Friday 30 September 2016
September 25th-27th - Crossing to Còrdoba
We thought after we had left the mountains the cycling would get easier - sadly this wasn't the case. This was the beginning of our service lane nightmare. We read somewhere that all the motorways had service lanes that you could cycle along. We confidently set off along the service lane, and it was awful. The tarmac ran out and it became stoney/rutty/bumpy and took ages to cycle along - with quite a bit of walking. Sadly we'd now committed to the service lane thing for a while and were stuck. Quite often it would switch sides of the motorway without any indication. To try and avoid the service lanes we went down some "agricultural tracks" which were potentially even worse. We did cycle along some lovely roads along rivers and reservoirs, and mostly wildcamped in fields of olive trees. We arrived in Còrdoba in the morning and spent the day sightseeing - it's a fab city. We specially loved the mesquita.
September 21-24 - The mountains really start!
After a lovely night in Bocairent we hit the hills properly - and it was a bit of a shock. From where we were staying we could see the full height of the mountains, and we spent the next two days going up them. This was absolutely gorgeous and it felt like we'd arrived in real spain. We went through lots of tiny villages (and stopped for coffee in most of them) and had some breathtaking views. We wildcamped for a few nights and then after a seriously hard few days of cycling constantly uphill into a headwind we stayed in a campsite for two nights in a row. It was here we met the very lovely Leslie and Franz(sp?). On the first night we were there they offered us their hammer and then they continued to share the luxuries of travelling by car. It was really nice to spend time with them! (And they've got an awesome teepee).
Tuesday 20 September 2016
19th to 20th - Valencia to Denia and then into the hills.
19th of September - We woke up in Valencia and made friends with a Polish couple touring with their 18 month year old baby in a trailer. They made us look pretty amateur. We had an absolutely stunning ride along the coast to Denia, where we stayed with three of my cdiff medic friends who are on erasmus in Denia. It was so lovely to see them in their gorgeous Spanish casa.
20th of September - Today we headed for the hills! We went inland from Denia, through Muro. It's pretty hard work dragging my bike and luggage up the hills but it's all worth it for the quiet roads and beautiful views.. We then came across a campsite in Bocairent where we're staying tonight. It's a lovely campsite - and we had a glorious view of the sunset. We're heading across inland Spain now to Seville!
(pictures to follow).
15-18th of September - Barcelona to Valencia
These days were gorgeous riding along the coast. I'm listening to the archers so it's quite hard to remember specific details soz.
We accidentally rode along a "difficile" mountain bike trail for a bit, which took hours and involved a lot of pushing as neither of us are mountain bikers at the best of times..
Valencia is amazing! We cycled through on a dried up river bed which goes all the way through the city and was like some sort of cycling utopia where everyone is really happy.
We've been going through campsites full of english people living there for the winter. Some have been very nice and great to talk to, others not.. At one campsite I had to be the translator between very drunk english/french people. I'm hoping they didn't notice the bits I made up.
We accidentally rode along a "difficile" mountain bike trail for a bit, which took hours and involved a lot of pushing as neither of us are mountain bikers at the best of times..
Valencia is amazing! We cycled through on a dried up river bed which goes all the way through the city and was like some sort of cycling utopia where everyone is really happy.
We've been going through campsites full of english people living there for the winter. Some have been very nice and great to talk to, others not.. At one campsite I had to be the translator between very drunk english/french people. I'm hoping they didn't notice the bits I made up.
12-14th of September - Hello Barcelona!
12-14th of September - First few days in Spain.
12th - I really wanted to go to Girona because of its fabled place in pro-cycling. From our campsite in Colera it seemed like it was achievable to get there to coffee, or at least lunch. We started along a very very very long road, with a very very very very strong headwind, in very very very strong sunshine, in very very very very busy traffic. We saw a 32 km to go sign, and after this the kilometres seemed to drop incredibly slowly.. We eventually got to Girona at about 4! We had a lovely coffee in an incredible shop which had some sort of futuristic coffee bean roasting machine which took up an entire room! After that we headed towards the coast until we ran out of light and wildcamped in a forest, near Caldes de Malavella. The only negative bit of this was we were surrounded by dogs that barked all night.
13th - Today we thought we'd have an easy ride to the campsite at Barcelona. It turns out this was definitely famous last words. We hit the coast at Pineda de Mar and then followed it to Barcelona. This was absolutely gorgeous. We went through a place called Sainta Susanna which made me really miss my very lovely cousin Susannah. After that we hugged the beach. Then we got to Barcelona which it turns out is huge. It took us hours to get through Barcelona and we kept ending up on main roads. Eventually we arrived at the campsite which seeemed to be bang next door to the airport runway.
14th - We had our first full rest day of the trip and spent the day sight-seeing in Barcelona! This was not restful but it was very interesting. No camera so no photos!
12th - I really wanted to go to Girona because of its fabled place in pro-cycling. From our campsite in Colera it seemed like it was achievable to get there to coffee, or at least lunch. We started along a very very very long road, with a very very very very strong headwind, in very very very strong sunshine, in very very very very busy traffic. We saw a 32 km to go sign, and after this the kilometres seemed to drop incredibly slowly.. We eventually got to Girona at about 4! We had a lovely coffee in an incredible shop which had some sort of futuristic coffee bean roasting machine which took up an entire room! After that we headed towards the coast until we ran out of light and wildcamped in a forest, near Caldes de Malavella. The only negative bit of this was we were surrounded by dogs that barked all night.
13th - Today we thought we'd have an easy ride to the campsite at Barcelona. It turns out this was definitely famous last words. We hit the coast at Pineda de Mar and then followed it to Barcelona. This was absolutely gorgeous. We went through a place called Sainta Susanna which made me really miss my very lovely cousin Susannah. After that we hugged the beach. Then we got to Barcelona which it turns out is huge. It took us hours to get through Barcelona and we kept ending up on main roads. Eventually we arrived at the campsite which seeemed to be bang next door to the airport runway.
14th - We had our first full rest day of the trip and spent the day sight-seeing in Barcelona! This was not restful but it was very interesting. No camera so no photos!
Wednesday 14 September 2016
10th and 11th of September - Au Revoir France and Hola Spain
Sorry about my lack of posts - we've had a busy few days with not much internet.
10th of September - We had a plan to stay with the lovely Peggy and Mike (friends from St Mawes), but woke up with a fair amount of distance and mountains inbetween us and them. We left very early and got some Pyrenees under our belts pretty quickly. Although our bikes are very heavy, they've got lovely low gears so it's actually quite nice going uphill. By lunchtime we were well on track to get there. After lunch we decided we'd take the more scenic route up the mountain - on advice of a friend we made in a café who said it was "nothing more than 5%". We set off determinedly up a road which started with a sign, and then the signs trailed off... I questioned Mum who claimed that it was definitely up this road. We started climbing and it was around 20% I reckon.. I was feeling v angry with the man but then my anger was directed towards Mum - this clearly wasn't the right way. At this point it had turned into a gravel track but I had no choice except to follow - she was too far ahead. Finally the track trailed off and we had to admit defeat, and go straight back down. This was made worse by the fact it was the middle of the day and baking hot. Mum was very sorry and agreed to blow up my thermorest for 3 days in a row! This is the kind of currency we deal in these days. Finally we got to Peggy and Mike's lovely house and it was like an oasis in a desert. For me it was the first time sleeping in a bed for over a month (bunks on a boat don't count) and it was heavenly. We had showers and ate delicious food. The company was great as well. It was a real wrench leaving in the morning.
11th of September - We were determined that this would be our last day in France (Ps I absolutely ADORE France and didn't want to leave in any way), and decided to take the "flat" coast raod to Spain. It turns out this was not flat at all! And we kept getting lost and ending up on a slip road to the motorway, and having to turn around. It was stunning though. Towards the end of the day we were both getting very tired, it was getting dark, and we still had one MASSIVE hill to get over before the campsite (no chance of wild camping on essentially cliffs). Then like a mirage there was a tunnel!! We arrived at a lovely campsite and realised neither of us had remembered to learn Spanish. Luckily they all spoke flawless english and we got a lovely pitch, close enough to the beach for a morning swim. Much warmer than Tavern beach at 7:20.
10th of September - We had a plan to stay with the lovely Peggy and Mike (friends from St Mawes), but woke up with a fair amount of distance and mountains inbetween us and them. We left very early and got some Pyrenees under our belts pretty quickly. Although our bikes are very heavy, they've got lovely low gears so it's actually quite nice going uphill. By lunchtime we were well on track to get there. After lunch we decided we'd take the more scenic route up the mountain - on advice of a friend we made in a café who said it was "nothing more than 5%". We set off determinedly up a road which started with a sign, and then the signs trailed off... I questioned Mum who claimed that it was definitely up this road. We started climbing and it was around 20% I reckon.. I was feeling v angry with the man but then my anger was directed towards Mum - this clearly wasn't the right way. At this point it had turned into a gravel track but I had no choice except to follow - she was too far ahead. Finally the track trailed off and we had to admit defeat, and go straight back down. This was made worse by the fact it was the middle of the day and baking hot. Mum was very sorry and agreed to blow up my thermorest for 3 days in a row! This is the kind of currency we deal in these days. Finally we got to Peggy and Mike's lovely house and it was like an oasis in a desert. For me it was the first time sleeping in a bed for over a month (bunks on a boat don't count) and it was heavenly. We had showers and ate delicious food. The company was great as well. It was a real wrench leaving in the morning.
11th of September - We were determined that this would be our last day in France (Ps I absolutely ADORE France and didn't want to leave in any way), and decided to take the "flat" coast raod to Spain. It turns out this was not flat at all! And we kept getting lost and ending up on a slip road to the motorway, and having to turn around. It was stunning though. Towards the end of the day we were both getting very tired, it was getting dark, and we still had one MASSIVE hill to get over before the campsite (no chance of wild camping on essentially cliffs). Then like a mirage there was a tunnel!! We arrived at a lovely campsite and realised neither of us had remembered to learn Spanish. Luckily they all spoke flawless english and we got a lovely pitch, close enough to the beach for a morning swim. Much warmer than Tavern beach at 7:20.
Thursday 8 September 2016
8th September - Grisolles to near Carcassonne
It turns out I tempted fate with my comment about being too hot yesterday and it actually rained in the night! Ironically the ground was too hard to peg the tent properly because of the lack of rain, so it was really difficult to try and stop the layers from touching. It was raining a bit in the morning as we set off. We went to Toulouse for coffee in a lovely place called Maison De Velo. They had people who could fix your bikes while you were drinking coffee. Unfortunately (obvs not) we had nothing that needed fixing.
After the rain stopped we had lunch by the side of the canal - and then the gorgeous smooth-as-silk cycle path turned into some seriously hardcore cyclocross. The only piece of cyclocross advice I could remember was "commit to the rut" which I tried to do. We got off that path ASAP and came to the campsite along the roads. On the way we met one of our previous cyclotourists friends and he joined us - now we're all eating and drinking wine (made from grapes in fields we can actually see) together. Happy days.
After the rain stopped we had lunch by the side of the canal - and then the gorgeous smooth-as-silk cycle path turned into some seriously hardcore cyclocross. The only piece of cyclocross advice I could remember was "commit to the rut" which I tried to do. We got off that path ASAP and came to the campsite along the roads. On the way we met one of our previous cyclotourists friends and he joined us - now we're all eating and drinking wine (made from grapes in fields we can actually see) together. Happy days.
Wednesday 7 September 2016
I've already lost track of the date and time
Luckily my computer hasn't.. It's the 7th of September and we're at a campsite just north of Toulouse. We've had a lovely few days cycling along the absolutely gorgeous Canal du Midi cycle path. Mostly very flat but with a fearsome headwind (thanks for the warning Jim...). Almost everyone else is cycling in the other direction. We also keep seeing people on boats, drifting along, super relaxed, sipping wine... It must be nice being on holiday. (Mum keeps saying: "This is not a holiday")
On Monday 5th (happy Pip), we had a bit of a rest day, ate a lot, washed some clothes, and had a look round Bordeaux which was a really great city IMO. Would love to live there. In the days before that we had more lovely cycling round the vineyards and along the coast. It's just a bit too hot. Which is worrying considering how much hotter it's going to get.. Had 4X more pain aux raisins than showers
Tomorrow we're going to head into Toulouse and then down towards Carcassonne.
On Monday 5th (happy Pip), we had a bit of a rest day, ate a lot, washed some clothes, and had a look round Bordeaux which was a really great city IMO. Would love to live there. In the days before that we had more lovely cycling round the vineyards and along the coast. It's just a bit too hot. Which is worrying considering how much hotter it's going to get.. Had 4X more pain aux raisins than showers
Tomorrow we're going to head into Toulouse and then down towards Carcassonne.
Sunday 4 September 2016
People are lovely!
It turns out it's worryingly hard to camp in france... Worryingly hard considering soon we're going to try camping in Mauritania...
Day 5 was going so well, we had arranged to meet Andy and Lynne in La Rochelle for supper, and we had a campsite all lined up very near to where they were staying on Île de Ré. We arrived at the campsite and it turns out they didn't take tents after "summer"! What kind of a campsite doesn't take tents? Their sign even had a tent on... Outrageous. BUT it all went well because Andy spotted a couple of camper vans parked near a parky sort of area and we decided we'd camp there. After a lovely meal - such luxury not to eat food that doesn't taste of meths (thanks Andy and Lynne) we pitched our tent in the dark and slept there. In the morning we were all set to make an early start before the couples in the camper van invited us for coffee and breakfast! We spent a long time talking to them - and eating before we left for Royan.
Day 6 was lovely as we enjoyed a bit of easy livin' and went nice and slowly. We made friends with a group of Belgian women and joined on to their peloton for a while. We arrived at a really lovely looking campsite - there was nobody on reception but we spotted a nice space and pitched our tent. We went for a swim and a shower and then tried to find somebody to pay. We spotted an official looking woman wearing a t-shirt that said "security" and mum went up to her and asked if we could pay for the night. She asked us if we'd just arrived and mum replied "yes and we've pitched our tent and had a shower". It turns out honesty was NOT the best policy in this case.. She was incredibly angry and repeatedly told us we'd broken the law and it was forbidden to camp without a reservation. She said in England we'd be punished. This was even scarier because she had a gun in her pocket. She told us we had to leave at once, and kept pointing to the "security" written on her back. There was no way we were leaving and we sort of solved this by asking some people if we could pitch our tent on the edge of their plot. After they said yes we carried the tent (pitched) across the campsite. Ridiculous. In the morning they also invited us for breakfast and coffee - fried eggs! This evening we're staying in a gorgeous campsite in Paulliac - on the banks of the Gironde after a lovely day cycling through vineyards.
I am entirely made of insect bite.
Day 5 was going so well, we had arranged to meet Andy and Lynne in La Rochelle for supper, and we had a campsite all lined up very near to where they were staying on Île de Ré. We arrived at the campsite and it turns out they didn't take tents after "summer"! What kind of a campsite doesn't take tents? Their sign even had a tent on... Outrageous. BUT it all went well because Andy spotted a couple of camper vans parked near a parky sort of area and we decided we'd camp there. After a lovely meal - such luxury not to eat food that doesn't taste of meths (thanks Andy and Lynne) we pitched our tent in the dark and slept there. In the morning we were all set to make an early start before the couples in the camper van invited us for coffee and breakfast! We spent a long time talking to them - and eating before we left for Royan.
Day 6 was lovely as we enjoyed a bit of easy livin' and went nice and slowly. We made friends with a group of Belgian women and joined on to their peloton for a while. We arrived at a really lovely looking campsite - there was nobody on reception but we spotted a nice space and pitched our tent. We went for a swim and a shower and then tried to find somebody to pay. We spotted an official looking woman wearing a t-shirt that said "security" and mum went up to her and asked if we could pay for the night. She asked us if we'd just arrived and mum replied "yes and we've pitched our tent and had a shower". It turns out honesty was NOT the best policy in this case.. She was incredibly angry and repeatedly told us we'd broken the law and it was forbidden to camp without a reservation. She said in England we'd be punished. This was even scarier because she had a gun in her pocket. She told us we had to leave at once, and kept pointing to the "security" written on her back. There was no way we were leaving and we sort of solved this by asking some people if we could pitch our tent on the edge of their plot. After they said yes we carried the tent (pitched) across the campsite. Ridiculous. In the morning they also invited us for breakfast and coffee - fried eggs! This evening we're staying in a gorgeous campsite in Paulliac - on the banks of the Gironde after a lovely day cycling through vineyards.
I am entirely made of insect bite.
Thursday 1 September 2016
Day 2/3 and a bit of 4 - St Malo to St Michel Chef Chef
Day 2 - As we got off the very we made friends with two other lovely cyclists who were going in exactly the same direction as us, so we cycled together for the first few miles. After coffee decided to press on along the main road (with the few of getting to parkrun bordeaux) whereas they wanted to take the more scenic route along the voies vertes we had been following. We spent ages and ages trying to find the right main road, and after about 5 minutes on it decided that it was horrendous and we needed to get off ASAP. We got off the main road and ended up exactly where we had been having coffee hours before, not ideal... The happier part of the story was that we then caught up with Will and Paul again! But we got separated slightly and Mum and I turned down a path with a slightly obscured signpost and we didn't think the others had seen it. Sure enough they hadn't but by some incredible coincidence we all bumped into eachother again at a pub and had a beer. Happy days. After that we pressed on a bit to Mauron, where it turns out there was no food shop and no campsite. By this time it was getting a bit late so we cycled on a few kilometres to St Lery and camped in a completely deserted but very lovely campsite there.
Day 3 - Day 3 started with a navigational nightmare as we had to find a) the voies vertes and b) a food shop (both absolutely starving). We managed to find a food shop and then spent hours and hours trying to find the voies vertes. We cycled down the same bit of road 8 times.. At one point we were on a bridge and we could see it below, and then we were below it and we could see it above. When we finally found the path it was absolutely gorgeous. We had lunch with Sue and Julian Goater which was REALLY nice, and then they used their local knowledge to take us on to the right road. We carried on along the road, past "the most beautiful village in the world", tried to find a campsite and failed so ended up wild camping in the natural park (v v against the rules #rebelz).
Day 4 - We cycled to St Nazaire for breakfast and then over a v scary bridge which we're pretty sure you're supposed to spend 20 euros on a taxi over. The view was lovely though. We're now riding along the Vélocéan, which is lovely so far. Having a madeline in St Michel as I write this..
Day 3 - Day 3 started with a navigational nightmare as we had to find a) the voies vertes and b) a food shop (both absolutely starving). We managed to find a food shop and then spent hours and hours trying to find the voies vertes. We cycled down the same bit of road 8 times.. At one point we were on a bridge and we could see it below, and then we were below it and we could see it above. When we finally found the path it was absolutely gorgeous. We had lunch with Sue and Julian Goater which was REALLY nice, and then they used their local knowledge to take us on to the right road. We carried on along the road, past "the most beautiful village in the world", tried to find a campsite and failed so ended up wild camping in the natural park (v v against the rules #rebelz).
Day 4 - We cycled to St Nazaire for breakfast and then over a v scary bridge which we're pretty sure you're supposed to spend 20 euros on a taxi over. The view was lovely though. We're now riding along the Vélocéan, which is lovely so far. Having a madeline in St Michel as I write this..
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