INTRODUCTION

This is becoming a habit

We returned from our 2009 cycle tour certain that this would now be an annual event for us. We had really enjoyed the tour although we both admitted that we had not enjoyed it quite as much as the first tour we had done but neither of us could put our finger on why that was. It could just be that we knew what to expect and therefore that first time experience excitement was not there or it could have been a combination of not being so lucky with the weather and the fact that we were camping. Whatever it was we had still enjoyed it enormously and within a month of arriving home we started to plan our 2010 route.

Let's not camp

We decided that although in theory camping is a good idea - it is much more flexible as well as being a lot cheaper - it just wasn't for us. Well for me to be more precise. As much as I love the idea of camping (if I pass a shop with a tent in the showroom I have an urge to go camping) but as soon as it comes to the practicality of putting the tent up and scrabbling around on the ground in a confined space looking for things it rapidly loses its appeal. Therefore, with this in mind we decided that in 2010 to keep the costs down we would take the shortest route and have slightly longer days and compromise by staying in cheap hotels in a town (not chateaux with pools).

Time to start route planning again

As we were trying to go by the shortest distance thereby keeping the amount of days down to a minimum it was easy to plan the route and after looking for medium sized towns with a hotel, mostly in the Logis de France chain as it turned out, we had a firm plan

.

PICTURE OF ROUTE
The route is agreed

I tried to book the rooms but as it was only autumn I was told to ring back in January as they did not have the diary for 2011 yet. This was very frustrating as we didn't want to actually start the route planning until we knew the hotels had been confirmed just in case when I did phone back in January they were suddenly full (as had happened to our cost on the first year's trip when I tried to book a room in Becherel).

Time to think about training


My Christmas present was a new Trek to keep in France

I had no excuse not to start my training and I was keen to ride my new Trek in France over the Christmas holiday. When we returned home and the hotels had been booked in January I started to think seriously about training as I wanted to be as fit as possible for the trip.

I managed one ride before the snow put my training on hold

By the end of February I decided I could not use the snow as an excuse any more and managed my second ride of the year and although I only did my 30km Bax Castle loop I found it hard work - although I had gone out late in the afternoon and it was cold and dark by the time I returned home. However, it was a good chance to try out the Garmin I had received for my birthday and I enjoyed entering the statistics onto the Bike Journal website I had discovered!

In March Rob was playing for a dance in Hollingbourne, Kent and I decided that I would cycle there to meet him. It was the first long ride (110km) I had ever done on my own and I was very nervous as I set off as I was terrified of getting lost. However, I soon got into my stride and was really enjoying the ride by the time I stopped at Tonbridge (the half way point) to eat some lunch and buy some thermal socks as my feet were so cold.

I didn't know there was a killer hill waiting for me round the corner


I'm really taking my training seriously

I continued to try and ride every weekend and once the clocks changed tried to go out once in the week as well - although this wasn't always the case. I even took an afternoon off work to cycle down to Littlehampton and at the end of March we had a very cold wet ride to Worthing. I was really beginning to feel fit and with that even more keen to get out and ride - and so early in the year too!

I did some stunning rides in France at the end of April


Time to start tweaking the tandem

Up until this point we had been riding our solo bikes so that we could work on our individual fitness but we suddenly realised that it was time to turn our attention to tweaking the tandem and getting it ready for the trip. We had originally thought about purchasing an upgraded tandem but the model we had in mind as a replacement did not work out so we decided to update our current one instead. Rob worked very hard changing the tyres and a few mechanical bits. We also decided to have my cranks shortened to see whether that would help minimise not only my knee pain but also my problems with saddlesoreness. I managed to ride to Chichester (80km) without any problem and then my first ever 100 mile ride with only slight discomfort so it seemed at last these issues had been resolved.

I enjoyed the challenge of my first 100 mile ride - and feel totally ready for the trip

June was a very busy month

We went into June knowing we would not have much time for cycling as we had lots of festivals and events booked up. Luckily the weather was beautiful so we managed to ride in the evenings and just about managed to keep on top of our fitness - although I could feel all the late nights taking their toll on me.

Suddenly it's July

The year had flown by at a terrifying speed and all of a sudden July arrived. Luckily the weather had been dry and settled and we had been able to ride as much as we could after work and at the weekends. We were both feeling fit though and as ready as we were ever going to be. I had cycled over 1,800km since the start of the year in training and reasoned it must have done some good. We spent our penultimate weekend at home relaxing and getting everything together we needed to take. We were unsure whether to take the two large panniers or the trailer and having done a trial pack realised that the panniers are just too impractical - although everything goes in them it is impossible to find anything as they are just too tightly packed. So with the decision made the trailer was packed and sat in the conservatory waiting for our departure day.

We got our luggage down to 14kg

Here's what we took:

Front box:
Reading glasses
Wallet
House keys
Map holder with printed maps as back up
Head torch
Mini tripod
Document wallet with passport and other important papers
Tweezers(for getting thorns out of tyres)
Scissors
Carry strap for top box
Cereal bars
Lip suncream
High protection sun block stick
Foldable rucksack
Sunglasses
Packet of tissues
Batteries - for camera, Garmin and bike lights
Datacards for camera

Bumbag (as my handbag)
Reading glasses
Notebook (for scribbling down notes for my diary when we stop)
Pens
Purse
Hanky
Mobile phone
Carrier bag
Comb
Hair tie
Cereal bar

Attached to the bike:
Garmin
Cameras
Pump
Water bottles
Spare spokes
Bag of bike tools

Small Panniers
Light waterproofs
Lightweight jumper each
Bike journal notebooks
Reading books
Inner tubes
Biofreeze
Suntan lotion
Wet wipes
Hand sanitiser gel
2 sets of plastic cutlery

Trailer:
2 pairs of cycle shorts each
2 cycle tops - Rob
2 vest cycle tops - Polly
2 strappy cycle tops - Polly
1 warm cycle top each
Clothes for evening (lightweight trousers for Rob, sundress for Polly)
Flip flops/shoes for evening
Battery charger
Phone charger
Adaptor
Toiletries

Less than one week to go

We decided to use the last weekend for a final training ride in case we didn't get time to ride in the week and headed off to Carole and Derek's Strawberry Tea charity event in Storrington for the afternoon

and then disaster struck

As we rode along a busy mainroad I realised that the piece of grey plastic that had just flown past my right leg was in fact the Garmin and as we screeched to a halt I saw it lying in the middle of the road. The first car missed it and I ran down the road to try and stop the traffic in order to rescue it but it was too late - I watched as a car drove straight over it. The Garmin was pronounced dead at the scene. After a few expletives we got back on the bike and carried on our way. There was nothing we could do about it - we would just have to find a way around it and at least it had happened on the Sunday and not on our actual trip.

Oh *@!$"

We started our last week at work trying not to think about the demise of our Garmin or the fact that the weeks and weeks of unbroken sunshine and warmth we had been having had been replaced by grey cloud and drizzle. We were both feeling really positive - we would sort the Garmin problem out and although the forecast for Friday wasn't looking too good the long range forecast for France was very good.

By the middle of the week we had resolved the Garmin problem although this had been a lot of extra work for Rob that he could have done without. After a good send off from everyone at Magog I felt as ready as I ever would be. My knees had been feeling a bit sore all week but nothing Biofreeze couldn't control and I was just keen to get my last day at work over, work through my list of jobs at home and start my holiday. I had even given in to pressure from dad and Rob during the week and gone out and bought myself a helmet. I really wasn't keen to wear one and only did it to keep them happy with the stipulation that I would only wear it when I was on busy roads. As it turned out I wore it most of the time (although I did take it off a couple of afternoons when it was extremely hot). If I am honest once I'd got used to it it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and I have worn it for subsequent bike rides ever since.

We go tomorrow

We thought we were packed and ready to go but when Rob got home and we did our last minute final bits they seemed to take longer than we anticipated but finally at 10pm we were totally ready. The weather had been absolutely awful for most of the day - torrential rain and a howling gale and we went to bed reasoning that it couldn't possibly be as bad again the following day and if it was - well we would feel very heoric leaving in such bad weather. Nothing could spoil our excitement.

I am very excited - I love my bike

DAY 0: HORSHAM - PORTSMOUTH: 86.3km
FRIDAY 16 JULY 2010

I woke up at 5am hoping to see the sun streaming through the window - but it wasn't. However, the torrential rain of the previous day seemed to have passed and the wind didn't look quite as strong. Even if it had been a dismal day nothing could have dampened my excitement - after months of planning our departure day had arrived.

We both felt really relaxed and got up and pottered around with no real sense of urgency and certainly not with the air of people who were about to cycle to France. We had arranged for a couple of friends and neighbours to call in for breakfast and the sun started to come out. It was going to be a perfect cycling day.

It was lovely to share the start of the ride with friends and neighbours

At 8.30am we were raring to go

It felt quite cool when we started off and we decided to ride at a nice steady pace. There was no need to rush. We had all day - our ferry did not leave until 8.30pm.

Our first photo opportunity




It was great to get going - and the rain seemed to be holding off




We had our first break at Pulborough Brooks

We were really enjoying the ride although it was very windy. It just felt as if we were on a day ride and not on the way to catch a ferry. I was pleased to discover that the headache I had was caused by my helmet being too tight and once we had loosened this slightly my headache went - I had been beginning to think that my helmet would give me a headache for the whole trip and I would just have to get used to it!

The South Downs looked beautiful

The nearer we got to the coast the more windy it became. As we turned onto the main road towards Houghton Hill there was a very strong side wind and I could feel Rob wrestling with the handlebars trying to keep us upright. Luckily the steepest part of Houghton Hill was sheltered by trees and as we continued our climb it didn't feel as windy as we had feared. The A29 wasn't as horrid as we had thought it would be either again as we were mostly sheltered by trees. We took it slowly on the stretch of the A27 dual carriageway as we were well aware that a strong gust of wind could put us in the path of oncoming traffic. It was a relief when we turned off onto small roads.

The rain was still just about holding off




However, it was still incredibly windy

We battled onwards against the wind which seemed to be coming at us from all directions and somehow Rob managed to keep ourselves upright and in a straight line. We were really looking forward to reaching Chichester where we planned to have lunch.

It was a relief to get out of the wind in Wetherspoons

We decided only to have a light lunch as we knew we would be eating a big meal on the boat later but we decided to go inside and eat rather than get a sandwich from M&S and sit outside as we wanted to get out of the wind for a while. We found a nice table by the window in Wetherspoons overlooking the cathedral (and the bike) and I enjoyed a panini and chips which was just about the right amount of food as I didn't want to ruin my evening meal. It was also comforting to hear the weather forecaster on the pub tv announce that the wind would be lessening during the rest of the day and indeed it did feel that it had calmed down very slightly when we left the pub 45 minutes later.

Our route took us alongside Chichester harbour




and Emsworth Harbour

Most of the afternoon's ride was on main roads as there wasn't a sensible alternative and a lot of the route had a cycle path we could use. However, there wasn't a large volume of traffic on the road anyway. We rode along chatting and from time to time I would burst into song taken from our Brass Monkey CD - "and we're riding down to Portsmouth".

It wasn't so scenic around Havant




But it was the best route to the Portsmouth cycle path

On previous trips cycling through Portsmouth has been very stressful as it seems to be full of impatient drivers. However, Rob had discovered a new route recommended on a cycle forum that we were keen to try.

The path took us along the side of Langstone Harbour




It wasn't always scenic though




But it was a better route than we had previously used

It was still very windy by the sea but I wasn't worried about our crossing as I knew by the time the ferry was far enough out for it to be rough I would be in bed.

Despite the forecast we had managed to get there without being rained on

The last part of the ride through Portsmouth was on roads busy with rush hour traffic. We had to get to the opposite side of the town to which we had arrived. It wasn't very enjoyable as it was still gusty and so the loaded bike wasn't so easy to control. The advantage of coming into Portsmouth from the direction we had was that we only had to go left or, at worst, straight on at roundabouts and not take the last exit as we had done previously. However, it was still a nerve racking experience as drivers seemed very intolerant and I couldn't help noticing that most of the cycle commuters were using the pavements.

It was a relief to arrive at the ferry port

We are now used to the strange feeling of being at a ferry terminal without the security and comfort of a car and settled down at a picnic table to write our journals and wait to be called as it was only 5.30pm and we were not due to depart until 8.30pm.

Our adventure has really begun

We didn't have to wait long before we were called to the cycle holding area near the back of the ferry where we were asked to wait.

We witnessed a comical scene as some other cyclists approached

The Cardiff Crew as I named them arrived carrying their bags for life. First appearances are deceptive. They weren't the hapless cyclists they first appeared to be as it turned out their bags for life contained their panniers and tomorrow they would attach them to their bikes, ditch the bags for life and set off for Barcelona where they were catching a ferry to Majorca in 7 days time. That's impressive. We often wondered whether they made it.

Add photo
However, I do question the sanity of someone who uses a kitchen spatula as a map holder!



The clouds were gathering again but it didn't matter now

We were pleased when we were invited to board at 7pm - we had stood up for long enough

The tandem was securely fastened in the on board bike shed

It was good to be on board 1.5 hours before the boat was due to leave and we went straight to our cabin to have a shower and get ready for our evening meal. Unfortunately for some reason our porthole was misted up on the outside so we couldn't see our sea view.

We were seated for dinner by 7.30pm

We were glad we had had a small lunch as we were ready for our meal and knew that we could do justice to the self service starter buffet and later the cheese and desert buffet. It was also nice to eat while everything on the buffet was still fresh. We really enjoyed our meal and filled up on the pasta salads to start with and both chose the beef as our main course. This was accompanied by a nice bottle of Madiran as we watched Portsmouth Harbour go by. It was such a lovely way to start a holiday. We had a quick look up on deck before we went to bed but it was quite chilly and the combination of wine and sea swell made it difficult to stand up and it was a relief to get into bed in our cosy cabin. We were both really looking forward to getting our bike the next day and cycling through France.

DAY 1: ST. MALO - CHATEAUGIRON: 98.1km
SATURDAY 17th JULY 2010

I half woke up at 5am, saw that it was going to be a lovely day, and fell back into a contented sleep. When I woke up an hour and a half later I felt as if I had had a really good night's sleep. The beds in the cabin are surprisingly comfy and I had only woken up a couple of times in the night when I felt the boat roll on what was probably still a rough sea from the earlier gale. I sat up in bed writing my journal and enjoying a relaxing start to the day.

We somehow managed to take such a long time getting ourselves showered and packed that we totally lost track of time and were absolutely stunned when we heard the announcement inviting us to go down to the car deck. We had no idea we had arrived (our porthole was still misted up) and were disappointed to have missed the fun of going out on deck and watching St. Malo come into view.

When we got down to the bike shed the Cardiff Crew were there looking a lot more like cyclists and after a few team photos and good wishes they sped off in the direction of Barcelona. We were still untying the tandem and sorting ourselves out as we weren't being put under any pressure to leave.

We pushed the tandem out into glorious sunshine

Rob spent a bit of time setting up the garmin and the cameras with the correct date and time while I enjoyed the view of St. Malo harbour and ate a cereal bar to keep me going until breakfast.

What a lovely day to start a tour




Then we were off, through residential streets




Our first stop was the bank in a beautiful street away from the tourist area

We found a small supermarket where we bought water to top up our bidons and then left St. Malo via residential streets lined with splendid houses.

We were soon in open country




We stopped for breakfast at St. Jean de Guerets

It was lovely to be on our bike and cycling in France. The weather was perfect and we were feeling really good.

The Rance estuary was absolutely breathtaking




We spent a lot of time stopping to take photos




We were a long way from Gascony




We could have spent hours looking at the view but we had to move on

We had one very steep hill and then followed lovely rolling hills past fields of maize and corn. The leaves of the maize looked so green in the sun and we chatted excitedly about the journey ahead. We also kept singing a Dartmoor Pixie Band tune we had heard at a recent festival that seemed to be stuck in our heads.

We were really enjoying the ride




This lane was stunning and we avoided a puncture




We decided the cows were pessimists




The dark stone cottages were very pretty

We were ready for our lunch and cycled through a couple of villages where the bars and bakeries were shut. I had researched the route and noted which villages had restaurants but without phoning each individual restaurant (the majority of them don't have websites) there was no way of knowing whether they would be open or not and I had wrongly assumed they would be open during Saturday lunchtime. It never ceases to amaze us how difficult it is to find food at lunchtime in France!

ADD PICTURE OF VILLAGE WITH NO FOOD

We found a bar with a sunny terrace but unfortunately the baker's was shut so we could not buy a picnic to eat there

One of my searches had found a restaurant in Pleugueneuc which had a website and, according to the website, was open on a Saturday. We decided to aim for there and hope we were not too late to order.

Antre Terre et Mer was a real find




The food was fantastic

Although we were tempted to have the three course menu du jour we decided that we had to be sensible. A long lunch would've been very nice and was very tempting but we had to be realistic - time was ticking on and we didn't want to arrive at our destination too late. In previous years we would've ended up having a long lunch and then wondered why we had arrived at our destination so late. This year we had prepared an excel spreadsheet which on first view looks very rigid however, we were able to see at a glance what the consequence of a long lunch would be on the rest of the day and armed with this information we decided to opt for one course and stick to our target of a 7pm arrival at our destination. As it was we didn't leave there until got 2.30pm which was late enough really.

Most of the afternoon's ride was on a straight, rolling road

We made good progress and on one downhill stretch reached 54.9kph.

We passed through a couple of towns




and villages




We used photographing the cows as an excuse to stop

It had turned out quite hot and some of the hills, although not steep, were long and hard work. As we ground up them in the granny ring it gave us chance to admire the enormous hydrangea bushes that seemed to be outside everyone's house in varying shades of blue and purple.

Rennes was busy - then we remembered it was Saturday afternoon




I was ready for a sit down and a cold drink

It wasn't easy pushing the loaded bike through the cobbled streets that were absolutely packed with people but we managed to find a bar where we could park the bike so we could keep an eye on it. We only had a quick stop as we were conscious that we wanted to get to our destination at a sensible time.

Leaving Rennes was easier than we anticipated as there was a designated cycle lane - and everyone seemed to still be in the city centre

We followed rolling roads past fields of corn

I was feeling really strong, much stronger than I had at this stage of the day on previous tours. My training had obviously paid off and it was nice to be able to continue to enjoy the ride to Chateaugiron, our destination, rather than spend the last hour praying for it to end.

Chateaugiron was so pretty - it was a lucky guess for our overnight stop

We were pleased to discover our hotel was right in the middle of the town

We received a very warm welcome and the owner helped us put the tandem in one of the locked stores off the courtyard. The hotel was really old and our room was clean and functional although could have benefitted from a bit of updating. However, the bathroom was clean and modern (a good shower being our main priority on arrival) and the room's redeeming feature was that it had a little roof terrace although this was very tatty and could've been really beautiful.

We had a pre-dinner stroll around the town




It was a beautiful warm evening




Some of the houses had amazing carvings on them




After an apero in a bar we walked back to our hotel for dinner




We chose a nice table by the window

We enjoyed sitting down for dinner and reflecting on our first day's ride in France while we ate a meal cooked from ingredients supplied by local producers.

After dinner we sat on our balcony for a while and wrote up our diaries

We both agreed that staying in a good but cheap hotel in a small town and eating on our own was much preferable to what we had done in the past when we had stayed in chambres d'hotes or, worse still, camped. It was so nice to know that we had a real bed waiting for us.