Hello. It's been quite a while since I last wrote anything on this blog. Quite a while indeed. In fact, the longer I've left it, the more imposing such an undertaking has become, so I've been even less likely to do it. However, I'm now going to give a brief run-down of things that have occurred since the tandem epic finished.
We got back to Manchester and decided what to do next. First we bought a bright yellow car. Then we went looking for houses.
We now live in lovely Upton upon Severn in Worcestershire. It's nice. There's a river and countryside all about. Also we have far too many pubs. It's insane.
Next we got work for Upton International Music Festival which, all said, is a thoroughly awesome event. We also managed to go to the non-affiliated Upton Blues Festival and saw lots of The Swaps who are brilliant. Best band I've seen in a long time.
Anyway, we worked the Upton International Music Festival, which is being rebranded for next year as the Sunshine festival. Had a jolly good time, drove a tractor (and various other weird and wonderful vehicles) and made some friends.
Subsequent to that, erm, we've both got at least one job. As you do.
Free time has been spent cycling, going to one of the many theatres/cinemas in the area, and walking up and down the Malvern hills. Also, drinking cider. Delicious refreshing cider. We've also been trying to figure out how to get back to the Alps on a more permanent basis, and get some sort of business off the ground.
Oh, and we live in an 18th century cottage, which is nice.
That's about the long-and-short of it really. Just thought I should write something down so the blog remains a going concern. Life just doesn't seem that exciting when you're not cycling across the continent. Anyway, sorry it was so boring. When we finally get some sort of consistent internet I might try to blog more. Although I'm desperately trying to write a book, so any writing-type energy (of which there is surprisingly little) tends to get shoved that way.
Oh, and for genuine stories of interest, check out www.travelswithacockroach.blogspot.co.uk.
A bientot.
Monday, 23 September 2013
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
T+30: Ashbourne to Manchester
Well there you go. We only went and bloody did it.
The back tyre was flat again in the morning: new inner tube, new puncture, no idea how. So I put the old one back on. No tyre trouble for 900 miles then something new every day and three wheel changes (and not the "easy" front wheel, oh no).
After the maintenance at the campsite, the rest of the morning/early afternoon was spent climbing into the clouds of the Peak District. This was tiring and unnecessarily hard work. However, once we'd got past Leek it all got a bit easier. We had some lunch at a Tesco in Macclesfield and simply rode back through Stockport to Manchester. There we stopped at The Didsbury pub for a celebratory pint of cider and tried to make some sense of the epic journey we'd just completed. To be honest, it's a bit difficult to understand or quantify. You spend each day just trying to deal with the distance, navigational issues, bike maintenance, prevailing (shit) weather and complete absence of campsites that you fail to comprehend exactly how far you've gone. Sitting outside the pub was all a bit strange, as is the thought that we don't have to cycle any more. It will probably take a while to sink in.
I think it's quite impossible to explain exactly how difficult, stressful, dirty, annoying, uncomfortable and, obversely, wonderful the ride was overall. So here are some things I am able to quantify at this stage:
1110 miles travelled overall - this was by no means the most direct route from Plan Peisey to Manchester, and included any number of intentional and accidental detours (like shopping, getting lost, following errant cycle paths, and Belgium). It's quite a long way.
31 days total travel time - including three rest days (at Troyes, Dijon and Gent) and one we-can't-go-anywhere-'cause-it's-pissing-it-down-again day at Bar-Le-Duc.
35.8 miles average daily total (41.1 miles excluding rest days).
77.18 miles longest day - from Canterbury to Bishop's Stortford, a day which included a ride on a ferry and plenty of long (but admittedly rarely very steep) climbs.
57.52 miles average for complete days in England (from Canterbury onwards).
10.5-11 stone - apparently what I weigh now after 5 months of work and one month of pretty intense cycling. I've not weighed that little since I was about 13. That's the same as a bag of sugar, or a leprechaun.
£1,444 - the total raised on the charity website when we arrived back in Manchester. It is not too late to sponsor us and support Oxfam, Wateraid, Cancer Research UK, Disability Snowsport UK, and Honour Village Cambodia. We'd really like to smash the £1,500 mark and make the whole experience even more worthwhile. Please please please go straight to
and donate a couple of pounds. It would be hugely appreciated and all goes to excellent organisations.
I don't really know what else to add. Again, there are so many unquantifiable things that have made the trip more, or less, difficult than it probably should have been in some respects. We were really quite unprepared (especially in terms of the gear we took with us) but somehow managed to complete the journey anyway (with any further outlay of capital on vital items). If anyone ever has the urge to do long-distance cycling, on a tandem perhaps, or simply on the continent, there're probably a number of things we could help you with. Just ask, we've got loads of added/pointless knowledge now. It's strange, but you see "normal" cyclists and just feel a bit sorry for them 'cause they might never know the combined joy and pain of real adventure touring. But that's what it was, an adventure. We gave ourselves a fighting chance of completing the trip, despite our lack of preparation, and managed it. Go Team Snow!
I hope you've enjoyed the blog, I've spent almost as many hours writing it as actually cycling. I'm sure we'll be doing more adventuring soon, as soon as we've figured out what to do next, and we'll keep you informed via this medium. Feel free to donate to the Team Snow charity website at any time; it is a very easy and effective way of giving to the five charities outlined so we plan to keep it running indefinitely.
T+30 - Ashbourne to Manchester - 50.08 miles
Plan Peisey (French Alps) to Manchester (UK) - 1110 miles / 31 days
The back tyre was flat again in the morning: new inner tube, new puncture, no idea how. So I put the old one back on. No tyre trouble for 900 miles then something new every day and three wheel changes (and not the "easy" front wheel, oh no).
After the maintenance at the campsite, the rest of the morning/early afternoon was spent climbing into the clouds of the Peak District. This was tiring and unnecessarily hard work. However, once we'd got past Leek it all got a bit easier. We had some lunch at a Tesco in Macclesfield and simply rode back through Stockport to Manchester. There we stopped at The Didsbury pub for a celebratory pint of cider and tried to make some sense of the epic journey we'd just completed. To be honest, it's a bit difficult to understand or quantify. You spend each day just trying to deal with the distance, navigational issues, bike maintenance, prevailing (shit) weather and complete absence of campsites that you fail to comprehend exactly how far you've gone. Sitting outside the pub was all a bit strange, as is the thought that we don't have to cycle any more. It will probably take a while to sink in.I think it's quite impossible to explain exactly how difficult, stressful, dirty, annoying, uncomfortable and, obversely, wonderful the ride was overall. So here are some things I am able to quantify at this stage:
1110 miles travelled overall - this was by no means the most direct route from Plan Peisey to Manchester, and included any number of intentional and accidental detours (like shopping, getting lost, following errant cycle paths, and Belgium). It's quite a long way.
31 days total travel time - including three rest days (at Troyes, Dijon and Gent) and one we-can't-go-anywhere-'cause-it's-pissing-it-down-again day at Bar-Le-Duc.
35.8 miles average daily total (41.1 miles excluding rest days).
77.18 miles longest day - from Canterbury to Bishop's Stortford, a day which included a ride on a ferry and plenty of long (but admittedly rarely very steep) climbs.
57.52 miles average for complete days in England (from Canterbury onwards).
10.5-11 stone - apparently what I weigh now after 5 months of work and one month of pretty intense cycling. I've not weighed that little since I was about 13. That's the same as a bag of sugar, or a leprechaun.
£1,444 - the total raised on the charity website when we arrived back in Manchester. It is not too late to sponsor us and support Oxfam, Wateraid, Cancer Research UK, Disability Snowsport UK, and Honour Village Cambodia. We'd really like to smash the £1,500 mark and make the whole experience even more worthwhile. Please please please go straight to
and donate a couple of pounds. It would be hugely appreciated and all goes to excellent organisations.
I don't really know what else to add. Again, there are so many unquantifiable things that have made the trip more, or less, difficult than it probably should have been in some respects. We were really quite unprepared (especially in terms of the gear we took with us) but somehow managed to complete the journey anyway (with any further outlay of capital on vital items). If anyone ever has the urge to do long-distance cycling, on a tandem perhaps, or simply on the continent, there're probably a number of things we could help you with. Just ask, we've got loads of added/pointless knowledge now. It's strange, but you see "normal" cyclists and just feel a bit sorry for them 'cause they might never know the combined joy and pain of real adventure touring. But that's what it was, an adventure. We gave ourselves a fighting chance of completing the trip, despite our lack of preparation, and managed it. Go Team Snow!
I hope you've enjoyed the blog, I've spent almost as many hours writing it as actually cycling. I'm sure we'll be doing more adventuring soon, as soon as we've figured out what to do next, and we'll keep you informed via this medium. Feel free to donate to the Team Snow charity website at any time; it is a very easy and effective way of giving to the five charities outlined so we plan to keep it running indefinitely.
T+30 - Ashbourne to Manchester - 50.08 miles
Plan Peisey (French Alps) to Manchester (UK) - 1110 miles / 31 days
T+29: Leicester to Ashbourne
It was our intention to reach Ashbourne in a day, and we managed it.
Here's the elaboration. Once awake (difficult) I changed the rear inner tube for the one bought in Northampton (just about the right size) and pumped it up a bit. We then set off towards the middle of Leicester, inflated the tyres to riding levels at a garage, and hoped the Sunday traffic would be good to us. Rode straight through the pedestrianised areas of the city, guessing that we'd end up on the correct road out, and did! There were already people wandering around waiting for the shops to open. I find that rather sad and uninspired but, then again, what would I know about shopping? I live in a tent and have a tandem bicycle as my main form of transport.
To miss major trunk routes, we went a less direct route along the A47 and the B582 to Desford and Ibstock before getting on the A511 past Ashby-de-la-Zouch to Burton upon Trent. There we grabbed some food which we ended up eating near Tutbury. After that we left the A roads again and went through Scropton and past Sudbury Hall, before joining the A515 up to Ashbourne. Again the ride wasn't terrible, although the final leg was more uphill than down, but was accompanied by the persistent neck/back/arse pain that comes as standard with days in/on the saddle. The only thing that kept us going was knowing that Ashbourne is a day's ride from our final destination. The final disappointment of the day was cycling through Ashbourne to find we had a 15% incline to climb before we could reach our campsite. This was then followed by some downhill and more uphill! Crippling for tired legs and morale-sapping knowing we'd have to retrace those painful steps the following morning.
T+29 - Leicester to Ashbourne - 56.33 miles
Here's the elaboration. Once awake (difficult) I changed the rear inner tube for the one bought in Northampton (just about the right size) and pumped it up a bit. We then set off towards the middle of Leicester, inflated the tyres to riding levels at a garage, and hoped the Sunday traffic would be good to us. Rode straight through the pedestrianised areas of the city, guessing that we'd end up on the correct road out, and did! There were already people wandering around waiting for the shops to open. I find that rather sad and uninspired but, then again, what would I know about shopping? I live in a tent and have a tandem bicycle as my main form of transport.
To miss major trunk routes, we went a less direct route along the A47 and the B582 to Desford and Ibstock before getting on the A511 past Ashby-de-la-Zouch to Burton upon Trent. There we grabbed some food which we ended up eating near Tutbury. After that we left the A roads again and went through Scropton and past Sudbury Hall, before joining the A515 up to Ashbourne. Again the ride wasn't terrible, although the final leg was more uphill than down, but was accompanied by the persistent neck/back/arse pain that comes as standard with days in/on the saddle. The only thing that kept us going was knowing that Ashbourne is a day's ride from our final destination. The final disappointment of the day was cycling through Ashbourne to find we had a 15% incline to climb before we could reach our campsite. This was then followed by some downhill and more uphill! Crippling for tired legs and morale-sapping knowing we'd have to retrace those painful steps the following morning.
T+29 - Leicester to Ashbourne - 56.33 miles
T+28: Northampton to Leicester
Due to our heroic cycling over the previous few days we were in a good position to reach Leicester in a fairly short time. We'd been planning to visit my Nan, who lives on the outskirts of Leicester, for some time, and were only some thirty-something miles away at the start of the day.
Unfortunately all didn't quite go to plan. When we went to leave I gave the tyres their usual squeeze and found that the rear one was a bit soft. The puncture repair had clearly not worked perfectly so we decided to start riding and get it inflated at a petrol station - see how it goes. Then we missed our turning and ended up cycling a couple of miles in the wrong direction. We did get the tyre inflated and buy a new inner tube though, although with the knowledge the wheel'd need changing fairly soon.
When we finally got onto the right road we smashed through the first thirty miles with very few problems. It was, as most of England seems to be, a bit hilly at times, but nothing we weren't completely used to. We stopped for some snaffled breakfast items at Husbands Bosworth and were soon in the Leicester locale. There we went a couple of miles "around the houses" but eventually found our way to Nan's and were rewarded with a full roast dinner! It was only about 1pm when we arrived, so we managed to have a good rest and catch-up throughout the day.
Whilst cycling through the residential wonderland of East Leicester the odometer indicated we'd completed 1000 miles. This felt like a huge achievement as I'm sure not many people have ridden that far on a tandem (especially on their first attempt). That was a real "milestone" which we had hoped to reach, now we just had to fulfill the "to Manchester" part of the deal.
Previous to entering England, we would have probably taken a rest day at this sort of stage, especially with the number of miles we'd clocked up, but with the weather forecast staying reasonable, decided to keep going to arrive at Manchester ASAP. It was lovely to have a shorter (only 37-odd miles) day, but we'd be back "on it" tomorrow for the final push.
Oh, and as I haven't said it for a while, thanks again to everyone who has sponsored us and pushed us towards the target amount. It is lovely to know we've got such great support and caring friends. If you haven't yet sponsored us, have enjoyed any of this blogging journal, and would like to give money to fantastic charities please go to www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/snow and chuck a couple of quid in the metaphorical pot. Any amount is very much appreciated. It would be amazing to raise £1,500 or more.
T+28 - Northampton to Leicester - 37.35 miles (1003 miles total)
Unfortunately all didn't quite go to plan. When we went to leave I gave the tyres their usual squeeze and found that the rear one was a bit soft. The puncture repair had clearly not worked perfectly so we decided to start riding and get it inflated at a petrol station - see how it goes. Then we missed our turning and ended up cycling a couple of miles in the wrong direction. We did get the tyre inflated and buy a new inner tube though, although with the knowledge the wheel'd need changing fairly soon.
When we finally got onto the right road we smashed through the first thirty miles with very few problems. It was, as most of England seems to be, a bit hilly at times, but nothing we weren't completely used to. We stopped for some snaffled breakfast items at Husbands Bosworth and were soon in the Leicester locale. There we went a couple of miles "around the houses" but eventually found our way to Nan's and were rewarded with a full roast dinner! It was only about 1pm when we arrived, so we managed to have a good rest and catch-up throughout the day.
Whilst cycling through the residential wonderland of East Leicester the odometer indicated we'd completed 1000 miles. This felt like a huge achievement as I'm sure not many people have ridden that far on a tandem (especially on their first attempt). That was a real "milestone" which we had hoped to reach, now we just had to fulfill the "to Manchester" part of the deal.
Previous to entering England, we would have probably taken a rest day at this sort of stage, especially with the number of miles we'd clocked up, but with the weather forecast staying reasonable, decided to keep going to arrive at Manchester ASAP. It was lovely to have a shorter (only 37-odd miles) day, but we'd be back "on it" tomorrow for the final push.
Oh, and as I haven't said it for a while, thanks again to everyone who has sponsored us and pushed us towards the target amount. It is lovely to know we've got such great support and caring friends. If you haven't yet sponsored us, have enjoyed any of this blogging journal, and would like to give money to fantastic charities please go to www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/snow and chuck a couple of quid in the metaphorical pot. Any amount is very much appreciated. It would be amazing to raise £1,500 or more.
T+28 - Northampton to Leicester - 37.35 miles (1003 miles total)
T+27: Bishop's Stortford to Northampton
After over 900 miles of tandem cycling, through France, Belgium and England, on roads and cycle paths of all kinds, we finally got our first puncture. I had secretly started to hope it'd never come, but it did. The weather had got worse again when we left Bishop's Stortford, with cold winds and the threat of rain ever looming. After only about 10 miles and some small country roads (to miss out any dual-carriageway action, we came to a stop at Hay Street (the name of the village) just North of Braughing. There I quickly relearnt how to change a back wheel. We had wisely decided to carry new inner tubes from the beginning of our journey, but stupidly chosen to bring four of the wrong size. I therefore patched up the existing tube, got completely covered in oily grime and pumped up the tyre to the best of my ability (I can't do 70psi with our little cheap pump, but have reached a respectable 45).
We pressed on through Buntingford, Baldock and Shefford despite some general fatigue. The long miles take their toll on leg muscles and increasingly poorly-padded bottoms alike. Eventually we got to Bedford, which we had posited as a possible stopping point. There we had a burger and (probably foolishly) booked a cheap room at a conference centre in Northampton.
We found our way out of Bedford and kept pushing until we got to Northampton, found the right direction and rode through the traffic to the University area where our accommodation lie. We have got pretty resourceful at finding our way to places. You can generally check out maps on bus stops, or pop into petrol stations to peruse their local A-Zs. Also we've got rather good at putting in long days without getting too tired. On this occasion, we were a bit like lycra-clad zombies for a while, but once we'd discovered there were tea-making facilities in the room (with delicious hot chocolate and biscuits as an added bonus) we soon felt a bit more normal.
It did rain a couple of times in the day, but only for brief spells, so we managed to keep largely dry. Again, it's amazing what you can do, despite accumulated tiredness and an hour's puncture repair, when the weather stays on side. Over 140 miles in two days on a fully-laden tandem, at the tail end of a month's cycling. I was impressed anyway. Actually, you may've read how pleased I was with my Alpine face-tan when chalet-hosting, as it was an outward indication of my seasonnaire status. Similarly I'm very proud of my cycling thigh-tan, especially as the sun has rarely put in an appearance. It's triple A as I'm sure you'll agree (and, yes, the A stands for awesome).
T+27 - Bishop's Stortford to Northampton - 66.68 miles
We pressed on through Buntingford, Baldock and Shefford despite some general fatigue. The long miles take their toll on leg muscles and increasingly poorly-padded bottoms alike. Eventually we got to Bedford, which we had posited as a possible stopping point. There we had a burger and (probably foolishly) booked a cheap room at a conference centre in Northampton.
We found our way out of Bedford and kept pushing until we got to Northampton, found the right direction and rode through the traffic to the University area where our accommodation lie. We have got pretty resourceful at finding our way to places. You can generally check out maps on bus stops, or pop into petrol stations to peruse their local A-Zs. Also we've got rather good at putting in long days without getting too tired. On this occasion, we were a bit like lycra-clad zombies for a while, but once we'd discovered there were tea-making facilities in the room (with delicious hot chocolate and biscuits as an added bonus) we soon felt a bit more normal.
It did rain a couple of times in the day, but only for brief spells, so we managed to keep largely dry. Again, it's amazing what you can do, despite accumulated tiredness and an hour's puncture repair, when the weather stays on side. Over 140 miles in two days on a fully-laden tandem, at the tail end of a month's cycling. I was impressed anyway. Actually, you may've read how pleased I was with my Alpine face-tan when chalet-hosting, as it was an outward indication of my seasonnaire status. Similarly I'm very proud of my cycling thigh-tan, especially as the sun has rarely put in an appearance. It's triple A as I'm sure you'll agree (and, yes, the A stands for awesome).
T+27 - Bishop's Stortford to Northampton - 66.68 miles
T+26: Canterbury to Bishop's Stortford
Although we had to travel down a bit of the dual-carriageway A2 in the morning, it was signposted for cyclists (but not particularly suitable for them) and not raining. We then went through Faversham, Sittingbourne, Gillingham and Rochester to Gravesend. Most of these places were fairly disappointing and, despite all our searching, did not have a £1.99 map of England. I refused to pay any more than the base price for a road map, so we went without until we could find a supermarket big enough, or a shop cheap enough to provide me with the cartography I required. At Gravesend we found, and just missed, the ferry across the Thames estuary to Tilbury. So we waited for half an hour.
Tilbury is the most awful place I think I've ever been. The only upside is that it has a Favorite Chicken, but even that wasn't enough to make me pause in the town. It's quite well connected to countryside too, but just genuinely awful. Never go there.
We went up near Bulphan on the A128, stopped and ate our snaffled extra breakfasting items from the Youth Hostel, then continued to smash out the miles. There was nowhere we particularly wanted to see in England so just made it our mission to get back as quickly as possible. We therefore flew through Brentwood, Chipping Ongar the Rodings (up the B184) and to Bishop's Stortford where we rode straight past the campsite, out of Essex and into Hertfordshire. So we had to ride a couple of miles back (I hate going back) across the border to the campsite, which was essentially someone's garden near the canal and rammed-packed full of rabbits. England is full of rabbits, they are everywhere. It's very cool.
Bishop's Stortford itself is not as nice as the name suggests. It's got a Waitrose. That's it. Don't bother.
We were pretty wiped-out by the distance but very pleased with our progress and ourselves. The roads in England are definitely much busier and require more management of the bike (use of brakes etc) and concentration. The fact that it hadn't rained at all helped immeasurably and went to show what we could do with good travelling conditions.
This is unrelated really but, looking at the map, I've just noticed a town near Bishop's Stortford named "Matching Tye." Excellent.
T+26 - Canterbury to Bishop's Stortford - 77.18 miles (furthest daily distance)
Tilbury is the most awful place I think I've ever been. The only upside is that it has a Favorite Chicken, but even that wasn't enough to make me pause in the town. It's quite well connected to countryside too, but just genuinely awful. Never go there.
We went up near Bulphan on the A128, stopped and ate our snaffled extra breakfasting items from the Youth Hostel, then continued to smash out the miles. There was nowhere we particularly wanted to see in England so just made it our mission to get back as quickly as possible. We therefore flew through Brentwood, Chipping Ongar the Rodings (up the B184) and to Bishop's Stortford where we rode straight past the campsite, out of Essex and into Hertfordshire. So we had to ride a couple of miles back (I hate going back) across the border to the campsite, which was essentially someone's garden near the canal and rammed-packed full of rabbits. England is full of rabbits, they are everywhere. It's very cool.
Bishop's Stortford itself is not as nice as the name suggests. It's got a Waitrose. That's it. Don't bother.
We were pretty wiped-out by the distance but very pleased with our progress and ourselves. The roads in England are definitely much busier and require more management of the bike (use of brakes etc) and concentration. The fact that it hadn't rained at all helped immeasurably and went to show what we could do with good travelling conditions.
This is unrelated really but, looking at the map, I've just noticed a town near Bishop's Stortford named "Matching Tye." Excellent.
T+26 - Canterbury to Bishop's Stortford - 77.18 miles (furthest daily distance)
T+25: Dunkirk to Canterbury (England)
Having finally got the blog up-to-date, and had a few last day treats from the French supermarket this was to be our last part-day in France. We gave ourselves two hours to get to the ferry terminal some 14km away. This was almost not enough time. First we conspired to get repeatedly lost in the immediate vicinity of the F1 hotel we had just left, then the wind was hard and directly in our faces. It was all rather stressful.
But we did get to the ferry on time. We had both bought "bicycle passenger" tickets with DFDS (but separately as the website didn't understand two people being on one bike or even the idea of two cyclists riding together) and this worked fine; although we did have two notices to put on the bike. The lady at the ticket booth had never seen a tandem come through the terminal before. Also the scouse customs lady was very amused by our exploits. It has been nice that so many people have expressed amusement or enjoyment in our tandem, often as we simply pass by; there has been lots of waving, smiling, incomprehensible messages in French/Flemish and general double-takes. Fortunately we're generally moving too quickly for them to notice that we're wearing plastic bags on our feet over our socks.
We queued up with all the cars, and were given our own cycle rack section on the boat. The ferry itself was lovely and quite impressive considering you've only got a two hours trip to enjoy it. We spent our last Euros on a coffee and hot chocolate and watched as we sailed away from the continent. Having lived away from England for nearly 6 months, it was actually quite nice to be heading back. This feeling was probably due to the almost endless toil we'd been enacting since our departure, but it certainly gave us new impetus to "finish the job."
Unfortunately, although it was a beautiful day in Dover, as we got onto the A2 it became horrible. Welcome to England, its freezing cold rain and dual carriageways. The ride down the A2 was unnecessarily cold, wet and frightening. There were not any other options, but fortunately we managed to put off at some point before Canterbury and use a quieter road. Tip to the uninitiated: when cycling in England avoid dual carriageways where possible, there are just too many cars/articulated lorries and they all drive too fast and close.
We stayed at a really lovely Youth Hostel in Canterbury, mostly because we were soaking wet, then the sun came out! It was full of Dutch kids by evening, so it felt like being back in Flemish Belgium again. Had a quick look around Canterbury, which was quite nice and full of Belgian restaurants (??), found a nice (and fairly reasonable) chip shop and went back to the YHA for dinner. Hooray for fish and chips.
T+25 - Dunkirk to Canterbury - 31.71 miles
But we did get to the ferry on time. We had both bought "bicycle passenger" tickets with DFDS (but separately as the website didn't understand two people being on one bike or even the idea of two cyclists riding together) and this worked fine; although we did have two notices to put on the bike. The lady at the ticket booth had never seen a tandem come through the terminal before. Also the scouse customs lady was very amused by our exploits. It has been nice that so many people have expressed amusement or enjoyment in our tandem, often as we simply pass by; there has been lots of waving, smiling, incomprehensible messages in French/Flemish and general double-takes. Fortunately we're generally moving too quickly for them to notice that we're wearing plastic bags on our feet over our socks.
We queued up with all the cars, and were given our own cycle rack section on the boat. The ferry itself was lovely and quite impressive considering you've only got a two hours trip to enjoy it. We spent our last Euros on a coffee and hot chocolate and watched as we sailed away from the continent. Having lived away from England for nearly 6 months, it was actually quite nice to be heading back. This feeling was probably due to the almost endless toil we'd been enacting since our departure, but it certainly gave us new impetus to "finish the job."Unfortunately, although it was a beautiful day in Dover, as we got onto the A2 it became horrible. Welcome to England, its freezing cold rain and dual carriageways. The ride down the A2 was unnecessarily cold, wet and frightening. There were not any other options, but fortunately we managed to put off at some point before Canterbury and use a quieter road. Tip to the uninitiated: when cycling in England avoid dual carriageways where possible, there are just too many cars/articulated lorries and they all drive too fast and close.
We stayed at a really lovely Youth Hostel in Canterbury, mostly because we were soaking wet, then the sun came out! It was full of Dutch kids by evening, so it felt like being back in Flemish Belgium again. Had a quick look around Canterbury, which was quite nice and full of Belgian restaurants (??), found a nice (and fairly reasonable) chip shop and went back to the YHA for dinner. Hooray for fish and chips.T+25 - Dunkirk to Canterbury - 31.71 miles
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
T+24: Ypres to Dunkirk (France)
Yesterday, the 14th May 2013, we travelled from Ypres to Dunkirk (I know, we are finally up-to-date). It wasn't half as bad as the day before, the distance was much shorter and there was much less wind. We went through Poperinge (or Pops as it was known) which is also very nice. We had a couple of instances of freezing rain, one within the first mile, but managed to shelter next to Ypres Cloth Hall and a bus stop in the middle of nowhere respectively.
It was nice to get back into France, to ride on the roads and make some proper progress. In the evening we stopped at an F1 hotel in the back end of Dunkirk and had a celebratory cheese sandwich with Belgian beers. We had cycled the breadth of Belgium and the length of France, and now we only have a short trip across the city to the ferry port. It's a bit strange to think of the distance we've already covered, knowing we (just) have to do a couple of hundred miles in England to finish off.
It's a bit sad to be leaving France, but slightly exciting to be going across the channel after 6 months abroad. It'll be very odd to cycle on the wrong side of the road again. I'm just really hoping the weather improves and we can finally put in some proper miles, like we know we can. It's a bit of a shame I've not managed to include more in this blog about the continent, 'cause a lot has happened that I periodically forget. But that'll be for chatting about over a pint of cider I'm sure.
T+24 - Ypres to Dunkirk - 33.8 miles (790 miles overall)
It was nice to get back into France, to ride on the roads and make some proper progress. In the evening we stopped at an F1 hotel in the back end of Dunkirk and had a celebratory cheese sandwich with Belgian beers. We had cycled the breadth of Belgium and the length of France, and now we only have a short trip across the city to the ferry port. It's a bit strange to think of the distance we've already covered, knowing we (just) have to do a couple of hundred miles in England to finish off.
It's a bit sad to be leaving France, but slightly exciting to be going across the channel after 6 months abroad. It'll be very odd to cycle on the wrong side of the road again. I'm just really hoping the weather improves and we can finally put in some proper miles, like we know we can. It's a bit of a shame I've not managed to include more in this blog about the continent, 'cause a lot has happened that I periodically forget. But that'll be for chatting about over a pint of cider I'm sure.
T+24 - Ypres to Dunkirk - 33.8 miles (790 miles overall)
T+23: Gent to Ypres (Ieper)
We waited for the rain to stop, then left Gent. We didn't quite choose the right route to start with, so added some unnecessary miles onto our daily distance at the very beginning. Our route took us through Deinze, Wontergem, Dentergem, Meulebeke, Izegem, Moorslede and Zonnebeke to Ypres.
The good things about the day included:
The rain stayed off, although it always threatened, which plays on your mind a bit.
We managed to get to Ypres, have a (local "Ypra") beer and witness the Last Post being played at the Menin Gate.
The bad things about the day:
The constant wind. It was very strong and always in our faces. The ride took forever as a result. We were in a climbing gear for about 5 hours. At least with hills there is the "pay off" of going downhill; with the wind there was no respite. One of the most arduous physical tasks ever.
The roads/cycle paths in Belgium are still rubbish.
It was pretty cold.
As a further indication of how the "everything shuts" rule works, when we got to the Aldi around the corner from the campsite to buy our dinner it had closed an hour early for stocktake. Absolutely typical.
I think this may've been our hardest day so far. The ride was seriously gruelling, with almost no cover from the strong headwinds. Spent most of the journey absolutely hating it.
On the plus side, Ypres is gorgeous and particularly impressive as it was almost entirely destroyed during the First World War then rebuilt.
T+23 - Gent to Ypres - 49.26 miles
The good things about the day included:
The rain stayed off, although it always threatened, which plays on your mind a bit.
We managed to get to Ypres, have a (local "Ypra") beer and witness the Last Post being played at the Menin Gate.
The bad things about the day:
The constant wind. It was very strong and always in our faces. The ride took forever as a result. We were in a climbing gear for about 5 hours. At least with hills there is the "pay off" of going downhill; with the wind there was no respite. One of the most arduous physical tasks ever.
The roads/cycle paths in Belgium are still rubbish.
It was pretty cold.
As a further indication of how the "everything shuts" rule works, when we got to the Aldi around the corner from the campsite to buy our dinner it had closed an hour early for stocktake. Absolutely typical.
I think this may've been our hardest day so far. The ride was seriously gruelling, with almost no cover from the strong headwinds. Spent most of the journey absolutely hating it.
On the plus side, Ypres is gorgeous and particularly impressive as it was almost entirely destroyed during the First World War then rebuilt.
T+23 - Gent to Ypres - 49.26 miles
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
T+22: Gent
Gent was a designated "day off" for sightseeing. We'd aimed as much for Gent as anywhere else, and had heard good things about it from one of our Belgian friends who had originally studied in the city. We're very glad we made the trip. Although it was often bitterly cold (exacerbated by our continuing lack of winter clothes/long trousers) and rained frequently, the city itself was lovely. We walked in from our campsite abode and had a good wander about. Unfortunately all of the museums seemed to charge an entrance fee, so we didn't see those, but we had excellent, and very reasonably priced, soup at the Soup Lounge. Also had a Belgian waffle with chocolate sauce as an extra-special treat. People in Gent drink champagne from small stalls on a Sunday morning, then go shopping for flowers at the Bloemenmarkt as there aren't any shops open. For us it was a much needed rest for our bodies, even though we probably walked a number of miles. The city was lovely and, we presume as always, in sunny weather would be amazing. Definitely worth a visit. View these pictures with your eyes:
T+21: Denderhoutem to Gent
This was a fairly short day's cycle all told, but complicated by the usual impairments to our progress.
When we woke up it was raining. It fortunately stopped long enough to leave around midday. Also we'd finally washed all of our clothes.
We then joined the main road North up to Aalst, before turning West towards Gent. This brought on the strong winds, and slowed us down no end. It rained on and off, which is standard fare. Other than the wind, the second most difficult thing about cycling in Belgium is the cycle paths. You're supposed to use them when they're available (which is most of the time). This would seem to be a good idea, but often the cycle paths are poorly maintained, covered in the debris sprayed from the road, or constructed of poorly-aligned rectangles of concrete. In towns, the cycle route is often coterminous with the pavement, made of cobbles or brick-paving, or both. This makes for a generally bumpy and uncomfortable ride. Also, when you regularly travel along at around 20mph (although instances in Belgium are much-reduced by the wind), travelling down the pavement seems absurd and rather dangerous. At junctions, a variety of things happen, most of which involve cyclist occupying the theoretical space between being a car and being a pedestrian. To my mind, this doesn't work, and makes everyone unsure of eveything. Just let me ride on the road, it'd be safer for everyone involved.
Overall, the trip to Gent was fairly uneventful, despite the wind and rain, but cemented the fact that, despite being outwardly cycle-friendly, riding in Belgium was proving to be a bit of a chore. When we got to Gent it was raining, but we navigated the city sufficiently well to find a huge campsite in some sort of sporting district. The area was hosting the Special Olympics, and lots of rowing, so was surprisingly busy. Also, it had a shop and a snack bar, so even food was available. Excellent.
T+21 - Denderhoutem to Gent - 26.35 miles
When we woke up it was raining. It fortunately stopped long enough to leave around midday. Also we'd finally washed all of our clothes.
We then joined the main road North up to Aalst, before turning West towards Gent. This brought on the strong winds, and slowed us down no end. It rained on and off, which is standard fare. Other than the wind, the second most difficult thing about cycling in Belgium is the cycle paths. You're supposed to use them when they're available (which is most of the time). This would seem to be a good idea, but often the cycle paths are poorly maintained, covered in the debris sprayed from the road, or constructed of poorly-aligned rectangles of concrete. In towns, the cycle route is often coterminous with the pavement, made of cobbles or brick-paving, or both. This makes for a generally bumpy and uncomfortable ride. Also, when you regularly travel along at around 20mph (although instances in Belgium are much-reduced by the wind), travelling down the pavement seems absurd and rather dangerous. At junctions, a variety of things happen, most of which involve cyclist occupying the theoretical space between being a car and being a pedestrian. To my mind, this doesn't work, and makes everyone unsure of eveything. Just let me ride on the road, it'd be safer for everyone involved.
Overall, the trip to Gent was fairly uneventful, despite the wind and rain, but cemented the fact that, despite being outwardly cycle-friendly, riding in Belgium was proving to be a bit of a chore. When we got to Gent it was raining, but we navigated the city sufficiently well to find a huge campsite in some sort of sporting district. The area was hosting the Special Olympics, and lots of rowing, so was surprisingly busy. Also, it had a shop and a snack bar, so even food was available. Excellent.
T+21 - Denderhoutem to Gent - 26.35 miles
T+20: Rhisnes to Denderhoutem
Our notes for this day say simply "super windy, hilly - Belgian mountains." We had previously emailed our Belgian friends to say we were in their country, and been told that our planned route for the day took us over the Belgian mountains. We were hoping this was a joke. It sort-of was.
Belgium doesn't have mountains per se, but it does have lots of rolling hills in the middle. The day's ride started with a trip to the local supermarket (which was very open), this allowed us to buy pain au chocolat (which had secret banana in it) and get immediately disoriented. We ended up going down the worng road. Then the rain came down (which was freezing cold, naturally). The wind was particularly hard for the first hour and, when combined with rain, particularly hard going. Although the wind was pretty consistantly strong and in our faces, hindsight (which, like a tigger, is a wonderful thing) has shown us that it wasn't as bad as it could be.
We'd chosen (and fairly meticulously detailed in our exercise book) a route through Sombreffe, Nivelles, Halle (which on all the signs seems to be just Hal), Popingen and Ninove to the (only) campsite (on this side of Belgium) in Denderhoutem. Our navigating through (periodically wet) Nivelles was impeccable and rewarded by a more Northernly route, which cut across the wind rather than piling straight into it. We therefore flew through Hal (where we should've been singing "Daisy, Daisy") and got to Ninove without getting too cold and wet. We were obviously cold and wet, but not at dangerous levels. If I haven't suggested otherwise, just assume that at any given time we're cold and wet. Cold and wet is the default setting. Also, for Belgium, add gale-force winds counter to our direction of travel.
At Ninove, we took a photo outside the Slaghmuylder brewery which makes best beer in Belgium: Witkap Pater. We've been drinking the Stimulo which is full of flavour, but rounded enough to be a real "session" beer. Absolutely delicious, and completely to my taste. Hooray!
We then got to the campsite, set up and had half an hour before our Belgian friend collected us for an evening in Wemmel. The day's cycling had been hard work, but was thoroughly rewarded once we finished.
We drove (cars are the most comfortable thing ever) past the Atomium which is very large and shiny, to Wemmel, where there was a big holiday fair and "Grand Prix." This involved lots of two-man pedal car racing and a soapbox derby (which is much more difficult for me to pronounce in Flemish). Some of the kids were taking part in the derby, and had custom-made carts, which were very cool. We had friten (the Belgian delicacy) with lashings of mayonnaise, plenty of Witkap Pater and some sort of Hawaiian pitta bread meal. Most of all though we had a lovely time with our Belgian friends. It was very kind of them to drive all the way from the outskirts of Brussels to get us, then take us back, and look after us when we were in their home town. The fair/Grand Prix had a real friendly village-feel to it and it was really nice to know some people who could explain what was going on (and some soapbox racers to cheer on!)
So, to surmise, a tough day on the bike followed by a wonderful evening with friends.
T+20 - Rhisnes to Denderhoutem - 53.12 miles
Belgium doesn't have mountains per se, but it does have lots of rolling hills in the middle. The day's ride started with a trip to the local supermarket (which was very open), this allowed us to buy pain au chocolat (which had secret banana in it) and get immediately disoriented. We ended up going down the worng road. Then the rain came down (which was freezing cold, naturally). The wind was particularly hard for the first hour and, when combined with rain, particularly hard going. Although the wind was pretty consistantly strong and in our faces, hindsight (which, like a tigger, is a wonderful thing) has shown us that it wasn't as bad as it could be.
We'd chosen (and fairly meticulously detailed in our exercise book) a route through Sombreffe, Nivelles, Halle (which on all the signs seems to be just Hal), Popingen and Ninove to the (only) campsite (on this side of Belgium) in Denderhoutem. Our navigating through (periodically wet) Nivelles was impeccable and rewarded by a more Northernly route, which cut across the wind rather than piling straight into it. We therefore flew through Hal (where we should've been singing "Daisy, Daisy") and got to Ninove without getting too cold and wet. We were obviously cold and wet, but not at dangerous levels. If I haven't suggested otherwise, just assume that at any given time we're cold and wet. Cold and wet is the default setting. Also, for Belgium, add gale-force winds counter to our direction of travel.
At Ninove, we took a photo outside the Slaghmuylder brewery which makes best beer in Belgium: Witkap Pater. We've been drinking the Stimulo which is full of flavour, but rounded enough to be a real "session" beer. Absolutely delicious, and completely to my taste. Hooray! We then got to the campsite, set up and had half an hour before our Belgian friend collected us for an evening in Wemmel. The day's cycling had been hard work, but was thoroughly rewarded once we finished.
We drove (cars are the most comfortable thing ever) past the Atomium which is very large and shiny, to Wemmel, where there was a big holiday fair and "Grand Prix." This involved lots of two-man pedal car racing and a soapbox derby (which is much more difficult for me to pronounce in Flemish). Some of the kids were taking part in the derby, and had custom-made carts, which were very cool. We had friten (the Belgian delicacy) with lashings of mayonnaise, plenty of Witkap Pater and some sort of Hawaiian pitta bread meal. Most of all though we had a lovely time with our Belgian friends. It was very kind of them to drive all the way from the outskirts of Brussels to get us, then take us back, and look after us when we were in their home town. The fair/Grand Prix had a real friendly village-feel to it and it was really nice to know some people who could explain what was going on (and some soapbox racers to cheer on!)
So, to surmise, a tough day on the bike followed by a wonderful evening with friends.
T+20 - Rhisnes to Denderhoutem - 53.12 miles
T+19: Givet to Rhisnes (Belgium)
The day started with the standard changeable sky and threat of rain, but we started off with the intention of doing the best we could. We prepare most days for incredibly wet weather. This means putting plastic bags and socks on our feet in a variety of combinations and wrapping everything we own in small white, and large black, bags. This day was different though, because we were going into Belgium.
The sun'll come out in Belgium, bet your bottom dollar that in Belgium, the sun will shine.
It's a beautiful day, in Belgium, it may be raining everywhere but Belgium, but that's just fine.
So we crossed the border into real sunshine. This was not the only difference, however, as the roads immediately deteriorated simultaneously. The trip along the Meuse remained beautiful however, with the green hills dropping straight into the river. The wind had picked up a little and, with the poorly-maintained roadway, served to slow us down a touch, but we didn't mind 'cause of the genuine warm weather. The first major place we reached was Dinant, which was absolutely gorgeous. Due to only having a map of France, and the overlap into Belgium running out just before Namur (Namen), we had set ourselves a fairly low target. This was more than justified, however, as we needed to do some serious research into how possible cycling around Belgium would be.
After Dinant, we passed through Anhee and Profondville. We couldn't get anything to eat because (like the French the day before) the Belgians were having a public holiday. Standard rule applies: if you want something, everything will be shut. We got into Namur in good time and treated ourselves to (cheap) Falafel from a snack bar. It was amazing! One of those foods we've missed for months, and served with loads of salad and mayonnaise. Yum! Oh, Namur was a pretty nice town too, with lots of little restaurants and pedestrianised areas. The Belgians have a strange approach to cyclists, which was partly revealed in the fact that bikes can go the "wrong way" down most one-way streets.
We then climbed (apparently Belgium does have hills) out of Namur, to Rhisnes. This was the last place we had internet, but we had no chance to blog, due to the pressing necessity to find out as much about Belgium, her road system, weather and campsites as possible before going "off the map."
Obviously, everything in Rhisnes was shut, so we ate some left-over bread and a bit of chocolate. Thank God for our delicious lunch.
A couple of things of note that we spotted along the way:
A bread vending machine - we've seen one of these before, in a French town where there's no boulangerie. Absolutely brilliant. We've also seen a vending machine for flowers.
A swimming pool made from a large cargo boat - it was dug into the ground, but kept all of its boatness. Incroyable.
We passed the 600 miles mark..
T+19 - Givet to Rhisnes (outside Namur) - 37.65 miles
The sun'll come out in Belgium, bet your bottom dollar that in Belgium, the sun will shine.
It's a beautiful day, in Belgium, it may be raining everywhere but Belgium, but that's just fine.
So we crossed the border into real sunshine. This was not the only difference, however, as the roads immediately deteriorated simultaneously. The trip along the Meuse remained beautiful however, with the green hills dropping straight into the river. The wind had picked up a little and, with the poorly-maintained roadway, served to slow us down a touch, but we didn't mind 'cause of the genuine warm weather. The first major place we reached was Dinant, which was absolutely gorgeous. Due to only having a map of France, and the overlap into Belgium running out just before Namur (Namen), we had set ourselves a fairly low target. This was more than justified, however, as we needed to do some serious research into how possible cycling around Belgium would be.
After Dinant, we passed through Anhee and Profondville. We couldn't get anything to eat because (like the French the day before) the Belgians were having a public holiday. Standard rule applies: if you want something, everything will be shut. We got into Namur in good time and treated ourselves to (cheap) Falafel from a snack bar. It was amazing! One of those foods we've missed for months, and served with loads of salad and mayonnaise. Yum! Oh, Namur was a pretty nice town too, with lots of little restaurants and pedestrianised areas. The Belgians have a strange approach to cyclists, which was partly revealed in the fact that bikes can go the "wrong way" down most one-way streets.
We then climbed (apparently Belgium does have hills) out of Namur, to Rhisnes. This was the last place we had internet, but we had no chance to blog, due to the pressing necessity to find out as much about Belgium, her road system, weather and campsites as possible before going "off the map."
Obviously, everything in Rhisnes was shut, so we ate some left-over bread and a bit of chocolate. Thank God for our delicious lunch.
A couple of things of note that we spotted along the way:
A bread vending machine - we've seen one of these before, in a French town where there's no boulangerie. Absolutely brilliant. We've also seen a vending machine for flowers.
A swimming pool made from a large cargo boat - it was dug into the ground, but kept all of its boatness. Incroyable.
We passed the 600 miles mark..
T+19 - Givet to Rhisnes (outside Namur) - 37.65 miles
T+18: Charleville-Mezieres to Givet
To continue the running theme, the day was wet. Very wet. Fortunately, the cycle path was excellent and we were smahing along at around 19mph for most of it. Also, it was just about warm enough (when traelling at full pelt) to allow us to keep going. Despite all of our planning the previous evening, we actually managed to conquer the whole Voie Verte in a single day. This was yet another massive achievement in an expedition of great endeavours. The cycle path follows, in the main, the old river towpath and the valley is absolutely gorgeous with some pretty little towns. Having passed through a particularly drippy tunnel at Revin, the ugliest of these towns by some distance, we stopped there in the only place open for miles for a drink and (obversely) to get a touch drier. We also passed through the lovely Fumay, the two Vireuxs and I'd-live-there-if-it-wasn't-so-close-to-a-nuclear-power-plant-that-creates-a-huge-constant-shroud-of-clouds Chooz. The latter village had some sort of fete which was being packed up, probably because of the unseasonably inclement weather.
We finally got to Givet, the last bastion of pure Frenchness before Belgium, found some food and the cheapest municipal campsite in the world and settled in for the evening. Givet's quite lovely too, with hotels, a fort and everything.
The cycle route was beautiful despite the rain. If the sun had been out, it would've probably been spectacular. It was also really well maintained, flat and generally quick. I just wish the rain hadn't been running down my face the whole time. The most difficult thing is judging how much more you can withstand before depression or hyperthermia sets in. Fortunately, on this day, we got it just right.
As per usual, once the tent was up, the rain stopped. This helped with shopping. But, also as per usual, the weather got worse again at bedtime (around 8pm) when a huge storm started with massive lightning and thunder.
In some ways a great day. We were definitely "doing it" today; smashing the miles, dealing with adverse conditions and yet seeing an amazing area. Shame the weather's not improving.
T+18 - Charleville-Mezieres to Givet - 58.49 miles
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
T+17: Sedan to Charleville-Mezieres
This is a story all about how
My life got flipped, turned upside-down,
And I'd like to take a minute,
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how I ended up in Charleville-Mezieres
From the Alps to Manchester, that's the way,
On a tandem is how I spend most of my days,
Pedalling, freewheeling, rolling through the rain,
Trying to ignore the persistant arse-pain.
When we got to Sedan it was really no good,
Started really pouring: had to wear a hood.
We woke up in the tent, rain everywhere
Said "we'll get no further than Charleville-Mezieres."
Put bags on our stuff and all of our gear
When we got on the bike we pushed through the fear
Cycling was more like sailing on "la mer"
But we thought "ah forget it, push on 'til we're there"
We pulled up to the local Formule Une
Wiped off the rain, day was short, wet and done,
Had a steaming hot shower
We were finally there
At the cheapest hotel in Charleville-Mezieres.
T+17: Sedan - Charleville-Mezieres - 17.13 miles
My life got flipped, turned upside-down,
And I'd like to take a minute,
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how I ended up in Charleville-Mezieres
From the Alps to Manchester, that's the way,
On a tandem is how I spend most of my days,
Pedalling, freewheeling, rolling through the rain,
Trying to ignore the persistant arse-pain.
When we got to Sedan it was really no good,
Started really pouring: had to wear a hood.
We woke up in the tent, rain everywhere
Said "we'll get no further than Charleville-Mezieres."
Put bags on our stuff and all of our gear
When we got on the bike we pushed through the fear
Cycling was more like sailing on "la mer"
But we thought "ah forget it, push on 'til we're there"
We pulled up to the local Formule Une
Wiped off the rain, day was short, wet and done,
Had a steaming hot shower
We were finally there
At the cheapest hotel in Charleville-Mezieres.
T+17: Sedan - Charleville-Mezieres - 17.13 miles
T+16: Verdun to Sedan
With the bike fully functional (with topped up tyres and everything), a dry tent and a new supply of flapjacks, we wished our friends a fond farewell (as they were heading down to Troyes for a look) and headed North again. Since Troyes we'd headed away from England to visit Verdun but were now back to heading (vaguely) towards our final destination. From Verdun we'd be following the Meuse for a few days, and definitely into Belgium (which is very exciting indeed). This would hopefully mean more downhills than uphills and some gently wending countryside.
The ride actual had some pretty steep sections which we had to take in bottom gear. The weather was clear enough, with a thin covering of cloud for most of the day and one rain shower before the climb at Moulins-St-Hubert. We'd originally aimed to get to Stenay (where there's a beer museum), but with the weather so complimentary decided to push onto Sedan. One major achievement was reaching the 500 mile mark just before (Brother) Mouzon: this is "halfway" according to our estimate of 1000 miles. The stupid thing about the ride was the proliferation of campsites; they were everywhere and yet we cycled straight past in the hazy sun, if it was raining there'd be none.
We've definitely got better at cycling, the new-found gears helped no end and we reached Sedan in good time. We were definitely tired, but had enough energy to find the municipal camping in the centre of town and an E Leclerc supermarket before settling down for the evening. Again the showers were rubbish, so we got seriously cold and not much cleaner using them. The campsite was cheap, and not great. Then it started to rain. This we should've predicted as the tourist literature referenced the "summer showers" and "what to do when it's raining outside." Also, it's always bloody raining!
We were in "bed" and asleep by 8pm.
T+16 - Verdun to Sedan - 55.84 miles (514 total)
The ride actual had some pretty steep sections which we had to take in bottom gear. The weather was clear enough, with a thin covering of cloud for most of the day and one rain shower before the climb at Moulins-St-Hubert. We'd originally aimed to get to Stenay (where there's a beer museum), but with the weather so complimentary decided to push onto Sedan. One major achievement was reaching the 500 mile mark just before (Brother) Mouzon: this is "halfway" according to our estimate of 1000 miles. The stupid thing about the ride was the proliferation of campsites; they were everywhere and yet we cycled straight past in the hazy sun, if it was raining there'd be none.
We've definitely got better at cycling, the new-found gears helped no end and we reached Sedan in good time. We were definitely tired, but had enough energy to find the municipal camping in the centre of town and an E Leclerc supermarket before settling down for the evening. Again the showers were rubbish, so we got seriously cold and not much cleaner using them. The campsite was cheap, and not great. Then it started to rain. This we should've predicted as the tourist literature referenced the "summer showers" and "what to do when it's raining outside." Also, it's always bloody raining!
We were in "bed" and asleep by 8pm.
T+16 - Verdun to Sedan - 55.84 miles (514 total)
T+15: Verdun
Now, as I'd mentioned earlier, Verdun was a key point in the French defence of their country during the Great War. I'd visited the area as a child and it was our intention to (re)visit some of the historic battlefield sites before we left. We therefore took a non-cycling day, although it was our intention to cycle to the various places outside of the town itself. Fortunately for us, our friends also decided to stay another day and, despite the fact it was never their intention, drove us up to these areas. This gave us a real day off cycling which was very welcome: we therefore didn't cycle miles out of our way, mostly uphill, to see what we wanted to see, and got to spend more time in good company.
I'm not going to go into major detail, but some 30 million (I think) shells were fired in the battles of 1916, so the landscape is quite interesting. Also there's plenty to see which gives you a better understanding of the scale of the war in this area.
In the evening, Rach cooked and we felt like real people again for a while. Genuinely lovely couple of days. Oh, and it was gorgeous sunshine all day. I'm sure this was what the trip was supposed to be like. Also, we managed to get all of our gears back (due to some much-needed guidance) and much of our sanity. By the end of the day we were ready for more cycling, and actually looking forward to it. Woo!
I'm not going to go into major detail, but some 30 million (I think) shells were fired in the battles of 1916, so the landscape is quite interesting. Also there's plenty to see which gives you a better understanding of the scale of the war in this area.
In the evening, Rach cooked and we felt like real people again for a while. Genuinely lovely couple of days. Oh, and it was gorgeous sunshine all day. I'm sure this was what the trip was supposed to be like. Also, we managed to get all of our gears back (due to some much-needed guidance) and much of our sanity. By the end of the day we were ready for more cycling, and actually looking forward to it. Woo!
T+14: Bar-Le-Duc to Verdun
I know I talk about the weather a lot, but it dictates our lives at the moment, even more than gradual or sharp inclines. We woke up to a changeable looking sky, with a slightly damp tent. We decided to get going, to make some/any progress before it got worse. It actually got better and we had one of the most enjoyable days so far.
We were taking the Voie Sacree (the sacred road) all the way from Bar to Verdun, so the route was straightforward. The Voie Sacree was the road which provided supplies to the French army at Verdun during the Great War. This was an area of intense fighting during the First World War, where the Germans sought to "bleed (the French) white." There're something like 39 forts built into the countryside and they proved to be sufficient in stopping the Germans from advancing, although a couple fell during 1916. Anyway, the road itself is a "living" monument to the French ability to maintain its fighting forces during the war.
As with any road, we judged it by its ascents and descents. It was gradually uphill, but with no "serious" climbs to speak of. We quite enjoyed it and, once again, having had an early start, made excellent progress. It was only just after lunch when we rolled into Verdun. Also it was sunny! The day had come on beautifully, and left us with very few clouds: a rare experience indeed.
We then met up with our lovely friends from work who were spending a few days driving back from the Alps to Wales. There's a large gate on the way into Verdun which lists the years of siege, conquest and general war in which Verdun saw fighting or "changed hands." There we met our friends and proceeded to follow their van to the campsite on the edge of town (Les Breuils). Having ridden our quota of miles so expertly in the morning, the rest of the was actually spent enjoying ourselves in the sun (I know, the sun we'd heard so much about but seen so little of). We walked into the centre ville which by the afternoon had people in it! We then had a beer at L'Estaminet (which has 12 beers on tap, 250 on its "menu" and is like a real pub inside and out)! In the evening we had a delicious seafood curry cooked in the van! There were so many exciting, and sorely missed, things happening it was hard to keep up.
As it was Saturday night, the fair (which was happening not far from the campsite) played music (including a particularly memorable Elvis medley) until 3am. This was a shame. All the songs seem to be end-of-the-night slow "finishers" so you were constantly hoping the noise would end, but instead they just faded out halfway through to be replaced by something else.
To surmise, a good day's cycling followed by a very enjoyable afternoon. After our previous non-cycling "free time" being generally spoiled by the weather, we finally felt like we were enjoying France as well as simply cycling and fretting. Hooray!
T+14 - Bar-Le-Duc to Verdun - 39.05 miles
We were taking the Voie Sacree (the sacred road) all the way from Bar to Verdun, so the route was straightforward. The Voie Sacree was the road which provided supplies to the French army at Verdun during the Great War. This was an area of intense fighting during the First World War, where the Germans sought to "bleed (the French) white." There're something like 39 forts built into the countryside and they proved to be sufficient in stopping the Germans from advancing, although a couple fell during 1916. Anyway, the road itself is a "living" monument to the French ability to maintain its fighting forces during the war.
As with any road, we judged it by its ascents and descents. It was gradually uphill, but with no "serious" climbs to speak of. We quite enjoyed it and, once again, having had an early start, made excellent progress. It was only just after lunch when we rolled into Verdun. Also it was sunny! The day had come on beautifully, and left us with very few clouds: a rare experience indeed.
We then met up with our lovely friends from work who were spending a few days driving back from the Alps to Wales. There's a large gate on the way into Verdun which lists the years of siege, conquest and general war in which Verdun saw fighting or "changed hands." There we met our friends and proceeded to follow their van to the campsite on the edge of town (Les Breuils). Having ridden our quota of miles so expertly in the morning, the rest of the was actually spent enjoying ourselves in the sun (I know, the sun we'd heard so much about but seen so little of). We walked into the centre ville which by the afternoon had people in it! We then had a beer at L'Estaminet (which has 12 beers on tap, 250 on its "menu" and is like a real pub inside and out)! In the evening we had a delicious seafood curry cooked in the van! There were so many exciting, and sorely missed, things happening it was hard to keep up.As it was Saturday night, the fair (which was happening not far from the campsite) played music (including a particularly memorable Elvis medley) until 3am. This was a shame. All the songs seem to be end-of-the-night slow "finishers" so you were constantly hoping the noise would end, but instead they just faded out halfway through to be replaced by something else.
To surmise, a good day's cycling followed by a very enjoyable afternoon. After our previous non-cycling "free time" being generally spoiled by the weather, we finally felt like we were enjoying France as well as simply cycling and fretting. Hooray!
T+14 - Bar-Le-Duc to Verdun - 39.05 miles
T+13: Bar-Le-Duc
The rain decided to stay, so we had no choice but to do the same. This was a huge disappointment as we had plans to get to Verdun and woke up early to try to make good progress. Instead we spent the morning waiting in the tent for the sun to come and rescue us. It didn't, so we were forced to pay for another night and sit tight.
In the early afternoon, the rain had turned into more of a constant drizzle, so we ventured out and walked around the recommended tour of the town. It was fairly interesting, with an older "haute ville" on the rocky spur dominating the city, and a more modern lower town, with shops etc below. Overall the town felt quite worn though, but with some lovely regenerated bits. It was actually a bit English for my liking. Fortunately we'd washed everything we own (for free) using the campsite's washing machine and dryer the previous evening, so at least we were pretty clean.In all it was a rather frustrating day, cold and damp, in which we achieved precious little. The only saving grace was we were in a fairly cheap campsite, and had access to a supermarket. If the showers had been hot, that would've been better. It's very annoying when it rains, because we just don't have enough clothing to deal with it. Also, trying to move from one place to another with a wet tent just doesn't work. We have to travel light, and rain is not compatible with that.
T+12: Montier en Der to Bar-Le-Duc
Sorry for the lack of blog posts recently, they are entirely dependant upon the wifis and the availability of power sources. However, let me bring you up-to-date now.
We left Montier under some clouds but fortunately they sorted themselves out and we had pretty good weather for the day. We spend most of our time fearing the complete waste of time that is rain, or the burning effects of the sun. Unfortunately this journey has had more of the former so far.
First we rode to St Dizier, where we stopped at a Intermarche for a bit of lunch. There were a number of fast jets repeatedly flying past which were very impressive and super loud. In the car park of the supermarket there was an open-air laundrette, with the machines fixed in a permanent, but very exposed, box. As I was waiting for Rach to buy stuff, I could watch laundry spinning around on the other side of the car park. Because the bike is so laden, we only ever go into places individually. It's just not practical to try and take the luggage off to go shopping. Therefore, until we reach our daily destination, we're not really at leisure to stop and explore. Even then, when we're camping, we have to take a couple of bags with us.
After St Dizier there were some climbs through Chancenay and after Saudrupt before we rode
down into Bar-Le-Duc. As we'd left at a decent time, we got there pretty early and resolved to walk around the town and actually enjoy some of the sunshine. The problem we faced was, as always, when we stop the rain soon comes. So by the time we'd picked a not-too-sunny spot at the municipal camping and visited the supermarket, it started raining. The campsite itself was lovely and had only opened up for the season on the 1st May, so we were its first guests of the year. The showers were not quite warm enough though, which was a shame, but it sat in the grounds of a large building which housed the mediatheque (a bit like a library).
So the evening was spent eating, regaining our precious energies and hoping the rain would disappear for the next day.
T+12 - Montier en Der to Bar-Le-Duc - 33.25 miles
We left Montier under some clouds but fortunately they sorted themselves out and we had pretty good weather for the day. We spend most of our time fearing the complete waste of time that is rain, or the burning effects of the sun. Unfortunately this journey has had more of the former so far.
First we rode to St Dizier, where we stopped at a Intermarche for a bit of lunch. There were a number of fast jets repeatedly flying past which were very impressive and super loud. In the car park of the supermarket there was an open-air laundrette, with the machines fixed in a permanent, but very exposed, box. As I was waiting for Rach to buy stuff, I could watch laundry spinning around on the other side of the car park. Because the bike is so laden, we only ever go into places individually. It's just not practical to try and take the luggage off to go shopping. Therefore, until we reach our daily destination, we're not really at leisure to stop and explore. Even then, when we're camping, we have to take a couple of bags with us.
After St Dizier there were some climbs through Chancenay and after Saudrupt before we rode
So the evening was spent eating, regaining our precious energies and hoping the rain would disappear for the next day.
T+12 - Montier en Der to Bar-Le-Duc - 33.25 miles
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
T+11: Troyes to Montier en Der
Right. After waiting half the morning to see if the rain would clear, it did! This was a small miracle as the forecast was for constant rain all day. So we quickly got ready and got on the bike for as much cycling as the weather would let us achieve.
The rain began as we got to the industrial park near the ring road of Troyes, but fortunately only persisted for about half an hour. Also it was surprisingly warm. When we got to Lusigny-sur-Barse we stopped at the only open shop in France (it's some sort of Workers'/Labour day holiday on the 1st May) and got enough provisions to get us through the day (bread, bananas, tuna, marmalade and a single can of Coke). We kept on to Geraudot, which we'd earlier outlined as a possible stopping point, but continued as the weather was getting better and better.
The lakes are huge, and we soon found an actual beach! Not only is Troyes a gorgeous city, but it's within spitting distance of beaches and sailing areas. The cycle path is also pretty good and, because of the changeable weather, almost completely deserted. The (inevitable) down-side is that the wind was strong and directly in our faces for most of the ride; this significantly reduces how fast you can go and seriously saps your energy and resolve. There was also lots of flying ant type things aiming for my face at one point, which was pretty annoying. I hate bugs almost as much as Rach hates the wind (which today threatened to drive her "insane.")
Still, we managed to get around the lakes, resolving to consider our progress, the weather and our capabilities at Port Dienville. We got there just after 14:00 and it still wasn't raining so, against the protests of our posteriors, we decided to continue. We passed through Brienne-le-Chateau, Juzanvigny, Epothement and Louze, which all had lots of lovely old wooden-framed buildings, and ended up at Montier-en-Der. The road from the lakes had a few climbs on it, and we were more than ready to finish once we'd got here. Still, we'd progressed much more than we thought we would today so are very pleased. Also, the meteo forecast for the next few days is much improved, so we could be in Bar-Le-Duc (which sounds like the only way to stop rowdy French wildfowl from entering your drinking establishment) tomorrow, and maybe Verdun the day after. That is, of course, if all goes to plan.
Oh, and the bike's holding up, but has started to make some unwelcome noises, so I'll be looking closely at it over the next couple of days...
I hope these blogs are adequately explaining the journey, please feel free to comment on them.
T+11 - Troyes to Montier en Der - 48.15 miles (386 miles total)
The rain began as we got to the industrial park near the ring road of Troyes, but fortunately only persisted for about half an hour. Also it was surprisingly warm. When we got to Lusigny-sur-Barse we stopped at the only open shop in France (it's some sort of Workers'/Labour day holiday on the 1st May) and got enough provisions to get us through the day (bread, bananas, tuna, marmalade and a single can of Coke). We kept on to Geraudot, which we'd earlier outlined as a possible stopping point, but continued as the weather was getting better and better.
The lakes are huge, and we soon found an actual beach! Not only is Troyes a gorgeous city, but it's within spitting distance of beaches and sailing areas. The cycle path is also pretty good and, because of the changeable weather, almost completely deserted. The (inevitable) down-side is that the wind was strong and directly in our faces for most of the ride; this significantly reduces how fast you can go and seriously saps your energy and resolve. There was also lots of flying ant type things aiming for my face at one point, which was pretty annoying. I hate bugs almost as much as Rach hates the wind (which today threatened to drive her "insane.")
Oh, and the bike's holding up, but has started to make some unwelcome noises, so I'll be looking closely at it over the next couple of days...
I hope these blogs are adequately explaining the journey, please feel free to comment on them.
T+11 - Troyes to Montier en Der - 48.15 miles (386 miles total)
T+10: Bucheres to Troyes
After the previous day's incredible feats of cycling we were left with only a short ride into Troyes to complete on the morning of our eleventh day. This was particularly fortunate as it absolutely hammered it down all day. The short ride from Bucheres to the South into the city itself was conducted in a full downpour. It was pretty unpleasant, but thankfully as short as we could've hoped it to be.
Therefore the day was spent, soaking wet, and walking around Troyes (which is pronounced 'twah'). This was a great idea, because the city is amazing. There are so many old wooden buildings: it's like you'd imagine pre-Great Fire London to have been. It was such a shame that it was so wet, because we'd have liked to explore further, but our shorts were providing precious little protection against the cold and damp.
We actually treated ourselves to a hot meal in a real food establishment (sausages and chips, and an omelette) for lunch, which was amazing, but didn't dry my socks out at all. We then walked down to the cathedral, which was quite impressive, albeit cold inside. Apparently Troyes has 10 churches.
I'm not really sure why I'd not heard of the city before, because it's genuinely very picturesque and has more historic buildings than the whole of the UK. If one of the wooden, warped shops was in an English city centre, there'd be photos of it on all the tourist information. Here there are frankly too many things to take photos of. This is definitely a place to visit, and one we'll be returning to in the (hopefully significantly warmer) future.
Despite the short ride in the morning, we're beginning to feel the effects of so much tandem cycling: general tiredness, weakness and soreness in the buttocks. However, the upsides include the patented "shorts-tan" where my legs are bifurcated by a distinct line halfway up my thighs, and increased muscle gain mostly everywhere.
The weather forecast wasn't too good, so we spent much of the evening planning the next day, so we don't get stranded in torrential rain when passing les grands lacs on the way towards St Dizier. When I'm not cycling I'm either planning future cycling, blogging about past cycling, or just getting wet and cold through other means. Still, we're actually doing it, and that's pretty good to know.
T+10 - Bucheres to Troyes - 5.85 miles
Therefore the day was spent, soaking wet, and walking around Troyes (which is pronounced 'twah'). This was a great idea, because the city is amazing. There are so many old wooden buildings: it's like you'd imagine pre-Great Fire London to have been. It was such a shame that it was so wet, because we'd have liked to explore further, but our shorts were providing precious little protection against the cold and damp.We actually treated ourselves to a hot meal in a real food establishment (sausages and chips, and an omelette) for lunch, which was amazing, but didn't dry my socks out at all. We then walked down to the cathedral, which was quite impressive, albeit cold inside. Apparently Troyes has 10 churches.
I'm not really sure why I'd not heard of the city before, because it's genuinely very picturesque and has more historic buildings than the whole of the UK. If one of the wooden, warped shops was in an English city centre, there'd be photos of it on all the tourist information. Here there are frankly too many things to take photos of. This is definitely a place to visit, and one we'll be returning to in the (hopefully significantly warmer) future.Despite the short ride in the morning, we're beginning to feel the effects of so much tandem cycling: general tiredness, weakness and soreness in the buttocks. However, the upsides include the patented "shorts-tan" where my legs are bifurcated by a distinct line halfway up my thighs, and increased muscle gain mostly everywhere.
The weather forecast wasn't too good, so we spent much of the evening planning the next day, so we don't get stranded in torrential rain when passing les grands lacs on the way towards St Dizier. When I'm not cycling I'm either planning future cycling, blogging about past cycling, or just getting wet and cold through other means. Still, we're actually doing it, and that's pretty good to know.
T+10 - Bucheres to Troyes - 5.85 miles
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
T+9: Chanceaux to Bucheres (Troyes Sud)
Bonjour!
After the previous couple of days' near lack of movement we finally took to the roads for a good long ride. There were still a lot of clouds about when we woke up, but there was no rain, and the weather improved throughout the day. As we'd already passed the sources of the Seine, and were pretty much following the river to Troyes, the route was generally downhill.
First we decided to aim for Chatillon-sur-Seine with a view to deciding what to do from there. There was one proper climb to start with, but otherwise the road rolled along, erring towards downhill and we passed through some picturesque countryside replete with lots of new cows. We went through St Marc sur Seine, which was lovely, Aisey s/ Seine and Nod s/ Seine before arriving rather quickly in Chatillon. There we has a robust lunch at the Intermarche before deciding to carry on towards Bar sur Seine, where we were convinced they'd have a campsite.
The ride got gradually warmer, which was pleasant, and I could finally take one of my pairs of gloves off. Also it became clear that any extra rain wasn't coming. Woo!
Mussy sur Seine was very pretty indeed, with gardens leading directly onto the river and lovely old buildings. It was around here that we entered the Champagne region, which meant lots more massive wine-bottle type monuments/road furniture (i.e. an oversized storage rack with bottles, and a huge metal magnum).
Soon we had reached Bar sur Seine, which was alright. Unfortunately, as is the rule in France, whenever you want something, the place you get it is inevitably shut. I'm still struggling to understand how practically everything can be closed for two hours at lunch. Also, although you may find some shops (particularly the boulangerie or large supermarkets) open on a Sunday morning, you cannot buy anything after 12:30. As it was Monday when we got to Bar s/ Seine, the Tourist Information Office was inevitably closed! Honestly, the opening hours of any establishment seem to reflect what would be most inconvenient for us when we arrive.
To cut a long story short-ish, Rach asked at the Town Hall, and there was no campsite for another 20km. We decided to keep going, even though we'd already gone quite a long way already. But, make hay while the sun shines etc.
By the time we'd found somewhere to stay with some sort of food available we were actually on the outskirts of Troyes and had cycled some 67.75 miles (109km!!!), by far our most productive day. We were suitably shattered and ravenous, but very proud of ourselves indeed. The exercise had take quite a toll on our backsides, even after swapping seats.... Overall, this gave us a total of 332 miles completed, which is something like one third of the total distance from our starting point next to the Vanoise express to Manchester. That's quite an achievement in ten days, especially with the adverse weather and sometimes mountainous terrain.
When we stopped, we got to see how hard people had been donating to the charities here and felt further pride at the generosity of our friends and family. Thanks again to everyone who has got involved and shown their support (including anonymous donors), it's great that such good is coming out of this (admittedly rather elaborate, long and uncomfortable) bike ride.
T+9 - Chanceaux to Bucheres - 67.75 miles
After the previous couple of days' near lack of movement we finally took to the roads for a good long ride. There were still a lot of clouds about when we woke up, but there was no rain, and the weather improved throughout the day. As we'd already passed the sources of the Seine, and were pretty much following the river to Troyes, the route was generally downhill.
First we decided to aim for Chatillon-sur-Seine with a view to deciding what to do from there. There was one proper climb to start with, but otherwise the road rolled along, erring towards downhill and we passed through some picturesque countryside replete with lots of new cows. We went through St Marc sur Seine, which was lovely, Aisey s/ Seine and Nod s/ Seine before arriving rather quickly in Chatillon. There we has a robust lunch at the Intermarche before deciding to carry on towards Bar sur Seine, where we were convinced they'd have a campsite.
The ride got gradually warmer, which was pleasant, and I could finally take one of my pairs of gloves off. Also it became clear that any extra rain wasn't coming. Woo!
Mussy sur Seine was very pretty indeed, with gardens leading directly onto the river and lovely old buildings. It was around here that we entered the Champagne region, which meant lots more massive wine-bottle type monuments/road furniture (i.e. an oversized storage rack with bottles, and a huge metal magnum).
Soon we had reached Bar sur Seine, which was alright. Unfortunately, as is the rule in France, whenever you want something, the place you get it is inevitably shut. I'm still struggling to understand how practically everything can be closed for two hours at lunch. Also, although you may find some shops (particularly the boulangerie or large supermarkets) open on a Sunday morning, you cannot buy anything after 12:30. As it was Monday when we got to Bar s/ Seine, the Tourist Information Office was inevitably closed! Honestly, the opening hours of any establishment seem to reflect what would be most inconvenient for us when we arrive.
To cut a long story short-ish, Rach asked at the Town Hall, and there was no campsite for another 20km. We decided to keep going, even though we'd already gone quite a long way already. But, make hay while the sun shines etc.
By the time we'd found somewhere to stay with some sort of food available we were actually on the outskirts of Troyes and had cycled some 67.75 miles (109km!!!), by far our most productive day. We were suitably shattered and ravenous, but very proud of ourselves indeed. The exercise had take quite a toll on our backsides, even after swapping seats.... Overall, this gave us a total of 332 miles completed, which is something like one third of the total distance from our starting point next to the Vanoise express to Manchester. That's quite an achievement in ten days, especially with the adverse weather and sometimes mountainous terrain.
When we stopped, we got to see how hard people had been donating to the charities here and felt further pride at the generosity of our friends and family. Thanks again to everyone who has got involved and shown their support (including anonymous donors), it's great that such good is coming out of this (admittedly rather elaborate, long and uncomfortable) bike ride.
T+9 - Chanceaux to Bucheres - 67.75 miles
Monday, 29 April 2013
T+8: Darlois to Chanceaux
We woke up, having had a pretty uncomfortable night’s sleep and it wasn’t raining! The sky was still thick with cloud and fairly portentous, and it was cold, but it wasn’t raining. We apportioned everything into bags according to whether they were soaked through or not, loaded up the bike (which looked freshly washed in parts) and left the poor-excuse for a campsite. On the way out we actually noticed it had a pool! I imagine that’s how the Great Plague started. Seriously if you ever find yourself cold and wet in Darlois, take your chances and carry on until you get literally anywhere else or die: both options are better than camping there.
So, with fingerless gloves/socks on my hands (as a substitute for my usual, but now sodden, gloves) and our helmets on over our hoody hoods (as the helmets were cold and wet), we made our way (uphill as usual) towards Val-Suzon. The cold was just bearable with frequent stops to warm the extremities, and it was nice to be making some progress. Val-Suzon was predictably in a massive dip, so hand-freezing constant-braking downhill was followed by low-gear climbing. However, we pushed on and got to St-Seine-l’Abbaye which has a warm boulangerie, a warmish Petite Casino, and a positively hot (and open) Tourist Information Centre. We bought bread, elaborate bread (with tomatoes, cheese and lardons), chocolate and a sandwich. We then tried to find out if we could stop at Chanceaux (the next village along) which seemed to have Chambre d’Hotes (like Bed & Breakfasts). The owners couldn’t be contacted by phone, so we decided to go on anyway. This would make it a fairly small day again, but we were still pretty uncomfortable, cold and living in constant fear of more rain.
There was a bit more “up” on the way to Chanceaux, but it wasn’t terrible. When we arrived, we found the Chambre d’Hote, rang the doorbell and got nothing. Having seen a sign for (what we now know is) some sort of jumble sale at the village hall, we headed there and asked if anyone knew the proprietor. Fortunately someone did and he took us back to the Cd’H and gave us a room with en-suite hot shower and access to a kitchen. The price is absurdly low, the tandem goes in the “garage” next door and he just leaves you to it without taking any money or your name. Lovely. Also we get breakfast. And the shower’s amazing! So, a lot happier now than yesterday, even if we’re not that much further up the road. To be fair though, we cycled past the source of the Seine river today, so have clearly done some climbing since Dijon. As far as we remember the weather should improve tomorrow, so we may be able to crack on. Here’s hoping…..
T+8 - Darlois to Chanceaux - 18.57 miles
So, with fingerless gloves/socks on my hands (as a substitute for my usual, but now sodden, gloves) and our helmets on over our hoody hoods (as the helmets were cold and wet), we made our way (uphill as usual) towards Val-Suzon. The cold was just bearable with frequent stops to warm the extremities, and it was nice to be making some progress. Val-Suzon was predictably in a massive dip, so hand-freezing constant-braking downhill was followed by low-gear climbing. However, we pushed on and got to St-Seine-l’Abbaye which has a warm boulangerie, a warmish Petite Casino, and a positively hot (and open) Tourist Information Centre. We bought bread, elaborate bread (with tomatoes, cheese and lardons), chocolate and a sandwich. We then tried to find out if we could stop at Chanceaux (the next village along) which seemed to have Chambre d’Hotes (like Bed & Breakfasts). The owners couldn’t be contacted by phone, so we decided to go on anyway. This would make it a fairly small day again, but we were still pretty uncomfortable, cold and living in constant fear of more rain.
There was a bit more “up” on the way to Chanceaux, but it wasn’t terrible. When we arrived, we found the Chambre d’Hote, rang the doorbell and got nothing. Having seen a sign for (what we now know is) some sort of jumble sale at the village hall, we headed there and asked if anyone knew the proprietor. Fortunately someone did and he took us back to the Cd’H and gave us a room with en-suite hot shower and access to a kitchen. The price is absurdly low, the tandem goes in the “garage” next door and he just leaves you to it without taking any money or your name. Lovely. Also we get breakfast. And the shower’s amazing! So, a lot happier now than yesterday, even if we’re not that much further up the road. To be fair though, we cycled past the source of the Seine river today, so have clearly done some climbing since Dijon. As far as we remember the weather should improve tomorrow, so we may be able to crack on. Here’s hoping…..
T+8 - Darlois to Chanceaux - 18.57 miles
T+7: Dijon to Darlois
Having had a day off, we resolved to leave Dijon even though
the forecasted weather was inclement. We set ourselves a suitably low target,
with a view to making a little progress towards Troyes. Unfortunately we had
not fully grasped how bad weather can truly scupper even the most lowly of
designs.
We found our way out of Dijon quite easily, despite the constant rain and uphill inclination, and began along the Route de Troyes (D971). However after about 5 miles we were soaked through and I couldn’t feel my hands. The problem with constant freezing rain is it quickly showcases how little suitable gear you’ve brought from the Alps, and how uncomfortable life can be on a tandem ascending hills at marginal speeds. After nearly 10 miles, and some serious dithering in the cold trying to get some/any feeling into my hands I accidently caught my knee on the pedal. This caused it to bleed instantly, as my skin was so cold and wet. We then saw a sign for camping, so decided that’d probably be best.
It probably wasn’t. The campsite was grim. There was only
lukewarm water in the “shower” and the less said about the whole toilet block
the better. We erected the tent as hastily as possible (considering the near
complete lack of feeling in our hands) and dived into it to dry off and change
clothes. After a few hours we’d warmed sufficiently to adjust the tent so it
was sleep-worthy, and my knee had stopped bleeding. We soon figured out that
there was a whole family of lumpy objects living underneath the tent, which
were ill-concealed by our thin (but cheap and light) sleeping mats. We put on
all of our dry clothes and got into the sleeping bags. The rest of the day
passed trying to get warm, and thinking of ways of getting a bit further on.
However, the rain did not stop for a moment and so, after about 6 hours of
huddling together for warmth, we made our (thankfully) last toilet trip of the
day and settled down for sleep.
We actually cycled less than 10 miles all day, but it was by
far the hardest section we’d done. The rain soaked everything we were wearing,
which immediately ruled outsimple things like putting on my only pair of
trainers or wearing my cycle shorts the next day. In, necessarily, travelling
light, we are completely incapable of dealing with the rain, particularly if
it’s freezing cold. Add to that the frustration of having made very little
progress and ending up in a horrible campsite, it would be accurate to say I
hated it. Not a good day, not much fun at all. Also, it comes with the added
bonus of complicating the next few days’ travel. Oh, and did I mention we
didn’t have any food other than the flapjacks and one pain au chocolat? Well we
didn’t. Grim.
We found our way out of Dijon quite easily, despite the constant rain and uphill inclination, and began along the Route de Troyes (D971). However after about 5 miles we were soaked through and I couldn’t feel my hands. The problem with constant freezing rain is it quickly showcases how little suitable gear you’ve brought from the Alps, and how uncomfortable life can be on a tandem ascending hills at marginal speeds. After nearly 10 miles, and some serious dithering in the cold trying to get some/any feeling into my hands I accidently caught my knee on the pedal. This caused it to bleed instantly, as my skin was so cold and wet. We then saw a sign for camping, so decided that’d probably be best.
It probably wasn’t. The campsite was grim. There was only
lukewarm water in the “shower” and the less said about the whole toilet block
the better. We erected the tent as hastily as possible (considering the near
complete lack of feeling in our hands) and dived into it to dry off and change
clothes. After a few hours we’d warmed sufficiently to adjust the tent so it
was sleep-worthy, and my knee had stopped bleeding. We soon figured out that
there was a whole family of lumpy objects living underneath the tent, which
were ill-concealed by our thin (but cheap and light) sleeping mats. We put on
all of our dry clothes and got into the sleeping bags. The rest of the day
passed trying to get warm, and thinking of ways of getting a bit further on.
However, the rain did not stop for a moment and so, after about 6 hours of
huddling together for warmth, we made our (thankfully) last toilet trip of the
day and settled down for sleep.
We actually cycled less than 10 miles all day, but it was by
far the hardest section we’d done. The rain soaked everything we were wearing,
which immediately ruled outsimple things like putting on my only pair of
trainers or wearing my cycle shorts the next day. In, necessarily, travelling
light, we are completely incapable of dealing with the rain, particularly if
it’s freezing cold. Add to that the frustration of having made very little
progress and ending up in a horrible campsite, it would be accurate to say I
hated it. Not a good day, not much fun at all. Also, it comes with the added
bonus of complicating the next few days’ travel. Oh, and did I mention we
didn’t have any food other than the flapjacks and one pain au chocolat? Well we
didn’t. Grim.
T+7 - Dijon to Darlois - 9.85 miles
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