Hadlow Bikers

Wednesday, 8 May 2013

Day 4 - Spain bike ride - Summary and pictures

The blinds were pulled back this morning with trepidation of RAIN which was forecast. Well it was certainly grey and there had been a little rain overnight but it was now dry. We left our hotel early at 7am as we needed to get a ferry from Royan to Le Verdon Sur Mer at 7.45. So a different breakfast on board the boat – various croissants, buns and coffee.

Today was always going to be a long day so it was good that we got away from Le Verdon-Sur-Mer at 8.30am. Also, Nick gave us words of encouragement that it was going to be flat and we would be hugging the coast all day so we would have splendid views of the sea. In the saddle for leg 1 were Chris, Mike, Nick and Lyn with Neil sourcing lunch supplies. A VERY FLAT uninteresting ride (and we never saw the sea once! We’ve never experienced such straight roads and it got to a point where there was excitement among the team when we came across a roundabout and the excitement reached fever pitch when we approached a roundabout! How flat – 233ft climbed!

Random thoughts and comments during 65kms of straight flat roads driving the team to hallucination:

· Mike claims that Dungerness is classified as a desert, in fact the only desert in Europe – can this really be true or has he lost the plot

· Car drivers are persistently reminded to keep their distance from the car in front whereas cyclists spend their lives trying to get to within an inch of the rider in front – how odd.

How long was leg 1? Well it depends on whether you are talking to Nick or Neil. Nick thought our coffee stop was at Hourtin and Neil gave Nick maps for our stop to be in Carcans. Result = Neil was ‘’billy no mates’’ and had coffee on his own in Carcans – oh dear!

In the saddle for leg 2 were Chris, Mike, Neil and Lyn with Nick sourcing a picnic spot for lunch. Another flat, fairly featureless 64kms from Carcons to Bigonos – again we never saw the sea once!. Even the Sat Navs got fed up and led us to 5 miles of off road riding (not to be recommended on road bikes). It certainly livened up proceedings and probably led to the first puncture of the tour (Lyn). Another good picnic lunch at Bigonos set us up nicely for the final leg to our final destination for the day – Parentis-En-Born.

In the saddle for day 3 were Chris, Lyn, Neil and Nick. This was by far the most interesting leg of the day – undulating riding, a stop off to view Dune-De-Pyla (the largest sand dune in Europe), sighting of a family of beavers and some really good LE PELETON riding to get us to the hotel before it was dark. The final leg will also remembered for Nick’s grand detour as he led Lyn off in completely the wrong direction for an 11km detour. Directional sense is not a strength!

A really good team effort today, particularly given the total distance of 185km and lots of flat, featureless terrain. Another top effort. Needless to say we reminded Nick a few times that we never saw the sea once in the whole day!

We finished at 7pm and went straight to the bar for a couple of celebratory beers and had an excellent dinner at out hotel for the night and a couple of nice bottles of red wine. Another good day.

Breakfast on the ferry from Royan

Le Peleton

On the ferry from Royan to Le Verdon Sur Mer

Ferry approaching Le Verdon Sur Mer

Coffee at Hourtin - wrong place leaving Neil at Carcans

Just to remove any misconception that the Hadlow bikers stay
in 5* hotels on these tours!

Dune de Pyla - you could build a few sandcastles with that.
Largest sandune in Europe

The English translations in our hotel rooms
made us smile

Day 3 pictures - Spain bike ride - Bressuire to Royan

Finally, some decent internet access and connection speeds. Here are some pictures from Day 3 - 6th May

There must be a few more drops of wine left in this bottle

Gettin ready for the start of day 3

Late problem spotted with gear cabling on Neil's bike

Working out the solution to the problem

Bike anethetised - operation underway

Operation completed successfully

Our sky for the day

Cycling an old railway line converted to a cycle highway

The centre of a crossroads is not really the place to leave
your bike

Where the hell are we!

Our friends the tractor drivers - notice the wave

The other tractor's buddy - think they may be brother and
sister

Coffee stop at St. Hilaire-des-Loges - but no shop open!

Goint under the new TGV line on leg 2

Quite a familiar pose from MIke

Our lunch stop by the river at Murdon

If you go down to the woods today your sure to get a surprise

Our lunch view down the river

Our lunch view up the river

Magnificent bridge at Tonnere-Charant

Ok, so your king of the mountains - don't overdo
the celebration Lyn!

Our bikes have a prestigious home for the evening
in the hotel boardroom

Guess which rider has done 100 miles in the day!

Neil's Flowerand Fauna Corner

Wisteria - wow what a bush!

Stitchwork - people use to take this when they had a stitch

Monday, 6 May 2013

Day 3 - Spain Bike Ride - Bressuire to Royan

6^th May

A perfect weather day – not a cloud in the sky with a forecast high of 26c mid afternoon. Great cycling conditions. Up at 7am for a 7.30am breakfast and ready to depart at 8.30am.

We were just about to depart when ‘eagle eyed’ Mike spotted a problem with Neil’s gear cabling which needed some attention to avoid a cable snap. A good team effort (except Chris who snapped away like the paparazzi) eventually got the problem sufficiently well fixed for the bike to pass a fitness test for the days ride. We ended up losing 45 minutes and starting at 9.15am.

Biggest days cycling so far at 102 miles with Neil and Nick in the saddle for the whole day. In the saddle for leg 1 was Chris, Neil, Nick and Lyn with Mike driving and sourcing the day’s picnic goodies. This leg took us from Bressuire to St. Hilaire-des-Loges – 57kms over rolling hills and entering the Vendee. We rolled up eagerly looking for our traditional coffee and bun stop only to find that the only coffee ship in the village closed.

So after a quick energy bar and water we took off for leg 2. In the saddle were Chris, Mike, Neil and Nick with Lyn driving and hunting out our lunch picnic venue. Operation LE PELETON was put into place for this leg as the terrain was pretty flat and uninteresting and we thought it would be a great chance to catch up some time. To put it into perspective we climbed 1,700ft in leg 1 and 400ft in leg 2 over similar distances. The plan worked perfectly with each rider taking the lead for 5kms and then dropping to the back to allow the next rider to lead. This constant rotation enabled the team to keep a constant speed of around 30kms per hour for the whole distance of 54kms. Top effort.

Lyn sourced a great lunch spot by a river just outside of Muron. Importantly we had some shade as the temperature was peaking out at around 28C. We had to do a fait bit of mosquito swatting but it was a great fuel stop ahead of the final leg of the day.

In the saddle were Neil, Nick, Mike and Lyn with Chris driving on to find the hotel location. The leg took the team from Muron to Royan at Grande Hotel De La Plage – literally just across the road from the beach. LE PELETON continued on into the last leg of the day although understandably the pace slowed down a bit. The team reached Royan at around 6.15pm which given the lost time in the morning and the temperatures during the day is a top effort all round.

Sorry, very slow internet connection speeds tonight so will post picture summary from today when we get a better connection.

Sunday, 5 May 2013

Day 2 - Spain bike ride - Chateau Gontier to Bressuire

Sunday 5th May

A lie in! Up at 7am for a 7.30am breakfast. The pull back of the bedroom blinds revealed another dry start with good patches of blue sky and over the day the weather improved to provide another great cycling day.

Lovely continental breakfast and then away at around 8.45am for leg 1 - in the saddle Mike, Neil, Nick and Lyn with Chris driving and sourcing picnic supplies. Leg 1 introduced the team for the first time to the Loire River with a spell of cycling close to the river. At one point the team lost tarmac and found themselves cycling 'offroad' on road bikes - not ideal! A good leg of 55kms and a well earned coffee and bun stop at Le Louroux-Beconnais.

In the saddle for leg 2 were Chris, Mike, Neil and Lyn with Nick hunting out a picnic spot at our destination of Valanjou. This leg took us across the Loire River twice and we hugged the river for a good chunk of the leg. Although our weather has been good there has been some really bad rain in other parts of France which is impacting the Loire river level which was very high with some flooded areas. Along the banks of the Loire we bumped into a nice English couple from Buckinghamshire who are just starting a 3 month tour of France - we would have added a picture but he was shirtless and had a very large tummy so thought better of it. Arrived at Valanjou for lunch at 1.30pm and had a lovely picnic - Nick excelling in locating a bench, meadow and pond - perfect setting.

In the saddle for the final leg were Chris, Nick, Lyn and Mike - a sensible pace throughout with the occasional stop for silly pictures. A nasty little climb into our destination for the night at Bressuire qualified us for a couple of immediate bottles of Leffe which certainly seemed to refresh the parts that other beers don't.
Other random thoughts along the way today and among conversation over evening dinner:

Bike Sat Navs are great for guiding you along your route for the day BUT....
One of the benefits of a map is that you get a breather to work out your next move
Lots of fauna (see Neils Fauna Corner pictures below). Are there any flowers that Neil does not know?
There seem to be more tractors in France than cars
Lyn is 'king of the mountains' taking any of the other riders when he fancies it but the worn back of his cycling shorts is exposing just a little to much flesh - is he doing this deliberately to put off the other riders from following him!
Did the French steal bluebells from the UK - must take Neil's view tomorrow
Mounting a cow with cleats on is not advisable
It's amazing how much noise a group of frogs make in a pond

Strange thoughts yes - it's what spending 7 hrs in the saddle does to you!! We will share further saddle thoughts in future blogs

Seriously though, a great cycling day in the Pays de la Loire region in lovely warm sunshine - another 155kms under our belts. Below are just a few of the picture taken today.