Physical flexibility is highly useful, especially as I age and it becomes slightly more difficult to lift my leg over a loaded Vivien George. But flexibility is also a life skill that I find essential to bicycle touring. 

There’s been a change of plans....should be the theme of this year's tour.

• A broken rib in Tanzania necessitated cancelling my plans to ride from Nice to Annecy and indirectly led to the extended stay in Paris during July while I made sure heart and lungs were in good working order.
• A two-week hiking trip to the Shetland and Orkney islands scheduled for the last two weeks in August was canceled by the organizers and substituted with an 8 day trip to Isle of Skye in early September.
• The changed dates for the hiking trip led to altering plans for a fall trip with Suzanne and Janos and freed up time to join them on their tour in Hungary. However, Suzanne fell this past week and broke her wrist, so that plan was cancelled, with hopes to reschedule later this year. Whether I will be able join them depends on if/when my sister comes over for some hiking and biking in the Dolomites this fall – she’s trying to make it work and has asked for my patience.

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There’s been a lot of scrambling over this past week and month, canceling bookings and train reservations, changing airline flights, and planning for a last minute tour to fit in before leaving for Scotland at the end of the month. During all that time I have been most thankful for the stability of having a home base apartment in Paris.

When not immersed in sorting through scrambled travel logistics, I spent a wonderful afternoon with Tricia and Ken Graham, fellow CycleBlazers from New Zealand. Both in their 80s, they are an amazing pair whose warmth and outlook on life is uplifting and inspirational. I was delighted that things worked out for me to be in Paris during their stop-over.

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The day with Tricia and Ken was another reminder of advice my orthopedist gave on seeing the final X-ray of my broken leg, incurred in cycling accident. “Do everything you can, until you can’t”

Over the last fifteen years, I’ve taken that advice to heart and will add one more nugget “Stay flexible”