INTRODUCTION

Can't wait to do it again

In the Autumn of 2008 I was still buzzing from our cycle tour in the July of that year and was keen to start planning the next one.

We both agreed that we would like to do it again but couldn't afford to do it in such style next time and decided that to keep the cost down we would camp. We therefore purchased a small lightweight tent and camping equipment.

We tested the tent on a mini solo bike tour of the Baie de la Somme area

We must start thinking about this seriously

By the time Christmas arrived we hadn't thought much more about the trip. We hadn't cycled since November (or it may even have been October) and we were beginning to wonder whether we could in fact afford the trip, even if we were camping, especially as the pound/euro exchange rate was not in our favour.

However, we both knew deep down that we really wanted to do it and with our mantra being "if you want to do something do it - you don't know what's round the corner" we booked the ferry.

It will soon come round

Due to Rob's work commitments the only months we could go were either June or August and we opted for June as we reasoned that the campsites would be full (and more expensive) in August but the weather should (we could only hope) be good in June. The danger of doing a similar trip was that we did not want to fall into the trap of comparing it with the last one. We were incredibly lucky with the weather before but there was always the risk we wouldn't be so lucky the next time.

Time to start route planning again


We spent a couple of weeks just trying to work out a vague route

We didn't want to repeat anything from the previous year's trip and I particularly wanted to add in a rest day at La Rochelle as it was somewhere I had always wanted to visit. Once we had this as a basic starting point we started to discuss the route in more detail. As with the previous trip I spent hours looking up the towns along our possible route to see if they were worth visiting (together with noting if they had bakery or supermarket) and also looking for campsites. Although I booked the smaller municipal sites the larger ones didn't need to be pre-booked which would give us more flexibility.

The final route


Time to start training

I had spent the first two months of the year unable to exercise due to an operation to remove a varicose vein which was taking a long time to settle down. So, although I had had a lot of time for route research, I hadn't actually been on my bike for months. After getting the go-ahead from the surgeon to start exercising I had a couple of sessions back at the gym and then on 1 March felt fit enough to attempt the 48km ride I had devised for the previous year's training. I was expecting to struggle a bit but it really wasn't too bad although I did have to stop for chips at the White Horse in Maplehurst as I was feeling a bit weak and hungry by that point!

With less than 3 months to go until the start of the ride I was feeling really positive and was sure the 3 months training ahead of me would see me starting the ride fitter this year than I was last year. Even the fact that I was slower the following week didn't dampen my spirits, I just put this down to an off-day after a very hard week at work (including an extremely bad commute to work on the Thursday thanks to Southern Rail). I proved this theory the next week by easily cycling the 70km down to Shoreham and along the coast to Arundel.

My knee's hurting a bit

The following week we decided only to do the 48km ride as the weather wasn't too good and my knee had began to hurt slightly. I had always had knee problems on and off so although it was annoying I wasn't too worried. I decided to go to the osteopath though who confirmed that there wasn't anything seriously wrong and put it down to the fact that I had gone from no exercise while recovering from my operation to full-on walking 5km a day to and from the station to work, gym 3 times a week, morris dancing and cycling. Fair enough!

I was a bit concerned though when the following week by the end of my 48km ride I was in a lot of pain again and decided not to exercise in the forthcoming week to let my knee settle down and see what the osteopath said at my next appointment. She again confirmed that apart from the general wear and tear I knew about there was no obvious problem and suggested that I listen to what my body was telling me and if it hurt when I was exercising to stop and rest it (easier said than done if you are 50km from home or 1,000km from home as could be the case in June). With this in mind I did a very sensible 24km ride the next day (I was glad as it was freezing cold and I was happy for an excuse not to go further) and was pleased to remain pain-free for the whole ride. Over the next few weeks I managed to up the length of my rides again and was soon able to ride the 48km (almost - with a bit of help from Biofreeze) free of pain.

Rob's knee's hurting now

During one of our early training rides Rob pulled a hamstring which was continuing to bother him to the extent that he started to have regular osteopath treatment on it. He continued to have this up until the start of the trip - just to prevent any further injury.

Easter - We should be out on our bikes

We spent Easter in France and planned to do a lot of training while we were there to build up Rob's leg and generally up our fitness. I managed to get out for the first two days (even in the heavy drizzle) and do a little circuit down to the valley and up the hill to Lacour and was feeling really fit and ready for some longer more challenging rides at the end of the week. And then, we both managed to get food poisoning - we didn't go near our bikes for a week. It was very disappointing partly as we were looking forward to our holiday and partly as we were planning to use the time there to up our training.

We hoped we would ride further than the end of the ridge


Should we postpone?

With the lack of training at Easter and the reality of getting back to work I just didn't feel mentally prepared for a trip that was only a few weeks away. Rob's leg was also a worry at this point and we had a serious discussion about postponing until later in the year until we realised that there was not a 3 week period where Rob could take leave or we didn't have any other commitments. So, that decided that.

Suddenly it's May

Where did the first half of the year go? I couldn't believe it was suddenly May - we were due to leave this month! That was the jolt I needed to make me take my training seriously and I started going out two or three times a week and Rob started to do longer rides although still having osteopath treatment on his hamstring once a week. I also started working though my list of jobs that had to be done before the trip at home and was generally getting more mentally prepared. I just hoped the grey, cold weather would be go in time for our departure.

The tandem's ready

Before Easter we took the tandem to be serviced by a nice man called Steve in Orpington and it was ready for collection. We had only ridden it once or twice since the previous year's trip and so were looking forward to riding it again. When we got back after our Easter holiday we caught the train/tram/bus to Orpington and then rode it the 60km home. It was lovely to be on it again and we soon got back into our stride - although it didn't help the first 3km of the ride was up a fairly steep hill. I arrived home still feeling fresh - my training must be paying off.

Our new toy has arrived

As we were camping this year we needed to think about how we were going to carry everything and after a lot of discussion and research into trailers decided to get a one wheeled trailer.

It didn't occur to me that the trailer would come "flat packed"




Would this hold all our gear?


Three weeks to go

We were now on countdown and decided that we ought to use the tandem as much as possible when we were cycling together and I continued to ride as much as I could in the evening on my old Marin (my lovely Airnimal was in France but at least the Marin was heavier and made for a better training ride). Rob's leg was feeling better by the day and we were both feeling really strong and positive.

Does the bottom bracket feel a bit strange?

As we approached the house after an evening ride I felt I ought to check the bottom bracket (we had had a lot of problems with this just before the previous year's ride) and sure enough it was loose. This was a major blow. We had repaired it twice now and for it to fail again only a few weeks before we were due to leave was too awful to think about. We decided that we couldn't bear to think about it that evening and would worry about it in the morning.

What a relief

As soon as I woke up all I could think about was getting the bottom bracket problem resolved and if we couldn't then we had to think of a plan b whatever that was as time (and money) were not on our side if we had to buy a new tandem.

Unfortunately, or perhaps I should say fortunately!) I had to leave Rob with the problem as I was due to be morris dancing in Horsham all day. He took the tandem to our local bike shop, A.D. Cycles, who were extremely helpful and managed, there and then, to re-cut the thread and insert a new bottom bracket. If only the bike shop we went to last year had done the same thing! What a relief - this really seemed to have fixed the problem once and for all.

Time to test the repair

The next day we had a lovely long day ride of 80km down to Chichester Harbour.

What a lovely place

The new bottom bracket repair held out and so did our legs although I felt a bit saddlesore by the end of the day. We returned home feeling very strong and ready for the ride. We had to make a few minor roadside adjustments to the gears because the work to the bottom bracket had put them slightly out but other than this everything seemed fine.

Not long to go now

Just as we were both feeling strong and ready for the ride we both went down with a nasty virus that totally wiped us out for a couple of days and then seemed to linger on - better two weeks before than a week before though. We didn't cycle at all for over a week and then kept rides quite short to build ourselves up to strength again. We took the trailer out for a ride and were pleased how relatively easy it was to tow (although you could feel it slightly on the hills and it was only half full).

One week to go

With a week to go we started to put everything we wanted to take in the conservatory ready for the final pack. Although we were feeling better from the virus neither of us felt up to full strength and kept our rides short in between working through our list of jobs that needed to be done and getting our work up-to-date whilst trying somehow not to get over-tired in the process. I hoped that my fitness was still there somewhere waiting for the trip and it would soon resurface.

Less than a week to go

It was time to start looking at the long range weather forecast and it wasn't looking too bad. At last it looked like the cold, wet weather we had been experiencing for weeks was on its way out and we were in for some nice summer weather at last - and just in time. We hoped they were correct. It certainly made the final preparations more enjoyable.

We had done a little ride (30km) after work in the week and although I still didn't feel back up to full strength I felt that I was getting there.

The final countdown

We spent most of the Sunday before our departure doing our final pack. It did look a rather large load and we thought that we would try and cycle up Tillets Lane (our nearest steep hill) to see how we got on. We got to the end of the road and decided that actually the over 5 stone of weight we were carrying had to be narrowed down and so returned home for a re-pack, getting the total weight down to just over four stone. It's amazing how just by cutting a bar of soap in half (a saving of 0.2lbs) and leaving out a fleece jumper (1.0lbs) can add up. We could tell the difference when we got back on the bike although we decided to leave Tillets Lane - there will be plenty of hills ahead of us and we didn't want to worry ourselves.

This is what we took

Front box:
Reading glasses
Wallet
House keys
Map holder containing pages of the route torn out of an old atlas (in case we lose the Garmin)
2 Minature clip-on LED lights
2 Minature lanterns which are amazingly bright
Head torch
Gorilla pod for holding the camera
Mini tripod
Document wallet with passport, cheque book, ferry details and other important papers
Nail clippers
Tweezers (for getting thorns out of tyres - not cosmetic use!)
Scissors
Carry strap for front box
Cereal bars for "I have to eat now" moments
Lip suncream
High Protection spot stick
Foldable rucksack
2 Sunglasses
Packet of tissues
5 AAA batteries (for bike lights and LED lights)
6 Lithium batteries (for camera and Garmin)
2 Datacards for camera

Front handle bars:
Garmin
Cycle computer

Back handle bars:
Camera

Bumbag attached to bike frame (my handbag):
Reading glasses
Notebook (for scribblings when I don't have time to get my diary out)
Pens
Purse
Hanky
Mobile phone
Carrier bag
Comb
Hair tie
Cereal bar

Also attached to the bike frame:
Pump
3 Water bottles
Spare spokes

Pannier 1:
Clothes to put on while cycling (and space for those we take off) including:
Thin and thick long sleeve cycle tops
Leggings
2 Gortex waterproofs
2 Gloves
Bandana

Pocket:
Suntan lotion
Biofreeze
Hand sanitiser gel
Wet toilet paper
Chamois cream
Mosquito wipes

Pannier 2:
2 Melamine plates
2 Melamine bowls
2 Plasic wine glasses
Toilet roll
Breakfast cereal
Cereal bars
2 Reading books
Notebook for diary
First aid kit
2 Packets of lightweight cutlery (a great bargain from the Poundland!)
Sharp knife
Cork screw

Pocket:
Set of allen keys
Phillips screwdriver
Flathead screwdriver
Tyre levers
Spoke key
Cassette remover
Crank remover
Bottom bracket tool
2 Power links
Zip ties
Inner tube for tandem
Inner tube for trailer

Trailer:

Polly's clothes in plastic bags within a dry sack:
Cycle clothes:
2 Cycle shorts
1 Cycle t'shirt
2 Cycle vest tops
2 Cycle strappy tops
1 Warm cycle top
1 Warm cycle top (black so used as jumper in evenings or another layer)
Underwear
Evening/rest day clothes:
Flip flops
2 Thin skirts
2 Vest t'shirts
Shorts
Leggings
Thin black polo neck jumper
3/4 Leeve t'shirt jumper
Best smart sundress
Casual sundress
Rob cycle clothes:
3 Cycle shorts
2 Thin long sleeve cycle tops
3 Cycle t'shirts
2 Base layers
Evening/rest day clothes:
Casual trousers (also convert to shorts)
Pair of boat shoes

Bag of batteries/electrical equipment:
Phone charger
Adaptor
Battery charger
Various spare batteries

Dry sack containing:
Sleeping bags
Thermarests

Bag of toiletries:
2 Microfibre towels
Small moisturiser
Small handcream
Night cream (in the smallest lightest pot available)
Shampoo/conditioner in one
Deoderant
Half a bar of soap (also to be used for washing clothes)
2 Toothbrushes
Toothpaste
Lip blister repair cream
Bite relief cream

4 Inner tubes

2 Pillows (small in compression sacks)

Bag of pills:
Hayfever one-a-day
Large pot of nurofen (enough for constant use to get us through should knees play up)
Gaviscon
Paracetamol
Cold and flu relief

Washing line and pegs

On top of the trailer:
Dry sack containing the tent
Two very small and light folding stools (from Poundland!)

Attached to the underside of the trailer:
Spare tyre

Total weight - 35kg

Really not long to go now

We were planning to ride with the final load on the Bank Holiday Monday but decided to do a hard fast 50km ride instead without it as fitness training. We had a great ride and managed an average speed of 19.9kph which we were pleased with. We got home feeling really fit and ready for the trip.

We decided not to ride again until the day and spent the rest of the week getting ourselves up-to-date at work and at home. Everything was packed and we were ready. I received a good send-off from Magog on Tuesday and another warm send-off from my colleages on the Wednesday. It meant a lot to me that so many people took an interest in the trip.

Best of all, the horrid cold wet weather we had been experiencing seemed to be behind us and the forecast for the end of the week was for summer. What great timing!

We go tomorrow

It was hard to believe that after all the planning, the training and the preparation the departure day was imminent. I had a lovely relaxing day and felt as ready as I could be for the trip. Everything sat in the conservatory ready and the forecast was good - what more could we ask for? I didn't feel nervous at all - just very excited.

DAY 0: HORSHAM - PORTSMOUTH: 83km
FRIDAY 29 MAY

We woke up before the alarm to the sun streaming through the window - we couldn't believe our luck, it was the first nice morning of the summer so far and it also happened to be our departure day. Mum's text said it all "what a lovely day for an adventure". We got up and had a nice big bowl of porridge and the texts started to come in - wishing us well, and marvelling at our luck with the weather. We both felt really relaxed and not at all nervous about the journey ahead.

Although we were not having an official send-off party, as we wanted to keep our departure time flexible, our neighbours were keeping an eye on us and waiting to wave us off. When we were almost ready I rang Ruth who I wanted to be involved in our departure and at 8.30am, after a nice relaxed start to the day and with our neighbours out in the street to wish us well it was time to get going.

After months of preparation we're off

It was so exciting to be on our way after so much planning and Ruth followed on her trike for the 2km. Then, at the end of Robin Hood Lane as Ruth turned back to Horsham we were on our own and on our way to France.

Our first stop came sooner than we had planned - at Broadbridge Heath Post Office! Rob's knee was hurting and we stopped to buy some Nurofen as it was easier to buy some at this early stage than start looking through the neatly packed panniers.

The weight of the trailer wasn't as bad as I was expecting and I was pleasantly surprised how easily (all things considered) we managed our first hill. Rob's knee was troubling him slightly and we stopped at the top so he could stretch and I took the opportunity to read more texts of encouragement that we had received since leaving home 30 minutes earlier.

The West Sussex lanes looked beautiful in the warm early morning sun

I was slightly nervous about the hill to West Chiltington as I could just about manage it on my solo bike and didn't want to think about how difficult it would be to ride the loaded tandem up it but, somehow, we made it and we knew then that there wouldn't be any hills on our route we couldn't conquer - with maybe the exception of the hill to Lacour of course!

West Chiltington suddenly felt so English




Action shot - leaving West Chiltington




Time for a cake stop at Pulborough Brooks

We left Pulborough Brooks feeling refreshed and pleased with our progress and enjoyed a pleasant ride through the wooded lanes to Amberley although we were mindful of the fact that we still had to get over the South Downs.

We felt confident we could climb Houghton Hill and the South Downs




The climb wasn't that bad - and the view was definitely worth it

There wasn't a sensible alternative route and we therefore had to follow the busy A29 and then the A27 for a while. As we passed a couple of teenage boys they watched us go past and then quietly and self-consciously clapped us. The main road turned into a busy stretch of dual-carriageway which wasn't very pleasant.

We also had to negotiate some large and busy roundabouts




However, we were soon back on to quieter roads




We were ready for lunch by the time we reached Chichester




After lunch we negotiated the gated crossing as quickly as we could

Most of the afternoon's ride took us along fairly busy main roads as again there wasn't really any choice.

We were compensated by a lovely view of Chichester Harbour

We were both feeling good, although Rob needed to stop occasionally to stretch his leg, and we really weren't noticing the extra weight of the trailer as the route was mainly flat.

We had a brief stop in Havant

We weren't expecting the hard climb to Bedhampton - but it did give us our first view of Portsmouth

On the outskirts of Portsmouth all the main roads were really busy with fast moving traffic and it got worse towards the city centre. I was terrified as we approached an enormous fast-moving roundabout and just had to put my trust in Rob and hope for the best.

Even the cycle path was full of cycle commuters with road rage

There also constantly seemed to be a lot of glass by the side of the roads which didn't help my nerves and I was pleased that the last big roundabout we came to was blocked with stationary traffic that we managed somehow to weave around.

It was a relief to get to the ferry port in one piece

Someone in the queue looked at us and smiled and said light-heartedly "You look like a pair of Liquorice Allsorts". I hadn't actually thought of it like that before but on looking at us I realised what he meant. I was there in pink and black and Rob was in yellow and black. All I could reply was "Well, it could be worse, I could be a jelly baby".

The hour wait passed quickly




Soon we were invited to board

Once on board we found our way to our cabin and were really pleased that we had paid the £10 upgrade to a twin cabin with a porthole. It felt much more spacious than the normal cabins and not having a bunk bed would mean a much better night's sleep. Plus we had the benefit of a view of course!

After a shower we went up to the beautiful restaurant and were shown to our table (the same one as last year as it happened). We weren't in a hurry to eat as it was still relatively early but we needed to secure a table as they work on a first come first served basis. We spent a bit of time drinking our apero and writing up our diaries. When we did eat, the meal was beautiful - a lovely salad buffet to start and my main course came with an amazing basil sorbet. The cheese and biscuit and dessert buffet was as good as I remembered it.

I enjoyed the freedom of the dessert buffet

We retired to our cosy cabin and I sat up in bed looking at the photos we had taken during the day, writing up my journal and reading all the texts from well-wishers that had arrived. It was lovely to know so many of our family and friends were thinking of us and I was really excited about the journey ahead.

DAY 1: ST. MALO - RENNES: 90km
SATURDAY 30 MAY



What a lovely view to wake up to

I woke up feeling very tired. I hadn't slept ever so well as I had woken up a few times in the night as I was thirsty. Annoyingly it was only in the morning light that I noticed we had put our bidons by the bed in case we needed a drink in the night. My knees felt a bit sore from the day before and I had forgotten to put Biofreeze on them before I went to sleep. I vowed to make sure I did that as a preventative measure in future along with a daily dose of Nurofen.

I soon perked up as I watched our approach to St. Malo

We thought we would have breakfast on the boat but unfortunately just as we got to the till the computers crashed and they were unable to serve us and while we waited to see if the problem was going to be fixed easily the announcement came for passengers to return to the car decks. As the bike shed was at the front of the boat we thought we ought to get down there as soon as we could in case they wanted the bikes to go first. As it turned out we did not have priority and were told to push the bike off the ferry at the same time as the cars were exiting.

A loaded tandem and trailer is not the easiest thing to manoeuvre

It was lovely to arrive in St. Malo and, although there was a bit of a chill in the air, it promised to be a beautiful sunny day. After spending a bit of time setting the Garmin we were ready and cycled out of the ferry port and through the suburbs and an industrial area.

It wasn't long before we were on the open road




It was a bit of a climb to Chateau Malo




where we found our first coffee stop - shame it didn't have seats outside

We were feeling hungry by this point and couldn't see a bakery in the village but luckily we had cereal bars with us and so ate one of those with our drinks before setting off again on a fairly busy D road and then onto quieter D roads.

We cycled through wonderful countryside




and pretty dark-stoned villages




Everything looked so fresh - they must've had a lot of rain recently

I took the opportunity to apply more chamois cream in a village WC as the seam of my shorts was rubbing

What a pretty leafy lane




Rob had a "I need one of the emergency biscuits" moment

We stopped to check what felt like play in the bottom bracket to the amusement of the cows

Just one more straight, fast road until lunch

After 41km I felt ready for a break. The scenery had been beautiful - lots of parkland, pasture and potato fields, together with some lovely ponds and watercourses but it had been quite hard work as we had spent a lot of the time cycling into a headwind.

We had discovered Combourg's town website when researching the route and decided to make that our lunch stop as it looked really nice - although it's hard to tell from the internet whether somewhere is really nice or whether they just have a good publicist. It turned out to be a really lovely town and somewhere we would like to return to on another occasion.

What a perfect spot - the goats cheese pie was amazing but the wind was so strong I had to hold on to my salad while I ate

To keep costs down we bought our pudding at the baker's and took it by the river

Before setting off again after lunch we checked the front pedals as they hadn't felt quite right earlier and discovered that we needed to tighten the cranks. At least it was a simple thing to fix and not the bottom bracket playing up.

We reluctantly left Combourg at 3pm and promptly had a long drag up a hill - I was glad I had only had a light lunch and a 25cl pichet. We continued to pass fields of cows who stopped chewing to watch us go by and you could almost hear them say "What the **** is that?".

We had a bar stop in Dinge

There was a group of English cyclists sitting outside the bar and we joined them. They were a real mixture of characters and ages and we had a bit of banter and cycle chat with them. As we discussed routes one of them said "It's about 70km, I measured it on my credit card". This really made me laugh and I told him that I would have to include his quote in my blog. He retorted that he would have to include the fact that we got out our small lightweight fold up stools (from Poundland) to sit on from a heavily laden tandem (they had someone to carry their luggage). However we had the last laugh as we were the ones with a seat - and he was having to stand.

We left the bar shortly after the other group as we needed to get going as we still had a way to go before we got to Rennes.

This cross looked like it had been made from wood from a house




We reached the Ille et Rance Canal




This would take us all the way to Rennes




An idyllic rural scene at one of the road crossings




The reflections were beautiful

Although our progress wasn't as quick as it would have been on the road the surface was good and the view certainly made up for it. It was a lovely summer late afternoon and the daisies and yellow irises looked beautiful. However, I was pleased when Rennes came into view as I was ready to arrive.

As we approached the town centre we stopped by the side of the road and stood astride the bike while we worked out which direction our hotel was in. The next thing we noticed a car reversing, not very quickly, but certainly in our direction. We were unable to move out of the way and if Rob hadn't banged the back of the car with his fist to alert the driver to stop we we would have been run over. The passenger was extremely apologetic and we rode off feeling a bit shaken.

We had pre-booked a hotel on the basis that there weren't any campsites in Rennes and received a warm welcome from the staff at the Kyriad Hotel.

The patient staff helped us sort out our luggage

We were shown to a lovely spacious room with a little balcony overlooking the station. We strung up our washing line in the bathroom and got our washing up-to-date while we showered and the bathroom soon resembled an Italian slum. By the time we were ready to go out it was gone 8.30pm and we walked up into the old town.

We enjoyed walking around soaking up the atmosphere of a summer's evening

We looked at various restaurants and decided that we would find the Italian the hotel receptionist had recommended.

Villa d'Este certainly lived up to our expectations

We had a very good meal sitting out on the little terrace and for our main course had a trio of pasta dishes - just the thing to set us up for the following day.

We had a lovely view from our table

It was late by the time we got back to our hotel - but we had had a lovely relaxed evening