at first, just mortified. Needed a little time to relocate my sense of humor. All better now.

Oh, no! We’ve done this to ourselves before too, but never on the last day of the tour when there’s extra stress. And too bad about the Orangerie; but it doesn’t hurt to have an excuse to go back again.

We’ve never been here, but my sister went there years ago and still exults over it to this day.