A Forest: The DirtRun Summer Sizzler

So, last Friday evening we completed another run in the lead up to the epic 24 hour race. This was the DirtRun Summer Sizzler, an off-road 10km around mixed terrain. When we arrived there weren’t too many people about, and the race itself was probably a little undersubscribed. This meant we started near the front and went off a little quickly with the genuinely fast people. It was only after two rapid kilometres that we hit the woods. This was the one truly difficult part of an otherwise straightforward and relatively fast race. Unfortunately the route through the woods was confusing, dense with foliage (especially nettles), uneven and involved sharp descents and inclines (one where you had to pull yourself up on a rope). Despite having dropped a little behind Rach, I overtook her briefly in the woods as her group went the wrong way. I needed to “pull over” to let faster people through as there was barely enough room to run, let alone overtake. Once out of the wooded section, which was over 1km long, it took me a good couple of kilometres to recover before I could start pushing on again. Fortunately, anyone behind me was well behind me by that stage (perhaps lost, following an unwitting pied piper into oblivion, or eaten by monsters) and I started to gently reel in other racers over the flatter stages. It was really quite warm and dusty, but mostly flat, with only one proper squelchy puddle to contend with. I could even see Rach for most of the race, on the more open sections, but still couldn’t quite catch her. It was by no means a fast course, so our times were not wonderful, but we both placed quite well. Out of 55 competitors, Rach came in 15th in 55:01 and I was 18th in 55:48. What was even more impressive was Rach finished as 2nd placed female runner (of 18), so was presented with a couple of beers and lots of energy bars. I was 2nd placed Sam (of 3). There was no prize.

At the end of the race we received an unusually high-quality t-shirt and a free BBQ item. We therefore sat on the grass eating burgers we didn’t want before trying to drive to Manchester. There were photos, but Rach's ironically-monikered smartphone chose not to retain them.

We’re now going to crack on with training for the Equinox 24 Hour Race, only doing other intermediate races if they fit well with our overall preparation.

The day before we completed the DirtRun, the amount raised on the charity website surpassed the £2000 mark. This is pretty awesome, but obviously includes amounts raised from tandeming exploits as well. We hope to get near to the £3000 target by doing the 24 Hour Run in September, but there's still plenty of time for donations to roll in by then.

This ends the lesson.

Making Your Own Fun: Midweek Monster Duathlon

Now, it was our intention to compete in the Mega Manic Midweek Monster Duathlon at Castle Combe this week as a relay team. However, due to the distance we would have to travel to get there after work (65.6 miles one way) it was possible/likely that we wouldn’t get there in time to register for the event. Therefore as a more viable alternative we decided to run a Midweek Monster Duathlon of our own devising in the environs of lovely Upton.

The duathlon at Castle Combe was conducted on an actual race course, which is pretty flat, and yields very quick times. Our planned course was less flat, and involved more traffic but was still chosen for speed and avoiding too much altitude change. Also, as a “monster” there were three runs and two rides in the following configuration:

2 mile run
10 mile cycle ride
2 mile run
10 mile ride 
2 mile run

  We were hoping to complete it in less than 2 hours, although I wasn’t very confident of that happening. We started in one of our local car parks amongst the truckies with Rach doing all the running and me doing all the cycling. In the end we were surprisingly quick, finishing the whole thing in a couple of seconds under 1 hour 47 minutes. Despite having to run 6 miles (9.66 km) in three separate bursts, Rach still managed a kilometre in 4.14 minutes in the final leg. My second ride was completed with an average speed of 18.5mph (approx 30kmph) and a top speed of over 30mph. As we were using different GPS devices to measure distance/pace (having previously mapped the routes on Google) Rach did have to run around the car park once per lap, and I failed to record all the info for my first lap, but old-fashioned timekeeping proved we finished in 01:46:58. Roughly, because of the vagueries of my first lap, “transition” (in which I mounted or dismounted the bike before going/sending Rach off) and the fact I can’t be bothered working it out, I completed my 20 mile ride in 1 hour 4 minutes, and Rach her 6 mile run in 43 minutes. For a homemade, one-team, relay duathlon on public roads (with many undulations and some wind) that’s pretty damn quick. We’re pleased anyway. Today we are mostly aching. 

One extra benefit of not doing the official organised duathlon is that we didn’t have to pay the entrance fee. Therefore we’ve put that straight into the charity fund. Please feel free to help us support WaterAid, Oxfam, Disability Snowsport UK, Cancer Research and Honour Village Cambodia by visiting www.teamsnow.co.uk and donating what you can. Also, tell your friends about how we are mental and need help, giving them the relevant link. The 24 hour run is less than 3 months away now, and beginning to loom large in our consciousness. Hopefully all this training will go some way to protecting us from complete bodily disintegration.

Our next race is the Dirtrun on Friday 11^th July, which is a 10km off-road run. We’ll update you as per usual.

A bientot.

Mud, Sweat and... erm... Curry: The Malvern 10km

We have now also run the Malvern 10km. It was pretty difficult. After some pretty heavy rain and, for me, a pretty heavy cold we had the pleasure of running off-road around the Malvern area.

With no training completed in over a week due to the debilitating effects of a solid Summer cold, and still feeling pretty rough all 'round, I was not holding out much hope as regards a decent time. Both Rach and I had decided that I probably shouldn't run, knowing full-well that I would anyway. Also, the ground was really quite boggy in places (I saw one person lose a trainer right near the end), and in others particularly steep and frightening. As usual, any ground I made up on the uphills I lost emphatically when it was time to go downhill. And there were a lot of hills. But that's the Malverns for you. We also got to run diagonally across two wheat fields in necessarily single-file, with the plants brushing the outside of both legs; it required a huge amount of concentration and you couldn't stop, or overtake, and it was vaguely uphill.

Still, it was a lovely evening for it, and the hills provided some spectacular views of the Worcestershire/Gloucestershire area. The run itself was very well marshalled by friendly and particularly vocal individuals, and at the end everyone got a free curry, which is exactly what I didn't want. It was surprisingly spicy. Also, rather than the usual medal we each received a (potentially) practical snood.

Rach was her standard quick self finishing in 81st place (out of 252) with a time of 51:25. She does hate off-road running though, almost as much as my joints. I think she was the 8th Female runner too, but may be wrong. I still managed to creep into the top half of the table, despite impromptu coughing fits, in 108th, with a time of 53:51. So, all things considered, not bad at all.

We are only putting ourselves through each of these trials by mud, sun, pain and curry for two reasons: the first is for the charities here and the second is to prepare ourselves for the 24 hour run in September which we are doing for the charities here (exactly the same place). Please sponsor us.

Hopefully we'll be back to proper training soon. That'd be good.

We Run Now: Tewkesbury 10km & Half-Marathon

Another week, another run. Well two runs, for I was attempting an official 10km road race for the first time in a long while and Rach was taking on a quite literally massive half-marathon. All in lovely historic Tewkesbury.

After completing last Sunday's particularly warm Bulmer's Bash we also put in a good training run on Tuesday. I managed to run 12km, which is more than I've ever done in one go before. Rach clocked up just over 10 miles, which is quite a bit more impressive.

So we rocked up this morning in fairly good shape to register, queue for the toilets and vaguely warm up. The 10km run started before the half marathon, so I got to go some 5 minutes before Rach. The run was conducted on open roads (as in non-closed) which was quite interesting, but it didn't seem to affect my run adversely in any way. I got away fairly quickly and followed my plan of steady running with a "push" at 8km and a "kick" at 9km. What I wasn't expecting was the full-on sprint for the finish (I normally do a long-distance runner's sprint, but this was a out-and-out 100m dash for the line), brought on by a chap having the temerity to overtake me in the final section. I'm glad I did, because I pipped him to 25th place out of 191 finishers, in 46:50 (race time) or 46:46 (10km chip-timed time). Either way, really quite pleased.

Having collapsed on the floor a bit, eaten the majority of an unfeasibly large banana and taken on some fluids I then got to watch the rest of the 10km race finish, and the half-marathon runners begin to come through. I recognised the first three as being particularly quick lads who had passed me even before the route bifurcated into two separate races (between 4 and 5 km). After what was a fairly short wait, and plenty of supporting clapping for other competitors, Rach appeared. She'd been happily smashing out the miles but had struggled with a small lucozade bottle which tasted of shampoo (or, rather, shampoo bottle filled with lucozade), a race number who gave up early on and tried to escape, and her left knee. Mostly her left knee. Fortunately it had the good grace to hold out until the last mile or so, but after that it was something of a painful slog. Regardless of these facts she finished 159th out of 650 runners and 13th of 242 females runners (!!!) in a time of 01:41:48 (or 01:42:02 race time). For her first half marathon that's quite frankly absurd. As far as I can work out, it's like running a 10km race in less than 49 minutes, twice, then running a bit more at the same pace for a laugh. Quite impressive I'm sure you'll agree.

All the results are available here if you enjoy statistics as much as I do:
http://fqevents.co.uk/results-tewkesbury-half-2014/

Now we're both a bit achy, and we're probably going to hold off on training until at least Wednesday. We're going to try to increase our speed over 10km now, as our upcoming endeavours are either of that distance, or something else entirely (think cycling and duathlon-ing). The next planned (competitive) run is the Malvern 10km on Wednesday 11th June. It's an evening run, which will be novel, and off-road again, so unnecessarily uncomfortable for our ankles, knees and other sympathetic joints.

Please don't forget we're doing this for charity. I know, most people run one race for charity (and they are good good people), but having done the tandem thing, we thought that a series of runs/rides/challenges culminating in a 24 hour relay race would be more like us. The relevant website is, as always:

www.teamsnow.co.uk

Thanks everyone for keeping involved, reading this and supporting us in all the ways you do. A bientot.

As an addendum, Rach has just brought to my attention that I've only ever run three on-road 10km races. Two of them being the Great Manchester Run, in 2010 and 2012, and this Tewkesbury run. My times over this four year period were 46:39, 46:51 and 46:46. Weirdly consistent and quite amusing. Must try harder.

The Beginning and the End (including Bulmer's Bash)

Bonjour. I may have mentioned earlier that we were intending to do lots of running activities throughout the Summer. I also suggested that we were considering finishing the season with a very silly event designed to test us both physically and mentally. As such, we have begun our planned runs by completing the Bulmer's Bash 10km run through the hilly orchards of the eponymous cider brand. I thought they were Irish, but is seems they (or at least their apples) are not. Furthermore we have signed up for a 24 hour ultramarathon to be completed in late September, because it seems like a good idea.

So today we woke up early and drove to another part of Worcestershire, despite the

ongoing complaints of my body (which probably could've done without the mighty Arsenal winning the FA Cup final in extra-time the previous day - extra-time equals an extra beer, winning equals a celebratory gin and tonic), and got ready for a 10km run in the sweltering heat. The planned course was very confusing, very off-road and very hot, with the estimated time of finishing being approximately midday. We have been preparing fairly well over the last few weeks and even with the "extra" beverages consumed on Saturday, the overall quantity quaffed was still very modest. However, we had not trained particularly for the heat, the short steep hills or the uneven ground. I took this opportunity to sweat profusely and lose all feeling in my feet. By the end of the race it felt as though everything below my knees was made of painful wood, providing little feedback and almost no confidence. That said we both pushed on and completed the race in, what felt like, a pretty respectable time and position. Rach obviously was well out of my sight within about 2 minutes and remained that way until the last (seemingly neverending) section when, apparently, I made a bit of time back. I still didn't see her though. She just runs off. Upon crossing the dirt finish line each competitor was cryptically asked "bottle or can," at which point they were given the respective container of low quality cider. Excellent. Just what you need when you're dying of dehydration. The run was awesome though, and not half as confusing when the marshalls are there to point you in the right direction. Also, with our excellent one-man support team there to cheer us on (thanks for that Monsieur Bines) it was all as pleasant as such an endeavour can be. A good start and great preparation for...

The Equinox 24 Hour Run! Yes, we will be running across mixed terrain as a relay pair for 24 straight hours. Essentially, one of us runs a 10km loop around the Leicestershire countryside, then the other one does it, and so on... for 24 hours. We consider this to be the insanely difficult end to a season's running. Any race which exceeds the "standard" marathon distance is considered an ultramarathon, and it's perfectly possible that we'll end up running two full marathons (or more) each in the 24 hour period. As such, we're asking for lovely generous people to donate to the charities previously specified. The website is now even easier to get to, as we've created an easier link. We're really pleased that the donations have already started. Please go to the website by clicking here:

www.teamsnow.co.uk

We'll add further details of the 24 hour race as we progress through our planned races. I've just found out the finishing times and positions. We were told there were 101 starters, but only 92 seem to have finished the race; this is important when I tell myself I finished in the top half. Anyway our personal results (which we are pleased with) were:
Rach - 41st of 92 - 52:53
Sam - 47th of 92 - 54:12

The next race on our calendar is actually next weekend, when we'll be travelling the short distance to Tewkesbury to do some (hopefully quicker/easier) road racing. I will be doing 10km (as that seems to be the ceiling limit for how much pain I can conceivably endure from my ankles) and Rach will be stepping it up to the half-marathon.

As usual, expect fun. 

Back dans les Bacs

Once again the huge interval between blog posts makes the whole process of re-starting quite daunting and difficult. However, there is eventually a purpose behind this new attempt and that's to appraise anyone who might be interested of our general plans for the Summer. But before all that we must go back to (briefly) fill in the gap between last September and now (literally the whole Winter).

We ran a cake stall on Tewkesbury Farmer's market a couple of times, which was quite fun, not profitable in the least, and probably unnecessarily hard work. Whilst there Rach appeared on the local BBC radio, which was lots of fun.

Once Christmas was over and done with, we went to the Alps for two weeks snowboarding.
 
For the first week we returned to Peisey-Vallandry in the tiny yellow car and hammered the old stomping ground. This was after a 19 hour non-stop (except for the ferry) drive to Annecy. Fortunately it snowed all the first day which, whilst making the first Saturday's 'boarding a bit rubbish, set a good base for the rest of the week. It was then gloriously sunny, and probably a bit too warm, every day. A lovely time was had by all, and the tiny yellow car proved beyond all doubt that it was as awesome on fresh snow as it is on tarmac. Who needs chains? Chumps, that's who. Oh, and we had a bit of a dress-up on the last day. I was a dragon. Rach was a monkey. It certainly amused people, and made us quite popular.

 The second week we mostly spent living in the valley near Grenoble and visiting a couple of other resorts, namely Chamrousse and Les Sept Lacs. On both occasions there was an extreme surfeit of snow causing much hilarity. In Chamrousse there was half a metre of "pow" on the pistes. It made for some serious leg-work. Mucho mucho fun-time though.

Later we went to Grand Bornand near Annecy, which again had massive snow, and enjoyed their pistes. Whilst traversing a severely off-camber, off-piste/on-piste, foliage-strewn red run (yes, apparently these things exist), I managed to snap off one of the screws on my bindings. I therefore spent the last two hours riding a board secured primarily by two thin tassles removed from my jacket zips. It was a bit loose. Still fun though. God I love snowboarding.

We then drove back via Epernay. That is the abridged version of our Alpine holiday.

Now we're, once again and in addition to our day-jobs, promoting the fun and wonderful Sunshine Festival. This year we're looking forward to The Beat, whose hits include "Tears of a Clown" and "Mirror in the Bathroom." I also want to see Boney M's "Ma Baker," Dr & the Medics' "Spirit in the Sky," The Sweet's "Block Buster" and literally nothing by The Blow Monkeys. Really can't wait for the festival itself, 'cause if it's half as much fun as last year it'll be great.

That edges me towards the plans for the Summer. As a result of our intensive promoing regime we don't actually have that much time. Regardless, we've decided to take on a few physical and mental (mental, chicken oriental) challenges. Hopefully, as a result, we might earn a few extra quid for the very worthwhile charities we've been supporting. One of these charities has become even more significant to us as Moomah B has just worked at Honour Village Cambodia for six months, is still overseeing their social work programme, and will be returning at some point in the not-too-distant future.

We've recently run a couple of organised 10km races, and I had a go at an absurdly windy duathlon (run-cycle-run) in preparation for our Summer of challenges. I know. We did actual 10km runs in mere preparation. And me, with my body made entirely of chicken bones, broken glass and pain sensation. Anyway the current list of exciting challenges is as follows:

May

• 10km Bulmers Bash off-road run
• Tewkesbury 1/2 Marathon (Rach) & 10km run (Sam)

June

• Malvern 10km run

July

• Midweek Monster Duathlon (total 6 miles running, 20 miles cycling to be done as a relay)
• 10km Dirtrun off-road run

There are also a few others that we intend to enter, but won't be able to confirm until nearer the time. So the list is only likely to increase. Suffice to say we'll be busting a gut (probably literally in my case) to complete some proper challenges in the little precious free-time we have.

Also, we're hoping to line-up a truly mind-bendingly stupid event in September which will be announced in due course. It wouldn't be Team Snow without some crazy, half-baked idea where preparation is key, but conversely sadly lacking.

So that's the update. My intention is to blog with the results of these things and at any interesting juncture throughout the Summer. Expect tales of interest!

Hello

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.

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  

www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/snow

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

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)

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

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)

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 

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)

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

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

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

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

T+18: Charleville-Mezieres to Givet

So, where were we? Oh yeah, cycling. We were all sitting in C-M with a pretty bleak weather forecast in front of us. Our chosen path took us up a long and winding cycle path into something of a promontory that pokes into Belgium's soft underbelly. This continued to follow the Meuse river, which we had been keeping close to from Bar-Le-Duc.
 
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

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

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)

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!

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