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.

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.