Boats and Bikes!

Nice weather again, but today I was faced with yet another Komoot challenge!

The route out of Valladolid is easy on good tracks. About 10KM out the track ends. Coffee stop one!

So its onto normal roads which is all fine. Next I am taking a lovely road down through a forest that suddenly changes to gravel!

I was not loving this part of the trip and as you can see in the distance, there is a dust cloud caused by a TWAT in a car driving to fast. Gravel pieces flying at high speed missed me, so time for a u-turn.

So in the map you see a detour. Not many options to take as the two main roads are motorways (One resumed as a N road which I joined later.

This was definitely a ride of two halves! The first leg down to Plascencia was great, some good speed on a slight downhill “Flope” But minor mechanical for a few KM leading into Plascencia.

So I am off to a great start with some great views along the way.

So, the mechanical. After a coffee stop, the gears started to jump around a bit. Normally the first sign of a gear cable fraying and ready to snap. So as I was just a few KM from the city, I kept going and found a spot to pull over to investigate the issue.

And here is the cause. The soft link used to remove the chain had come adrift, so a quick fix from the chain tool.

The great thing about Spain is that most medium cities will have a Decathlon. Invested in a couple of Magic Links in case of further issues with the chain!

Getting around the city was fine, but as I tried to exit the city, it seemed that the only way out was via a motorway! As you will see from the map, a bit of wandering around and eventually I leave the city.

Not too far along the way, I hit another challenge. A gravel road. So again its a more re-routing to find a way to progress.

It seems that each way I try, I get blocked, so in the end decided that I will go with the gravel. But after a few KM, this route just stopped! Fenced off!

Overhead, a storm building up and it started to rain, so I back tracked to a twin and waited for the rain to ease off.

A nice view of a bank from a sheltered spot as I wait for the rain to stop.

Eventually I am on my way again with a large detour to I can at least keep the speed up and out run the storms. It kind of worked most of the way, but there was one section where I felt a bit of hail from a head wind. Luckily this was only for 1KM as I had a dog leg turn and was able to get away from the storm.

So, in a day, the ride goes from amazing to a real living hell. When I got to the hotel, I looked up the route I used in 2014 as I had no issues at all. If you can imagine a direct line between Plascencia and Valladolid, my previous route went well to the west. Back then I was not using Komoot but planning things manually. So going forward, I need to pay attention to where AI is trying to route me .

Day three and more distance today. Some nice downhill sections as well. Weather is still hot, but I got a move on before things really heated up.

Day starts very misty and coolish. Quick totilla for breakfast with coffee at the amazing service station and I am then on my way.

Not too far from the start point, I do have a climb ahead of me, but after that one, its an easy spin heading south. Sun starting to break through.
On the way up the hill, a quick pause to get a shot of where I came from. Great views not to miss!

So, at the top of the hill, I have broken into four figures. According to the computer, at this point I am 9.3KM behind where I should be. But that is due to the fact I hit the Go button at the hotel and then stopped for a coffee and Breakfast at the service station.

Taking things easy today. Feeling a bit sore from some cramps last night. Kind of normal for a ride on day one!

Starting out on a nice road via the Komoot plan. All seems to be in order…BUT…THIS!!!!
So Komoot wants me to go down this track! I have a road bike, not a mountain or gravel bike, but despite selecting a road bike, Komoot seems to be keen to take me to places I do not want to go.

So what is the key things I need to avoid?

1. I do not do gravel, so don’t be rude and suggest it.
2. I like quite N roads where there are frequent places to top up with water. Long 50KM sections with zero places to fill up is not required in 40 degrees heat!
3, I am not a massive fan of detours. Komoot does try and find quite routes but can add 30% distance to your trip if you let it.

So after ignoring the suggested route, I stayed on a quiet N-Road and stopped at Aguliar de Campoo for a cheeky beer before the final 10KM to my hotel.

Whilst I am at an attitude of over 900m above sea level, its 40 degrees and hard to believe that snow markers are even needed here!

Now, let me tell you about the hotel. At the moment, they are not cheap and in some cases in this region, I have seen rooms posted for £800 per night. Possibly eclipse related. But for tonight, I have a cheap spot, but its locked and nobody was there! A sign on the door stating that restaurant is permanently closed and the team now running out of a service station.

So a quick trip to the service station and a coupe, of soft drinks, they called the owner and I was let in.

Along many of the older N roads, you can see plenty of former restaurants and petrol stations as traffic is taken from there routes by new motorways. In the case of the A-73, its very new and only covers a few miles, but already the impact has been felt on the Hotel Canada which is now room only in the middle of nowhere. But what about the service station?

In Spain, things are done differently. The service station is not managed by a big chain like we have in the UK and filled with KFC, Greggs and Burger King, this place was amazing. A shop, main bar area and a sit down restaurant. All managed by a local team who used to operate the nearby hotel. So displacement does not aways result in the loss of livelihoods to the big players. This place has raving reviews! And I had a great dinner for €19 including a full bottle of wine! (Nope I did not drink all of it!) Here is a link! https://maps.app.goo.gl/fT1JLhcsrNmQqNr76

We do not often to get to see such an amazing sight. So, I will start with an amazing picture from my mobile phone!

People spend a huge amount on SLR cameras and as a owner myself, I am not sure I could have improved on this shot using my 2016 Cannon. Sure, a modern camera body and a lot of planning would have delivered an amazing result, but on a cycle tour where I need to travel light, a full SLR kit with lenses and tripod was out of the question. 100%!

So let me tell you about the ride to get this picture.

The ride was quite brutal to be honest. It was only 80 KM but with a climb close to 1400m during the 40% heat, it was difficult. I am beginning to wander how I managed this route plus a further 80KM in 2014. But back then I was just 50. I am now 62, so that may have something to do with it. Also it was a bit cooler as the ride was at the end of Aug!

For the rest of this tour, I am taking things a lot easier as fitness levels improve. I have 4 weeks to get to Gib, so the purpose of this tour is to explore at a gentle pace!

Before leaving the boat, I was treated to a nice sunrise. Departure from the ship was dead easy. Santander is well set up regarding EES. As a ship runs here just a few times a week, getting through is easy. So for those who want to avoid what has become a EES horror story on the cross channel routes to Dover, have a think about this route!

Getting out of Santander is fairly urban. Komoot got a few turns wrong, but eventually I was out of the city and on my way.

Stunning scenery on the way South from Santander. Also its the Camino route for the pilgrims. Not seen many so far!
First coffee of the day after about 30KM
And back to where I started. A picture of my bike next to a sun with a hole in the middle. It just looks wrong. Almost dystopian. But its a real thing and not an image created by AI.

Different route this year. Santander to Gibraltar and the only part of the tour I have planned is the flight home on the 10th September. How I get there?  simply I will just make things up as I go along. Hoping to make a few stops along the way to explore.

The MV Salamanca is the new ferry for this trip. Two evenings on board, a few beers and nice food before I set off from Santander on Wednesday morning. Hoping for clear skies, especially during the evening as a full eclipse of the sun takes place across northern Spain.

So for now, its time to relax and head to the bar for a beery beer!

So this is the final and completed route. In 6 days, I covered 532 KM and climbed 3420 meters.

Why did I take on this adventure?  Firstly I like a good road trip but more importantly we have major issues in this world where our politics is not serving humanity well. We have people getting super rich whilst at the same time, many people go without basics like food, water, shelter and dignity in general.

As traditional institutional donors slash budgets, the need for charities to fill the gap has become more important.   This why I am supporting the same charity as IEC Telecom -Action Contre Faim / Action against hunger.

A big thank you to those who have donated already.  And a big thank you in advance for those who donate to ACF using the links below 🙂

If you are in the UK, its Mark Hawkins is fundraising for Action Against Hunger UK for Justgiving.

If you are outside of the UK, its London to Paris Cycle Ride to smash hunger. on the ACF platform.

Thank you so much for supporting this project 🙂

So this is the final day. Breakfast at the office with “Team IEC” they gathered around in the main room and presented me with a nice trophy. IEC Telecom is a great crew to be part of 🙂

So, still raining, but dry forecast ahead from 1030, which is when I hit the road.

So as you would expect from riding in Paris, a lot of urban cycling, but Komoot has surprises and thinks I am on a gravel ride!

So first up is a muddy section along the river. This improves to good tarmac until I have to face a gravel section to Maisons Laffitte. From there, its urban.

Much of the urban riding is on separate cycle tracks. But then when you get into places like La Defence, there are issues.

As you can see from the map,I am wandering around a bit. Tall buildings interfere with GPS plus much building going on, so took me a few moments to figure my way out.

Once clear of the metropolis of tall buildings, its back to straight cycle paths.  Lots of stop and go with Traffic lights. Also I need to do a lot of thinking for others as people just wander around glued to their phones getting in my pathway!

Close to the end. And yes, I did cycle around this arc. Because it was there!

So this is it. The destination. This is my second London to Paris ride. My first was an organized and supported ride for Merlin back in 2009 via Dover and Calais. This ride was a much nicer route.

Weather forecast:  “Its going to be wet, and where its not wet, it will be very wet” 

Despite the forecast, It starts off dry. After breakfast, I head off to the SNCF station to meet up with my friend Gregoire who is also part of the IEC Telecom team. Today we are covering 80KM and its great to have some company on the road. Gregoire is a great team cyclist with plenty of experience and a pleasure to ride with.

We are kind of lucky with the weather. For the first part of the ride, its dry. Typically I set an interval of 30 KM for coffee stops. But at KM 25, we decided to push on and cover some distance as it was still dry. Light rain arrived at KM 30 and lasted for a short period. A stop for hot chocolate at KM 40 and then we pushed on.

The lack of stops is evidenced by the lack of pictures for this leg. I also dont like getting my phone wet!

So, Komoot does it to me again! This is a very steep overgrown land down to the road we left 10 minutes ago. I will name the segment “Komoots Unnecessary Hill” as we had a steep climb to get to this point. Would have saved us 10 mins if we stayed on the road.

Here we are. Cergy St Christophe. The home of IEC Telecom .  The final 10KM was very wet and did not improve for the rest of the day. We found an open bar for a couple of isotonic beers. With the only restaurant in town closed, I just went to the hotelfor a snooze and then asked Uber to send me a Pizza!

Feeling lucky with the weather so far as its still dry. A few days back, there was an indication that I would have a wet ride. There has been head winds all the way, but since Port en Bassin, its warmed up quite a bit.

Shorter ride of 72 KM today. Mostly flat with a dip in the middle

This was a fairly rapid ride along a “D” road. For most of it, the road had a separate bit on the side for bikes. As I crossed the border from the Calvados Department to Eure Department, the road surface was not so great. Over many years of cycling I have seen many examples where I can detect a change in jurisdiction as I cross borders. Clearly Eure needs more road budget!

As I approached Evreux, its back to cycle lanes for about 7 KM.

The Greet hotel in Evreaux has a cycling theme. The recycling of old cycle parts is the way to go. Nice free beer on arrival (I am an Accor gold member!). What is there not to like?