Dave and his Bike

Since the last blog post was getting a bit unwieldy, now that we have arrived in France (hoorah!!) I have decided to change format slightly. Each day will be a separate post to make it easier to follow. Except this one, which is two days.

July 12th 2022

Tuesday was officially a rest day. So we rested. Until 5pm when we rode the 12km to the docks over Portsdown Hill. Through the formalities with ease but still managed to get searched by Customs. Chatted with one of the other cyclists of which there were about ten. Once on board and changed in our cabin we went straight to the restaurant and had a fantastic meal and a bottle of wine. Beats fast-food. As we crossed the Solent the sun went down on a beautiful sunset – a lovely way to leave the country.

July 13th 2022

Wednesday started with the alarm / tannoy thingy going off at about 7.10am (French time). The crossing had been like a clichéd mill pond. Most of the breakfast went into handlebar bags for later. Slightly late docking and disembarking but through French douanes and on the road by about 08.45am in warm sunshine. A quick tour round the old town of St Malo…

…and we headed out of town. An unfortunate bit of dual carriageway and we then hit smaller roads across to the coast at St Benoit des Ondes with a ghostly distant view of Le Mont St Michel.

We followed the coast to Le Vivier sur Mer where we headed inland, and picked up a very slight tailwind which, coupled with excellent road surfaces meant we were soon in Dol de Bretagne for a coffee.

More great roads soon got us to Combourg (stunning little town) for lunch and a bit of time to relax! By the time we hit the road after our sandwich the temperature has climbed to around 38 degrees C. It felt hotter.

Rolling countryside built up our daily height gain and worked both lungs & legs in equal measure and we made sure to drink plenty, stopping in Liffre for a litre of cold drink each. Water bottles had reached an ‘ambient’ temperature. Think bath water…

We are now showered and feeling a bit more human at a Logis de France hotel in Chateaubourg, about to wander into town to find some nourishment. And a beer. Or two…

Update… we strolled into town to find the Bal des Pompiers (loosely translated as Fireman’s Ball) in full swing with live music, food stalls (burger & fries each) and several bars. Brilliant evening!