Day 12 - Rest day

When you get close to the end of your route distance, you start to equate it to local routes you know like our 20mi Chester to Farndon circuit or the 6 miles to the centre of town or 12 miles to a neighbouring village and back. It becomes manageable in a bizarre sort of way.

We have 68 miles tomorrow to Irun which is the Spanish side of Hendaye. Mr B booked us onto a B&B (yeah for Booking.com) so hopefully crack Spanish sparkling wine celebrating the complete of our French North to South ride.

The Spanish bit looms though as we are taking the trains from Irun to San Sebastian, then to Bilboa and then to Santander. If we get there earlier we will camp at Loredo which we planned to do anyway.

Today was a sun catch-up day at the beach and pool. So relaxing. Hope all goes well tomorrow! 

Day 11 or section 9. Floods!

We woke up to a porch that were flooded after some heavy rain in the night. Slightly frantic as this is daughter's tent with a 2000 rating nothing like our polycotton big tent which can withstand almost any rain. I had dreams where I woke up in a flood of water then tugging sleeping bag towards the toilet block to sleep there.

Cleaned porch, packed away wet tent which was coated with sand (yuk! Remember to pack random biggish plastic bags for a possible situation like this) and pedalled at 8.30am as usual. First out of Biscarrosse Plage were huge hills. Overtook a group of men cycling in a mini convoy. That felt good!

We both had a very light breakfast so after 12 miles we were famished and made a quick stop to feed the human machines then off again. It was a picturesque stop along one of the lakes - beautiful!

Our first mechanical trouble of our epic adventure was just about 2 miles after that stop when Mr B couldn't uncleat from his left peddle at all. We spent at least 10 or 15min to try and get his Shimano sandal unclipped. It eventually came loose after many twists and turns and it seemed that he lost one of his screws that keep the cleat fixed to the sandal. So cleat off and we continued. Lunch stop just outside Mimizan overlooking the river watching boys jumping into the river from the bridge - won't be allowed in the UK - all health and safety 'whatsits' you know! The boys seemed to have loads of fun - I envied them as I was very hot.

We got going again after a lovely lunch of Edam cheese slices, ham slices and Herta sausages. Lots of protein fuel.

The miles kept going and the pine forests rolled by. When one stopped we entered another. The ground is covered by heather and lots of ferns which were gorgeous. We reached our campsite just after 3.30pm and are looking forward to 2 days here so no pedalling tomorrow. Weather forecast looked rainy again and just when we sat down outside the deluge started, even heavier than the night before. Some spits of moisture into the inner tent but it all held. Big thunderclaps close by. When it died down, I went to the toilet block and saw angry rivers of water patterns on the road heading down the hill. Glad we were not camping in their way!

56 miles done for the day.  Tired and off to sleep.

Day 10 (but section 8) - All off road cycling

Brilliant day! We left this morning in cloudy weather which was threatening to become more serious.  I could see the blueish black clouds on the left and almost wished that it would rain - it was so humid. Mr B said he heard thunder a couple of times. The day stayed like that until around 11am when the sun came out. Luckily it was never as hot as it was a couple of days ago.

Fantastic off road cycling on the best cycle roads ever. See the photos. They even have road numbers - D802 or D804 etc. We went through lovely seaside towns which neither of us have heard about. The cycle roads took us like previous days through thick pine forests which smelled like some shower gel. Saw some geckos but no snakes this time - Mr B saw one crossing the road a couple of days ago where as I only saw snake roadkill - and a big one was that.

We made excellent progress and by lunchtime had about 30 miles done - just another 25 to go. I had terrible foot cramps today - both feet on and off. We are taking electrolyte tablets in our drinks every cycling day so not sure what cause this.

I use two Garmins on this trip. I have an Edge 705 (sorry they don't make them anymore) and a Garmin Vivoactive HR which is on my wrist. Garmin Edge shows me the route which I have pre-loaded and Garmin Vivoactive shows my results with heart rate and tracking all in one. Even shows the current temperature.  Well, Garmin Edge shows the route as a thin blue line on the map. As we near the end, the thin blue line end comes in sight but oh is it slow to get to the last dot! It feels like it will take forever.

Tomorrow is another longer ride this time about 56 miles to a campsite where we want to spend two nights. Looking forward to it.

The thin blue line showing the route - it's those last 5 mile that are never ending!

Gironde Cycling map

Excellent signage on this section

Fabulous bike paths

Results for the day

It's hot in Biscarosse Plage!

Day 9 - Our second rest day

What a lazy day we had. Semi lie in with no cycling to chase us, it promised to be glorious and it was. Swimming, reading and general relaxing today made me wary of tomorrow's next stage down to Biscarosse.  It is going to be another hot day with 28C predicted with a lot of humidity. So more like 32C.

Mr B said there's a big hill around 40 miles to conquer - great. Just when it's really hot and you feel like melting.

So at the moment we are trying to even the balance between cycling and holiday.  Holiday very much on our minds so I need to break it gently to you my lovely readers that Chasing the Sun to Santander might need as name change to Chasing the Sun to Hendaye. Hendaye being the last French town on the Atlantic coast before you hit the Spanish border. We are seriously investigating trains to take us from Irun to Santander. I won't consider that a fail as we cycled France north to south by then and it must count for something! More about our evolving plans  later.

No photos as I left my phone in the tent before I went swimming!

Day 8 - And we thought it would be easy...

A day which we thought would be easy turned out to be quite a challenge despite it being 'just' 44 miles.

It started innocent enough with a long flat which took us through the pine forests with a cool morning breeze.

The road was tedious but totally off road.  Long straights with a bend here and there. It soon changed after 20 miles when we hit a forest with so many hills Brittany was looking like a preamble. On and on it went. The day grew hotter and hotter despite us setting off early trying to avoid it.

We had  brief stop for toilet paper (campsites in France don't supply toilet paper nor toiletseats!) before we hit the pedals again. The last 5 miles were relentless- why is it always the last bit?

We arrived just after 2pm - in time for a cooling shower. Here for another 2 nights (whoopppee!) before we tackle the next section.

Another rest day...

Checking the cycling map in one of the Pine Forests

Lovely bike paths (and me!)

Day 7 - Blissful beach day

Ok so no cycling today but instead a semi lie in and a fab beach day. It was cloudy most of the time but looking at our tan results you wouldn't say so.

Lunch overshot by two hours as we left all phones and watches back at the tent.

Chilled evening with a cheap bottle of white chardonnay (lovely by the way!), Camembert and a Baguette. Had to factor in Sunday tomorrow as France shut down at 12.30pm. A fellow camper lent us a table and two chairs - what bliss. 

We are booked in at a campsite 50mi from here so plan to leave early to get there over lunch time. Weather prediction is 32C !

Day 6 - Two bridges and a ferry

Waking up in the hotel room was fantastic. I slept like a log and felt less body ached than when we were tenting.

The route took us out of Rochefort and onto a good cycle path. A bit of a detour happened as we were faced with an enormous bridge and couldn't believe that we could cycle over it - but we did after finding the right way to go. The bridge looks like an upside down V and very steep. Not good if you are pedalling with a massive load on the bike.

More cycle paths followed and then we were faced with a second upside down V bridge. Again lowest gear to the top and a whizz down. We went through La Palmyre where we camped with my parents about 10 years ago - sweet memories!

The ferry cross the Gironde from Royan was good too as it provided respite from cycling. Arriving at the Port we saw the ferry leaving thinking we just missed it and that a wait will happen. Luckily they were running a double service so our ferry came pretty much 10 min after we arrived but it took another 10 min to offload.

Cycling down after we disembarked was a breeze through pine forests and all along the off road cycle path. Arrived at the campsite after 69.95 miles. Nearly 70 for the day. Tomorrow is our first rest day and I will be diving into the sea after my lie in.
Sitting outside the tent tonight we calculated our distances. An average of 59 miles per day with 6 days done. Not bad. We've also caught up with our deficit and is back on track with time.

Oh forgot to mention my huge accident...we bought dinner and Coke in Soulac.  Arriving at the campsite I discovered that one Coke that I carried developed a very very small puncture hole inside my bar bag soaking everything including my passport...what expensive Coke damage! Hope they let me back into the country with a Coke soaked and stained passport...! It looks aged...

It is a cycling holiday after all - too much cycling and not enough holiday - let's get the balance right.

Love the way the French decorate their roundabouts - wish it will take off in the UK

Ferry over the Gironde

And out comes a big tractor or harvester

On the Ferry across the Gironde

Me and Mr B

First bridge

Cycling through the pine forest

My hayfever escalated so much that I woke up with puffy eyes every morning - this photo shows some extent of it

Day 5 - Do the French get subsidies to buy their own brand of cars?

If I got a penny for every Peugeot, Renault and Citroen I've seen then I'd be a billionaire. I saw my first Ford Fiesta and VW Beetle today in France. They stood out as being the anomaly rather than the frequency we have in the UK which begs the question why do the French stick with the French brands. Mr B thinks it is pure nationalism. I agree.

My route plotting is generally ok but today was a partial fail. We were on some hideous parts of the EV1 which were just tracks here and there with poor signage. I might mention this to ECF in a casual conversation...I plead guilty to the plotting but Mr B was supposed to look them over.  Need I say more! 

I got my first view of the sea as well and wasn't it glorious! We were so close last night in Jard-du-Mer and then this morning in La Tranche sur Mer but no view and not even a sniff of that fine salty air that tells you where you are. I was so happy seeing the sea finally!

Looking at the French map tonight I think we might be halfway down France. If it isn't achieved today it must be tomorrow when we go through Royan. There is a large Ferry involved which will take us over the Gironde. The crossing is about 3 miles and takes about 25min.

We passed through some good agricultural areas today with sunflower crops ready for harvest and maize on the other side. At one point it reminded me of a particular area in South Africa called the Free State.

Stopping north La Rochelle to look at the map, a car pulled in next to us and a man got out to ask if we were ok and needed any help. He claimed to have seen my Cape Town cycling top so we think he must be a rugby player. He even asked if we were ok with lunch and Mr B pointed to his bulging rack bag.

We ran out of electrical juice last night and just managed to charge my Garmin to get us here today. Mr B was riding on electrical vapour via his Garmin and my phone was dead - no battery. So strapping the solar panel to my bike (as Mr B was carrying lunch and needed access to his rack bag) we connected the power bank to get it going. Not sure how much it helped today but I was very conscious about the expensive equipment behind me on the bike.

67.7 miles done
1267 ft climbed

Silly bike paths with small and infrequent signs - not good!

Another municipal campsite

Day 4 - Behind schedule

We think we are about 35 to 40 miles behind schedule. Oh well we will make it up somewhere.  My cycling legs only kicked in at 15 miles today. Takes a while to warm up.

A camping pitch was harder to find tonight. I guess Brittany isn't as attractive as the Vendee - sun, sea and beaches probably the main reason. We are in a municipal campsite tonight. It's more expensive than our 'posh camp last eve. Talking about last night, the screaming children on the trampoline only stopped at 11. I guess that's when the adults stopped their Bingo night.

I had the best Hamburger and chips last night ever! No real expectations but whoa when it arrived it was a bacon and cheese burger with homestyle patty and the best chips. Soft inside - crunchy outside. Absolutely fabulous.

I sleep with earplugs and even I could hear the screams from the trampoline.

Today was a fabulous cycling day. It started misty and before we knew it we had 30 miles done. We marked a place to sleep but decided to ride on when we got there. We had a brief spell when we were looking for a B&B at the local French Tourism office but everywhere were booked up so the search for another campsite continued.

Dinner was pot noodle, Caesar salad and a Sub loaded with everything. Yum.

We should hopefully see La Rochelle tomorrow. May we have the wind in our backs.

Miles done  56 miles
807 ft climbing (getting easier!)

Chateau De Talmont

Our little burner with a little (yes really!) kettle. Shows how small the burner is.

Another successful pitch

Day 3 - Who plotted 71 miles on a flippen hot day?

We pitched yesterday on a slight slope so I kept waking up feeling my feet at the bottom of the tent.

I've developed an attitude of hills? Ok - just autopilot. It was more gentle slopes today than big hills. The day was exceptionally hot and that tapped the energy out of us.

We cut the day short to stop at a campsite north of Challans.  We don't consider this a fail but rather the start of a proper summer holiday. We need some relaxing time too!

Tent pitched with the solar charger seeking the sun to charge the phones and Garmins

Best Hamburger in the world and I am NOT joking!

Results for the day

Day 2 - So A day divided by three sections

Sleep a bit on the left side. Wake up aching. Sleep on the right side. Wake up aching. Ok maybe a bit on my back. Oh no too uncomfortable. That's the story of last night. I hope tonight is better.

The day has three distinct sections. Some lovely quiet roads with some serious climbing, then onto a very busy road (not planned as D773 sounded mundane when I plotted it) and the last bit (15 miles) along an off road canal cycling path which we prayed would finish quickly but it didn't. And that after we looked forward to it as it was flat! The canal path was brown loose gravel. Rocking bottoms and bouncing wrists. And endless! Ouch!

Saw a lot of Geraniums, Hydrangeas and huge churches.  The French like their churches!

Tonight we are at Camping St.Clair in Guenrouet. Lovely site. We cycled past the pool on the way in which was crowded with loud children. I didn't go.

We were so so tired when we arrived. Just flopped down on a picnic bench which formed part of an empty pitch. Tent got up eventually and we found some free electricity to charge our several devices. I forgot to add the Ravpower solar panel and power bank to my equipment post. It comes in handy.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, we have a whopping 71mi to do but thinking we might cut it shorter. We will see.

Distance today 58 miles
Climbing 2574 ft

Beautiful flowers in baskets everywhere!

Another haybale animation - made me smile! 

So many big churches in the towns 

Day 1 - Hello Brittany!

Ok so the zzzzz wasn't so fantastic. The bed was very narrow and we were in the bowels of the Ferry so close to the engine. When we were offered a cabin last night, the first offer was Club class (benefit is breakfast is included). Mr B asked if he had any alternatives and they said yes, a 4 berth on deck 1...he took it.

But hey ho we were horizontal and I slept a bit. I don't think Mr B slept more than I did. I dreamt of work.

It wasn't a speedy exit from the Ferry as somehow the bikes bred overnight - when we arrived back to saddle up there were at least 13 more of which 3 were on top of ours.

Pedalling out of Saint Malo was easy. We found the Intermarche to stock up on ham, cheese and pain chocolat (traditional cyclists lunch everywhere!) as France shuts shop at 12.30pm on a Sunday.

The route that I planned took us out and then along a fabulous off road section that took for miles along the river. It was a bit dusty so my bike has turned from grey to caramel.

There have been two really mean hills enroute. Both near Iffendic, the last town we cycled through before getting to our first campsite. I stopped five times on the last hill.

The campsite is huge. It's situated near a lake and there is a wedding on which provides free French music! Dinner will be the rest of the cheese and chocolate bread as we can't be bothered to find alternatives.

Tomorrow is a longer ride. 56mi heading in the direction of La Rochelle but not quite there. Let's hope for less hills as we move towards South Brittany.

1742ft climbing
49 miles done

Route for day 1 - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/24247997

 

Well signposted route - all in kilometres which makes it seem further!

A lot of haybale animations publicising upcoming harvest festivals

Velo District ride 3, shared path

Setting up tent for the first night - a bit of a slope down

Getting to the start line...

Five years in the making and the day has finally dawned. Pity it dawned when despite having a 5 year notice, I am probably at my heaviest and unfittest.

Anyway no more words about weight only about the trip!

The stuff on the spare bed finally found its way into my panniers and the bar bag contents that's been slumbering on the dining room table in where it belongs.

We said our goodbyes which were always sad, leaving daughter to look after the dogs - long list written of stuff to look after whilst we're spinning pedals.

I snoozed enroute so lost about 40 miles of the journey. I guess switch off started!

Arriving at the Port we headed for an Aldi to get some bottled water. Another blog I found warned that carrying two 1.5L were strongly advised and as tomorrow is Sunday and France shut at 12.30, that was a good move.

We parked the car at the Brittany Ferries building and off loaded panniers and bikes. I stayed at the check in whilst Mr B moved the car to an NCP car park 20min walk away ( cheaper than Port car park so don't opt for the closest!)

Some serious looking German cyclists arrived. Front and back panniers with rack bags on Ridgeback bikes. They off loaded and went into the check in. I haven't seen them since.

Mr B arrived from his parking expedition and we wheeled the bikes towards the booths. I got a stare from the customs official and smiled. Then off towards the security check where we had to take a bag off the bike to put through a scanner. Mr B bleeped.  I didn't :)

Then a short pedal to mingle with cars with roofboxes to wait for 50min to board. Whilst there we met up with another cyclist on a road bike enroute to Barcelona. He had virtually nothing as gear only a very very small frame bag with flip flops and some toiletries. He is cycling down on 8 days hoping to do 100 miles a day to meet with his family for a week in Majorca.

Finally the call came and we boarded the Ferry. Bikes were stored in a separate room and we zeroed in on the reception to put our name down for a cabin. When we changed our dates from July to August we lost the cabin booking so relieved to be assigned a cabin after a 45min wait.

Dinner was good and filling. The service girl a bit forceful in deciding what you want!

Clocks adjusted to Central European time...

Bedtime zźzzzzzz

All the panniers and the rack bags loaded into the back of the car with the Thule Bike Carrier tilted forward to allow boot access

The cyclist we met who was cycling to Barcelona in 10 days from St. Malo - he was a lean machine!

Sunset on the Ferry

Getting fresh air on the Ferry

The new Aircraft Carrier in Portsmouth Harbour

Planning ahead

The Ferry trip is an overnighter but because we had to change our original dates, we lost the opportunity to book a cabin so there will be some running to the main reception on the Ferry to see if a cabin has become free. If that fails, it will be self-inflating mat and sleeping bag on the floor of the Ferry lounge!

So packing will commence in the morning - see the photos attached!

Extras that HAD to go with

My packing for the trip

So you want to know about our equipment?

We are keen tent campers but none of our regular equipment for the big tent would've worked on this trip. The packing needed to be lightweight and minimal - getting away with the least you can carry.

So in terms of equipment here goes:

Bike - I bought a new Dawes Galaxy Plus a year ago, just after Brexit vote but just before the pound nosedived to make imports so much more expensive. It is a brilliant but heavy bike (it's a Tourer!) which loves hills - despite me hating them! I've had comments about " is there a secret motor built in somewhere?" when I whizz past people up a hill. Don't think that will happen with all the panniers on though.

Tent - an Atom 3 which is lightweight, weighs less than 5kg. We have split the tent so I carry the outer and he carries the inner, poles and pegs (oh and the rubber mallet as the French campsites' ground is hard!). 

Sleeping mat - lightweight 650g 3/4  self-inflating mat

Sleeping bag - Snugpak 2 season Jungle Sleeping Bag with built-in mosquito net - 950g

A small gas burner - Campingaz Twister Plus weighing 263g

Panniers - All Ortlieb so waterproof. When we cycled EuroVelo 15 five years ago, I used my Dutch Agu panniers and got fed-up of the number of times I had to stop to put rain covers on. This time I'm ready whatever the weather!

Ortlieb Backroller Plus waterproof panniers and Ortlieb 24L rack pack. For the front bar bag I have an Ortlieb Ultimate6 Compact and Mr B has an Ortlieb Ultimate 6 Classic

RAVPower 26800mAh Portable Charger 26800, Premium Quality Battery Pack with 3 iSmart 2.0 USB Ports, High Speed 5.5A Max Output -  - http://amzn.eu/6xcT8Qq

RAVPower 16W Solar Charger with Dual USB Port (Foldable, Portable) High Efficiency Outdoor Solar Panel for iPhone, iPad, Galaxy, Camera -  http://amzn.eu/4h3vk1v

Trial and failure

We decided that it would be a good idea to do a test run with the bikes fully loaded to be followed by a night in the tent.

Initially my mad idea was to go camping away from home to simulate 'real' conditions but I was soon persuaded that it is not necessary - after all the house and the campsite is less than a mile apart. No need to spend money on a fake night - just camp in the back garden!

Anyway, we packed all the panniers and did our short 9 mile circuit ride. My bike performed very well - almost sighing with relief that it's finally a touring bike as that is what it's been since birth. At some very slight ups I felt I had a bit of a load but generally it was just another very pleasant ride.

Back home we unpacked the tent and proceeded with setting it up. The tent is daughter's borrowed by us and slightly bigger - a 3 man dome with an enclosed porch - than Mr B's 2 man (very) older version (never would've worked anyway as it is too small to put our panniers in for the night and it also tapers down towards the feet so sleeping mats wouldn't have fitted ).

Mr B will need to embrace patience which isn't always his virtue. Despite the 3 Atom being a much smaller tent than our large polycotton which we usually take to France, there was some impatience when poles got slightly stuck when they were threaded through. Careful now - don't want to sit with a ripped tent even before we've set off! I can see dark days after each ride when we need to pitch and both of us are tired.

So pitching done (with arguments about where it should be pitched on the back grass) and both mats and sleeping bags unfolded, mat and pillow inflated (very easy!) and ready for the night we went back into the house for an evening in comfy chairs and dinner before retiring to the cold English outdoors at 10pm.

Falling asleep was easy but it didn't last long. I woke up with my arms freezing despite being inside the sleeping bag and after employing all types of warming up tricks like rubbing arms, curling up, lying on my front, I just couldn't go back to sleep. Time? 2.30am

"Are you awake" I ask
"I am now" muffled reply from the dark shape next to me
"I am absolutely freezing!"
"Do you want to go back inside?"
"Yes please..."

Well that was the end of our English tent trial.

Despite the failure to stay the night, lessons were learnt.

1. Patience when pitching is paramount
2. How to inflate my sleeping mat
3. How to fold both my sleeping mat and bag away in the morning making small packs of both of them
4. Don't forget you need layers when sleeping in a thin tent! Memories of French nights springs to mind when the nights really cool down despite very hot days
5. When repacking the panniers make sure that they are the same height so that the rackbag doesn't look like it's about to fall off!

Better next time in Brittany!

Posing at the Village shop just after our trial run

We thought it worth that you see the load from behind!

Tent pitched in the backgarden ready for the nights' inhabitants

The porch area of the tent was useful to store our luggage in the night