Monthly Archives: November 2009
Day 29 – Nov 15th – Carcassonne to Armissan
Aaahhh….always good to be back on the road. It never fails…I am always happy in the morning to be back on the bike.
Things went fine today. We had a nice 74km ride from Carcassonne to a village out side of Narbonne called Armissan. It was overcast today…pleasant, but not brilliant…hehe! Guess I was a little spoiled for sun yesterday! But it remained warm, a little breezy…not overwhelming.
Here are some shots from the road….
There was one major highlight today that needs to be pointed out…in fact, this is a major milestone in my trip and a monumental moment for me, a novice cycle tourer, that has just set on his first big tour.
I reached the Mediterranean.
That’s right. Not only did I see the sea, I went put my hand in the water and licked the salt off my fingers. It was awesome. I have successfully cycled across France. I guess I’m pretty happy with myself.
Tonight we are being hosted by Françoise and Jean-Luis.
Françoise took us on a small tour of the are, the sea, Narbonne, and some small villages…
Dinner was lovely….all the produce and eggs were home grown from their garden…
and we finished off the evening with rum that Jean-Luis made…back in 1984!
Nice.
Tomorrow we start making our way across the coast…I’m so happy to be in the Med…things are looking up.
74km Bicycled Today
1779km to Date
Day 28 – Nov 14th – Castelnaudary to Carcassonne
Today was a glorious day. I just need to take a moment to thank everyone who has praying for sun…Seb & Aurelie, my fans in Brighton and Oregon, and Dara (thanks for your sun dances!). The sun was out today…it stayed and we enjoyed a fantastic lazy ride in 21c heat! A perfect day to be riding in the south of France.
The day started slowly…comfortably…breakfast with our hosts and then a slow lazy pack to get ready. I think the original intention was to be on the road for 9.30…but Jerome and I didn’t leave the house until about 11.30! Brilliant.
Our destination today? The wonderful walled city of Carcassonne.
The plan was to take the path along the Canal du Midi until it ran out and then take the smaller d-roads the remainder of the way. I was aware the the path was deteriorating and I’d been warned of this before I left the UK…you know, to look out for tough, choppy parts of the canal path…but alas, when we reached the canal in Castelnaudary, it was completely closed off! We resorted to some of the minor roads which proved to be very boring, straight, and uneventful…well…I shouldn’t say totally uneventful…we got chased off by a pack of vicious dogs that for some reason were unchained and unfenced! A scary moment…I just put my legs into gear and tried to outrun them, Jerome took evasive action and tried to cross out of what he thought might be their territory…they backed off and we continued on a little shaken. We thought they might have been somehow connected to the nearby military installation…who knows…
We covered the 45km to Carcassonne in just under 3 hours…a nice lazy pace…enjoying the sun and warmth…stopped for a snack of cheese and baguette.
I never was able to find a Couchsurfing host in Carcassonne…not sure why but just didn’t seem to get lucky here so we are staying at the Hostelling International hostel in the middle of the old city. It’s nice enough…modest, clean, and comfortable…and actually it’s kind of nice to have a break from Couchsurfing for one night.
After checking in we had a wander of the old city, the walls, the small paths that wind through the stone buildings and roads. It’s a beautiful place that in some ways reminds me of time spent in Dubrovnik or other historic cities on the Croatian coast.
For the first time on my tour I got a real sense of Mediterranean culture…you could feel it in the air…the sounds of the old city, the smell, and warmth of the sun on stone…I can tell that I’m getting closer to the Med, the feeling is changing…and boy does that make me happy.
This evening Jerome’s parents met us in Carcassonne (they’re on a little tour of their own – by car that is – around the south of France). They treated us to a dinner of cassoulet at a local restaurant… if there is one thing that I truly love, it’s going to new restaurants, trying new food, and then finishing off the evening with a drink and good conversation…perfect on all counts.
Was a great day…not much cycling, but great to take my time, be a tourist, and – for lack of a better phrase – stop and smell the roses.
45km Bicycle Today
1705km to Date
Day 27 – Nov 13th – Toulouse to Castelnaudary
I woke up first thinking about my knee…’was I going to be able to ride today?’ I knew that we only had canals ahead and the path was fairly flat – so as long as I only need to spin the pedals I should be ok…uphills would not be on for me. Ok – persecute me if you must…but I really didn’t want a rest day…I was anxious as hell to get moving and I didn’t want my fall to stop me.
I got of bed…checked my knee….minimal swelling. That was good. Felt it out a bit. And things seemed to be all right. I didn’t hurt nearly as bad as when I went to bed. I was relieved. My shoulder however has tightened up. It hurt, but I figured ‘I’m not pedalling with my shoulder’! Ok. I can do this today.
Jerome was also keen to get on the road – and I was interested to see how he would do on his first day. He’s an artist, not an athlete – so who knows how this would go. But bear in mind that I am no athlete either…my decision to do this trip was equally as spontaneous as his to join me…and hey – you get fit on the road (at least that’s what I told him).
I feel that I am taking on a risk here…bringing someone else on board…on this tour. But the opportunity presented itself…I saw no reason not to take the risk…why not. Nothing to lose and everything to gain. I was however worried slightly about pace. I have worked my way up to 130km days and this clearly would not work for someone just starting out on tour. But hey, this also gives me a chance to slow down and enjoy the scenery a bit.
Equally – I remain incredibly impressed that someone who hates bicycling took the initiative to take a stranger (me) up on an offer to cycle across Europe. He pulled it together. Got a bike. Met me in Toulouse and is keen to ride. Obviously you have to give this a chance. This tour is all about opportunity and who knows how this can change the adventure!
Just to put some context in here about my new cycling companion; Jerome lived in the UK for some time and has worked as a successful artist in London. You can check his work out on his website, jeromefayoux.com. I guess he will become a regular part of this blog as I write and hopefully now that someone is travelling with me there will be less pictures of my bike and more pictures of people!
We set off at about 9.30 this morning for Castelnaudary. It was nice 60km away or so, and I figured a good way to break in his legs and see how he gets on for the day. The weather, cool and overcast…no rain…but a fierce headwind! Was a nice size ride, flat – but the headwind provided a challenge and slowed us down a bit.
We were cruising along the Canal du Midi. I had been warned by some of the boys on Cyclechat.co.uk that portions of the path were pretty tricky when wet, but we went for it anyway…fought the mud and gravel and enjoyed some of the technical riding. I think Jerome really enjoyed the day. He has never really cycled so it was cool to get out there and mash about in the mud, feel out his new bike, and enjoy the scenery…plus – this was his first 60km day! As the distance grows there will be many firsts for him on this trip!
He did well. I think he could easily have done another 30km, but equally, that could also have been too much. Better to take it slow…break the legs in, and stay for the long haul, rather than get injured early on. I think he also surprised himself as to what he was capable of. From cycling novice to cycle tourer in one day. Not bad. I was chuffed and I think he was too.
Tomorrow is a short ride as well to Carcassone. We’re going to meet his parents their for cassoulet! I’m told it’s awesome and I can’t wait…food lover that I am.
Stealing Wifi to contact our host
Tonight we are being hosted by a couchsurfer named Sophie and her boyfriend. They have really made us feel comfortable…we had starters, Toulouse sausages (good choice Sophie), cheese, desert, and great conversation.
My knee feels much better…the ride went smooth and I suffered very little from yesterdays fall. My shoulder will take a few days…but I am grateful that that is all. I recognise that I got pretty lucky on this one…and to all the boys on Cyclechat – thanks for pushing my to buy health insurance…don’t need it now, but I’m glad it’s there!
67km Bicycled Today
1660 to Date
Day 26 – Nov 12th – Rest day in Toulouse
My rest is in Toulouse has been fantastic. The clouds lifted and I enjoyed a lovely morning bathing in the sun and 21c heat! Was certainly a change from yesterday. I didn’t do much other than potter around town a bit…my host Julie suggested a route to walk through town – which I took – and saw as much of the city as I could in a short morning. Toulouse is quite different from the other towns in France I have visited. The red brick structures are really soothing to the eye and you really start to get the feeling that you are moving south…the people, the attitude – everything is changing.
Guillaume and Julie treated me for lunch at a Canadian (yes Canadian) restaurant in the business district of town. We ate outside – quite a change from the the downpour I went through yesterday!
In the evening I was due to meet up with Jerome…you may recall from previous posts that I was to potentially meet up with a French painter to cycle with. Well – I wasn’t sure whether or not he really would take me up on my offer to cycle with me – but he did!
I mean – you really have to give this guy props! It wasn’t only 10 days ago that we met, shared stories, and I told him about my little tour! He had some time to burn so I suggested coming along for a bit…ride a bike…see how he likes it…and see what happens! Within the time we met and now he organised himself a bike, some panniers, a bit of courage and tonight I’m going over to his family’s place for dinner, a rest, and in the morning we start our first day of riding together so we’ll see how this goes!
At about 7pm (it’s dark out) I made my way from Julie and Guillaume’s place to meet up with him. It was a few kilometres away but I’d sussed it out on the map. As I parted was with J & G, they seriously set me up. After seeing me come to theirs soaking wet (they were great hosts by the way – really looked after me and helped me get my clothes dry) and starving, they gave me a KILO of M&M’s, biscuits, and energy bars! I was incredibly grateful.
I start cruising on my way…at pace…I must have been doing about 23 or 24 km/hr. A car tried to overtake me so a quickly tried to move out of it’s way…it was wet, there were lots of leaves on the ground…and then BAM! – my front tire hit a lip in the road, suddenly my bike was underneath me, and I went straight over the handle bars! Don’t know what happened but my bike fell to the right, but I impacted on my left shoulder and knee – then just went tumbling. It all happened so fast – I can’t even remember the fall. I just remember getting up about 4 metres from my bike…walking out to the road, pulling it out of traffic and then checking myself – and then the bike
‘i’m ok…everything is working…’
Drivers stop.
‘Ca va?’
‘Ca va, merci’
That was it. I took a second to recompose myself. It was the first fall of my tour – I was going fast, really going for the peddles…and I think I got lucky. I checked myself again. My knees ached, my shoulder was definitely burning, but I was ok. (Mama, Tata, if you are reading this – I’m fine…no need to call – everything is ok)
With adrenaline pumping I pulled it together – checked the bike again – I’d ripped a small hole in my ortlieb pannier, but the panniers had cushioned the bike – and got myself to Jerome and his family. I must have been shaken as when I reached the house I totally forgot my etiquette – didn’t introduce myself properly and just started blathering on to Jerome about my close call…I was running on pure adrenaline.
I was worried about my knee for the next days cycling.
The rest of the evening was lovely. Jerome’s in-laws had prepared a fantastic dinner of veal, cheeses, and desert and the things finished very well…but I went to bed with my body aching and truly worried about getting back on the bike – even though I feigned that everything was ok.
Day 25 – Nov 11th – Agen to Toulouse
Rain…
rain…
rain…
Unbelievable…usually when I have rain – it starts and then lasts for a bit and then quits…or it’s a bit patchy and comes and goes…but today was the wettest it’s been. So wet in fact that I couldn’t really get my camera out…so pictures…well…don’t really have any for today.
It rained absolutely non stop from door to door for over 8 hours.
This morning was nice and leisurely, I packed my bags slowly, had breakfast, and a quick chat for Sandra and Sofiane…they were busy preparing a lunch for their family. It is a holiday in France today…this would only become a problem for my later in the afternoon.
I checked the weather…a light drizzle, nothing serious. Thought, I’d bettter get some waterproofs on anyway…and then i just dreaded the thought of having to go through another day with wet, cold hands…so my first stop was to GO Sport to buy a new pair of gloves…I did it, it bit into my budget, but I bought a pair of waterproof Gore-Tex ski gloves…and boy was I glad I did…they worked a treat and seriously improved my quality of life. The Dhb gloves have been seriously disappointing – they were sold as ‘waterproof winter gloves’ yet all they did was absorb water…worthless.
Dhb = Bad Gore-Tex = Good
I set off along the canals again…but it was already 11:30am… I knew I had at least 100km to go so I was prepared to push it a bit to get to Toulouse before dark…but then the rain picked up, and I got a headwind…and then it just got worse and worse.
I stopped in a small village – wolfed down a small sandwich that I had, and then set about looking for some more food…anything…a snickers bar…anything. But everything was shut.
Every town I passed I looked for food – nothing was open. So I pushed on and on, my blood sugar dropping more and more… I was just starting to go nuts.
With all the starting and stopping in my search for a meal, the time drifted and soon it was 5pm and I still had the best part of 50km to go (the canal paths are much longer that you’d imagine and it gets dark at 6 so I was a bit concerned!).
It was getting bad…after 7 hours in the rain water had made it’s way into my shoes (no thanks to the Dhb waterproof overshoes), I was wet with sweat, cold, and very very hungry. I was now negotiating the canal paths in the dark and making my way into a city I’d never been, but I knew that I would be able to finish and there would be a warm house waiting for me.
Halfway through the day – the back of my mind was considering a hotel/B&B, anything to get out of the rain…but I had committed myself to getting to Toulouse tonight and I wanted to make it. I had a couchsurfing host waiting, a warm meal, and a bed and I was determined to get there. So I just pushed on, raised the cadence, put my head down and got through it. The 100km I had anticipated was in fact 134km…but that was ok…I got through it.
Definitely a day I have no need to repeat, but I did it. It was tough…and at the end, I spent the evening with another couchsurfer, our hosts, fresh lasagne, red wine and good conversation…within 10 minutes I’d forgotten all about my day…
134km Bicycled Today
1593km to Date
Day 24 – Nov 10th – St Exupery to Agen
Well…no sooner did I hit the road before it started raining…hilarious!
I stopped for lunch today in a pizzeria…in fact I was shocked to find a pizzeria/bar open along the canal.
I was wet, hungry, maybe a little grumpy…so rather than stand in the rain and try to force down a stale baguette, I decided to treat myself. Most of this trip I have ended up snacking during the day in all sorts of locations…my meal usually consists of a baguette, cheese, and saucisson…cheap and cheerful. I’ve eaten in bus shelters, parks, cemeteries, on the side of the highway and other comfortable places…but I haven’t actually stopped and had a meal in a restaurant since Raoul and I went to that creperie back on day 1 or 2 of the trip…it’s alway been a meal on the go somewhere.
Today I needed the rest, the warmth, the comfort food.
Pizza, a glass of red, and an espresso later, I was ready to get back on the bike path.
About 10km from my destination for the day, Agen, something fantastic happened…I rode by two bicycle tourers! I saw them coming my direction…you could tell they were carrying a lot of gear from miles off…and since I hadn’t seen any other cyclists all day I figured the only ones stupid enough to be out in the rain would be tourers. We approached each other, smiled, waved and then…that was it. They went there way and I went mine…I regretted immediately not stopping my bike…and forcing them to stop as well ‘where are you from? where are you going? how long have you been on the road?’ My head was filled with questions and regret. They were the very first cycle tourers I’d come across on my trip so far…on day 24. It would have been nice to know who they were and what they were up to.
They had a ‘Stop Climate Change’ sign strapped to the back of their bikes and both were riding recumbent…so perhaps a reader know two recumbent cyclists that were touring on the Garonne in the south of France on the 10th of November.
Anyway…it made my day. It really did.
This evening I am being hosted by Sofiane and Sandra in Agen. They are both mathematics teachers originally from Bordeaux….dinner was great (as you can see below) and packed full of carbs for my day tomorrow. The ride to Toulouse in 100+kms so should be a good day – even though it is forecast to rain…
Here are some pictures from the day:
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92km Bicycled Today
1459km to Date
Day 23 – Nov 9th – Bordeaux to St Exupery
Sun! I finally have sun again! Absolutely fantastic!
Yesterday I was meant to do some sightseeing with my host in Bordeaux, Celine, but the rain just would not stop and it turned out to be more of a ‘wine and a good book’ kind of day! We did visit the local Sunday market…which was amazing….the food was mind blowing…they definitely know how to eat in France!
It was a real pleasure spending the weekend with Celine and her daughter, Iris. We had a few fun nights, and relaxing days, great meals, and good conversation…I hit the road today feeling rested and ready to rock n roll!
My welcome picture from Iris
My host, Celine, and her daughter
Bordeaux is a great city and one I will definitely need to revisit – it was a bit chilly now but you can tell that it is the type of place that would be absolutely buzzing in the summer.
The bicycle ride today was fantastic. The track I rode from Bordeaux to Sauveterre de Guyenne is a dedicated bicycle path that was once a railway line. They’ve tarmacked over it and now is a 55km smooth path with no traffic, running through forest and between the vineyards of Bordeaux. Really nice, easy, fast, and beautiful riding.
The best part was I had sun! Sun! Sun! Sun! After 5 days of torrential rain – it was brilliant to just ride and not worry about getting wet…it was still quite cold out, but I can deal with cold…it’s the wet and makes the ride miserable.
Tonight I am couch surfing with a woman named Delphine, near a little village called St Exupery. She lives in a lovely old house on a farm where her family has lived for hundreds of years…and they make wine! Fantastic…however – she tells me that she doesn’t like wine – even though one of her jobs is at a wine buyers!
Dinner…is duck confit…home made by her mother…too good to be true
74km Bicycled Today
1367km to Date
