nbjtours

Zaragoza, Spain

0 Miles

Yes, really a rest day, first day with no cycling for 16 days. 

A few hours spent re routing the rest of the trip and trying to get hold of campsites. 

Then we picked up Nick and Chris from the airport got their bikes built back up ready for tomorrow. 

There were going to be no photos today,  but had to show you this. It is blowing a gale out there and this couple turned up in their Renault Clio with a roof tent- I would be worried it will tip over or the thin Clio roof will just collapse! 

Zaragoza, Spain

89 Miles 3940 ft

Starting out today in the back of beyond in rural Spain and passing through some very medieval towns and villages we were suddenly transported five centuries from the 1500s to present day Zaragoza in one Big Bang.  

 Monica checked the census of the nearby village of Urries and at last count there were only 59 souls left. Fewer than live in my little cul de sac of 19 houses. 

This was the Spain that this route is hopefully designed to find. Scandinavia was an unknown and after the busy and known spaces from Denmark to France, we will see things that are off the beaten track.  

 Just up the road was the superbly named Sos del Rey Catolico ( Sos of the Catholic King) An incredible little town on a hill that was still as it was in the sixteenth century. I had a quick scout round on the bike on the cobbles (yes, I did cycle up this street) as Nigel and Monica walked round, leaving before two coach loads of tourists spoiled the ancient atmosphere.  

 A good climb over the next ridge brought more views, before a downhill section leading onto a long straight across a barren plain.  

 I normally moan about the weather but today have had a stiff following crosswind pushing me along three sections for several straight flat miles at 30 mph plus, at one stage covering 6 miles in eleven and a half minutes. It is the first time I have ever run out of gears on the flat. The only thing to be wary about being a gust which knocks the bike sideways two to three feet so I ran down the middle of the road to give me extra leeway.  

 A brief coffee stop in Sadaba, a slightly larger town, was followed by another 15 miles straight wind assisted blat to the equally well named Ejea de Los Cabelleros ( Ejea of the Knights). I enjoyed flying past a tractor at over 30 mph as he just could not keep pace.  

 I saw some more vultures and other birds of prey, as well as many butterflies, but agriculture was limited, with occasional olive groves, a small vineyard still loaded with grapes and good old maize. A lot of the land looked rough scrub and not good for much, hence the lack of habitation and human contact all day, although I did see two or three Lycra clad cyclists sprinting in the opposite direction. 

 
Coming off the slightly main road and turning towards Castejon and another good blat, Nigel joined me for the last 3 miles before lunch. 

After lunch, a nice climb up a small valley to the top of San Esteban at 700m, gave a superb view over the wooded hillside, leading to a very arid looking plain around Zaragoza.  

 The final blat of the day on the smoothest road in history, brought me to the suburbs and the difficulty of finding a way to the campsite on the other side of the city, but staying off the motorway, as I had no desire to repeat my Swedish experience. 

Although not signposted, I initially got through a massive industrial estate, then beside a military complex before following another cyclist onto what looked like the hard shoulder of a dual carriageway into town and then switching to a cycle path- phew.  

 Zaragoza is an ultra modern city with some really unusual architecture around the historic core and despite the local drivers best efforts I got through their traffic to the campsite unscathed  

  Tomorrow will be the first day I am not getting on my bike for six countries, much to the relief of my backside,  as we pick Chris & Nick up from the airport, ready for the final push to Tarifa. 

A good end to the day was aided by the first appearance of Monica’s Beetroot and apple salad for at least two weeks. 

near Sos del Rey Catolico, Spain

71 Miles 6715ft

I had come over the top and was speeding down the valley just as a  snake wriggled its way across the road and above the giant wingspan of soaring vultures circled  in the thermals. It had to be Spain. We had arrived in the final country of the journey. 

It was all a bit different to the start in France as I left a very chilly campsite at just after 9, but crucially in clear blue skies. 

Ahead lay a climb of 1466m in 25km with the first 9 km fairly gentle before a very steep middle 9 km and easing towards the end.    

 Taking things very gently to begin with I had my only stop of the ascent to let this large troupeau of sheep pas as well as a chat with one of the herdsmen.  They were being brought down early from high pasture. 

As is common on favoured Tour de France climbs they have kilometre posts with the distance to go to the summit and gradient for the next kilometre. That is great, but it is averaged out as there were ramps of 17 & 15% at times during the steepest 9-10% and even near the top a 6.5 section was flat for half of it and 13% for the rest.  

 Nigel joined me for a kilometre or so but decided against going for the summit. It took me 2 hrs in total averaging just under 7 mph, the part Chris Froome and the TdF boys did, took me just over twice as long as their 40 minutes 

 The view from the top was really worth it though seeing out for many  miles over South West France. A coffee, stop and chat with a couple of Canadian doctors followed as we watched a number of other cyclists arrive at the top.  

 Moving across into Spain there were some more great views over the high glacial Belagua river valley    

   before dropping down a narrow gorge. It was here I saw the snake and vulture. Losing sight of the vulture, I was only aware of its presence two or three miles later when it’s shadow passed over me on the road. It must have been waiting for me to fall off.  

 Just along here we came across Martin who was cycling from Santander to Roscoff on a self modified bike carrying all his kit and a very heavy camera. Good luck Martin.  

 A stop just before the end of the river valley allowed Monica a trip to the bar before we completely decided to push on a bit more and wild camp this evening. 

We Crossed a wide valley, where EU money is still going into roads as two huge viaducts were being completed, one for the motorway,  the other for the local route we were taking  

 In Sweden, I learnt how they build roads there, as they rip up the old ones and relay them whilst they are still open. In Spain it is a question of let’s build a completely new route.  

 The road we ran on was certainly in need of repair and was being used by the trucks to transport gravel to the new road so was one of the worst on the trip. Martin had said that Spanish drivers were good to cyclists and I can only say that is so right as the lorries slowed down and passed carefully. 

 It is amazing this road needs replacing at all, as once the trucks had gone, only two vehicles went passed in either direction for 15 miles and the only village we saw was abandoned, apart from a cafe serving the occasional pilgrim still walking to Santiago.  

 The climb over the ridge was another 1800 ft over 6 miles or so before finally dropping down into dry looking arable land where we set up camp for the night watching a beautiful sunset and seeing the stars so clearly.  

 Tomorrow is my last solo day of the tour as Nick and Chris are due to join us in the days destination Zaragoza on Wednesday.  

 A great days cycling and some wonderful countryside and I would certainly say it’s worth a visit if you are ever in this part of the world. 

Arette. France

71 Miles 4062ft

Total mileage 3041 

Getting up this morning there was something unusual about the French sky. It was blue – the first time that we had woken up to clear blue since Holland about ten days ago. 

Having removed all facial hair this morning to lighten the weight prior to the mountains. Whilst getting ready to go out cycling, Monica reminded me of something that had fallen out of use, sun cream, so remembering sun cream first and chamois cream second, off I set at a tardy 9.45 with only about 65 miles to do. 

Today the route took me through some pretty bastide towns. This was Geaune, and I continued to see a number of pilgrims walking to Santiago.   

We agreed to meet at the small village of Morlanne for coffee stop and our usual 30 minutes became much longer, as today was a jour de Patrimoine ( heritage day) In a very nice 14 century house’s courtyard they had set up stalls selling usual local French goodies such as cheese, wine, honey,  foie gras etc. and also made up old time pastis cakes in a fantastic kitchen that looked as though it was used for teaching. 

Nigel fancied a honey pancake and ended up showing the French lady how to cook it. She was a good beekeeper, but struggling on the gas, burning her hand when lighting it, so he even repaired his spare gas lighter and gave it to her, what a gent. 

After devouring the cakes with coffee back in the camper and buying some cheese and wine. We then all went down to the local chateau which had a free open day. 

As is usual in France it had been restored and improved over the centuries, but in particular since the local area had acquired it in 2003, as it had been lived in as a semi ruin since the Second World War. So the tower had been rebuilt and  two new internal buildings built in the courtyard in the last ten years   This all to protect parts of the original 14 century building which had never seen a war and could not have coped with one a century later,  as its walls were too thin to withstand cannonballs! 

 
It did have great views though.  

 As we were leaving, a group of the local 2cv owners club had set up a picnic next to the camper and we all ended up getting Grand Marnier pancakes from them too.  

 After the 30 minute stop had turned to 3 hours I still had over 40 miles to go and it was now around three. Some cracking hills both up and down meant a good average speed and a very quick tea stop whilst Nigel had got the washing out to dry. 

Just as I was getting ready to go a cyclist shouted bonjour and was gone before I got going. I gradually caught him up over the next couple of miles and then chatted to him for a few more. Explaining what I had done and where I was going, I asked what the climb would be like tomorrow to which he added to both “C’est roulant” it’s rolling – looks all uphill to me. 

We had agreed to meet at the campsite at Aramits but when I got there, some event had been happening as there were cars and coaches in the fields and people walking down the road, as well as the fire brigade in the town centre following a fire in a hayloft.  

 All traffic was being diverted but I managed to negotiate myself past although when I got to the camping Nigel had left a text saying he had booked onto the next village campsite, at Arette, because of the fire. 

Getting back on, it was really only another three miles so all was well. 

We then did a quick service on the bike,  cleaning it up, lubing the chain, putting on some new tyres and checking brakes etc before tomorrow’s mountain stage   

 Up there somewhere tomorrow 

Aire-sur-l’Adour, France

83 Miles 3307ft

It was just after two o’clock on the edge of the vast Les Landes forests in south west France it had been raining again and the temperature was a cool 12C. 

I had had enough, it just was not correct, this was more like November in these parts than September. The weather had finally got to me, so I pulled over, stood under a tree in a disused roadside cafe and waited for the rain to pass. Getting back on after fifteen minutes or so the mind was back on the challenge. 

A late start today courtesy of breakfast with Dennis, making it far too comfortable to get going, so I was not in the saddle until ten this morning   

In fact this was not a big problem as we decided last night to have two shorter days today and tomorrow rather than another super long day like the last two and cancel the rest day. 

Starting off cool and damp the roads ran through some walnut orchards and tobacco fields and I then had the opportunity to run by the Canal du Midi for ten miles or so. There were a few boats still chugging along, tourists on board.  

A bit of route rearrangement allowed this ten mile stretch so coffee stop was taken at midday.  

 
At this stage the route then moved into the edge of Les Landes and some extremely quiet roads which made us think more of Northern Scandanavia than France. 

The clouds started to build and it cooled down further so I put on my shower jacket. Hearing the patter of raindrops on my jacket and feeling something on my face I thought the rain had started, but no it was just clouds of small flies that ended up coating my legs and face and ensuring I rode with my mouth tightly shut. It was not nice to feel them wriggling in your nose however and necessitated several stops.  

The threatened rain did arrive and as mentioned earlier I took avoiding action after a bit of a drenching. The roads went through  a couple of small semi deserted villages with their eglise-fortifiee still evident as a result of the 100 years war when this area of Aquitaine was under the English crown. The best was this one at Arx 

 Lunch stop with only 20 miles to go and good terrain and improving weather allowed an early finish before six, a shower and trip into town for a meal and watch some rugby World Cup. 

  
We chatted to a couple of guys walking the St Jacques de Compostelle route, one from Holland, the other Swiss, they had both been on the go since July and will not finish until November!

Aire sur l’Adour’s medieval fair, every French town seems to have one now, was not a patch on Le Puy’s Roi de L’Oiseau festival but they did have some great and well behaved oxen.  

 Tomorrow will see a 65 mile stage into the foothills of the Pyrenees before, weather permitting, the climb of the Col la Pierre St Martin on Monday. 

Moirax, France

118 Miles 5870 ft

Today was always going to be a longer day at over 100 miles but as usual the Garmin was out by about 10% so a longer than expected day finishing just after 8. 

However the benefit of this is that we parked up next to the lovely  Gite of friend Dennis who then cooked a super meal and entertained  us royally. Do check it out if you fancy a break down here by following the link above. 

The day started out cool and misty and although I had a short sleeved top on, kept the arm warmers on all day, really quite chilly. There were plenty of showers about and the road was often wet,  but I only got a few spots of rain on me all day 

The roads however were often plastered in mud as the farmers were out harvesting the maize for cattle food making riding messy and just requring more care. 

It was on this first segment that I had my first puncture since northern Sweden- A thorn and wisely checking the tyre I had a second one too.  

 A long run at around 40 miles to the pretty village of St Jean de Cole and I managed to get a couple of short stints on voie vertes (usually former railways converted to cycle paths) including one that I recall dragging the children along on holiday a few years ago! 

 Progress due to a mix of puncture, complex route and hills was slower than I would have liked so coffee stop was nearer 1pm than 11am!

Navigation over the next two legs was easier apart from the fact that I had to negotiate Perigeux and then Bergerac 

 The Tour de France went this way too. 

Perigeux via the ring road (roundabouts and lorries are never nice) and then a massive hill which went straight up at 14% followed by several more it seemed. 

I just went straight through Bergerac just after the 6 pm rush hour and only shouted at one driver so that went well. Final tea stop had been agreed next to the chateau at the top of the hill at Montbazillac so another good climb to finish. 

 
The delays during the day meant that I had 21 miles to do in less than one and a half hours before sunset but managed to get the afterburners on and thanks to some more favourable terrain finished just before sundown. The image below shows me in the vineyards behind Bergerac on that final stint    

Cognac-la-Foret, France

Day Twenty-Six 116 miles 7071 ft

Today was meant to be a slightly long day at 105 miles, but as we have found Garmin distance calculations are often optimistic. Having started at just after 8 soon after the 7.36  sunrise, I had not bargained on a finish 2 minutes after sunset at 8.09. 

Leaving our non campsite on a track behind the closed campsite early and traversing a very quiet Issoudun , the first stint was the worst of the tour so far, 25 miles of featureless farmland with that incessant wind now blowing for 5 days making cycling a real chore and not at all fun. 

It took over 2 hours to do that first 25 miles, the only plus being that it stayed dry. 

A longer coffee stop (as I was not keen to get going) then back out. Within five minutes, the rain started and like yesterday it came down in buckets. During this stint Nigel turned round to ask if I wanted my full waterproof jacket, but it was too late for that anyway. 

It was just afterwards that I heard some shouts and encouragement from the side of the road as Nigel had stopped to talk to two Dutch cyclists who were sheltering in a bus stop. They were crossing France supported by their wives who were driving, but unlike me sensibly got out of the weather as their schedule was less demanding at only 100k a day rather than the 160-190k I am doing. 

A quick stop to cycle round the impressive and Tonbridge Castle like ruins of Cluis-dessous.  (Lower)

  
 The heavens opened again just as I moved into the main village of Cluis-dessus (upper). Wanting to check the map in shelter there was a large covered market In the town square so I moved under its shelter to see two cyclo tourists already there. 

James & Ben had left London about 10 days ago and were heading to Lisbon to catch a boat (any boat) to South America. Ben to learn Spanish and James as possibly the first part of a 3 year world tour. They were hiding to keep dry and order up on Amazon some essential cycle kit they had forgotten or not realised they needed. 

I wished them good luck and told them to seek out Nigel’s dad’s boat yard in Joao Pessoa if that’s where they end up!

It rained hard for at least two hours of this two and a half hour segment and whilst the wind was still blowing the landscape had changed with far more trees and shelter to make the cycling better even if there were more hills.  

 We had passed into the Limousin region and it was also noticeable that there were the odd British and Dutch cars about, no doubt belonging to ex-pats living locally.    

Lunch was taken just short of La Souterraine with still 60 long miles to go and it was already almost 3pm.   This was the crossing of the Creuse. 

 After a couple of brief showers early on the rain stayed away but the hills got a bit bigger with the wind blowing as soon as any cover was lost. 

However I made the prearranged tea spot at 5.45 with still 25 miles to go to the campsite, which was definitely still open. 

Having wild camped a lot, Monica understandably was fed up with boys own adventure book stuff and was keen to get to the site, even if only to use the wifi!

Leaving just under two hours to complete the planned ride and knowing that there were several big hills to enjoy, we agreed that as the weather was the best it had been all day I would crack on, and that if it got too dark, I would call Nigel, who would pick me up from wherever and deposit me back at the same place tomorrow if need be.  

 Suffice to say this was a good incentive to wake up some pretty tired legs and I enjoyed some long downhill sweeps for a couple of miles before having to climb back up the other side of the river valley at least twice  and running through some pretty villages en route. 

As I crossed the Vienne river with just 5 miles to go the sun was close to setting,  peeping out behind the clouds and then lighting them up once I got to the top of the valley side where a herd of small deer bounced in Gazelle fashion into the shelter of the woods.  

 Reaching the campsite when I did, gave me 10 minutes to get showered for a hearty plate of spag bol. 

Interestingly today,  although getting  more tired, each segment of the ride was faster, showing the effect that the wind has is greater than that of the hills. 

Please keep the encouragement going – it has been really tough cycling so far this week, easily the hardest of the tour so far 

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Issodun, France

Day Twenty -Five 96 miles 2513 ft

When planning the route, one of the keys aspects was to consider the weather conditions. Cold and windy in the Arctic and hot and dry in Spain, the last thing I was worried about was good old France. Well this week has proved me wrong, as the most extreme weather experienced on the trip so far have been the last two days. Yesterday the wind and today some serious rain. 

With a poor forecast an early departure at 8.10 was made with the campsite owner wishing me good fortune for the rest of the ride. 

Fully togged up in fluo yellow rain jacket and flashing lights front and rear the rain started within 5 minutes of leaving, spitting and spotting on and off for the first mini session of 21 miles. The clouds remained very threatening, although the sun peaked through for about 30 seconds

  
Although still windy it was warmer and less strong than yesterday, even though Monica mentioned that gusts up to 100 kph were forecast on the town halls info board!

Confident that the wind was down a bit, a 33 mile stint to lunch through Gien and into the forest of Sologne which should keep the worse of the weather at bay, was agreed. Last time I came through here a few Mays ago with the Hadlow cycling boys, we were sheltering from the heat by riding in the shade. It was somewhat different today. 

The roads are pretty flat and enabled me to scoot along pretty well, although noticing a couple of figures in the road ahead, I slowed a little, only to see it was a huge Red Deer stag,  easily taller than me on my bike standing Landseer like looking my way. Magnificent – as I got to about 25 yards away he shot off – too many lights and flourescent jackets. 

Nigel surpassed himself with steak sandwiches at lunch again. The next segment was through more of the forest and this time a torrential downpour for almost an hour, so that it was difficult to see along the long straight roads.  

 The rain did stop, and this sad picture of the village football pitch, unused for sometime shows how depopulated rural France has become. 

Keen to get on today, a very brief tea stop left a short 18 mile stint to the campsite. 

  
It was then, that thinking I may get away with one dry segment between the storms,  there was a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder about 6 miles away. Pulse racing and keen to get off an exposed road across the fields, I rode hard to run along a river valley, when this storm hit. Hailstones the size of small grapes came cascading out of the sky, crashing against my helmet and stinging my exposed legs. As I cycled through a small farm, whose barn roofs were made of corregated iron, the noise was deafening. As quickly as it came. within 10 minutes it stopped – the sun trying to get through even when the storm was at its fiercest.  

 Several storms rumbled around but were far enough away for me to push hard across the open fields to get to the campsite- which had closed. 

Wild camping again, Nigel(la) (autocorrect keeps changing Nigel’s name to this) rustled up a quality Salmon dinner, washed down with Normandy’s finest cider. 

More rain and hills await tomorrow.

Apologies.  limited photos today as trying keep the iPhone dry! 

  
Good weather for snails   

Charny, France

Day Twenty-Four 108 miles 4950ft

That was the noise that I heard in my ears most of the day from the incessant and very strong headwind.  This year has been very windy but I have not cycled in such a strong wind as today. It kept on blowing too. 

The wind is the bane of cyclists and I did question what I was doing as I struggled to do 10 mph on the flat. Going uphill sheltered from the wind was a plus. In addition, after leaving the Champagne region, the Isle de France is one of the most exposed parts of France with no trees for cover allowing the wind to hit you with full force. No fun at all. The village name below summed it up !

 
Starting out today from a damp and drizzly Epernay, ( before some of the Polish grape pickers I would add) heading south through more Champagne vineyards, I negotiated the town centre rush hour quite well and then got covered in mud, rain and grape juice, feeling very sorry for the poor pickers who looked even more miserable than me!   

 We all then met up (me plastered in mud) at a small champagne house for a quick private tasting, before finally leaving the champagne area near Sezanne. 

  There were a number of different warning signs for the harvest but this was my favourite.  The harvest started last Monday and should be over in the next two days so the many Poles will need to find other work. It makes you wonder if anyone is left back in Poland.  The coffee stop was after the champagne stop today! and was adjacent to the huge, but ugly monument to the victory of the battle of the Marne in the First World War, as approved by Marechal Joffre  

 The drizzle stopped, but as I mentioned earlier the wind just seemed to get stronger and stronger making cycling a real challenge.  

 As you can see from this photo there is just no protection and two short stints of 25 miles or so for lunch and tea were taken, leaving just over 30 for the final blast to the campsite. 

Pleasingly this last segment was more sheltered and the wind seemed less fierce allowing me to finish just after 7.30 and well before sunset at 8.06. 

Interestingly, as we go south and west,  sunset is staying relatively constant at just after 8.00pm but sunrise gets later. 

The news is full of the first autumn Atlantic storm hitting the shores a month early, and the forecast for the rest of the week does not look great. 

Nigel and I will monitor and if necessary cut some days short and use up part of the rest day.  Not something I want to do but that is why they are designed into the schedule. 

As I write this the rain has started again………

Epernay, France

Rest day 27 miles 1122ft

End of Leg Four Low Countries 2449 miles completed

Sometimes a misfortune delivers an unexpected surprise and yesterday’s delays did just that. 

Overnight the wind was joined by heavy rain, and meant a poor nights sleep, but the day dawned cloudy, and to get back on schedule a short day of 25 odd miles awaited. 

Dotting with rain as I left, the way ahead looked even more ominous with the head wind as ever making life a struggle.  
The route today took me off the plateau, where I had to pedal downhill once more and across to Mt Sinai and the Champagne vineyards 

Unlike normally, when they are quiet, harvest had just started and the vines were filled with workers and roads filled with hire vans bringing more to cut every bunch by hand.   

  The smell of the juice and hive of activity was great to see and made the steep climb up to Mt Sinai more pleasurable  

 and the long sheltered descent more fun. 

 
Many of the vineyards had the names of the great champagne houses marked by them and it was noticeable that Moët bussed in their workers with rows of coaches sitting by. Playing fields had been turned into makeshift campsites, and there are many workers in the site here too. 

A wrong turning made me have to evacuate the road by clambering over a barrier and climbing down an embankment (not easy in cycle shoes and with a bike) as the road I wanted went underneath with no direct access. 

An early finish by 10.45am counts as a rest day and after a shower, a trip into town and round the caves of Mercier with a degustation followed. 

Back to proper cycling tomorrow and sadly no let up in the wind is predicted.