TDF Journal Day 8 Sunday 28th May Beauvais>Cormeilles Sun's Out!

Distance 145k
Time 6:37
Climb 853
Weather Sun(:)) & wind




Woke up and headed down for petit dejeuner. The illusion that I was in a home rather than hotel continued as I found I was the only guest and I effectively had breakfast with the family, including their toddler son who played cars under my table.

Following the lull yesterday, Sunday would be no day of rest with a 150K or so planned, including crossing the Seine. I was not sure which route the Tour was going to be taking out of Beauvais. This was because the detailed route the tour takes each year is a closely guarded secret. The main route and "Villes d'etape" are published with a fanfare around October time, but exactly how the riders will get from start to finish (Beauvais to Caen in this case) is not revealed until the June edition of the Velo magazine hits the newstands. When I left the UK I had expected to be able to pick up a copy on my arrival in France, since in the UK magazines usually appear a full month ahead of their cover date. However the French are obviously more literally minded than us Brits and so the Velo was due to appear on 1st June and not one day before.

So I had to guess the route, which meant when I missed my first turning just a couple of km out of Beauvais I did not get too stressed and just took the next turning to get me back on track. Happily on the weather side things were looking up. For the first time since day 1 I was able to start pedalling without first donning my Pack a Mac. The sun was visible and the wind, though still blowing, was doing so with less gusto on previous days.

The route was pretty flat and enjoyable. It being a Sunday other cyclists were also out and about. I played catch up and pass with an older cyclist, who, when I stopped 20 or so minutes later for a quick natural break stopped to ask me where I was heading and gave me some route advice.

I crossed the Seine just south of Rouen, the approach being along its banks via the D92 which took me through some very nice villages. One of the good things about France is that their approach to building houses means they are all different, and this road was a good example of this with lots of variations on the comfortable family house, one even resembling a mini-castle.

Once over the Seine the road passed quickly by and I decided to stay at Cormeille in the Auberge de President, named after President Reny Coty (1954-59) ate there (and if good enough for the president of France should be good enough for me.)


Auberge de President

I telephoned ahead to book a room and when I arrived I was very happy with my choice. Cormeilles is a beautiful Normandy village full of old timbered houses of many different colours, the hotel, in pale blue, being one of the best examples. A marriage was just coming to an end when I turned up but nonetheless the manageress found time to show me to my room and a place to stow my bike. The room was newly decorated but in a rustic style and very welcoming. I also had a large bath and plenty of bubble bath so I indulged in a wallow. It was not late so I set off for a wander round the town, taking a beer at a local bar whilst trying not to look English by reading L'Equipe and the local papers.

(Cormeilles websites)
http://www.office-tourisme-cormeilles.com/index.php
http://ecoles.ac-rouen.fr/freneuse27/morainville/cormeille.html



In fact I need not have worried too much about appearing a tourist. In the first place the town was obviously used to having the English come over and settle, the estate agents mostly boasted of "English spoken", looking at the prices of house I could see the attraction. For the price of a 3 bed semi in Newbury you could buy a big detached house with huge grounds near Cormeille. What's more, as I read the local paper, the folk in Normandy were getting worried about how the number of English visitors was dropping off, due to the weather and cheap flights luring us to the warmer climes further south.

I strolled back to the hotel, taking note of a shop to get some croissants in the morning. At the hotel I had a truly superb meal, cooked in the local style so calvodos, apples or cider figured in most of the dishes. Being greedy I asked for both the cheese and dessert courses and polished off a couple of bottles of cider (when in Normandy...).

All in all a very good day, the best of my trip so far. The only very minor problem was my arms were a bit sunburnt, a quite tolerable alternative to the frostbite they had suffered only a couple of days earlier.

TDF Journal Day 7 Saturday 27th May Montdidier >Beauvais - Taking it easy

Distance 49k
Time 2:55
Climb 261
Weather Grey and windy

This was a different day. After a week of struggling against the elements I had finally come to my first "rest" day. I had planned only short rides for these days, just enough to stop me stiffening up and hopefully let my body recover a bit.

So I had a lie in and a leisurely breakfast. When I headed out of the hotel the skies were grey and the wind was blowing. However it did not look as if rain was threatening. My destination for the night was Beauvais, start town for the TDF stage 5. This was only 50km or so to cover in the day, which was by a comfortable margin the shortest distance I had cycled. As the wind was still quite fresh I decided to head cross country to take advantage of the cover that the little lanes provided. This was a good plan and the ride was very enjoyable, if not very challenging compared to previous days.

Beauvais (French)

Beauvais (English)


I had booked a hotel in advance, the "Residence" in Beauvais. This was a bit of a strange place as it was located (appropriately given its name) in a very quiet residential neighbourhood about 10 minutes walk from the town centre. You needed to look twice at it to realise it was a hotel rather than another house and this illusion was continued when I was greeted at the door by a toddler, son of the owners.

While stowing my bike away in the garage I found my first equipment failure of the trip. One of my padlocks had seized up, it was hanging under my saddle and had caught the brunt of all the crud thrown up by the rear wheel as I pedalled through the rain. A fair amount of brute force let me get it off but it was broken beyond repair so I consigned it to the bin. I did not mind too much, in practice I had not yet come across any occasion when I thought my bike was in any danger of being stolen, so I was frankly glad to drop some unwanted weight.

I showered, changed and set of on my first bit of real tourism of my tour. Beauvais wasn't a bad town for this, being not too big, with a picturesque cathedral (pics below) and pleasant central square. I stopped by one of the cafes and was very happy to be able to sit outside as the grey clouds parted and I felt the first real strong sunshine since my first day.






I passed my time happily relaxing and reading my "History of the World". As the afternoon turned to evening however I was beginning to feel quite peckish and went in search of a restaurant. I was a little early but had the good luck to stumble upon a fantastic bar "Le Mine". This boasted of having a large range of bottled and draft beers. I ordered a half of Goudale (which sort of felt English "Good Ale") and was told that it was happy hour so I could have a full pint if I wished (yes pint. Despite being in France, originator and home of the metric system some traditions live on. So you can order a pint of beer (or a metre just to make things really confusing!)). I considered this offer long and hard, on the one hand free beer was available. On the other Good Ale is 7.2degrees so a pint could have a pretty heavy effect on an empty stomach. So reluctantly, and very possibly for the first time in my life, I turned down the offer of a free beer.


La Mine Website


This said I made up for it by having a pint of the brun by which time the restaurants were starting to open. I made for an Italian as I wanted to get some stodge inside me. It did not seem particularly special but I was lucky to get there early as within 20 minutes it was full. I had a pasta followed by pizza (the joys of cycling!) along with a carafe of red.

Rather fuller and a bit tipsy I headed back to the hotel.

PS Photo of the day the tour left town (more on the website)

Come blow you winds....

Post script to my ride on Saturday.

I thought I had left the winds behind my when I finished my ride, however I was slightly wrong. As mentioned one purpose of the trip had been to check out the cereal bars I planned to take along. These seemed to work fine regarding keeping me going on the road but then seemed to work overtime and kept me going through the night and the following day! Poor old Mrs Miff had to issue a gale warning as the bed clothes were almost blown off.

Hurricane has since subsided but looking at cycle forum see I am not alone in suffering these side effects

http://www.cyclingplus.co.uk/forum/topic

Highclere Recce 2 - Windy but fast enough (just)

The route of the Highclere run I will be doing next week has been published, along with the "gold" standard for vets of my age of 6 hours 55 minutes (equivalent to 27kph) As mentioned in previous post this looks doable but only just.

So yesterday I tried doing the full route as a test both of my speed and provisioning. I bought a "Camelback" which I filled with water and took 2 bidons with LucoSport. I also packed 12 or so grain bars (Jordans etc.) after reading that the first Brit to finish the Etape swears by them for long rides.

All went pretty well. I punctured but discounting that managed a pretty good average speed of 31 up to the first checkpoint at Petersfield. I find the next stretch across to Mottisfont the hardest, especially the first half as it is all up and down and this saw my average go down to 29. Nonetheless I was able to hold up and push over the final climbs just within the time limit.

I was pretty pleased with this as there was quite a wind blowing which may have given me some help on the first bit but was straight into my face coming home. On the day itself I guess we will form into groups so speeds should go up. Hope so in any case...

TDF Journal Day 6 Friday 26th May Nouvion to Montdidier Blown Away

Distance 112k
Time 6:00
Climb 418
Weather Gale force winds

Yet again I got up, looked out of the window and was greeting by grey drizzle. I ate breakfast and headed out of Nouvion, with the wind blowing hard into my face.

After a couple of hours, when the only event of any interest was passing a large Nestle factory in the middle of nowhere, the rain finally relented. I didn't know it at the time but this was the end of the regular drenchings I was going to get.

Given the headwinds I made reasonable time to St Quentin, the finish of the tour's stage 4. The start at Huy yesterday seemed like an age ago.



St Quentin - the smiling town

St Quentin is a town that has personal memories for me, since it is the first French town I can remember staying in. As a child every other year we would visit Switzerland, home to my dads family. Back then these trips were major events, since it was rare for anyone to leave the sanctuary of the British Isle. The road network was nowhere near as developed as today so the journey to/from Switzerland would take a good two days. My first recollection of actually being in France was when we had a stopover at St Quentin, where I remember my dad ordering "escargots" and being amazed when snails turned up at our table and even more amazed when my dad ate them.

Now, returning some 40+ years later, there was not much sign that St Quentin was celebrating the arrival of the tour but looking at the web site later it seems they certainly made up for this when the big day arrived, living up to their claim of being the "town that smiles"



I stopped at a bar/resaurant for a typical French workers lunch. For 12 euros I got a three course meal, with steak as main course, along with some wine and coffee. Very nice, very cheap.

I had another gap d'etape to cover, this one being 100km.My destination was Montdidier and I had planned what seemed to be a pretty straightforward route to get to it, via some friendly looking yellow D roads.

I set off, happy to find that getting through St Quentin was pretty easy given its size. Once I left the shelter of the town, however, I found that the D roads were a bit less friendly than I thought, being wide, straight, rolling and full of traffic. To add to my woes the headwind had got worse and was blowing straight down the road into my face. Making progress was very difficult. For the first time in my cycling life I was actually glad when I was overtaken by an HGV, since in the turbulence of its wake the wind lessened a bit and I could make headway. These respites though were brief and it was proving heavy going. I got a third of my way towards Montdidier and decided a plan B was called for. I headed off the D road across country zig-zagging along quiet country lanes, always heading in the general direction of Montdidier. This route was longer than the original but a lot easier. I passed through any number of tiny villages, wondering how on earth they all kept going but glad they did.

Finally, after covering nearly twice as much distance as originally planned I reached Montdidier. I had booked a hotel in advance but did not know where exactly it was. This proved to be a potential problem as the main street of the town was near vertical. I sped down it desparately looking from side to side, ready to effect an emergency stop. Luckily when I got to the bottom my hotel loomed ahead. Just a luckily the signpost for my direction out of town the next morning was clearly visible and pointing in the opposite direction from the hill I had just come down and therefore would not have to go up again tomorrow.

Montdidier+baby?
I was knackered. I was nearly at the end of my first week of my tour and it had proved hard work with most every day being a battle against wind, rain or, mostly, both. Fortunately my intention had always been to have one day of rest each week and tomorrow, Saturday, was to be the first of these. So I cleaned up and had my second steak of the day in the restaurant. The manager of the hotel stopped by the table for a quick chat, strangely the thing he seemed most keen to impress on me was the fact that my room had electric window shutters, which true enough it had, so I used them and had a good and well earned nights sleep.

Going for Gold?

I have received the latest news about the South Downs challenge that is now looming on the horizon, only a couple of weekends away. Aka the "Highclere Hundred" it has now lengthened to become the "Highclere 115" partly on account of avoiding the nasty last turn up West Woodhay down.

Included in the news are the standards for the race. This sets a challenge of completing the course in 6hrs 55mins to get a "gold".


Highclere 100 standards

This puts me in a bit of a dilemma. I am looking forward to the day but not sure how competitive I want it to be. The gold standard looks very doable as it requires an AVS of 27kph which I am pretty sure I am up to. But it will be a bit of a downer if I go for it and miss. May be more fun just to amble around enjoying the ride, countryside and company. Think will decide on the day....

First Sunday Club run

Went on first Sunday club run with Newbury RC. Very enjoyable but still getting used to riding etiquette, as not sure when it is OK to push ahead and when to hold back. Still sure will get used to it in time.

TDF Journal Day 4 Wednesday 24th May Eupen to Huy Wind, Wind, Fing Wind

Distance 136k
Time 6:23
Climb 618m
Weather Windy all the way

Had a pleasant surprise on leaving the hotel. Firstly I found my missing Alien next to my bike. Then just as I was leaving a girl came up to me with my compass saying "I guess this must be yours?". So all present and correct again.

I set off from Eupen heading due north, happy that this was going to be the day when I was due to make a turn south and west, so hopefully towards warmer and drier climes.

All the water I had been drenched with must have got to my brain as I took a number of unplanned detours but I found my way back onto my route without too much difficulty. My navigation was helped by the strong wind that was getting stronger all the time and rather worringly coming from the direction I would be heading in the afternoon. For the time being though I knew if I was being blown over sideways into the hedgerows I was heading in the right direction.

Eventually I came to a long straight road that ran along a hill running north-south. It reminded me of the Hogs Back coming out of Guildford and similar to that road had some great views, which I tired to appreciate when I wasn't in danger of being blown off the hill and into the valley. It was along this road that I had my first encounter with another guy on a racing bike. I didn't know he was there until he whizzed by me, but once he was ahead I gave chase. He was doing a fair lick but eventually I caught up, which then gave the dilemma of whether to overtake him or stay behind, using him as a windbreak. I was still dithering when he solved my dilemma by turning off my road.




Very shortly after this I crossed the border into Holland. I followed a lovely "green" route along a river to the outskirts of Valkenburg, then cycled along the flat straight road into the town itself. It was around lunchtime so I stopped at a pub. Rather bizarrely the only food on offer was cake, so I had a couple of helping of this with beer accompanyment.

http://www.valkenburg.nl/


The official route into Valkenburg:


Some Valkenburg TDF history:



Having reached Valkenburg I was now faced with the first of my "gap Etape"s. These are the gaps that need to be covered when the tour finishes at one town and starts at another. I faced a number of these, the longest being the one from L'Orient in Brittany down to Bordeaux at 565km. The one from the end of stage 2 at Valkenburg to Huy, back in Belgium, for the start of stage 3 was only a paltry 70km.

I did my best to make this a bit longer by heading the wrong way out of Valkenburg. Once I realised my mistake I decided to make the most of it by taking a look at Maastricht, a town (in)famous in the UK for having an EU treaty named after it but about which I knew nothing. It proved a pleasant surprise. First thing of note were the plentiful cycle lanes. The outside of the town was full of nondescript new buildings but at its heart was a lovely old town centre, reserved for pedestrians and bikes only. The only drawback was that it was cobbled which, despite my bike being a Roubaix, meant a rather shaky ride. However I was glad I passed by.

Maastricht:


Maastricht info:
http://www.vvvmaastricht.nl/index2.php3


Heading out of Maastricht I crossed back into Belgium and once again had to contend with its road system. I had planned on using a "yellow" road but on seeing it was the same as the dreaded N676 decided against and risked a red alternative. This was better in that it had a cycle lane but was made difficult by running through wide open, flat farmland where the wind that was now quite vicious whipped dust and dirt straight into my face. Just to wind me up the cycle lane also had some huge holes dug into it. These seemed to be some sort of roadwork but there was no sign of any roadworkmen and whenever I came across one I had to dismount and push my bike round it.

All in all this made for hard going, the harder because I knew this wasn't really a part of the tour proper.


My first view of Huy (except that when I was there the skies were grey...)



Eventually I reached the outskirts of Huy. I had not booked a hotel in advance because I thought that if Huy was a ville d'etape it was bound to have plenty of hotels. However as I rolled down the banks of the River Meuse on which the town sits my heart started to sink a little, especially as the skies opened to give me my first soaking of the day just 5km from the end of my days riding. I took shelter under a bridge, restarting once the rain had changed to drizzle. I passed one hotel but that seemed to be in the middle of an industrial area so gave it a miss and headed for town centre.






There I could see no sign of hotels. Bemused I asked a local if there were any hotels nearby and found there was just one (Hotel du Fort), which eventually I tracked down. I got a friendly welcome and after depositing my bike in the garage and drying myself off headed into Huy for a meal.

While waliking into town I saw a sign saying that Huy would be welcoming the Tour de France but was also on the route of the Giro (Tour of Italy). Strangely this turned out to be true. And I thought I had got lost from time to time!

Huy seemed to be as lacking in restaurants as hotels. I ended up in an Irish pub, of which there seems to be at least one in every town in the world. (Strange because when I lived in France back in the early 1990s this was very much not the case, in fact one of the highlights of a trip back to the UK was a pint of Guiness.)

Maybe the hotels/restaurants had all been scared off by the nuclear power plant, that was, literally, a couple of miles down the river from Huy town centre.

Belgiums nuclear power stations. The Tirhange station is on the river Meuse right next to Huy:



Huy Links:

http://www.huy.be/

http://www.eupedia.com/belgium/huy.shtml

TDF Journal Day 3 Tuesday 23rd May Arlon to Eupen: Hail and Hills

Distance 142k
Time 6 hours
Climb 1950m
Weather Wet and windy

I woke up with a slightly sore head but this soon cleared when I get outside and into the wind which had freshened up considerably since the day before.
Fortunately I found a route which took me round the large hill I had to go up yesterday and headed off back into Luxembourg. The day's route took me south to north through the middle of Luxembourg then back into Belgium. With the wind, rain and unfamiliar terrain I was not sure how far I would get so I set off, with the intention of seeing how I would get on and think about booking a hotel at lunch time.

The morning went well, though I found Luxembourg is quite hilly. I stopped at Wiltz for a snack lunch and gave Mrs M a call and asked her to see if she could find a hotel in Belgium just past the border.

I started off again and pretty much as soon as I had turned the pedal it started raining. This marked the beginning of an afternoon of showers/alternating with sun, with the wind blowing all the time.

Sometimes it got a little more interesting as the showers turned into downpours. This reached a crescendo as I headed down a hill, ironically just after passing a cafe but deciding not to stop. The sky went from light to dark in a few seconds and a huge wind whipped up the hill making progress, even with the aid of gravity, almost impossible. Then it started to hail and the road turned into an ice rink. Luckily there was another cafe at the bottom of the hill. Not so luckily it was shut. So I cowered under a tree at the front, feeling miserable and eating my emergency banana.

After 15 minutes or so the storm passed over and I continued on my way, eventually leaving Luxembourg to get back into Belgium.

Not long after I came across a significant problem in route. I use Michelin maps and on these yellow roads are often a good choice for the cyclist making long journeys each day, as being a balance of not too much traffic but reasonably direct and with good road surface. So I chose these in preference in Belgium as well.


This proved a mistake, as the yellow roads in Belgium actually had a lot of traffic (I guess because the country is so much more crowded) and appalling road surfaces.

The worst was the N676 from St-Vith to Amel. This is narrow, but with lots of HGVs passing every 15 seconds or so. It seems to be constructed of massive oblongs of concrete about 10 m long, laid end to end like a row of dominos. The concrete surface is rough and slippy when wet, but worse each junction between blocks makes bikes without mountain tyres jump and shake like mad. I had planned to cover 15km on the N676. I did 2 and was as scared as I have ever been riding a cycle anywhere. I stopped and quickly re-plotted my route to go across country and was very pleased I did as not only was there almost no traffic at all but the countryside was very much more picturesque.




My route eventually took me to Robertville, which seems a like a nice holiday resort.

http://www.robertville.be/

I stopped there for a drink and was informed by Mrs M that she had found me a Best Western hotel to the north in Eupen. This did not seem like too far on the map, it meant going by a main road (the N68). This proved to be fine, however what I did not realise was that I was heading into the Eifel mountains, so had a way to go up before arriving at my hotel.

http://www.naturpark-hohesvenn-eifel.de/fr/die6landschaften/hocheifel/index.php

Also, inevitably it seemed, it had started to rain. Again.


I was feeling a bit tired as I headed up hill and also, as my clothes began to get wetter and wetter through a combination of rain and perspiration, I started get colder and colder. Fortunately the road was wide enough to avoid the splashes and most of the spray caused by the occasional car that passed me.

It seemed a long way to get to the top of the climb around Mt Rigi but after that things got a lot quicker as the road started going downhill and I had built up a real head of steam as I tanked down the road to Eupen. The hotel was easy to find, right at the entrance of the town at the bottom of the hill I was speeding down.

http://catalogue.horse21.co.uk/belgium+hotels/eupen+hotels/best+western+ambassador+hotel+bosten


I parked up and went in. I was dripping wet but the manager was very welcoming, showing me a place to park my bike for the night and telling me that I had been upgraded to a bigger room (Mrs M must have done some sweet talking).




The best thing about the super room was the big warm bath. I washed away the day's grime and warmed myself up. The hotel was proud of its restaurant (as you can see below) so I dined there and had a thoroughly good meal. My only concern was that I seemed to have lost my Alien and compass. (My Alien being a handy multi-tool, a sort of Swiss army penknife for cyclists). Still that would have to wait until tomorrow.

47 and breaking 20

Blowing my own trumpet I know but today I achieved a lifetime best by averaging over 20mph for a serious ride for the first time. This was done on a circuit I know well from Newbury to Lambourn then Wantage and back to Newbury again. This takes in the downs so has a few climbs (some with bits over 10%), the hardest being the ones coming out of Wantage back to Newbury. All in all the route is 47 miles with 680m climbing.

Back in January I rode this and averaged 15.9mph. Pre riding the TDF I had got this average up to 16.8. I rode the route following my return from the TDF and surprised myself by averaging 20mph up to the bottom of the final Wantage hills and ended up with 19.3. Today I finally pushed past 20 (just) making it round and back to Newbury at 20.1mph. Main reasons for making this were I think pushing myself a bit harder and also using a 11-23 cassette which let me get bit more speed up on the downhill parts of the course.

So pretty chuffed with myself.

Give a man a tool - the joys of bike maintenance

One of the good things about returning to bikes as a forty something is that it gives me the chance to get my hands oily again.

Way back, when I had a mini I used to attempt most of its servicing/fault fixing. I even attended an evening course on car maintenance, the highlight of which was taking an engine to pieces (easy), putting it back together again (a bit harder) with no pieces left over (the tricky bit).

I must admit this was only with partial success and the occasional cockup. The most extravagant of these was a simple error of forgetting to close the bonnet properly after an oil change. This resulted in the bonnet popping up when we were doing 60, briefly obscuring all vision before coming off its hinges and flying over the roof. Fortunately nobody was behind us to be decapitated and a temporay fix with gaffer tape was applied.
(PS: this was in the early days of me courting Mrs M. I must say she reacted very calmy to this minor calamity as she did when she enquired regarding the state of the mini's body work "are you meant to be able to see the road through the floor of the car?")

Next car after the mini was a Ford Capri 2.8i and this very quickly got me to the point where the car's sophistication soon exceeded my capabilties and I fell into the clutches of the local garage.
(the next car we had/still have was a Toyata Previa. I have had this 16 years and not even seen the engine!!! (it is a mid engined car and it is under the seats)).

This meant that my rather lovely set of tools remained unused (slightly sad story regards these, I got these cheap via a woman who had brought them for her husband as a gift before he told her he wanted a divorce. You have to think if only she had given them to him earlier...)

But now I have bike I can dust my wrenches off and start to use them again. A bike is perfect, it is simple, even for a klutz like me, nothing can go too badly wrong even if you do cock it up and best of all it has no electrical system. (Another memory from my car mechanic days was the smoke pouring out of the car's dash when I put in a new stereo and mixed up a couple of wires...).

Also it has lots of special bolts & bits which in turn need special tools. And there is nothing to make a man happier than when he has a new tool to play with.

Bad noise from down under - bottom bracket expired

Went for, now becoming regular, training ride on Tuesday and found bike was making very depressing noises when being pedalled at anything more than very light load.

Consensus from those who know a whole lot more about these things than I was that I was having bottom bracket problems. This was interesting as, my ignorance of bike topography being what it is, until it started making a racket I did not even know I had a bottom bracket.

Anyway this provided the chance of getting my hands oily and so took spanner to bike. I discovered that I have a rather special bottom bracket (or BB as I now know to call it) as I have a FSA SLK crank. This is a rather nifty design that has an integrated, oversized BB called a MegaExo http://www.fullspeedahead.com/fly.aspx?layout=product&taxid=21&pid=434

This needed a special tool (as ever) to detach from the bike so I paid a quick visit to AW Cycles at Reading about who I had heard good things http://www.awcycles.co.uk/

They had the tool I needed (Park Tools BBT-9 for anyone interested) and also it must be said a rather spiffing range of bikes, including a candidate for blingest bike - a limited edition Giant with 24 carat gold plating (not sure how weight saving this is!)
http://www.awcycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b8s6p1289

This is available for only £4450...I resisted the chance to buy it but did succumb to the rather more modest temptation of a new pair of Look cleats and covers.

Back to the bike last night I used the new tool to remove brackets and sure enough they were rather grotty inside. I put this down to combination of bad weather in France and me, not knowing it was meant to be sealed, copiously oiling.

Fortunately FSA have a super now MegaExo which is "ceramic".

http://www.fullspeedahead.com/fly.aspx?layout=product&taxid=29&pid=759

Being a bit of a sucker for new fangled goodies I have ordered one of these and hope it arrives in time for me to fit and try out next Tuesday. Watch this space

TDF Journal: Day 2 Mon. 22/05 St Avold>Arlon Three countries tour (not planned)

Distance 134k
Time 6 hours
Climb 903 m (mostly at end)
Weather Grey then wet

Alsace and Lorraine are two regions of France that have been joined at the hip through the centuries, often sharing a troubled history as a battleground and prize for France and Germany. However despite of this shared past the two regions feel different. When you think of Alsace the thoughts are of wine, the Rhine, delightful cities like Strasbourg and Colmar and equally delightful villages like those that linked by the "route du vin". Lorraine on the other hand is a region of heavy industry and coal mines. Put another way Alsace is light and sunny, Lorraine dark and dour.

Waking up on Monday I find that the weather had conformed to this stereotype, the sun of yesterday (from which I was even suffering a bit of sunburn) has all gone and the skies are grey.
By the time I have breakfast and set off a steady drizzle had started. The impression of gloom is reinforced by the long drag uphill, out of town, along a busy lorry filled dual carriageway past, first, the US military cemetery and then a large (and smelly) chemical factory. I am glad to get off the main road and back onto my preplanned route, but only relatively. The skies are dark and grey and the drizzle is turning into steady rain. I stop at a boulangerie to get some croissants and a couple of slices of "quiche lorraine" (natch) that I intend to have later for lunch. (Following the mistake yesterday I intend to make lunches a bit lighter in future.)

I press on, to add to my woes a wind has started, at least it is blowing across me but it means that as well as feeling wet I now start feeling colder. The countryside is not very encouraging, everywhere pretty much looks like everywhere else and none of it is especially picturesque.

After a couple of hours of this I have had enough. All this water has triggered a need to take a break for a call of nature. It being Monday and the villages I pass through being small and apparently deserted, no welcoming bar appears so I stop at a bus shelter, nip behind a bush, then gloomily eat my croissants and quiche.

Someone upstairs must have taken pity on me because by the time I had finished the rain had pretty much stopped and, if the sun was not shining, at least it was slightly less grey.

I set off again and decided to head straight for the Luxembourg border which I crossed just after Mondorf les Bains. There is a noticeable change, while Lorraine felt slightly run down and depressed, Luxembourg felt prosperous, evidenced by the smart houses and smooth wide roads with pristine cycle lanes. This further helps to lift my mood and I decide to press on a bit and go on past my intended overnight stop at Esch. This proves to be a bit risky as the various villages I pass through all seem noticeably lacking in hotels or anywhere else to stay. Also my meticulous advance planning did not include hotels in Luxembourg. Getting a bit desperate I stop at a Hobscheid, a small village, and go into a bank. I ask the lady there if there are any hotels nearby and she is very helpful, lifting my spirits by saying yes there is one just up the road.

Up in this sense is quite literal. The village was on the side of a steep hill which is hard going. But I finally get to the top. The directions I had been given say just go along the road and you can't miss the hotel. So I speed off down the other side of the hill at a rate of knots but then start to get a little concerned as the directions also said that the hotel is only a five or so kilometres away and I have already done nearly ten. So I stop again, this time outside a house and ask a man gardening if he knows of a hotel nearby. He speaks perfect English and says yes there is a hotel and he points back in the direction I have just come, back up the hill I have just happily sped down. Rather less happily I slog back up it and at the top spot a turning that I missed first time.

This goes back downhill and at the bottom I find not one but two hotels. I stop at the first, it looks quite posh so I get take off my bike gear to look a bit more presentable. The hotel seems deserted, but when I go inside and ask for a room I hear that it is full. (Hopefully it really was, thinking about it later maybe I just looked a bit too shabby...). So I ask about the hotel next door and get told that one is closed. I am starting to get a bit desperate now and ask if there are any other hotels nearby. The reply is that I will have to go to Belgium! Fortunately that is not far only another five kilometers or so. Bad news is that it is up another steep hill. So up I go again. Immediately after the top of the hill I just manage to spot a sign that say "Hotel" and points off down a road. It's downhill so I take it and, voila, find a lovely hotel. Only problem is despite ringing on the bell no-one appears. I get worried it too may be closed and as a last resort try phoning the number on the board outside. A lady answers and I ask if they have a room. She says yes, just one remains and asks when I will arrive. I reply just outside and she comes and lets me in.

I have landed on my feet, the hotel is very comfortable and has a superb restaurant.





http://www.peiffeschof.be/

I celebrate my good luck and the fact that I have cycled through three countries in a single day by drinking (slightly too much) Luxembourg champagne (well cremant actually) to wash down a thoroughly good meal.

South Downs Challenge Recce

One of the many joys of cycling is finding new routes to follow. And they don't need to be a million miles from home either.

I have entered for the South Downs Challenge, a 110 mile circuit starting/finishing Highclere Castle http://www.cyclegb.co.uk/southdowns.asp

So today, with the weather being so good, I decided to do a reconnaissance ride to take a look at the course, since I am familiar with the end but not the rest of the course.

The ride was a delight, taking me into Hampshire and along many roads, all new. You pass through a number of villages, full of thatched cottages and looking like picture postcards. And to complete the perfect image of a fine English summer's day I passed 4 games of cricket.

(Some early pictures (not taken by me but from the web site)

The pubs along the route looked very inviting as well. Today I was a bit pressed for time so did not take the opportunity to combine my ride with a bit of beer tasting but will tackle the ride again on coming weekends, in smaller chunks, and be sure to include time in the schedule for a pint (or two).

Just a few of comments on the route>> South Downs Route Map

I don't have a map for the bottom right bit (finishing at Petersfield), so cut a corner, heading south from Gundleton, through Cheriton and picking up the route at Stony Hard farm (great name). But still clocked up 158km in total (including ride from home to/from Highclere). Most of the route is pretty easy to follow, albeit with a number of stops to check map/directions, did miss one right hand turn after Micheldever Station to West Stratton and also only got through Michelmersh more by good luck than judgement.

Overall the trickiest thing about the route is, as you would expect, that there is little that is flat, most of the time you are going up or down, not usually very far in either direction but it does get tiring after a while.

The last couple of climbs are the hardest. Just before the final one (the "scorpion" in the route description) there is, as the directions say, an "acute right turn". This does not do the turn justice given the approach is at 13% down hill. The turn is not cute at all it is downright nasty and just to make it a little bit worse there is a big pothole in the middle of it as well. Hopefully that will be filled before the day.

The scorpions sting is a little less venomous than the route directions say, its maximum gradient is 11% and it only lasts 600m or so. The climb immediately before is tougher, being slightly steeper in parts and 1.5km long (with a steep bit just before in Combe and you pretty much go uphill all the way for the preceding 20km albeit only at an average of 0.5% so not really alpine).

Also I think I would take the total ascent figures given on the route directions with a pinch of salt. If the total of 2925m climbing is true this would push the ride close to being a Tour de France mountain stage which I don't think it is **. My altimeter (which I think is pretty accurate as it tallied with the heights of the TDF cols I climbed last month) gave me a total ascent for the day of 1540m. The last stage, which I rode pretty much exactly as planned was 480m rather than the 950m on the route description.

** By way of comparison, in France I rode tomorrow's (16 July TDF) stage from Montelimar to Gap, pretty much exactly following the route. This is classified as a "mountain stage" by the tour in terms of green jersey points.

Stage 14 timetable

This was 191km long and included a couple of category 2 climbs and a couple of category 3. Highest point was 1300m and started/finished at around 100. My altimeter for that day recorded a total ascent of 2570m.

Normal service is resumed

After a brief excursion back to the UK for a funeral, Mr M returned to the Pyrenees. He's cast his eye over the blog, and approved the contents therein as being vaguely accurate. You'll have to wait for his return to these shores to hear all the nitty gritty technical details though.

We're beginning to get used to getting excited text updates from all sorts of weird places. Such as the one on Saturday. It's just as well I switched on my phone after he sent me the one about his successful go at the notorious Mt Ventoux. Even I knew about Tommy Simpson and others who'd come to grief there.



The beloved did have some hairy moments with the weather in this region. He first texted me from a bar where he was waiting for a storm to pass over before attempting the ascent; reckoning that once above the treeline he'd be a sitting target for being turned into a human rissole. Luckily after fifteen minutes or so it passed over. The same's held on other occasions since, and he reckons he's getting more expert on judging the conditions and when and when not to move on.

Hairiness apart, there've been some cheesy moments. Like the other evening when Mr M phoned me from a gay bar (he only discovered this after the event! - he was trying to find somewhere to watch the football from) to tell me one of his flip- flops had fallen out of his panniers, and not fancying cycling back 20 miles up a hill to rescue it, and cycling shoes for evening wear (makes him look like Blackadder One without the codpiece)not being a practical option, he decided to fake an ingrowing toenail. So he spent the time sitting with a flip flop on his left foot and a sock on his right. He's since, thankfully bought another pair. ( J'ai perdu mon 'flip' Avez-vous un 'flop,' s'il vous plait?

And yesterday I picked up a text informing us that the 'flip' wasn't the only thing to drop out of his panniers. Somewhere, at a crossroads deep in the South of France, lies a pair of lightweight Rohan underpants. As Mr M says, the antibacterial lining in his remaining two pairs is going to be well and truly put to the test!

I think we're all agreed that this verges on Too Much Information...

Oh, and the latest. His back wheel broke. And on stopping at a tiny village on the offical tour route, he discovered that the inhabitants seemed to have no notion whatsoever of who was going to be passing through in a few weeks time.

Non aux ours!

Since last I blogged, Mr M has been in the wars. Though thankfully not with the bears mentioned in the title.

Friday started off well. By late morning, he'd reached the top of the Col de Tourmalet 2115m; probably twice the size of Snowdon or was that Ben Nevis? Huge, anyway. And when Mr M texted me, he thought that the worst of the day's cycling was over. Taking 3 hours to climb up, the descent should have been around 45 minutes.

He'd reckoned without all the bumps and lumps and gravel; as previously mentioned the route is being prepared for The Tour. As he rode down Mr M punctured his front tyre, lost direction and fell down with a bang! (He now takes back much of what he's said about helmets; he could hear his one hit the ground!). Anyway, when he'd got up and brushed himself off, he discovered that his back tyre was flat as well...and of course he'd only one inner tube left. What to do? In the end he repaired the back tyre and went on his way, stopping periodically to pump up the front one.

Now came the problem. Mr M is returning to the UK next week for a couple of days for a family funeral, and he badly needed to get to his planned destination that day, in order to pick up the hire car that was going to take him to the airport. And that town was two huge hills away. In the normal way of things he'd have limped on as best he could and done the ride the next day, but knowing that time was against him, that wasn't an option. The town was a four hour walk at least.

So, off he went. The ascent of the first hill was made in blistering 35C heat, then as he started down the descent, the heavens opened. By then Mr M reckoned that his only hope was to somehow find a passing cyclist and beg an inner tube off them. Or find a town, with a shop. However, no town, no cyclists, no shop. A Belgian car did stop and on hearing of his predicament said that they thought that there was a station nearby and that he might be able to travel from there.

Some time later, with no station in sight, what should heave into sight again, but the Belgian car. 'No', said the occupants;'there's no station after all - but can we give you a lift?' Which is exactly what they did, (Mr M says he felt quite guilty about messing up their car - what with an oiley, messy bike and him being covered in gravel and blood) but the elderly occupants were really good about it. I gather that the man had done some cycling in the alps in his younger days. So he got a lift as far as the hotel where they were staying, leaving Mr M one more hill to negotiate bfore he reached his destination.

Strange as he says, that Belgians have provided him with both the lowest and the highest spots of the trip so far.

Still , still some way to go, and he really did need to make good time. But how - with two knackered tyres? (By now he was pushing the bike). Well, coincidence of coincidences - when he was dropped at the Belgians' hotel, what should he see parked out in front, but a familiar minibus. He'd met a group of Brits the day before who'd been on one of these cycle tours when your luggage is transported ahead of you. He'd been talking to the driver about his ride then, and now, here he was again! Had he any spare inner tubes? No problem! So on rode Mr M, collected the car, and called me this evening from his hotel near Luchon.

So, what's all this about bears? Well, as he's been riding through the Pyrenees, Mr M has seen a number of messages scrawled on the rocks and fences Non aux ours Or even Oui aux ours scribbled through and replaced with Non. Strange. Until he remembered hearing reports about the current programme to release bears into the wild! There've been tremendous differences of opinion about this with farmers worrying about the possible danger to their animals.

Mr M reassures us that he has not yet met one of said bears; and even if he did, said bear was far more likely to be afraid of him than otherwise. I do hope that's true!

Snickers in the Pyrenees

Great excitement here! Mr M called us a couple of hours ago from atop the 'hors category' mountain the Col de Soudet. All of 1.540 m which he did in one go; no stopping. And despite the difficulties of cycling over the gravel which has been scattered everywhere ready for the real Tour riders in July. It's rather like riding over sand, apparently.

Just time for a quick Snickers before starting on the long descent.

Pancakes, Picon and Punctures

Our apologies for the break in transmission. Due to domestic crises, mounting phone bills and, more optimistically, the long awaited arrival of sunny weather!

Mr M's 'easy ride' to Rennes was punctuated by three punctures and extreme frustration at the vagaries of French traffic signage. Getting into the city was a nightmare. Fine if you're a motorist, not so for the lowly traveller on two wheels.

Still, the weathers been steadily improving and just then was topping 28C. Once he finally arrived Mr Miff contacted me from his vantage point in a cafe, basking in the late afternoon sunlight - chomping on a Brittany galette and drinking a Picon beer. Loads of other Brits around, too, judging from the background noises.

Thursday saw him heading south to Lorient. It took ages to get out of Rennes, when, for reasons best known to himself he ended up on the motorway! So his journey continued along the hard shoulder for a spell. To do folk credit, no one tooted at him. He suspects this sort of mistake is probably quite common there.

Fond memories on Friday, as he cycled through St Hilaire de Riez in the Vendee; the region where we spent our very first camping holiday - more years ago than we care to remember. Then onwards to La Tranche sur Mere.

Thursday Day 11 June 1st L'Orient>Kerinhet Hot road a secret village

Distance 133
Time 5:55
Climb 796
Weather Sun

http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/france/lorient/198494255

Had a good breakfast at the hotel before leaving.

Funny feeling at the start of the day. This was to be the first of four days riding some 500km to make the jump from the end of TDF stage 8 to the start of 9 in Bordeaux. Sort of mixed feelings about this as on one hand it feels like a waste of effort riding all this distance when the pros won't be. On the other hand the route will take me down the west coast of France where I have spent many happy holidays camping with the family. In particular the area around Royan was one where I spent time training many years ago when I last rode a bike in anger.

Good start to the day as got over the hardest part early. Getting out of a large town on a bike is often difficult but fortunately the route out was pretty much the same as the one I took to the restaurant the previous evening.

Took things relatively easy on country roads. Looking at the guidebook there seemed to be a place in near St Lephin called "Kernihet" that looked particularly interesting so I rang ahead and booked myself in.

After an easy days ride in the sun I arrived at St Lephin but could not see any sign of a Kerinhet hotel. So I checked at the tourist office and found the hotel was actually in a nature reserve 15km or so to the south. I did mind this too much as it simply meant cycling a few more km in the evening and a few less the next day.

So head south and turn off when see Kerinhet signposted. Cycle a few km and still no hotel so retrace my path and just before the main road see another Kerinhet signpost I have missed. Cycle along this road and am then bemused to see another signpost pointing back the way I have just come. So I pull into a large carpark, which I assume to be for the nature reserve and phone the hotel to get directions. What follows is a bit bizarre as I speak to someone who asks me where I am. I explain that I am in the car park and he says fine thats for the hotel. I tell him I cant see the hotel and he says not to worry he'll come out and gets me. Next thing a chap pops out from a small gap in the hedge surrounding the car park. He is on a phone and I realise it must be the guy I am speaking to. So I wander over to him and he says follow him back through the hole in the hedge.

This is all starting to feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland and the feeling continues when, going through the hedge, I dont see the hotel I was expecting but rather some quaint old houses with footpaths running between them. It turns out the "hotel" is actually an anci village. The cottages date from way back and are now rented out as "rooms". Nearby is a large building which serves as reception and restaurant.

The whole scene is completely idyllic and was one of the highlights of the whole trip, all the more so because it was so unexpected.

I down a couple of ciders then head for my room/cottage to change and return for a very nice meal.


http://www.parc-naturel-briere.fr/


http://la-loire.net/visites/parcs/briere/briere-photos-1.htm

http://la-loire.net/visites/parcs/briere/briere-gastronomie.htm

Weather Improving

Some more messages:

Just about to cross the Seine south of Rouen. Sun is out and I have rolled my arm warmers to half-mast. Still blowing strong wind, but at least it isn't cold or wet.

Just south of Caen dodging storm clouds and eating scottish biscuits. About to finally stop having to ride head on into the wind when I turn south and head for Domfront.

Another sign the weather is getting better. Just seen two groups of British made (but French drivers) open top sports cars go by; first some Morgans, then some Triumphs.

Apparently he'd filled his water bottles with 2 Euro bottles of cider, bought at a local farm, which probably accounts for the sea change as well!

All being well, Mr M should be at Rennes by now. He's ahead of schedule, so is intending to do the tourist bit again once he's found somewhere to stay.

Fete des Meres in Cormeilles

Apologies for the lack of accents. After my disasterous attempts at using code these last few entries, I'm in no mood to be daring.

You'll no doubt be glad to learn that Mr M phoned me yesterday from Cormeilles where in a 'cadre chalhereux' he was due to disport himself in the 'calme et confort' of a chambre 'de style cosy,' all this courtesy of Fabrice et Delphine of the Auberge du President. Rather too cosy from the looks of the pic I spotted on the website - although I think the room shown was several grades up from the one he was allocated. Just as well; I can't imagine the patrons would have appreciated him draping his lycra cycling things (with or without antibacterial lining) all over the bed canopy!

Anyway, try and find the website for Cormeilles. From all accounts it's a really pretty place with the architecture of the old houses being not unlike Tudor style -w with as the spouse told me, each being done out in soft colours. It was the best day of the tour so far, with...roll of drums.... No Rain!. Mr M was waiting for his room to be made up when he called, and so had a wander round the place. Being, as he'd realised, the Fete des Meres, the restaurants were completely booked up; he didn't even try to get lunch. Folk were all decked out in their Sunday best, including he said, a crowd of (mostly) little girls coming out of the church. I'd suspect we're into First Communion season over there which would account for it.

Saturday night's meal at St Didier was Italian style pasta and pizza, with anchovies. Although thankfully no cleaver weilding chef was in evidence. If you've ever read the Tim Moore book on shadowing the Tour you'll know exactly what I'm referring to!

Mont Didier to Beauvais

An easy day. Mr M called me at 14.00 hrs from a bar in Beauvais where he's staying in calme et confort at the Hotel de la Residence.

An easy ride today. (We've heard that one before!). He'd decided to be a tourist for the day, and was just about to go off to visit the Cathedral.

Tomorrow looks to be quite a long cycle; across the Seine heading south of Rouen, ending up, if all goes well, west of Rouen at the Auberge Rouen (well, it would be, wouldn't it). No Sunday lunch, in all probability as tomorrow is the Fete des Meres in France, so the Restaurants will be booked up with families.

One big plus to cycling in France, as he says, is that the route is broken up every 2 to 3km by a village. Makes travelling far less tedious. (And of course, you're never that far from a bar or a cafe!)

St Quentin - la Ville vous sourit!

According to the municipal website anyway.

Mr M shook the dust of Belgium off his feet yesterday, (much to his relief; he says he can see why the monks at Chimay went in for homebrewing). He's now back in his beloved France at St Quentin:

…the place not the jail but still feel like doing hard labour against wind and rain. According to the meteo wind is 40 mph and straight into my face!

HTML isn't my forte, I'm afraid. Still, look on the bright side. At least readers will get three goes at the Ville Vous Sourit.

Received earlier today

Over another border into Holland and my furthest point north in Valkenburg. Roads much better here and lots of cyclists. Still very windy. Just refuelling with some beer and cake before starting long journey south.

And just now:

Sitting in a bar in Mettet Belgium feeling like a boy band.... Wet Wet Wet

In Chimay having a Chimay. Still wet!

I'll leave the description of Belgian roads to Mr M once he gets back home. Suffice it to say yesterday was not easy. He's never been so frightened in all his life!

TDF Journal Day 5 Thursday 25th May Huy to Nouvion Goodbye Belgium, Hello France

Distance 157k
Time 7:23
Climb 1039m
Weather Wet, Wet, Wet (and windy) 

Today was to prove the worst day of my tour. It did not start too well as I got up and looked out of the window the grey skies had returned. Not only that but I could see some flags along the river bank and these were almost being blown off their staffs. I went downstairs to what proved to be a pretty meagre breakfast and checked my route. My main aim for the day was to get back into France and I had planned to go cross country by the most direct route to achieve this. However this would take me straight into the teeth of the gale that was clearly blowing outside. I changed my mind and decided to follow the road along the Meuse. This was shown as a main road but I had learned this might be a good thing, it should be relatively flat and the valley it ran it would hopefully provide a bit of shelter from the wind.

This turned out to be a good plan. The road was smooth, with a wide hard shoulder that served as a cycle path. A steady drizzle had set in but because I was forewarned I had donned my Pack-a-Mac at the hotel so remained relatively dry inside. I think the route would also have been relatively scenic but the wind and rain pretty much obscured my view.
I made good time down to Jambes but there found there was a market on which slowed me down as I tried to avoid shoppers, a difficult task since both they and I were wrapped up so tightly against the weather. As a result my average speed slowed quite a bit and this started me on a train of thought that I would return to several times during my trip, namely things we cyclo-tourists have to put up with that the pros don't. I can just imagine the TDF peloton hurtling through a town centre, then having to jump off their bikes because a market was taking place....(not).

I crossed over the Meuse eventually. There had not been much traffic, despite my using a main road, I guess even car drivers did not fancy going out given the conditions, but I was passed by a group of motorbikes. This was the first time that it had happened and it happened a lot during the rest of my tour and it did make me wonder as the motivation for wanting to motorbike in groups. On a pushbike it makes sense as the more of you there are the easier it is (another advantage the tour pros have, for them a head wind is less of a problem than a cross wind). Not so sure why you would want to motorbike as part of a group though, seems to take away some of the advantages of having a motorbike in the first place as you can't go as fast as you like or overtake with impunity. I can sort of understand the shared camraderie at stops or the end of the day but then why do you see so many motorbike groups and very rarely groups of cars?

Anyway 10km south of Jambes I had to leave the shelter of the river valley and head west if I was to get to my destination. I climbed up the side of the valley, reaching the top was like being, literally, hit around the head by a wet fish. The wind was near to full on gale force driving the heavy rain directly into my face. I set off gloomily along the road. Progress was difficult as apart from the wind and rain the road rolled up and down. Strangely I actually looked forward to the ups as at least at the bottom of each little climb I got a little respite from the wind. Little by little I was losing the will to live, so I made myself a promise to stop at the next town which looked to be a place called Mettet. However it seemed like I was making very slow progress. The nadir came when I climbed to the what I thought was the top of a little hill only to find that it was just a plateau and the real hill loomed above. At that stage the wind increased even more in force and it became difficult even to turn the pedals over let alone make real progress. I was soaked to the bone and feeling very very low.

This was the only time during the entire trip that I came close to regretting what I was doing and the thought of chucking in the towel (if only I had one, which would have been useful given how wet I was) crossed my mind. It seemed like things could not get any worse and fortunately I was right. As I struggled up the hill I just caught sight of a little white sign pointing to my right. It had the most beautiful word in the world printed in big black capitals "METTET". I followed it and almost immediately things got better. The big hill that was such a bugger to climb now provided shelter from the gale, which in any case I was now tacking across rather than trying to plough straight into. Not only that after a short rise the road down to Mettet was straight downhill, so I quickly came to the town centre. This was somewhat small, in fact it only took a couple of minutes to go right round it and this first circuit failed to detect any hostelries.




Visit Mettet!

However after I had wiped the water from my eyes I saw there was one bar. I went in and immediately started to feel better. I found a seat next to the window and things looked up even more as there was a piping hot radiator there that not only warmed me up but also let me do an impromptu striptease as I took off various layers of clothing and laid them over the radiator to dry off. A waitress arrived, not to chuck me out but rather to ask me what I wanted to eat/drink. I asked for 2 Leffes, 1 orange juice and 2 croque monsieurs. The waitress asked if the someone else was joining me and I said no, they were just for me as I was in urgent need of sustenance. Very quickly both food and drink arrived. The croques were huge and came with salad but were wolfed down as were the beers. I asked for another round of both which I consumed with a bit more moderation.




Things were definitely looking up. My socks were toasting nicely on the radiator and my cold bones were now being warmed by a gentle glow from my full to brimming stomach. Not only that, as I looked out of the window on the central square I could now clearly see to the other side so the weather was brightening up as well. I consulted my maps and found more good news. I had not realised during my planning (honest) but the town of Chimay was
near to my route. Now this is a name I know very well ever since the first brush I had with the town's most famous product, fittingly given my current trip, on my first night in Strasbourg many years ago. For Chimay is famous for its beer, brewed by its Trappist monks, who presumably use it to alleviate the rigours of their chosen path in life. The beer is famous for its strength, the least strong red being a mere 7 degrees and the rather more powerful Bleu being a hefty 9 degrees. Definitely a drink to be taken in moderation.




Chimay looked like being the perfect distance for a late afternoon stop. So with this as an incentive I left the pub. Things got even better. The wind seemed to have died down and the rain was now more like a light drizzle. Also there was a back road out of town, around, not over, the big hill that had been the cause of my earlier grief.

So I left Mettet in a much better state than when I found it and had an uneventful trip to Chimay. I was a little disappointed to find that the town was not full of industrious, tonsured monks but was just an ordinary Belgian town, with cobbled streets (zut). Not to be dissuaded I nevertheless stopped at a bar and ordered some of the local brew.

Beer/Cheese/Monks

Fortified I headed west and south. The rain was still hanging around, but not too bad. As I headed along a country road I noticed that the road surface abruptly changed from rather poor to nice and smooth. Almost simultaneously, it felt, the rain stopped and, if the sun did not exactly shine, the clouds covering the sky turned from grey to off white. Then I noticed that the road signs were different. I was back in France! Hoorah!!!




My overnight destination was Le Nouvion a town that as its website
Visit Le Nouvion!
says is "a lively community with its various industries : Les Fromagers de Thirache producers of the famous "Maroilles Cheese", The West Pharmaceutical manufacturer of pharmaceuticals corks, The slaughterhouse Porcinord."

Fortunately I had not read this last bit before booking.

I eventually made it, though not without going in circles for a bit due to following my nose to a short cut.

The hotel was nice if unremarkable. Rather fittingly, though, it had signs up for the TDF which was due to head through. The manageress showed a degree of interest in my trip mentioning that a team from Gan was staying for the tour. This got me a bit excited as there used to be a Gan cycling team (now Credit Agricole) but it turned out they were from the town not the team so I would not be able to boast of sharing a bed with any famous cyclists.

Watched the local news to catch "le meteo" (weather forecast). Depressingly the winds are due to continue. A big arrow with "80 kph" straddled my route, pointing directly into my face. Oh dear. Still on the good side, less rain was forecast. I felt that I had survived my baptism of fire (well water actually) at Mettet and that no matter what the elements chose to throw at me now I would pull through and survive....

Lost, one Alien!

Yes, in amongst the goings-ons on Monday, Mr M has lost his tool. His bike has a squeak, and its computer is no longer working. In his reading matter 'History of the World' he's got past the Greeks and Romans and is now on to the Waning of the Classical West. He's cycled up and down hills which in terms of incline make the Eiffel Tower seem tame. Repeat again - Belgium is not flat! He says that no wonder the Maginot Line stopped where it did.

Oh and the weather. Wind, rain, hail... You get the picture, I'm sure. He's beginning to run out of Travel wash liquid.

But so far, so good. He is about 2 days ahead of schedule. And hopefully last night's stay in a nice hotel in Eupen in the Liege reason will have given him a chance to dry out. Don't know what it was I said over the phone to them but when he arrived he found they'd upgraded his room.

Awaiting news of today's ride - he was due to be passing by Masstricht. An easy day.

Belgium-Luxembourg-Belgium or is that the other way round?

Despite having an O Level in Geography Mr M has been under the impression that Belgium is flat. After Monday and Tuesday's explorations he's been relieved of that impression! Relieved is probably not the best choice of wording under the circs, as we found when he phoned on Monday evening relais de silence , the Hostellerie Pieffeschof near the border with Luxembourg.

Either way, what he didn't tell us earlier was that soggy croissants (and as he discovered soggy passport, maps and bike computer device) were the least of his problems. By that stage he was absolutely bursting, but the only even remotely secluded spot available was round the back of an electricity sub-station! Not the wisest of choices, especially in the middle of a storm. It's not on record as to how he coped, although I suspect that 'tie a knot in it' came into it somewhere! I gather that by that stage he was starting to wonder if it was all worth it.

Still, after lunch the sun came out, and he managed to get to Luxembourg ahead of schedule. Asking directions to a hotel, (any hotel!) from a kind lady bank clerk led to sundry sorties up and down terrifyingly steep hills, before he ended up back in Belgium again! The first thing he did on arriving, dripping wet at the Peiffeschof was to order two huge beers and a badoit!

And here it is!

Text received a minute ago:

v.v. wet grey day in Lorraine. Taking cover in bus shelter and eating croissants!

Sunday Night - Saint Avold

Mr M had a good day, cycling around 100 miles with the wind behind him. (As I predicted!) By evening he was in the Lorraine region. He spent the night in the town of Saint Avold, 50 kms from Metz - in a hotel whose building (according to my Guide de Routard dates back to the sixteenth century. Built by the Protestant Counts de Crehange, who installed a small chapel (how an art gallery) at the back of the inner courtyard (now the dining room) so that they could practice their religion without let or hindrance. He may have been able to admire the 'sculpted keystones' and 'fine vaulted ceilings' of the former, but being Sunday, the dining room was closed, so after he called us, he was intending to set off round town looking for somewhere else to eat.

More news, and (hopefully) more cyclestuff later.

Sunday Lunch

No, the chap above was
not the dish of the day! For reasons best known to themselves, our camera and the pc aren't talking. So you'll never get to see our pictures of Le Grand Depart.. So instead it gives us the perfect excuse to publish a snap of our resident hairy horror and Basset Fauve. This happy little hound is still comparatively rare in the UK, having only been around for 20 years or so. Not so in France, where it has a long and illustrious history. The tenuous link here being that Mr M spotted one this afternoon whilst lunching at Dabo. ( I can see this replacing our favourite travel game of 'Spot the Eddy Stobart or Norbert Dentressangle lorry.)

According to his text, our intrepid cyclist lunched on tarte flambee, picon, and the dreaded munster cheese. I can imagine him being jet-propelled all the way to Dieuze! No cycletalk for now, but I expect to know more when he phones later this evening.

And he's off!

As I type, Mr M is en route for Eurostar. And then, onwards to Paris and Strasbourg. All being well, tomorrow will see him pedalling off to Obernai, and from there striking out towards Luxembourg.

More later, once we've uploaded the farewell photos.

Hungerford Big Wheel - All welcome

Riding up Coombe Gibbet (short but deadly hill nearby) last Sunday was stopped at the top by an enterprising chap who reckoned this was ideal place to catch fellow cyclists who may be interested in riding in the Hungerford Big Wheel on Saturday 4th June. I won't be able to make it due to being somewhere in France then but if you can make it get in touch via the website below, looks like it will be a fun day...

Hungerford Big Wheel

Rolling Free - Roubaix S-Works

Splashed out on some new tyres for the bike and fitted some Roubaix S-Works. To quote from the web site (see here for more:

Roubaix S-Works

"There are riders who feel that fast and long rides should be enjoyed, and not merely endured. For these riders, we’ve introduced the new S-Works Roubaix. Super supple, light weight, and fast rolling, the Roubaix S-Works is the perfect match for the rider who wants the ultimate in performance tires without the harsh ride."

This seemed pretty much what I was after, fast and smooth.

Anyway, tried them out last Sunday and have to say they certainly do what it says on the rim. They are certainly faster than my previous Specialized Pros but also smoother over the less than perfect roads we have all over West Berks. Seem fine for climbing as well, took the bike up Coombe Gibbet and (almost) sprinted to the top (well maybe not but at least it was less of a struggle than the last time).

So thus far would heartily recommend them to anyone planning a long ride. That said, couple of reservations:
> They are not cheap but I figure worth it given the distance I will be travelling
> Cant tell how long they will last. But will find out I am sure...

Pics of Wales

The Devils Staircase:

The road along the valley leading to the base of the staircase



Beware the sign of the Devil!!



Over the top: view of the Llyn Brianne reservoir

Biking, Beer and Bacon (and a nice faggot and last years Xmas pud) in the Beacons

Spent a long weekend in the Brecon Beacons, based at the Kings Head Inn in Llandovery (which I heartily recommend, especially if you get a room with a jacuzzi).



I planned this as my final major training session prior to the tour itself. I wanted to over-train by putting in more miles/hours for a couple of days than I will on the real thing. I am happy to relate I succeeded with only a couple of minor mishaps, fortified by lots of Cwrw beer, some of the best bacon I have ever had for breakfast plus some very good evening meals, highlight of which was some local Welsh faggots. (I also solved the dilemma of what to do with the Xmas pudding you inevitably never get round to cooking by taking it with me and eating cold, alas without brandy butter as supplies en route).

The weekend also marked the debut of my legs as my tracksuit bottoms were cast off allowing my hairy knees to see the sun after their long winter hibernation. It also put my super duper cycle shorts with 3D chamois with integrated anti-microbal silver protection to their first test which they passed (at least I am writing this sitting down!)

I was incredibly lucky with the weather. I went to Wales in April and only got slightly wet once on Friday. Even then the rain had the good manners to wait until I was riding home to a warm jacuzzi and stop before I got back allowing me time to dry off. (BTW I recommend "The Weather Outlook(TWO)" site as it got the weather for last weekend spot on when I booked the hotel at the beginning of April).

The routes I followed were from the Philips South Wales Cycle Tours book which I sort of recommend (but heed the warning at the end of this entry about Route 4!).



Here is a quick overview of how I passed my days...

Friday tours around Llandovery (3&4 in the book) totalling 137km, 1800m of climbs

Altitude Profile/Gradient %/Heart rate


This was the day of the "Devils Staircase" a beast of a climb that seems to go straight up (actually 25%). But it was good to get to the top, not least because the descent the other side was simply stunning, a switchback ride over gloriously smooth roads followed by circuit around the Llyn Brianne reservoir.



Saturday tours around Brecon (5&6 in the book) totalling 190km and 3000m of climbs.

Altitude Profile/Gradient %/Heart rate


This was the day to end all days. I rode over to Builth Wells and then did a figure of 8 with two loops linking at Brecon. My plan was to push myself to the limit and I ended up breaking all my personal bests in terms of distance covered, metres climbed and time in the saddle. In part this was due to a minor cock up in my planning as when calculating my route I forgot the 40km that I would need to ride back from the start point (a lot of which was uphill!). When I finally arrived back at the hotel I had missed dinner but got a takeaway and asked for 3 pints of beer and 1 cider to be sent up to my room. This beverage request seemed to cause some surprise, which surprised me because I thought this was rugby land. Anyway I had earned it.

Highlight of this days ride (apart from surviving!) was the return ride down to Brecon along the Roman road that cuts across the Mynydd Illtud marsh. Two especial joys of this were
> Firstly the view of Corn Du and Pen y Fan that you get to the south. This was especially apt for me because it was a reminder of my time training for the Three Peaks challenge when I climbed these on a classic April day in 2004 that started sunny and ended in a blizzard and which sort of started me on my current quest.



> Secondly the descent down to Brecon is great fun. Smooth and straight with lovely views.

Sunday Llandovery again (tour 4+a bit)bit totalling around 90km and 1200m or so of climbs.

Best bit of the day was getting up and still feeling like riding. Slightly sore left thigh but apart from that all other parts of my body checked in ready for action.

One pain was that my HAC gave up its ghost at the start of this ride so no pretty graphs. I did worry I had lost all my stats from the previous 2 days which was a bit of a downer as I did not really want to have to go back and ride them again (at least not for a while...). But fortunately just needed a new battery.

Raining in London for the marathon but held off in Wales as I did a circuit round Llandovery. Only disappointment of the ride was that a pub on the way that claimed to have 10 varieties of cider available was shut despite promising all day opening. So I stayed dry inside and out.

Surprise of the day was from the author of the cycle tours book. He recommends a "short cut" that I decided to take as a bit of variety as I had already ridden the standard route on Friday. This so called short-cut was definitely a case of "you take the high road and I'll take the low" as what it did was take you over a few steep hills instead of around them. Coming out of Caio was the hardest climb of the weekend. Not so much because it was the longest or the steepest but because it was unexpected. Looking at the guide at the end of the ride I saw I had missed a turn at Aberbowlan. The guide said go straight on but I followed the main road round to the right. Glad I did because the contours on the recommended route are stacked so tight the map looks red. My suspicion is that if you do actually go up that road you will come across the torn up remains of the cycle guide and maybe a few skeletons.

Short cut (ha ha)


Drove back home happy. Strangely when I weighed myself I had put on 6lbs despite all my exertions!! Obviously I had tucked into a bit too much bacon, xmas pud and one too many faggots.

Lambs, Daffodils and Jacuzzis

No, you've not wandered off into an English Lit blog by mistake. Mr Miff has just phoned from his hideout in deepest, darkest Llandovery at the edge of the Brecon Beacons. This being the next best thing to the alps, he's spending a long weekend working up to the kind of mileage he'll be doing during The Tour.

The fact that I've been told more about the hosts of golden daffodils and little lambs along the route; not to mention the joys of ones very own jaccuzi is neither here nor there!

Do call in in a couple of days time to hear more technical stuff from Wordsworth in person.

Easter Weekend: Ton Up + Perkins

Feb 2019
Thought it would be nice to go over some of my old blog posts, so will revisit them from time to time.

Here is the first.. my first ever 100 mile ride on a lovely Easter weekend that coincided with a new arrival in our household.

Good old Perkins...

PS ,, poor old Bailey after the fun of chasing Mephie Perkins put him firmly in his place. Even though he was ancient Perkins was still full of spirit and had the occasional bit of fun by assaulting Bailey with no provocation.....

April 2006
Took advantage of the long Easter weekend to go for a couple of long rides. On my tour I plan to average 130km per day so on Saturday I went on a loop of Salisbury/Marlborough that was just over 130k. Felt fine Sunday so on Monday, fortified by plentiful Easter eggs, simnel cake and roast beef & lamb dinner I decided to try for the ton (in terms of miles). Was lucky with the weather, sunny most of the day though with a bit of a westerly breeze. But coped with the ride fine, managing 168km or 105 miles. Also took in some of the hills around and about so did around 1300m of climbing as well. Felt really good on the ride and celebrated with some pints at the Lamb pub (sort of appropriate for the season).

Still feeling fine today, put this down in part to the fact I forced myself to take it easy for the ride yesterday. I averaged 23kph and especially relaxed on the last 30 minutes of the ride, keeping my heart rate below 120 and often below 105. I think this makes a big difference in terms of how easy the day after a long ride feels.


Other major event of the weekend was on Sunday when we went to see a cat up for adoption at our local cat shelter. We are near a busy road so are quite limited in choice of cats for homing. We have an outside cat run but this is not big enough for an active outdoor moggy so we ideally would have an indoor cat. Perkins was suggested to us as, though he is an outdoor cat, he is getting on in years, 15 to be exact and so should be happy with the house and cat run. He is quite different from our old cat Mephi, who died earlier this year, who was an almost black siamese cross. Perkins is hairy, piebald white and black and will be arriving shortly. Main item of interest will be how he gets on with Bailey our dog. Time will tell...

Mr M's Bike

Crisps!

12th April - 100K, 1000M and the best crisps I have ever tasted

Nice weather today so went for a ride on the downs. Decided to push myself a little and was happy with results, ended up doing 106km and over 1000m of climbing including several 10%+ hills. Averaged over 25kph which was pretty good as the wind was blowing a bit especially for the first 50k.

Rewarded myself with a trip to the pub with Mrs Miffy and had a very pleasurable experience. The humble crisp is something of a convenience food, over the years I guess I must have eaten several thousands of the little blighters, but never really thought of them as a gourmet experience. Well that changed when I tried some of the new "Pipers" crisps that the pub was selling. They were as close as I have ever tasted to the perfect crisp. The potato tasted great and were fried to perfection. And the flavouring tasted of real cheese. I liked them so much I bought 5 packets. If you ever see them around, treat yourself.

Isle of Wight

Saturday/Sunday 8th-9th April

Happy couple of days on the gloriously sunny Isle of Wight. Ate and drank copiously [It was his birthday after all! - Miffy] with no cycling at all.Put on a few pounds as a result but sure will work these off in the next few weeks. Came home and watched the last round of the masters, quite happy that Phil Mickelson won as he, like me, is a right hander who plays golf left handed (there the resemblence as far as golf goes stops...)

Friday 7th April - Streatley Hills

Friday 7th April - Streatley Hills/Off to the Isle of Wight

Took a day off today. Planning to go off to the Isle of Wight for the weekend so no chance of cycling, so thought I had better put some miles into the bank in advance. Headed off to Streatley, a small town on the left bank of the River Thames (with a twin Goring on the right bank). Went there because it has the steepest hill that I know of round and about here. It is short but sharp going up 110m in under 1km so an average of around 12.5%, but feels harder because it gets steeper the further up you ride so the final 100m is 17%. The other good thing about this hill is that there is a back road down to the bottom that winds down 5km. This forms a nice 6km lap. (here it is if interested>


I went with the hope of doing 5 laps and happy to say I managed this, evening adding on an extra lap in reverse. Part of the reason for doing the laps was to try different ways to tackle the hill. Interestingly my first lap, which I did seated in lowest (30x27) also felt the hardest but I think that was fear of the unknown. I ended up finding that when the hill was going up at less than 10% then seated in second(30x24)/third(30x21) low was the most comfortable but once it got past 10% then standing up and turning over the second low was the easiest option for me at least. When doing this my pulse remained at less than 160bpm so I was working hard but not pushing myself to the limit.

Headed home happy feeling pretty happy with the day and then went off to the IOW with Mrs M.