Day 6 To Bois

The helpful micro-climate which had followed me for the last four days finally got a better offer and today I had to put up with a fairly persistent drizzle.  If things are as bad tomorrow as the forecast suggests I may have to take evasive action.

Despite the weather I made great progress and the good surfaces nearly all the way managed the 150km which got me to Blois without too much trouble.

As you have probably noticed I'm not doing a lot of sightseeing (roaming around buildings in full Lycra is not a good look) but I am enjoying the scenery.  The villages are stunning, very French, and anyone trying to find locations for the three musketeers would be spoilt for choice. As well as the sightseeing I'm also missing out on the wine tasting, some of the most famous French wines come from around here, and even went past a bottle and glass sitting on a barrel with an invitation aimed specifically at cyclists.

Day 5 - To Saumur

Another day in France and another great day's cycling. I can't believe my luck - I seem to be blessed with my own micro-climate which involves both dry weather and wind from the west pushing me up the Loire valley.  Can't help but think that I'm accumulating a huge debt, which will have to be paid back sometime, perhaps the day after tomorrow when I reach Orleans and turn north.

Of course I'm not the only person benefiting, there are loads of other cyclists doing the route, huge numbers compared to the long distance hikes I'm used to.  Nearly all of them are heading west, into the wind, with great loads on their bikes and often pulling trolleys - looks hard work to me.

Today's route was also fast, most of it along empty country roads are hardly any of the rough tracks which was starting to cause even my well padded derriere some grief. It was nicely mixed as well, winding country lanes, long flat and straight stretches, where you just hammer along, as well paths which went right along the River Loire itself.

Days 3 and 4 Blains and Ancenis

Yesterday I made it all the way from Pontivy to Blains over 100 miles and much further than planned (although there is no real plan) and I was so knackered that all I could do last night was eat. Actually, I ate a lot and I think the guy at the hotel was just a little shocked by how much - still needs must.

I was going to stop at Redon which is about 60 miles, but the going was just so good - a metalled trail and some wind assistance - that I got there sooner than expected. It was a great cycle ride with the route going from paths shaded by huge beech, sweet chestnut and oak trees to the more open countryside. This stretch of the canal is navigable so as well as cyclists to wave at there were also men on boats.

I stopped for lunch at Josselin, a lovely little town with a particularly splendid medieval castle.  There were other cyclists at the river side and they very interested in my 'Croix de Fer' - I just describe it as a cyclocross bike and I think leave the false impression that I know what I'm talking about.

Day 2 Pontivy

To be honest with a bike that wasn't working in the morning I had no idea how far I would get today when I woke up. Things didn't start well either.  The best the hotel could do was get me taxi for 11 and that involved going back 15km to  Carhaix (last seen in the rain yesterday lunchtime) and with no certainty that the bike shop there could fix it.

I was going nuts at 11-45 when eventually the taxi turned up.  My mood brightened when the driver told me he had phoned ahead to the shop, that they weren't going to close for lunch and that they were expecting the bike.

They were very efficient and with 20 mins the damaged derailleur had been replaced and a muddy bike spruced up.  By 1, I was on the road again and my mood had been transformed.

Day 1 Rostrenen

Mixed' is perhaps best word for the first day. 

Started very well.  After the overnight boat from Plymouth I was feeling really pleased with myself. Somehow, stuffed in a corner on a reclining chair, I had actually got some sleep and when I woke up the sun was shining and the ferry was approaching Roscoff.

The first stretch of the ride, a coastal ride to Morlaix, was excellent, very pretty. There were lots of other cyclists about, but the highlight was definitely a conversation with Pierre, a Frenchman who crossed the road to help me with my navigation.  He spoke excellent English and it turned out he used to cycle around Leeds selling onions from a bike, you couldn't make it up.

Morlaix is a very pretty town and after picking up a sandwich set off south along an old railway line.  Great cycling, but amongst the trees I hadn't noticed how the blue sky had turned to gray and after an hour or so a fairly persistent rain set in. 

'Lost in France' cycle trip

Damnation - all packed and ready to go, but I can't get that song 'Lost in France' out of my brain. Is the gravelly voiced Bonnie Tyler, going round and round in my brain, some sort of bad omen about my first ever independent cycle tour?  What can go wrong on a 1,163 km trip around north-west France - knowing me, lots.

Compared to most of my trips I feel somewhat under prepared. I'm fit enough and have done lots of cycling locally (e.g. a fantastic off road day's cycling from Brighton to London via Guildford). I will be travelling with the new love of my life (my bike) but unusually for me I don't have a schedule of planned days with accommodation identified.  I have no idea how long it's going to take or where I'm going to be staying.  But hey, it's France not the Himalayas - and I can always jump on a train and come home - although I will remove any trace of this blog if I do!.

Dalesway Postscript - Gear Review

Just ask my wife Christine: I'm not what you would call an adventurous dresser.  When we met 30 years ago, my uniform was jeans and baggy grey jumpers; now it's jeans and a t-shirt. She ventures out now and then to buy things to sharpen up my look, but they stay in the cupboard. My tendency to wear the same thing all the time was reinforced when I won a Berghaus competition just before doing the 5000km E4 hike across Europe. I ended up with (amongst other things) 8 blue 'Argentium' t-shirts made of polyester and completely indestructible.  Blue quickly became my signature colour, and with 8 I had enough to last a lifetime.

My complacency was challenged when I did the Dhaulagiri Circuit last year.  Some of my fellow trekkers had taken the 1 colour t-shirt a big step forward and were making do with just one t-shirt.  The claim was that merino t-shirts don't smell, and because you don't need to wash them just one will do.  Being so well endowed in the t-shirt department I had somehow missed this mega marketing message, but the advantages seem pretty profound if you're carrying everything on your back and want to reduce the load (and washing effort).