LOOKING BACK - AND FORWARD

It was lovely to wake up and see the sun bouncing off the corner stones of our bedroom window. Our bedroom looked so old after the modern hotel rooms we had stayed in and it was just so lovely to be back in Lacour. Everyone in the village noticed the tandem parked outside and stopped to ask about our trip. Even months later people from the neighbourhood were asking us about our trip which surprised us as we hadn't even told them we were doing it!

We had tried hard, especially at the time of riding, not to compare this trip to the previous year's but I guess it is human nature and inevitable and although we enjoyed it immensely we both felt a strange sense of it not being quite as wonderful as the first time. However, neither of us could, and still can't, put our finger on it. It could just be that the first one was our first ever cycle tour and we had no idea what to expect and it totally exceeded our expectations. This time we knew what to expect and we knew it would be good.

It is only by thinking about what we did differently and what we liked and disliked and what worked and what didn't that we can shape our future tours. The obvious difference was the weather. We weren't quite as lucky this year as although the first week was perfect the second week was grey and very wet a lot of the time which was a shame as we weren't able to appreciate the beautiful west coast as much as we would have liked. However much you try to enjoy it cycling in the rain (or even the grey) is just not the same as cycling on a beautiful sunny day!

Then of course there was the camping! I love the idea of camping (as long as it is warm and dry) and always think (and honestly hope) it will be wonderful but it never quite lives up to that dream. I get frustrated scrabbling around in the tent looking for things, having to sit on the ground to eat and having to walk to the shower block. At the end of a day's cycling staying in a hotel is just so much easier, quicker on arrival and departure and all round generally more comfortable. Camping does also add a considerable amount of weight to a loaded bike. We decided that although it is cheaper to camp in future, wherever possible, we would stay in a reasonably priced hotel in a small town. We did enjoy the flexibility of when we did stay in a town being able to go out to a restaurant to eat together rather than sharing the table with other guests at a chambre d'hotes.

As last year Rob had put a lot of work into planning the route and this really paid off as we passed some beautiful scenery. Some days we were a bit too relaxed and spent longer than we should over breakfast or lunch and were therefore getting to our final destination later than we ideally would have liked. It is hard to get the balance between seeing enough that you don't feel you are rushing but actually getting to your destination at a sensible time.

As always food is an issue when cycling. We got into a routine of getting a few km under our belts and then stopping in a village bar for a coffee and breakfast from the local bakers. This worked well and was an economical way of having breakfast - although cereal would have been a lot better had we been able to find it. At lunch time we were either having a set menu or buying a picnic where it was possible for reasons of economy. I never feel picnics work that well when cycling as we end up filling up on lots of white bread and cheese but not having anything that will put energy back into our legs. It is also not quite as relaxing as sitting in bar at a table being waited on!

We certainly both agreed that we are hooked on cycle touring and this would now become an annual event so much so that within weeks of returning home we already had a draft outline of our 2010 route.