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.

Solidarnosc

Well, that turned out a difficult trip. Just to get out if the country.

After congratulating ourselves with by heading out a day early to bypass the strike (which we fully support) rescheduling issues and ending the day with a scenic view of Liverpool, I double checked the trains for the next day.

Bugger. There was nothing going to Exeter or Okehampton (for the next 2 days). It had all still been OK on Tuesday but the work to rule on GwR meant most options were off.

Best we could do was get to Bristol.

A sedate nine mile ride along canals to start the day, with a detour through Chester zoo (the cycle path goes behind the elephant house). We ended the day with a 4.6 mile cycling average, getting to Spain may take a longer than we thought.

An evening wander around Bristol showed how cycle friendly it was, despite the hills.

Finally we managed to get to Plymouth, the wrong side of Dartmoor from our perspective as it was now a 12 mile uphill ride to my brother's.

That was probably the most hill we will do at any time between now and Spain.

Lots of newborn ponies though.

And finally, a ship.

Self powered all the way down hill to Spain from tomorrow.

Riding the Atlantic Coast

 

First we ditched the Pegasos and took to buying a motorbike abroad and next we sampled renting some.

Now we have ditched the motors, and are powering a tour ourselves.

There are various European spanning cycle routes, we have decided to do a chunk of EV1, hopefully it is a warm bit.

Eurovelo 1 starts in Norway, cuts through Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England, continuing in France at Roscoff and then down the Atlantic before crossing Spain and Portugal.

We will be starting from Okehampton, Devon, then getting the ferry to Roscoff from Plymouth. Once we get to Biaritz we will decide how and when we are coming home.

The hardest part has been organising the journey to Plymouth. 

We could have driven to my brothers in Devon and left the car there, but that would mean having to come back that way. Eire looks like a better option to us to return by.

The train *should* be an easy option. Until you start trying to work out how to do it. There is no direct route to Plymouth. Not all trains will allow bikes to be booked on, and the prices can be astronomical.

Using the split ticketing sites we worked out various posible routes, ruling out "advanced" prices because if you missed a connection the ticket would become void.

We decided to go via Wales, only £91 for the two of us and the bikes bookable from Chester to Newport.

Except once you buy the ticket, you can't reserve the bike spaces until 6 weeks before the train leaves! (Later explained that Network Rail only give them 6 weeks notice of works that may require connection buses).

We have added racks to the bikes, bar bags, frame bags and done a fully loaded test ride. Now we just need to cycle to Newton-Le-Willows on the 12th May and cram them onto the commuter train to Chester. Would could possibly go wrong? Apart from train strikes, so will now be leaving on the 11th, a night in an hotel near Chester (points so no cost) and a short ride to get the 1st leg underway the next day.