Photos at Last – Day 2

 

The electronic carrier pigeons are finally flying between France and London and so we have some photos for Day 2

Pierre ready to leave Sermaise. Joe’s bike is propped against the wall. Note that Pierre has less luggage – it’s amazing how much space a few t-shirts take up!

Crossing the River Loire at St Mathurin

 

Their pitch before the home improvements

 

and with outside seating area!

Day 3 - Concourson Sur Layon to Parthenay Sunday 4th September

 

 

The day started off raining, and the tents and other things got sopping wet, but had to be stashed away. After breakfast with the nice couple that they'd met the day before, they said goodbye and headed off.

Leaving Concourson Sur Layon… 

 

 

 

The roads were good for cycling - gentle climbs and gentle descents, enough to make it interesting but not too arduous. The countryside was lovely - lots and lots of flowers, attractive architecture and pretty villages. In short, typical Loire Valley scenery.

The rain cleared and the sun came out and they came through a lovely village, Passavant Sur Layon, with a stunning ruined chateau. A place to revisit.

They were thinking of putting on sun cream but there was a large black cloud on the horizon moving swiftly their way. As the entered the village of Cersay, there was a great clap of thunder that made even the car drivers stop, and the heavens opened. They took refuge against the wind, first in a hairdressers shop doorway and then in a bus shelter. If they had been in the open countryside they would have been seriously soaked and unable to ride due to the wind. So they waited for the storm to move north and the blue sky to appear before leaving their refuge and heading off again.

Two more black clouds passed them by, with only spits of rain. Then it got very hot and sunny. The terrain changed to agricultural land – more like that of Northern France, which they passed through during Big Wheel Part 1. There were lots of cows, especially Charolais and one herd were expert at synchronised head turning as our cyclists passed!

They’d had trouble finding somewhere to eat and it was late by the time they did manage to get a ham sandwich and a panache – 15.30pm.

There were now sharp ascents and descents, though only lasting 1 km, not 15km like Normandy last year. They weren’t too bad, but it started raining and they “hit the wall” at about 50km – probably because of the late fuelling. Both Pierre and Joe were very tired – there was a strong headwind as well to add to the rain and cloud.

They had the address of the campsite, but like other campsites and hotels in France, the directions on their website and their address were misleading. They couldn’t find the campsite, despite calling me and getting me to check to see whether I could find any better directions! They’d called the telephone number of the site, only to find that it was only answered until 17.30. They passed a camper van several times that also appeared to be lost – probably looking for the same place! They decided to have one last look and if not, were going to look for a hotel, but thankfully found it. They were greeted by a friendly woman and put up their wet tents rapidly, leaving them empty and open in the hope of drying them out a bit. Then they tacked a cold platter of crudites, saucisson, pork, beef, salad, bread and dessert for €12 , washed down of course by beer. They’d had to cycle an additional 15km when they thought they’d finished as they couldn’t find the campsite ( including hill climbs to cross the river) so their legs were sore . Pierre especially was very tired. 

Vital stats – 96km!!

Day 2 - Portsmouth to Caen, Sermaise - Concourson Sur LayonSat 3rd September

The ferry docked at 6.45 am french time, a few short hours after they had gone to bed. Neither Pierre nor Joe like mornings, so this was a nightmare time to be up and about, but the open road beckoned! Around 50 WW2 American Army vehicles were disembarking at around the same time - everything from trucks and jeeps to motorcycles, with the odd automatic gun as well. The occupants were all dressed in authentic looking uniforms - on their way to a re-enactment or rally perhaps? It was a chilly 11 degrees as Pierre and Joe drove off to Sermaise, with dense fog around Le Mans .

After arriving at Sermaise and putting the bikes back together, they loaded up their panniers and headed for the supermarket at Maze to stock up with some supplies. A quick diversion past Chateau de Montgeoffroy and then it was across the Loire at St Mathurin Sur Loire. Another short diversion to go past the Chateau de Pimpean at Grezille and then back to the route. When they set out it was very hot, but there were showers en route and it turned cloudy and very humid. The first shower was refreshing but then they just got wet!

The roads were small roads in general, and the traffic wasn't too bad. The french car drivers gave them a wide berth ( remembering Le Tour perhaps) and even a tractor driver waved to them! Other cyclists were as usual, friendly, bonjouring and waving. They drove past troglodyte houses with bright blue shutters, typical of the region and beautifully kept. The countryside was nice - fields of sunflowers and vines, with a few sweetcorn. Pierre wizzed off into the distance from time to time, then waited for Joe to catch up. Joe was more cautious, with the healing head wound from his operation always on his mind.

When they reached the campsite at Concourson Sur Layon mid afternoon , they paid their site fee of 18 Euros and the booking fee of 10 Euros and headed for the bar - which was closed! Undaunted, after putting up their small tents, they walked 5 mins to a nearly friterie and procured some beers and Joe went swimming in the large swimming pool at the campsite. Pierre opted not to, and discovered that he had forgotten to pack any t-shirts. No wonder his panniers were smaller this year and he had room for his kindle! Then it was more refreshment at the friterie and they checked out the menu. After comparing it with the onsite campsite restaurant menu, they opted for merguez and frites at the friendly friterie, washed down with more beer!

They'd taken photos en route and tried to send them to me by phone as usual, but they hadn't come through. Joe then bit the bullet and paid the data charge to send them by email, but they remained in his outbox so no photos until that can be overcome. Whilst he was trying to access the campsite wifi, another man was trying to access it as well. He asked about the bikes and it turned out that he was a cycle enthusiast as well.

Joe and Pierre returned to their tents and then decided to borrow a couple of camping chairs from outside the empty mobile home opposite them. They had two plastic cups from the friterie, so opened their bottle of Bordeaux that I had sent with them. They were half way down it when they received a visitor - Keith the cycle enthusiast they'd been talking to earlier. He and his wife had felt sorry for them and he had come to invite them over to their mobile home for a glass of wine. Accepting with aclarity, they took the remainder of their wine over and spent the rest of the evening talking about cycling and drinking wine in great company. They really enjoyed themselves. The couple, from Scotland, knew the immediate area well and warned them that none of the cafes would be open for breakfast the next morning and kindly invited them to join them at 9 am for breakfast. A cyclist needs fuel!

Big Wheel 2 - End of Day One ( On the ferry)

Pierre and Joe had driven down from Acton to Portsmouth with their bikes in the back of the car. They would be catching the overnight ferry to Ouistrehem and then drive down the next morning to Sermaise in the Loire, where they finished Big Wheel Part 1 last year.

Once onboard the ferry, they headed for fuel - excellent steak and chips and beer - the first of many such meals no doubt! Bed after 1am french time and dreams of the first day of cycling!

Big Wheel 2– Day 1 London to Portsmouth . A no cycle day!

 

So here’s the route that they will follow when they get to the Loire to pick up where they left off last May!

Neither Pierre nor Joe had packed beforehand so both had to do that today. But the adventure starts on the day of departure and the adrenaline was pumping…..

First Training Run of 2011

Today (9th April 2011) we had planned the first cycle training run for Big Wheel 2011. The weather over the past few days has been great and today was looking good. The easterly wind had a bit of a chill to it, but a perfect day for cycling. Pierre had planned a route around the Kent countryside to the south of Maidstone and this time, his fiancée Krissy was going to join in.

Plan was to meet at Maidstone East station, I would take the train and Pierre & Krissy would drive over. After sorting out which car park to meet in (there are two at Maidstone East and typically we went to different ones) it was unload the bikes and get ready to go..

First stage was to brave the traffic in Maidstone and find our way onto the main route. Bit of a climb to get out of Maidstone and the traffic was a bit busy. Still soon made it to the village of Linton and turned off onto quiet country roads and straight into a steep climb. Both Krissy and I ended up walking part of it while Pierre (as usual) cycled all the way up. The view from the top was fantastic – over the apple orchards and rolling countryside of Kent.

Krissy walking up a hill

By now the roads had levelled out and cycling was easy. The route took us past Hop fields, Oast Houses, farms, apple and pear orchards, lakes and ponds and hedgerows honeycombed with rabbit burrows. We also saw pheasants, rabbits and many other birds. The apple trees were in flower and the bluebells were just beginning to appear. The sun was shining – and a great day for cycling on country roads.

One thing that did surprise us was the lack of pubs in the villages. Eventually we made a small detour to Claygate and stopped for lunch and a pint at the White Hart pub. Then it was back on the road.

Lunch at the White Hart

A bit further on, Krissy began to feel slightly unwell which made cycling a bit more difficult for her so we re-planned the route to take a more direct path back to Maidstone. As ever, this involved climbing a steep hill. As we were most of the way around the route by this stage this only reduced the trip by a few Km. Back in Maidstone we tried to avoid the busy main roads and ended up on the cycle routes and walking through the pedestrianised area to take us back to Maidstone East station.

At the station, Pierre and Krissy headed off to their car and I went to catch a train which turned up about 10 mins later.

All in all an excellent ride through the Kent countryside on a sunny day. All good training for the long ride in September.

Vital Statistics : Distance 43.4Km, Cycling Time 2hrs 58 Mins

KML file here : Maidstone and Area - 9th April 2011

Cycling in the New Forest

Pierre and myself had planned a day cycling around the New Forest – Pierre had worked out a circular route of approx 80Km  and suggested we start from Fritham.

Well lovely sunny day – bit cold when I left Bromley, only 8 degrees at 8:00am.  We had arranged to meet outside the Royal Oak pub at Fritham at approx 10:30am.  I encountered some traffic jams on the M25 and on the M27 near Southampton so arrived about 20 mins late.  As luck would have it, Pierre had arrived early so had to wait for me.

Still, got the car parked, unloaded the bike and was ready to go.  This was the first long ride either of us had done since the Big Wheel trip in May.

The New Forest is a fantastic area for cycling.  Not too many cars on the minor roads, cool under the trees, unspoilt villages with nice country pubs and lots of very free range animals.  There were horses, cows, pony’s and donkeys just wandering about all over the place.  They seemed to regard the middle of a road or even the centre of a town (Brockenhurst) as a good place to stand around and pass the time of day. 

Some of very free range animals on route

We noticed the houses either had gates or cattle grids – essential, otherwise their gardens would just be munched by a grateful cow.

Still cycled on and stopped for lunch at the Forresters Arms at Brockenhurst.  Ploughmans and a pint went down well.

Pierre with a pint of Ringwood Best Ale

Still, back to cycling.  Now the terrain is getting a bit hilly – seemed to be climbing a lot.  I had thought the New Forest was flat – it isn’t.  Still carried on envious of cyclists going the other way – downhill.  Some nice sharp short hills up and down so some good short very fast runs on the way down.  Great fun.

Stopped for another pint at the Royal Oak where a donkey took a passing interest in my bike.

    

Royal Oak Pub and a Donkey…

Then it’s back on the bikes to finish the run.  On the way back I came across a small herd of cows just standing in the middle of the road and causing problems for the traffic.  I stopped and tapped one cow on the nose so it retreated onto the verge, the others followed it and the road was clear again.

Me near the end of the ride

So it was back to Fritham, load the bike on the car and head back to Bromley.

We covered approx 85Km so a good run.  My legs were a bit sore but not too bad considering the distance.  The New Forest is a great area for cycling and I really enjoyed the day.  Also good practice for the France trip next year – just need to keep this up and arrange another ride.  With Winter approaching, might be tricky but I feel a planning meeting in a nice pub is required.

Google earth KML file of the route below.  Unfortunately I must have stopped the GPS when I stopped to tap the cow on the nose so not all the route is shown – the last bit is missing but as we finished in the same place we started it’s easy to see what the complete route was. New Forest Cycle Route

Vital Statistics (from my cycle computer) distance 85Km, Average Speed 19.3km/h, Maximum speed 51.6km/h, cycling time approx 5 hours.