This will be the last post on this year’s blog, unless something wild and unpredictable happens tomorrow on our travels back to Barcelona and then home. We will pedal to the airport, disassemble the bikes– you know the routine. We’ll see Gabriel’s mother, eat gazpacho, visit the tweaky waiter. Hopefully we’ll go back to my favorite restaurant and have one final mouth-watering meal in Spain. ESPANA – still the best food in the world! (Sorry France).

Nice is heavenly. Or maybe I’m just really high on life today. I was expecting it to be just tacky and touristy but its alot more than that– so multi-cultural, gorgeous old architecture preserved, fascinating to walk around. Our hotel has a panoramic rooftop terrace and last night we got to watch the bright orange super-moon rise over the pink and peach and yellow skyline.

I’m remembering one of the climbs during the trip. I don’t remember which one. But I was struggling and straining up a mountain road with my panniers, and a German woman passed me, also struggling (no panniers, just riding). And she called out to me–you have to imagine it with her thick German accent, struggling with English, cos that’s what makes it so funny and adorable. And her voice was just bursting with enthusiasm as she called to me. She said: “You are so strong! I can’t believe it!” I thanked her and I thought: We are all so much stronger than we think we are. I can count several people right this minute who I know are struggling with an unfathomable challenge– disease, loss, heartbreak– but they’re doing it, they’re climbing. And those are just the people whose struggles I know about. So we’ve all got our mountains, don’t we? And now, the next time I have a friend who is wrestling something that feels impossible I’m going to shout out (in a German accent of course): “You are so strong, I can’t believe it!”

Tomorrow, July 25th, is my 43rd birthday. I couldn’t be more grateful for my life, my friends, my family, and this adventure. The bad has made the good so much more delicious when it comes. And Gabriel, what can I say? You are the everything.

Thanks for reading, cheering and being on this ride with me. Your support truly helped me stay on the bike. I hope someday I can do the same for you somehow. Until then, ALLEZ ALLEZ MES AMIS!