Dave and his Bike

It has been the plan for a long time. Almost as long as the plan to sell up in the UK and move to France in our retirement. In 2018, the first part came to fruition and we sold up our family home in the UK and bought our beautiful old house at La Roque. Since my lovely wife Jane has also ridden with me on several tours over the last 30 years, both in the UK and France, on tandem and solo, she didn’t take much convincing to join me on this retirement / emigration ride as a symbolic gesture at the start of our new life and the next stage of our adventure together.

We have ‘sort of’ planned a route from Lincoln to Portsmouth, and then from St. Malo to La Roque. We plan to take 5-6 days to complete the UK stretch at around 65km (40 miles) per day, then 7-8 days in France averaging 80-100km (50-65 miles) per day. We don’t plan on booking any accommodation in order to give ourselves as much flexibility as possible, and unlike previous trips (except our first big ride through France in 1995) we won’t be camping at all, instead relying on hotels and B&Bs for the duration.

My preparation has been hampered somewhat with a mid-foot fusion and dislocated shoulder at the end of 2020. Jane’s preparation has also been interrupted by gardening and decorating duties in France, and the udnerstandable reluctance to ride on her own where her support network (and rescue service) is somewhat limited. Recent Covid infection has not helped, but we are now both managing to get out on the bike and get some much-needed miles in – even if Jane does keep falling off!

May 26th 2022

The countdown on my phone finally reached 0. That meant on the 27th May I didn’t have to go into work. Nor on the 28th, 29th, 30th… you get the idea. I do have to ‘pop in’ on the 5th July to hand in my ID and access tag, so officially I haven’t retired yet. Any thoughts of relaxing, sleeping better, and getting out on my bike (once the effects of the karaoke bar had worn off) were soon dashed by the monumental effort that Jane and I had to make in order to move the remaining ‘stuff’ we had in the UK to France, then clean and sort out the rented bungalow and hand the keys back to the agents. Two rides in three weeks isn’t the best preparation for a 1000km ride.

June 1st – 19th 2022

Most importantly Jane’s birthday on the 4th. Great family get-together. Still no mileage.

Frenzied packing of a rented van which wasn’t as big as we thought (many tears, more visits to the tip) with help from Stu, and our more select belongings made their way to France on a flying visit. More frenzied cleaning, decorating, and gardening means that tomorrow we hand the keys in. Result. Hopefully we can now ride our bikes.

June 21st 2022

House keys relinquished yesterday. We are now officially homeless – in the UK anyway! The net result of which is that this morning we managed to finally get out on the bikes again.

Perfect day of minimal wind and warm sunshine meant that despite the prolonged break in training rides, 43km was relatively easy and very enjoyable.

Not such brilliant news from France where hail storms last night have resulted in damage to our barn roof. Hopefully not too bad and covered by insurance.

June 27th 2022

Things are steadily improving on the cycling front. Five rides in the last seven days is much better prep, even if it’s a bit late! We haven’t done any big mileage, but are tidy for around two-and-a-half hours each time we go out without any problem or major discomfort. It’s all good time in the saddle.

Varied routes have been nice, with the exception of a fruitless visit to the bike shop at Doddington which involved far too much traffic and poor road surfaces. By contrast, we took the cycle route along the old railway line to Bardney, then a loop around the Stixwould area which was brilliant, if a bit breezy…

Only ten days before we set off now, so that deadline is fast approaching.

July 6th 2022

Today is the first day of my retirement. Weird after a 30 year career, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

We’ve seen many of our good friends over the last few days in anticipation of our imminent departure, and we have managed a few training rides which included a farewell fly past by the Red Arrows! Jane is going really well and putting me to shame, but we both feel ready to set off now.

This afternoon we packed our panniers which are clearly heavier than I thought they would be. One day I will learn. Tomorrow we set off. It’s all getting very real…

The weather forecast is brilliant at the moment – warm / hot with a gentle northerly breeze. If it actually turns out that good it will be an amazing ride to Portsmouth.

July 7th 2022

At last.

Sometimes I have thought that this day would never come. Not the biggest mileage planned or the Alps to climb over, but still a significant step towards the adventures we have been working towards for years. Many years.

We set off just after 10.00am, waved off by Katie & Margaret (Grandma!) and joined by Joe Roadhouse then stopped at every traffic light possible in Lincoln before we hit Brant Road and the traffic thinned out.

Not brilliantly warm but pleasant, and with the promised northerly wind being an actuality. 24kph was easily achieved, and Brant Broughton came quickly, by which time the sun was coming out and the temperature rising. Simple navigation meant we crossed the A1 at Long Bennington then turned south to Bottesford where we stopped for lunch at the Rutland Arms. Three pints of Coke, sandwiches we had brought with us and an hour off was lovely. Joe fell off for the first time (whilst standing still).

New terrain for Jane after lunch, to Belvoir Castle and a ‘nice’ little climb. My heart rate was higher than it been for a while as I start getting used to the difference of riding with panniers. At least I hope I get used to it!

Lovely roads which started to undulate all the way into Melton Mowbray , with the odd stop for a map check. Joe fell off for the second time (again standing still). He’s fine when he’s moving…

The Premier Inn was easy to find. Comfy room with bikes allowed in 👍🏻. Joe set off for Stamford, a further 24 miles away. He made it back in one piece (obviously kept moving).

After a shower and ‘resting’ for an hour or so (otherwise known as an afternoon nap!) we ventured around the peaceful market town and stumbled upon the Jasmine House Chinese restaurant. Excellent Singapore noodles and chicken fried rice with the compulsory Tiger beer. Back to the hotel for the Tour de France highlights and to write this blog. Now really looking forward to our second day on the bikes. Just as well really as we’ve got eleven more to go!

July 8th 2022

Day 2 on the bike.

We set off almost bang on 10.00am which may be developing into routine. Possibly a bit early to tell. Easy navigation out of Melton and the rolling countryside from yesterday afternoon continued, with some nice little climbs early on to stretch our legs and lungs. Lovely views, warm weather and barely a breath of wind made for a great ride.

An early coffee stop at the cycle-friendly Fox and Hounds at Tugby was a welcome break…

…and the rolling hills continued for the rest of the morning along Cycle Routes 63 & 64, partly contributing to our reduced average speed for the day.

A meal-deal sandwich sitting in the square in Market Harborough provided the fuel for the afternoon stint which we had been looking forward to for a while.

Cycle route 6 follows an old railway line all of the way from Market Harborough to Northampton, a total of about 30km. Our initial enthusiasm soon became mixed emotions.

The positives: direct route; easy gradient; no traffic; shade.

The negatives; the tree lines which proved shade also mean limited views; the surface – think of 2inch hardcore under a railway which has been loosely compacted and has the ability to shake out your fillings or detach a retina.

Overall though still worth doing. The tunnels were fun (dark & cold!), and the occasional 100m of reasonable surface made it worthwhile.

I’m sure by tomorrow morning we will both have the feeling back in our hands. I would do it again, but on wider tyres and without panniers!

We arrived at the hotel in Northampton later today – about 5pm – hillier and more stops for navigation. A cheeky beer in the bar before a hot bath and the domestic chore of kit washing (thanks Jane!) while I write this. Tour de France highlights and dinner still to come 😁

July 9th 2022

Having not had a single puncture on rides from Lincoln to Santiago, and Lincoln to Rome, I suppose I was due one.

We managed a slightly earlier start today, leaving the hotel at 0930am. 5 minutes later I was stripping my back wheel in a side street in Northampton, removing a thorn which was presumably picked up somewhere on yesterday’s cyclo-cross training epic and inserting a new inner tube. It didn’t take long and our efficient start was not all lost.

A steady climb out of Northampton was followed by another morning of beautiful rolling countryside, excellent views and warm weather, which got hotter as the day progressed. My legs felt better today than either of the previous days, so riding tempo up the hills was more enjoyable. Jane was as rock solid as ever!

Meal deal lunch (again) in Buckingham, but we didn’t stop for too long due to the heat when stationary. Easy navigation this afternoon, punctuated by a tea stop at the Canaletto Italian restaurant in Kingswood due to the local pub being closed.

4pm finish at Thame Travelodge (for a change!), then following another bath we wandered into Thame. Beautiful little town and happening to host the Thame Music Festival this weekend. Bonus! Free live music 😎

That said we were too hungry to stay long before devouring a pizza, then too tired to stay any longer before the 20 minute walk back to the hotel. Great atmosphere though.

Looking forward to another guest rider appearance tomorrow 😁

July 10th 2022

This morning we were joined by my brother-in-law Chris (cycling), ably supported by my sister Liz (providing lunch 😁. And beer).

Standard start time of 10.00am, slightly ruined by my inept navigation which sent us immediately off course and added 5km to the route. And it was uphill. Sorry 😕. I also forgot to start my Garmin, so we are showing 8km short.

More undulating than previous days, unless it’s just tired legs? Awkward navigation in trying to avoid main roads quickly became the theme for the day and slowed us down somewhat. 

Nevertheless we soon met with Liz in Goring for lunch. Beautiful little town / village on the Thames, and a mighty impressive picnic provided by Liz. Just as well because my breakfast hadn’t been up to the job and I was famished! Jane as usual just carried on stoically without complaint.

Immediately after lunch we hit the biggest hill of the trip so far. As the day has gone on I have become increasingly jealous of Chris’ carbon fibre bike and lack of panniers. The ‘rolling’ terrain continued, as did the all too frequent stops to check directions, resulting in my throwing a minor tantrum (hissy fit?) and deciding that Google maps could take us the rest of the way – if my phone battery holds out. It did.

National Cycle Route 23 finished the day nicely and took us straight to our third Premier Inn of the trip in Basingstoke. Cold water courtesy of Premier Inn. Cold beer courtesy of Liz. Older sisters are great 😘.

July 11th 2022

The first time we have ridden five consecutive days for a while. Chris joined us again and we rolled out of Basingstoke at our usual time. Today we relied on Google maps from the start which made the route out of town so much easier. The distance we needed to cover today was relatively short, so we had a couple of stops planned for coffee (and buns) at Four Marks, and for lunch at East Meon, with 10 mile rides in between.

Those 10 miles still presented challenges as the altitude for the day was up on previous days. Liz & Chris decided that leaving for home from East Meon would be best from traffic and I’m-at-work-tomorrow perspectives, leaving just the two of us for the last 10 miles into Waterlooville…

…and a welcome stay at our great friends’ Jane & Andrew. A shower and cup of tea later and we feel much fresher and are looking forward to a day off the bikes tomorrow. Hopefully the saddle-soreness will subside a bit!