We left St Branchs on 25th September, cool, overcast but no wind - perfect for cycling!.

Good, clear road with 295 miles ahead.



Some places we stayed were lovely,


some were not...



But eventually, on 4th October we reached St Genies, just north of Beziers, and my friends Wendy and Jim and ate moules and frites to die for.

Off tomorrow and just a little scared.

Well, panniers are packed, I've reduced clothing to a minimum, no room for a hairdryer, hopefully the hotels will have one. Bike is ready, route planning done. If you want to look at France from the air IGN Maps Geo-Portal. There are options which let you fade between maps and the aerial photos, or, you can select relief. That's pretty scary, photos don't show up the gradients very well, and it's all lovely sunny weather and unfortunately the forecast is for showers and a southerly wind. WE don't care, we're made of stout stuff. I've warned Wendy to expect two grubby, tired and thirsty middleaged women on her doorstep in 11 days time.

Here goes, Geronimooooooooooo!!

A cycle ride

Annette and I will be on our way in less than two weeks. I've planned our route to take 10 stages, some shorter ones in the middle in the Dordogne and Perigord where it's pretty hilly, and longer when the terrain is more forgiving. This going by maps you understand, the only area I've actually cycled before is between Toulouse and the mediterranean.

Yesterday I was pouring over my IGNs 1cm to 1k, and adding up the mileage accurately, I have been using Via Michelin route planner to get an idea but this doesn't account for all the twists and turns of a cross country road. The second day between La Roche-Posay and Annette's brother's is 58 miles, and the day after, 60! And the end of that day is getting quite hilly. The contingency plan is; cut the stage short and find somewhere else to stay, we have 2 nights spare which we would spend with Wendy in Beziers but if required, we can take and extra 4 days to get to Toulouse and then put the bikes on the train straight to Montpellier and catch our flight back!! So, I must stop worrying, we can do it!

I've been feeling pretty flaky the last few days and so it does make you doubt your own stamina. I know Annette felt tired and unfit after a hard ride with her young and fit son - but the reality is, we know we can do 50 miles no problem, we have all day, the trick is to break it down to easier stages. So I thought I'd better get another long ride under my belt. I set off at 11 am

70k from home to the bar Le Brasserie. It's only about 43 miles, but included one long hard climb and a lot of smaller hills. I've been carrying panniers loaded with about 12lbs of water in containers to increase the work and so that there's no shock to the system when we set off in 9 DAYS TIME.


Open countryside



The Lac in the local town.



Lunch stop in the Fôret du Perseigne

My bike is being révisioned

Took my bike into Alençon yesterday for a service and any work that might need doing. Monsieur Josselin did a brief check, hubs, no play; bottom bracket, ditto, chain, slack; cassette, worn. I really hope that the changing will be better, I had shorter cranks fitted 7 (can it really be 7?) years ago and they've been tricky since, but mainly on the smallest ring which I don't use much, smirk. No, I do use my stump puller for groveling up steeper hills or when I'm carrying stuff, there's no shame in twiddling. One of the benefits of being older, no-one bats an eyelid that you are slow, which translates into, I don't care anymore. I pick it up tomorrow late pm and then voilà! I'm in business again.

This August has been dreadful weatherwise, similar to the UK, and the mornings have felt Autumnal for weeks. Today there was mist with a clear blue sky above, it's now cleared and the air is very warm and still, wonderful cycling weather. What's the betting by Friday it will be raining again?

A bit of a cycle...

Four weeks tomorrow Annette and I are cycling to Beziers, near the French mediterranean coast from Tours, about two thirds of the way up France, west of the middle. No, I can actually read a map, I just can't think of a better way to describe it at the moment. But, I have a map to show you.

Our route is represented by the red line if you can see it. Our trip consists of 10 stages, only cycling 30 miles per day or so in the Dordonge as it's hilly, and a) Annette's never toured before or even carried panniers - but she's been in training since April, and b) we want to enjoy ourselves and not feel knackered at the end of the day.