Day 80

Posted on August 12, 2011 by jo

Day 80 – Aurillac to Ally

Friday July 22, 2011, 50 km (31 miles) – Total so far: 2,906 km (1,806 miles)

It was a pretty uneventful cycling day. We were glad we stopped the night at Aurillac as there were no hotels on the route today.

Luckily we found a 1 star hotel after 51 kms. It was 40 euros for accommodation, but the room was one of the worst we have stayed in. There was no way I was going to be fussy though. There was no way we were going to camp in this dodgy weather.

On the positive side though, we had one of the best meals of the trip. They had a set menu of 20 euros. I had salad to start, omelet, lamb, cheese then desert (mousse I think).

Roannes Saint Mary to Aurillac

Posted on August 12, 2011 by jo

Day 79 – Roannes Saint Mary to Aurillac

Thursday July 21, 2011, 22 km (13 miles) – Total so far: 2,857 km (1,775 miles)

It wasn’t raining when we woke up so we finally made the break from Roannes-Saint-Mary.

The ride started with a long steep downhill run, followed by a long steep uphill run. As I was struggling with the uphill run, a road cyclist came hurtling down the hill from the opposite direction and clapped at me. Insane, there is no way I would be taking my hands off my handlebars at that speed.

After about 10 kms we came across a Decathlon (our favourite store in the whole wide world).

I bought myself a cheap 6 euro raincoat as my 85 pound endura one leaks.

We arrived in Aurillac after only 15 kms, but again it was threatening to rain so we decided to seek shelter for the night. We booked into the Best Western restaurant for 88 euros including breakfast. A bit more expensive than Roannes-Saint-Mary, but still nice to have a roof over our head.

Rained in at Roannes-Saint-Mary

Posted on August 12, 2011 by jo

18,19,20th July – Roannes st mary

We spent three nights in Roannes-Saint-Mary as it was just too cold and wet to move on. Plus our room was comfortable and a good size and we had free internet. We figured as we had been cycling 10+ weeks that we were due a break anyway.

Not much happened here. We ate, we slept, we caught up on blogs.

View from our hotel room.

church in the town

Quick Update

Posted on August 8, 2011 by jo

no blogs for a while as internet has been scarce. Will update later.

Basically we have been having terrible weather (making up for the lovely weather we had for the first 12 weeks). We got rained in on the massif central for about a week. It has been on and off rain for the last two weeks. We are about 85 kms away from the ferry and we hope to catch the train as it is chucking it down yet again.

Ode to Bryan and Lynne

Posted on July 20, 2011 by jo

We cycled through France
To see Bryan and Lynne
We knocked on the door
And they let us in

It had been a hot ride
We had cycled all day
We smelt pretty bad
But were allowed to stay

We went to the markets
and all had some snails
Except for Jo
Who didn’t like their entrails

They cooked a nice dinner
It was lots of fun
The time flew by
And soon it was one

We were a bit drunk
So all went to bed
And awoke in the morning
With a sore head

Thanks for the wine
And excellent meals
It was a nice rest
From our two wheels

But it was time to move on
We enjoyed our stay
We hopped on our bikes
And were on our way

Roanne-Saint-Mary

Posted on July 19, 2011 by jo

Day 76 – Bagnac-sur-Cele to Roannes-Saint-Mary

Monday July 18, 2011, 46 km (28 miles) – Total so far: 2,800 km (1,740 miles)

We finally left Bagnac-Sur-Cele. The GPS routed us away from the main road which we were thankful for. It was a steady 2% climb for about 40kms. It was easy enough to cope with the gradient, but it just took ages to get very far. We were averaging about 8 km/hr.

Around 4.30pm, it started to get cold and looked like rain. I was a bit worried as we still had another 10 kms to the next town and at the speed we were cycling it would take us over an hour. If it rained we could start to get hypothermic (a problem I encountered 2 years ago in Germany with frostbitten fingers and feet). It seemed like we would never reach the top.

Finally having reached the top, on the downhill run it started to rain. It was freezing. Luckily this time (having learnt from the previous trip) I had my waterproof gloves and waterproof socks on. Plus a thermal under my not so waterproof jacket. I really hoped the town had a hotel as so many towns don’t have anything. I knew it would be a hard 20 km slog to Aurillac if we had to continue.

Thankfully there was a hotel in town, and it was reasonably priced at just 46 euros. The room was really nice and clean. They did dinner for us as well, although we are still unsure of the price. There was no menu – they just bring you out food, and you eat whatever they bring.

They brought us a litre of red wine and some bread to start (a very good start indeed).

Next they brought out a toasted ham and cheese croissant with some salad.

Then some sausages and lentils (thankfully not out of a tin).

Then some big blocks of cheese (which you take only as much as you want) – I had a fit of giggles as Mike tried to carve one of the cheeses and it ended up with horrific gouges in it. It was quite embarrasing.

Then they brought us a creme brulee for dessert – followed by coffee.

Just Another Day in Bagnac-Sur-Cele

Posted on July 19, 2011 by jo

Day 75 Bagnac-sur-Cele

Sunday July 17, 2011

It rained in the night and it rained all morning. Our bladders forced us out of the tent about 11am. Luckily we had ordered our baguette and pain au choclat the night before and we didn’t have to venture far in the rain in search of food.

We decided to stay put for the day. It was too wet to pack up and too wet to cycle with my not so waterproof cycle jacket (which, btw, I paid a lot of money for and is a good brand).

We went to the local pub for a coffee. When we walked in they all stopped and stared. It was a local pub for local people. We said “Bonjour” which is the polite thing to do in France. They said “Bonjour” back. Mike said “Deux cafe sil voux plait”. They bought us two short blacks.

The moto grand prix was on the telly, so we sat and watched it in silence, sipping the surprisingly nice coffee.

One of the men at the bar (who was wearing an All Blacks t-shirt – go figure) saw we were engrossed in the bike race (it was close), picked up the remote control as if to change the channel.

Mike nervously laughed. I said “You just wait until the world cup – the All Blacks will thrash your arse!”. Luckily they couldn’t understand a word of English and just turned up the telly for us. A nice gesture, but seeing we couldn’t understand a word of French it was a bit wasted on us.

France De Tour

Posted on July 19, 2011 by jo

Day 74 – Saint-Sulpice to Bagnac-sur-Cele

Saturday July 16, 2011, 49 km (30 miles) – Total so far: 2,754 km (1,711 miles)

We thought about staying another night in the 6 euro campsite, but the idea of moving on was just too exciting. It’s a great feeling not knowing what the day will bring or where we will end up.

It turned out we were unintentionally riding the tour de france route in reverse (hence the title), and luckily we missed them by just 3 days. A few days earlier and the campsites would have been heaving – but thankfully now they are empty.

We ended up in a town called Bagnac-sur-Cele and camped right beside the river again. We saw a couple of rats near our campsite which was pretty creepy, but Mike assured me they were water rats – which somehow didn’t seem as bad as common rats – so I chose to believe him.

In the night we awoke to bloody rain again. Damn those school holidays!

Where Have all the Tourists Gone?

Posted on July 19, 2011 by jo

Day 73 – Saint-Gery to Saint-Sulpice

Friday July 15, 2011

The cycling just seems to get better and better. This was a most interesting day – cycling though a gorge seeing castles built into the rock. It is just so darn nice. And the best part was that there was hardly any people there. Where are all the tourists? Who cares – we’re just glad they aren’t here!

I just can’t describe how awesome the cycling was today and even more awesome was a campground that only charged us 6 euros as we didn’t have a car. That is how is should be!

Most campsites charge the same for us and our tiny tent and two bikes as they do for a big fook off campervan, which usually also has two bikes attached. We were so happy with our savings that we went to the camp restaurant and blew 60 euros on dinner!

Bastille Day or Le 14 juillet (as the French call it)

Posted on July 19, 2011 by jo

Day 72 – Cahors to Saint Gery

Thursday July 14, 2011, 20 km (13 miles) – Total so far: 2,706 km (1,681 miles)

We decided to book in another day in Cahors as it was looking damp outside and we couldn’t be bothered packing up and moving. The hotel was booked out however, so we had a bit of a rush to pack up and get out before 11am.

Thankfully the day turned into an beautiful sunny day and we were thankful we were forced to move on.

It was an incredible ride over the gorge and we really enjoyed the uphill part of it as it wasn’t too steep.

We only did 20 kms when we found this nice little campsite right beside the river. It was an unmanned campsite and cost only 8 euros. We decided with the drama we seem to have finding campsites to stop early and set up camp.

At about 8pm that evening I was starting to doubt my decision when three angry looking blokes turned up with three angry looking dogs. They parked right next to our tent, piled out of their car and wandered around the campground with really big sticks.

One guy headed off with his dog into the bushes. I suggested he was checking his marajuana patch, Mike suggested he was taking his dog for a crap.

When I suggested they look pretty dodgy, Mike agreed with me (rather than his normal response of “everyone looks dodgy to you”). That really made me nervous. I didn’t have enough wine to cope with this!

Anyway -after about an hour of psychologically terrorising us, they grabbed their mobile phone and charger and left. phew – they were only there to charge their mobile phone!