Random extras

Saw several Compostela pilgrims, some on bikes.
A number of touring cyclists had trailers rather than panniers.
Touring cyclists, including me, going in opposite directions don't like to stop to chat and give up momentum unless someone appears to be having a physical, mechanical or directional problem.
There was also a flypast of french jets on June 6th.
In the north, for some reason, I got a number of cheers of encouragement from car and truck drivers.
There was always lots of room on campsites, which varied in price from about 5 to 18 Euros, for quite similar facilities. Only one site had toilet rolls in the loos.
One site (the cheapest) had free wifi across the entire site.
Could only manage to buy toilet rolls in sixes.
Every boulangerie that I asked at, agreed to make me a sandwich.

Lessons learnt log

1 Slow down, David!
I'm still working on being less target-focussed and enjoying the journey (in life, as well as on bike)
2 There will be somewhere to get food and water, somewhere to sleep...
I prefer to plan a little (except for presentations, which I prefer to ad lib) but I have a tent and money - it'll be OK.
3 French cemeteries have water on tap
4 Take photos of town plans (doesn't apply if you have a camera with film in it...)
5 Take soothing cream with you on long bike trips
6 Nature has its rhythm that doesn't involve clocks, or humans
7 I hate big cities (and I can't navigate in them)
8 If you're prepared to put in 5 hours on the bike every day, you can eat pretty much whatever you can lay your hands on and still lose weight (I lost about half a stone).
9 There's no place like home

Le Tour

Riders in the Tour de France (which starts in a few weeks) have it easy. They carry no luggage (compared to my 35-40 lbs), they have continuous support before, during and after the ride each day (David: none), they have rest days (David: none), they're on the bike less hours per day and they have a big bunch of other riders to take turns taking the brunt of the wind. Bunch of cissies.

Pictures

I've added pictures into the existing posts. Bit of a gap in the middle where battery ran short. Enjoy!

Day +1

Home ! Way sooner than anyone, especially me, expected. I thought it would take about 3.5 weeks to northern france then another 1 or 2 to Calais. But I was obviously much fitter than I thought and it also felt very right to come home from Caen. Truth be told, I'm a little homesick. Train tickets obviously a nightmare - only to be expected with a bike. I was sold the wrong tickets but nice conductor let me ride anyway. Terrifying dash across London between Waterloo and St Pancras.Then peace and joy. Next: Pictures, then Lessons Learnt.

Day 14 - the longest day

Feeling much stronger today. Perhaps yesterday's problem was not enough food the night before. Hills and wet weather slowed me down a bit today though. Went to be a tourist at the D-day ( they call it Jour-J) beaches and discovered it was June 6th. I didn't even know the day of the week, let alone the date.

These guys were all French, dressed up as Americans. There was lots of it about.

The beaches.

I stumbled upon a commemoration service; lots of soldiers etc. 6 flags and anthems. France was last flag and as it raised, the heavens opened again and it bucketed down on the crowd singing the Marseillaise. The idea of storming these beaches against machine gun fire etc, is mind-blowing. The memorials brought tears to my eyes. I hadn't realised/remembered that Caen was a ferry port until I got close, but the port is right next to the D-day beaches, and the idea of home, compared to today's weather (wet, wet, wet!) and tomorrow's forecast (thunderbolt and lightning - very very frightening ) led me to enquire about tickets tonight and I'm on my way home overnight, instead of battling Normandy's storms tomorrow towards Calais. Cumul 769 miles.

Bike bits

The bike is a Giant Escape M0, looks like a mountain bike with no suspension. 750 miles and no real problems. Front wheel slightly wobbly, but graunches a bit if I tighten it. I dry- lube the chain every few hundred miles whether it needs or not. Today the mirror broke off, but fixable with duct tape. Light grey matt paint. Pannier racks front and rear. Importantly, hydraulic disk brakes - they have immense braking power in wet and dry. I *love* these brakes. Bars have ergonomic gel grips, which I also love. It's about as wide as it is long with the bags on, so takes some maneuvering at times.

Tired postings

I've never really had a physical job, so I haven't known what it's like to be physically worn out at the end of each day until now. For the benefit of others in the same state of ignorance - it's very tiring, which partly explains why these entries are a little boring. How onn earth do people manage to tweet continuously and what about?

Day 13

Very sluggish today, despite a good night's sleep. Not even 20 miles by lunchtime, and today's way-losing meant extra big hills too. Eventually struggled in to Vire through the showers, which offers no camping within 10 miles, so it's hotel time again; temptingly opposite the railway station... Nice hotel, with wifi, hence this update. Perhaps it's just Day unlucky 13 - let's see how tomorrow goes. Feeling more optimistic after a soak in a bath reading. But only have 1cm=1.5km road map, so way finding is going to be even more tricky. Cumul 703 miles.

Day 12

Set off just before the rain started. It went on for an hour as I cycled a mediumsizex road north towards Mont St Michel, where I intended to play tourist for a bit. Things have changed at MsM since I was last there however, and I couldn't get my velo with 2km of the base of the mount. I couldn't carry my luggage with me, and it was too busy with thousands of strangers for m e to feel comfortable leaving it, so I had to be content with viewing from a distance. I recommend visiting MstM very much - just do it in the past.

Found a good cycle path heading roughly my way, so off I went. Camping at a municipal site in St Hilaire de qeulquechose or other. Cumul 665 miles. Saw a hare running for quite a way along side me in the field -wonderful sight. Free wifi at campsite :-) Definitely slowing down in pace though. 660 miles

Body matters

Look away now if you're squeamish. Bad - some unexpected saddle rash, solved with pharmacist-recommended salve; some wrist pain especially left wrist, despite ergonomic grips and gel gloves; some strange back/rib aches at random times. Good - apart from the above, pretty much in working order. No real knee pain or sunburn, both possibly expected, and I haven't fallen off yet, which is good because falling off a fully laden touring bike can be very painful. I am developing a lopsided cyclist's tan - imagine the bits of a cyclist exposed to the sun, eg top two finger joints, legs between ankle socks and shorts - and then spray fake tan from one side. Plus strange pattern from holes in gloves ...

Day 11

Found a better way out of the campsite, thank goodness, avoiding some hills. A very hard day, still. It's Sunday, so limited opening. Had a chewy bar and some nuts for breakfast, plus used my stove for the 1st time to make some instant hot chocolate, since it was also quite cold. Slowed down by hills and by having to plot my way as I go. Passed Rennes and got on to canal path north for most of the day. Starting t o get tired and looking for a campsite about 10 miles before I found one. This was at the last place I looked; if no site there it was either wildcamping or a hotel. It's a municipal site - basically a kids playground during the day, campsite overnight. Cumul 609.6

Day 10

Slept reasonably well despite heat, but woke up less refreshed than I'm used to. No fresh camping air in the hotel. Starting to encounter some more hills, not too big, but tiring. Passed thro Ploermel of fond memory. Off MarkP's maps now as I head more to the east as well as north. Barely saw a campsite all day and had to make a detour of several hard miles at the end of the day get to one (and I expect to those hard miles again first thing tomorrow). At least there was food at the campsite. It started raining (!) just after I arrived, so I had to the the tent up sharpish. The site was by a lake with lots of activities eg adventure rope stuff, canoeing... Plus there was a wedding reception and what might have been a stag+hen do, all dressed in medieval clothes playing It's a knockout typ e of stuff - cabaret for me. Cumul 555.0

Day 9

Ate an apple before setting off, but still hungry soon, so another breakfast detour. I went over the St Nazaire bridge - not for the faint-hearted. About 2.5 miles, half of it uphill, with a fence then a 200ft drop on on side, a 4ft cycle lane, then traffic at 50mph, with me as the meat in the sandwich. Scary. Surpised to be in Brittany!

Then an interesting ride through the marshes and eventually to Questembert after almost 60 miles,. After establishing with the Tourist Info office that the only campsites were behind me (NO!), 10 km off to one side, or 20km forward, I opted for a ' hotel' = bar with rooms above, just north of town. No food and bar closes at 7, so back into town for food. Very strange to have a roof over my head - literally. Cumul 499

Day 8

A strange day. Up early and no breakfast as yesterday, but after only a few miles, very tired and hungry, so needed to divert to find something to eat. Coffee, croissants and pain au chocolate seems to agree with me. Fine after eating and genuinely surprised to see 30 miles come up quickly. Met a local cycle tourist, Claude, just out for a day ride and stopped for a chat; he eventually rode off while I was sorting some stuff out. I plodded on until I saw a peloton approaching fast from behind, then upped my speed to theirs and let them pull me along to Claude, who was happy to let me ride behind him for miles :-) Later I stopped because the noise from the frogs in the dykes beside the road was so loud. Couldn't spot a frog, but an otter surfaced just in front of me. Lots of st range birds close up during the day.Camped at Pornic Golf ***, so slightly bigger shower stalls and one WC stall had paper. Evening meal at a cafe that happened to have wifi, so some little blog entries at last. Cumul 434

Week one

Huge thanks to MarkP for lending me his maps and gpx track. Lovely weather for poolside all week. At least it's been mainly flattish and mainly on cycle paths. The cyclepaths I've been on so far are way better than most in England. Met and chatted to a fair few cycle tourists in the SW. The French take the smoking ban seriously even in rural areas and move to just outside the bar door to smoke while continuing their conversations with those indoors, or watching the game. The overwhelming things for me are the smells and sounds - I woke up one morning to the very very loud song of hundreds of hirondelles. Lots of wildlife too, esp unfamilar birds. Thanks to Hilary for suggesting a way to take the mind off uphills - I've been thinking about the properties of the nth roots of integers, probably well known to mathematicians, but not to me. Most, but not all, campsites are open, but none I've stayed at so far had food available.

Day 7

Breakfast after 10 miles as soon as somewhere was open. Hot but somewhat cloudy.Found a dolmen I was looking for :-) !

Early lunch after 34 miles. I'm trying, and failing, to eat less. I'm also carrying a few hundred calories in case I run out of fuel, but frites is frites... I made a conscious decision to take the last 10 miles of the day , but they turned to be a litle hilly :-( Camped at Landeveille at campsite with pizza delivery to your tent! 373.8 miles

Day 6

Slept well. Up at 6 off at 7. Lost my way badly twice - maybe 8 miles worth. [Not all miles are forward progess but in my mind (and in my legs) they all count]. 33C again , doused myself completely with water from public source again :-) Failed to find Museum of Graffiti (I *am* trying to be a tourist).Passed through La Rochelle around noon. Nice. Lunch at KFC on outskirts Colonelburger, frites and 2 bidons of ice cubes. A french middle-aged couple and an Irishman with a campervan both asked me for directions (which I supplied); an English middle-aged couple just bickered between themselves about where they were. Camped at a site apparently in middle of nowhere, but bar 2 miles down the road was very nice. 321.7 miles

Day 4 and 5

The big lump at the bottom of the shadow is my luggage.

 Didn't sleep quite as well, but well enough. A bit tired so planned a shorter day and stop b4 ferry across Bordeaux estuary. Mainly v good pistes again (see the lovely bicycle roundabout). Finally found camping at Soulac around 3pm. Tent, shower, laundry by hand.

Sunday so all shops closed. But managed enough for a frugal eve meal. Beach and paddling in ocean.

219.8 miles

Day 5

Difficult to sleep. Got up at 5am to catch early ferry across the Bordeaux estuary. Lovely morning run starting in the dark, alongside a railway track. Rabbits and what I thought might have been hare (but wasn't - just a rabbit with big ears). Proper ferry.

Into Poitou-Charentes and v different countryside - rolling agriculture after the Fibonacci forests of the south. Different roadkill too; a hedgehog, three snakes and a fox in the middle of the road.

A transporter bridge over the next big river.

Lost in Rochefort and a diversion for a Foire au Puces. Found a lovely campsite with an oasis pool - all sand. Very hot, so pool very welcome. 269

Day 3

Yvon cycled w me for first 10 miles. Dune de Pyla is still v impressive. Lovely forest bike paths all the way. Warm and sunny. 1st choice ferry across Arcachon Bassin (smelt a little of rotting fish) to Cap Ferret not running but 2nd choice ok. Camp at Lacanau. 12 lengths of pool. Cumul 166.4 miles.

The whale tail rotated in the wind. The ferry was very small and quite bouncy.

Day 2

Slept well. Tabouleh snack then off at 8am. Stopped at cafe after a few miles for croissants and coffee. 30 miles by lunch. Discovered the joy of tipping the contents of a bottle of water over my head on a hot day. The effect is shortlived though. A Basque pelota court, and me under a pair of entwined trees pictured (St Eulalie)  Ambushed some old friends, Pascale and Yvon, who offered me a bed in Biscarrosse ( thankyou so much!) . Went to the beach for drinks and a wonderful sunset.

It had been 33C in daytime and was 28C at 9pm. Slept like a log.Cumul 102.5 miles.

Day 1

Arrive Bayonne 11am. Diverion and lost 2x. Saw 4 aigrette ( lesser white heron ) in flight together. Delicious scent of yellow flowers in the heat (turns out to be broom - almost no smell when cold, but overpowering when it's hot). Very tired. Easy paths. Warm/hot.Sardines and tabbouleh for tea. Laid on my back and watched the pines above me sway. Camped at Le Gaoucher ** 3m N of Leon. 53.5 cumul

Day 0

Hot morning, reminiscent of France to me. Cycled to Meadowhall and got on the bus. Sea fret at Dover, and cold. France warm. Got fed up with the inflight movie quickly - couldn' t get the tune to "2 little boys" out of my head. Interesting to drive thro France with no responsibility at all for driving or navigating. Comfortablish coach with alimost enough legroom... difficult to sleep, even with earplugs andcushions. Sadly my lovely retirement gift of a blowup cushion (thanks to all who contributed) didn't last the whole night.A mixed clientele on the bike bus, but a lot of grey hair - apparently they have the time for this sort of thing.Stops every few hours, s o a bit like a 24hr flight with motorway service stops. Eventually hit bouchons near Bordeaux and arrived Bayonne only 1 hr late. Cumulative 7.5 miles.

Day -1

I've set this up, but I've no idea how often I'll be able to publish. Certainly not daily updates - it'll depend on either stray wifi signals or  internet cafes.

Today is the day before I set off, so I've been doing last minute packing, taking library books back, checking my passport is current etc.

Hottest day of the year so far. I loaded up the bike and rode a short distance, just to check the handling and that the luggage will stay on. I was tuckered out after about 10 minutes, so let's hope it's rather cooler in the south of France ;-)