The long (wet) ride home

Once we had landed in Plymouth, and Jean had woken up,  we repeated our 12 mile uphill ride to my brother's that we had done 2 months earlier.

We were definitely faster and would have done it in less than 2 hours if not distracted by an ice cream van.

After a couple of days rest, relaxation and washing (clothes and bikes) we headed out across Dartmoor. If we hadn't gone for it now, we probably never would.

It was strenuous and challenging and then of course it rained. So it was straight into the pub at the top for a dry off and a swift half. At 11:15.

It was persistent rain.

Not the dryest camp of the trip that night. We spent 5 hours sheltering in the site reception before diving into the tent for an early night at 20:30.

Next stop was North Wales ( near Betws-y-Coed). We took the train from Exeter to Llandudno Junction, then rode the 24 miles to our friends house, where we had some more rest and relaxation :⁠-⁠). We'll, apart from the hill climb and fast 20 miles circuit he decided I was fit enough for.

That just left the small matter of how to get home.

Obviously cycle. Across the Denbighshire moors.

They were particularly stunning.

Later it was another soggy afternoon/evening in Rhuddlan. We just managed to get the tent up before the rain and were sat drinking coffee in it when a caravan owner insisted we use their awning as they were just leaving. Marvelous.

It was a long ride to the Wirral, and more rain, to visit Jean's mum so we abandoned camping to dry out in the Travelodge.

Before, finally through Liverpool and home via the ferry. £6.75 for Jean and free for me :⁠-⁠) (I'm 60 you know).

Final Stats.

Total mileage - 1,569 

Punctures... 1. Bloody 1, 10 miles from home!

Storage

During the trip the bikes have been subjected to various means of storage.

Hotel rooms.

Trains

And boats

The prize has to go to GWR, for when a guard directs you to a full area (when the other was free).

We did try and change carriage at the next stop, but a bunch of other cyclists got up. I ended up as toilet monitor.

Over 1200 miles and maybe the best beach yet.

We weren't sure if we were up to the challenge of the Brittany coast after so much flatish (by comparison) riding. Distance wise we were ok for 40-50 miles, but now there was a lot of uppy and downy to contend with.

We covered 35 miles on our 1st day. Muscles moaned a bit, so , as we now had loads of time until our ferry we slowed down and did some midday swimming if possible.

With beaches like this, why not?

On route from Nantes we had time between trains to wander around Rennes, it looks more like Normandy than Brittany.

Temperature was still high (30) so we sheltered in a park , where a band was playing ABBA...

When we left St Brieuc the temperature was still high 20s, but after that it dropped to a mild 20. What a difference to a days cycling it made. Had we wanted to we could have cycled more. Of course, it then went more like back home.

But it improved the next day.

This is nearly right in front of our tent.

Just to make  sure we had completed things we hunted out KM 0 for EV1, which also marks and the start/end for EV4 which we had followed from St Briuec.

Jean liked the fact it was next to a lighthouse on the front at Roscoff.

Overall we are really impressed with Brittany, like many people we normally get off the ferry and head south. But catch the weather and it is glorious. There are loads of well kept villages and gardens, and a house I want to buy every few hundred metres.

Some Stats

Cycled in France - 1336 miles

Average Speed - 9 MPH

Highest Speed - 54.4 MPH (I agree, too fast in T-shirt, shorts and sandals)

Days Camping - 42

Wine, cheese and Chateau(s)

Did we say we had finished?

After crossing to Spain we took a train to Bordeaux where we  had a pre-dawn (5 mile) ride to catch a train to Tours (I impressed myself sorting all this out as it had to include bike reservations).

Bordeaux was hot and crowded, but had some nice bits.

For the morning ride into Bordeaux we managed to get our rear lights visible (hadn't thought about it much, with all the panniers in the way and not expecting to ride in the dark), put all our reflective riding gear on and sweated our way in.

There was no traffic, we had forgotten it was Saturday. The only signs of life was the post party, party people in the parks.

We arrived in Tours at 0900, had a meander around and then set off to follow the Loire to Nantes, because.... Why not?

Obviously some wine was sampled.

We dodged erecting the tent a couple of nights, to avoid some more storms. Couldn't fault the location of this alternative tent, right on the banks of the Loire.

Five days later we were in Nantes (for a second time), and trying to negotiate the French rail system again.

It gave us a chance to visit "L'Ile de machines" that we had not known about on our first pass last month.

The elephant, which is made of Tulip Wood, carries people around the waterfront, spraying bystanders with water.

Next stop the Brittany coast, with all it's uppy downy stuff.

St Helens to Spain

Roscoff (North West France) to Irun (Spain) , 913 miles.

yeah, not a very impressive end picture. But as they don't have borders....

We dumped our gear at the campsite for the last 8 miles. Felt weird riding with no weight after the last 5 weeks.

We had some thoughts about riding to Bilbao, but there are a few hills. It was described by one (very ) veteran rider as "600 meters down, cross a river, ,600 meters up. Repeat". So, nah. 

For the first 4 weeks we had clear skies, blazing heat and a helpful NE wind to aid us. Then a few days ago the skies darkened, thunder started, rain began to fall (so torrential that we skipped camping one night and grabbed an hotel).

And just to finish off, as the coast went all uppy and downy at Biarritz the wind went SW into our faces with 30mph gusts. Surfers loved it.

Just over 10 years ago I bought a motorbike in Chile and we rode it up one side of the Andes while I was still 49 and came down the next day aged 50 into Mendoza, Argentina.

Last year people wanted to know what I (we, as Jean is always up for a trip) would do for my 60th.

Well, there we have it. A long cycle ride.

We have never done anything like this before, previously we have never cycled more than 4 days consecutively.

We met a lot of other cyclists along the way, some doing short stretches or loops, some doing the same route (La Velodysee). Others much much more. One man on a Penny Farthing.

We are but children when it comes to what many others are doing.

(We did have two trump cards though; 1 - we have never done anything like this before. 2 - "correct, there are not electric").

Some stats. 

32 days since getting off the ferry.

5 rest days.

913 miles in France @ 33.8 miles per day.

Longest day - 47 miles

Highest Speed - 45.2MPH.

Right, how go we get home?

Not what I thought the first repair would be

After a short (31 mile) ride, and our 1st non camping night since the 15th May, we were about to have a little afternoon ride into Arcachon.

That was until I spotted Jean's destroyed tyre.

The spare inner tubes were not going to fix this.

A quick Google and I was off on a 4 mile ride in search of some new rubber.

So many numbers these days for tyres! And I had to bear in mind the one currently on Jean's bike was maximum width, as the helpful assistant tried to upsell a more off road wider one.

After riding back with the tyre over my shoulder and feeling like the Michelin Man, out came the tools.

And voilà, we had our ride into Arcachon after all 

Definitely a boaty place.

Ferry, cross the ......Girond

A major milestone reached. Bordeaux country.

A short ferry ride, slightly longer than the Mersey, saved about 2 days to the next crossing point.

Otherwise it's been an uneventful week, cycle, set up camp, get up, ride bikes, fall off. (Ok, maybe not that uneventful).

I had  comedy fall a few days ago. The cycle path was about to change to the other side of the road and a couple were coming the other way. I thought best to give them room and swung out early.

Next thing I knew I was rolling in the road and a front pannier was behind me. 

I'd ridden straight into a sign post.

The other couple gave me a wide berth as I lay in the road laughing.

As we were picking me and my bike up two guys from Warrington rode down the road. Small world.

Thinking it through later I remembered there were two sign posts, one either side of the crossing, so when I adjusted my line they lined up as one and in my head it was the further one.

One of my front pannier frames took the full force, the bag fortunately designed to come away easily. It is slightly bent and I suspect the lower screw has snapped, but it will tighten (and loosen during the day). So after tie straps applied, seems to be holding.

Heat is now definitely our enemy, the afternoons have got really hot and energy sapping, so our current strategy is to get to a campsite by 1400. As we are starting off about 0900 each day and rattling off 25 miles by midday this has become workable.

We passed through La Rochelle before lunch and we're on the beach again by tea time.

And we got to play on a working transporter bridge in Rochefort.

625 miles, in France, so far.

Loo rolls. A rant.

As mentioned campsites are not fully open. Which is a small hinderance for sourcing food.

This however is no excuse for a lack of toilet rolls in the loo. 

There is no reasoning behind it. A one or two star site will have some, but then three or four star sites not.

And then there is the ultimate joke, guess how much you need before entering!

This has meant that the joke "emergency roll" I purchased in Russian 2013 has now nearly been exhausted (no cardboard inner, just lots of tough paper so easy to pack).

To make matters worse, we don't have much space for frivolities and can you buy single rolls? No!

Can you buy twin rolls? No!

Four packs! That is the minimum.

We are leaving a trail of donated loo roll behind us.

We go to the classiest restaurants

Motorbikes welcome as well.

We had got used to campsites not being fully open for the season (shops, bars, cafes and pools shut).

But this is May, and back home campsites are usually in full swing.

We expected different after Nantes, but once we had left the Loire behind we were faced with totally shut campsites. Ah well, "ce la vie", we just had to push on, past the serpent of the Loire.

Reaching the Vendée, and more than a week since our last rest day we decided a holiday from the trip we as needed. A bank holiday weekend was upon us which meant the equivalent of two Sundays back to back with shut shops.

We had to  hang around for 3  hours at a causeway (le gois) to get to our target campsite.

With a creperie next to it, no hardship.

Faire le pont

Straight into typical France.

At a canal picnic spot, a team of energy workers having lunch. Table cloth, wine beer and a BBQ.

It's been a while since we have spent any time in France, and didn't check the public holidays. Last Thursday was one, shops shut and then they all take the Friday off "make the bridge" for a long weekend. Campsites were rammed, so we took a rest day.

For the first 5 days after leaving we lived it up with a bed every night (hotels, my brother's and ferry).

Finally on our 2nd night in France Jean made me camp.

She suspects me of sabotage, when while crawling out the next morning I fell over backwards, flattened the tent and cracked a pole.

Gaffa tape restored it to a functional state.

The route follows the Brest/Nante canal. It's a long canal.

Over 200 miles to Nantes. You can have too much canal.

Along the way we met various people doing the same route, some on their own, some couples and one English couple on a tandem.

They are all faster than us, and can ride further so not seen any of them more than twice.

We finally hit the bright lights of the big city of Nantes.

We had an exciting run in, first we found a shop that sold the camping gas cannisters (ours had run out and the last campsite owner donated a half full one).

Then we came across a little old French lady struggling to extricate her car which was blocked between two awkwardly parked cars.

After trying to direct her (she just couldn't work out the angles) , in my politest french I asked if she would like me to do it for her.

She didn't miss a beat, jumped out and let me take over. She then had the audacity to direct me!

Anyway, I squeezed it out successfully with Jean watching the gaps between the other cars.

Then it was down into the city, full of cycle lanes and everyone giving way to bikes. So civilised.

Next, the Atlantic, which is just around the corner now.

Total miles in France so far = 284

Pas mal.