Boats and Bikes!

The day started out dry with thunder storms forecast for 1400. Energy levels quite low this morning as only managed to grab a sandwich from a corner store. Most places do not star taking food orders until 2130 in this small town. This has been a long standing frustration for me as when I get in from a ride, I prefer to be at the table and eating by 2000. Eating close to midnight is not healthy. I am absolutely baffled why it needs to be this way in Spain.

The knock on effect for the next day from lack of food is quite significant.

Some pictures from today.

Small village I was passing through. Road surface was not great and of course this makes it difficult for a tired rider. But after 10KM I am onto smoother roads.

The low energy feeling is made a bit worse when most of the ride is up hill for the first two hours. Just to the north of Piedhahita, I am about to start the main decent. Normally a stunning view but due to weather, it was a bit grey.

And

And jut to my right on the way down, there is a storm. Just missed me!

I found an amazing rural hotel for the night. Food served at 2000 but not in sufficient quantity for the energy I need for the next day.

Back on the road again and traveling down a route I have used before. Weather is still a bit unstable but started out fine. I managed to reach my destination missing the thunder and deluge which was a short distance to the south of me.

Nice start to the day. The exit out of Valladolid is great as there is a dedicated cycle route running alongside for quite a few KM.

Wine harvest complete. Some bodega now tuning the grapes info a nice bottle of wine nearby!

Medina de Campo – Local cycle shop where I stopped in 2017 to buy a replacement pump. Stopped by this time to buy spear break pads.

Mirage ahead.

Fuel stations are great for topping up with fuel (coke and water!) Over the past few years, I have seen some of these places close a more motorways are built. With less traffic, these fuel stations become less viable and close.

This means even more careful planning needed to ensure I am passing through places where I can buy water. Beware of planning tools like Komoot. They are great at finding quite routes, but so quite that if you don’t modify the route, Komoot will take you on a 6 hour route with no place to buy water!

With the heat and humidity. storm clouds building over the direction of Avila. Luckily it missed me on the ride and rain only came after I made it to my hotel!

Blue dot was my location. My route from Medina Del Campo stayed dry.

Heavy rain as I woke up and and I am not in the mood to get soaked for days to come. Bad weather is now settled in this region. So its off south on a train to find some dry cycling.

Its not just the rain. Its the lightning which can be dangerous.

Some rail routes are not geared up for bikes at all. Local staff were really helpful and gave good advice on the rules. I was directed to Decathlon to buy a bike bag. Also picked up a replacement gear cable!  The from wheel needs to be removed to make it more compact.
First leg is rail replacement service. Then onto a train to Valladolid. Weather improved the further I got into the trip.

So now all set for the ride tomorrow.

Another nice day on the road and I was able to get over the border into Spain before the storms arrive. Managed to loose a bit of time along the way as a gear cable snapped. A road side repair job took a few mins and then I was on my way again.

The N121A tunnel was shut. Cyclist are banned from the tunnel anyway, but the police re-routed the heavy traffic up the quiet route. So not such a nice climb 🙁

The roads just south of Bayonne are very nice when going along country lanes. The hills ahead are a taste of hard work to come.

Another dedicated cycle track!

The border is easy to miss if you are not paying attention!

Opps – “Mechanical!”

This is near the top before the long decent. The building near the lorries was a bar. First stopped in for a coffee in 2013.  It was open in 2019, but I suspect the business is yet another victim of Covid 🙁

For day 5, its a push south to Soulac, another nice ride. Good progress made with some interesting sites along the way. See pictures below for more information.

Due to loosing so much time due to the bad weather and high winds at the start of the trip, I decided to use SNCF to get me back to where I needed to be. I have cycled through Aquitaine before and its frankly boring as its flat and all you can see is trees. South of Arcachon, the roads on previous trips have been rough, so giving it a miss is a good idea for this ride.

Tomorrow, some major climbing over the Pyrenees where I will enter Spain.

Le Map

The transporter bridge just south of Rochefort. People and bikes only. For quite a few years I passed over the modern bridge further west without knowing that the big metal structure was not some disused lifting bridge. Last year when I was crossing the new bridge, I spotted the dangling platform and added this to my route. See Site officiel du Pont Transbordeur – Anglais (pont-transbordeur.fr) for more information.

I live in Gosport and nice to see signposts so I know how far I am from my house. This is in Royan where my town is more important than London!  (Royan is a Twin Town!)

Here is the Ferry to Le Verdon. Bikes go free (unlike on the Gosport Ferry!.
Phare de Corduan and Soulac Plage.

Not to much to report on the SNCF leg down to Bordeaux and Bayonne. But I need to give  big shout out to SNCF for the way they carry bikes.

Bayonne is a really nice place to chill. Plenty of river side bars.

Nice weather and a small tail wind. This is the first day on the road for this trip where I really enjoyed the riding. Roads were nice and quiet.

Always pleasing to see some green energy 🙂

Pit stop just to the East of Lucon. Nice brunch consisting of Panini and Coffee.

An here is La Rochelle. First time I have stopped here on a bike tour, but have been here during family holidays last century.

In Nantes this morning, its overcast with frequent rain showers. My destination is St Cecile which is off route but a couple of days ago, I had a ping inviting me to stop over. from an old Merlin friend.

This ride is for fun, so I am not wanting to cycle 5o+ miles into a strong head wind and rain, so SNCF was used for part of the ride and I finished off  with some light drizzle for the first 20 mins.

Great evening reuniting and talking old shop over beer, wine, whiskey and a meal in the local eating place.

Le Map

Pictures

Bit At

At the end of the train trip from Nantes. Grey squall coming through,  so took shelter for 10 mins before heading off.

Komoot does not get the plan right all of time. I do not appreciate being routed across puncture terrain!

The evening cleared up nicely in St Cecile. Forecast good for tomorrow.

I am heading off piste from my normal route. I have an invite to stay with Tarik, an old Merlin friend. With a strong headwind today, I have broken the journey into two by stopping in Nantes this evening.

Grey, windy and very overcast. Slight drizzle at time but no deluge!

On a different bike this year. Had a mechanical failure on my touring (& old commuting) bike. Not enough time to get new shifters, so last minute switch to carbon. The ergonomics need some adjustment as its not feeling as comfortable as the Alez Elite.

 
And here is todays map!

Nice to be on the road again for the latest tour. Storm Ernesto arrived just as I was setting off. Although the worst of the weather was “oop norf” in the UK, its still gave me a nasty head wind. Fitness levels are not where they should be, so rather than burning out on day 1, I diverted to Rennes and then got the train to Redon where I had a hotel booked. Weather forecast for tomorrow is wet and windy !

Cycling infrastructure in France grows every year I pass through. We need more of this in the UK. On this route, pedestrians and cyclist are separated.

I am not on a sponsor ride but will be riding as much as I can. If the weather is bad, I will occasionally use the train as a fast forward. Here the trains are really set out well, but a reservation for bikes are mandatory. The booking system is a little confusing as on previous occasions, I have been able to book a ticket and reservation via the SNCF app. But for the moment, SNCF wants cyclist to book a reservation for the bike on a completely different website!

Today, I am giving you two maps to look at. The stop button was pushed at the point I decided to divert for a “rail assist”.

Its a “Wrap” tour complete for 2023. Click the black button to the right to see te full route —–>>>>

For those that have been waiting for me to arrive, donations are still open via Just Giving. I am supporting the Royal United Hospital in Bath and also Save the Children UK. Both organizations doing such amazing work at home in the UK with SCUK also supporting international aid efforts.

A quick word on sponsorship. The overall cost to do this challenge was around £3,000. I am self financing as this is something I wanted to do as I get close to 60 (in December!). Some organized charity events use some sponsorship money to subsidize the riders. I can assure everyone that this is not the case here and 100% + Gift Aid will go to SCUK and RUHX.I am covering all  my own costs. So please do give generously 🙂

Back to the ride. The final day as always is one of mix feelings. Yes its great to reach a destination and complete a challenge, but it comes with a side order of sadness for two reasons. Firstly, I am doing this ride in memory of my late father Colin Hawkins. he always followed my previous adventures and I spent a lot of time during the ride thinking of the great  times we had together.

Secondly its all over for a year. For me the fun is doing the tour, not getting to the destination. The best part is at the point when I get on the ferry to France. The whole adventure in front of me.  Where in Spain do I go next year? Yes I am coming back, but its a non-fundraising tour for 2024!

Final map below followed by pictures. Video content will be added when I get back to the UK.

Early start and up there on the hill is the hotel I have just left behind. It can be a bit expensive but managed to secure a great deal using some points via Hotels.com.

This is a view down the Valley towards Malaga. There is a little climbing but the ride is mostly downhill over 55KM.

Total distance for the ride was 1333 Miles or 2145KM  (I prefer KM as its a bigger number!)

Now, behind the castle on the hill is the town of Ahlora! It was a climb to get up to the town and a super steep drop to leave. The combination of broken cobbles and potholes meant it was safer to walk the bike down the hill than ride it.
Two picture taken by random tourist RUHX and SCUK gear 🙂  Permissions granted to both charities to share these images 🙂

A cool beer is the only way to round of a a good ride in hot climates. (Note – during most days when it was not raining, temperatures would peak at 35 degrees Celsius