At Springfree™ Trampoline, we love sharing the stories of our staff. Our company is more than just what we do between 9 and 5, we like to celebrate the hobbies and interests of the people that we work for and with.

Our Springfree™ Trampoline CEO Steven Holmes is currently cycling with his wife Cheryl and friends in the South of France. He’s knows we like to blog a lot, so he’s helping out by tracking their adventure.

Hopefully, in the next photo’s they’ll be wearing their Springfree™ Trampoline shirts!

Posted for Steve, by Kristen

DAY ONE: We arrived safely in Paris and transferred to the train. The transfer with 4 bike cases and 4 pieces of luggage was a little more effort than planned but we made it to Aix-en-Provence, a beautiful city in the in Southern France about 30 kilometres from the sea. The first night we walked the streets and alleys enjoying the culture, food and sights and sounds of the city. Tomorrow we’ll spend the morning in the market followed by an afternoon of riding.

DAY TWO: Well, we woke up early and ventured off into the Saturday morning markets, some would say in search of strange and weird socks for Brent to wear and/or gift to Doug Hill (our Springfree Trampoline VP). For those of you who know Brent (our legal counsel), cycling 125 kms is no problem compared with 15 minutes in the market, and we spent 3 hours in the market.

We enjoyed the whole experience but in the 3 hours probably only saw 1/2 the market. It was interesting to see the contrast that occurs when a City opens up to markets and right in front (I mean 3 to 4 feet outside the front door) of major brand stores like the GAP, Louis Vuton, LaCoste and selling everything else you can imagine… eggs, fruit, vegetables, pastries and much more.

There were probably 5 streets full of fresh cut flowers and they were spectacular….. Jo commented at least every 15 minutes….”I can’t believe Brent is in the flower market”.

Amazing flowers in the market

From the market to the bikes for an afternoon ride, more up Brent’s alley and we were in search of the centuries old aqueduct and any cycling shop we may pass on the way. After we got out of the City, we were faced with a beautiful 12 km climb with some exceptionally steep switch backs but nothing fresh legs couldn’t overcome. Arrived at the top and still looked as fresh as when we started…..A nice descent down a different root and back to the City. Met up with our guide Philippe and enjoyed the evening planning for the rides ahead.

DAY 3: Well I experienced my four most feared bike demons (and Brent’s favourites)…..mountains, wind, scary steep descents and a long distance…oops one more, a wrong turn. This was scheduled to be a 98km day with four very long climbs into the Sainte Victoria Plateau unfortunately due to an early wrong turn we ended up with a 125km day and 5 very long climbs and the unplanned 35km head and side wind. Both Cheryl and I love the climbs but we do not have the fitness to attack them the way the Brent and Joanne do and so our climbs were much slower than we should have achieved. Brent and Jo patiently waited at each summit which we appreciated. Our riding time in the saddle today was close to 6.5 hours and my bum said it felt like more like a lifetime.

"Up the Hill we go..."

The demon lovers rode an additional 31km beyond Cheryl and I just to prove they could and for anyone who has any doubts, he can! They are an incredible tandem machine! As was the case in Tuscany last year, without Cheryl I would have given up. She calmly and patiently encourages me to just stay focused on the cadence (keeping my feet moving) and she will watch up the hill rather than me looking and getting discouraged that there is no end in sight. At lunch break today I was almost done in and was very quiet. Brent commented that he had finally found a way to shut Holmes up…even then I didn’t have the energy to counter…..maybe tomorrow. Left hotel at 8:00am and arrived in St. Remy at 8:00pm….found a shower, food and fell quickly into bed in preparation for tomorrows day of climbing.