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Found an old railway to follow for a while
You'll be well chuffed about that.
Lolz
Second lunch of bread and some rather dangerous cheese. Thunderstorms around. Im following a cycle route and about to hit a second much longer greenway i think that i might be on for a couple of days
dangerous cheese.
Sounds yummy. Is it stinky or runny or full of mould - maybe all 3?
Camped up for the night
i will drink to that - cheers TJ
now going to find the bit of the thread with your packing list, pics - its gotta be round here somewhere
Good luck finding it. End of the first section maybe?
if anyone else is interested
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/tjs-recovery-ride-advice-routes-rides-n-beer/page/4/
EDIT: bottom of page 4.
The cheese was both stinky and runny and very nice. I spent most of the day on old railway lines and think i have a canal to follow tomorrow. Maybe some old railway as well. Decent miles tiday. 50ish by wheel but 40 odd in a direct line.
Looks very calming...
Looks very calming…
I'm not sure that cloudy cidre fermier coupled with dangerous cheese is going to be calming 😂
And way back when. staying in a camping municipale in Provence while climbing, some had confused the showers for the shoot and shit traps - had to make a hasty exit that morning when i was after a freshen up
On kit. There is nothing i have taken i havent used and the only thing I would change would be either a dynamo or a solar panel for phone charging. Two batteries have been pinched when left in the loo block to be charged and its been a bit of a pain keeping everything charged.
More containers for food perhaps is the other thing that would be useful
2 croissants and a pain au chocolate scoffed this morning and a nice fresh baguette for today
I’m not sure that cloudy cidre fermier coupled with dangerous cheese is going to be calming
I saw Dangerous Cheese supporting Cloudy Cidre Fermier in a small venue before either signed a record deal, great mosh pit
<insert John Peel dot jpeg>
Looks like i have a canalised river bank path for the first 20 odd miles today. Its grey and cool this morning. Barely 20C. A bit of drizzle in the air.
You could probably get someone to post you a solar panel to a post office in France, via the post restante thing - if they still do that?
EDIT apparently they do and you don't need to register anything either.
Too much hassle
Now on another old railway for this afternoon. Heading the right sort of direction
Dynamo hub with USB charging port FTW
This thread is an inspiration. I've never really considered cycle touring before, but I could actually see myself doing this. Keep it up TJ!
Decathlon do two solar panels a 10W and a 15W Two panel or three panel you could strap it to the top of the trailer
probably too late for teej but if anyone is interested I have a solar panel from this company that is superb. It's like three sheets of a4 paper that folds out and charges amazingly quickly, it's really light too. In fact it's so good I have never used it while biking along, I just set it up when we are having a break and away it goes. Very impressive, the guy who runs the business is very helpful too, good advice on what you need it for.
https://www.mobilesolarchargers.co.uk/
Never worry about flat batteries again! It almost feels like plugging in to the mains
Over halfway Amsterdam to Bilbao. Under500 miles left. Grand day today all on traffic free gravel.
Got to go and find some dinner now.
Sounds good.
Chapeau. (Great read so far)
Got to go and find some dinner now.
Try asking for some haggis, neeps and tatties!
A bit of this
And lots of this
With all the miles you are doing do you get much time to take in the sights and towns you see or is it lots of 'pedal/feed/sleep repeat'? I would find it hard to get the miles in (not that I could do what your doing) as I would be stopping all the time to soak up the sights and wander about. Keep it up 👍
Its pretty much just look arouns as i am pedaling. I do the odd lap of town squares. If I stopped and looked at everything progress would be cery slow
Is that the Vélo Francette, Tj? It looks familiar.
Im.not sure what its called.
I used you map linked to find it. Ta. The riverside bit was along the Mayenne and the old railway from Laval to Renaze
Gonna take a rest day here. Not the most interesting of towns but i need the day off and i can get all my kit washed.
You were on the Vélo Francette/Buuissonière but you've left it to get to Renazé:
https://www.francevelotourisme.com/itineraire/la-velo-francette/laval-chateau-gontier
This map from the same site may be of use:
https://www.francevelotourisme.com/itineraire
Ta.
The greenways are great. Love them.
Im not close to you am I Edukator?
He lives down in the Pyrenees somewhere so you won't be that far away.
Epic argument potential.
I'm in Pau which is 110km from your route at the closest point: Cap Breton. There are lots of MTB trails around Pau but the cycle paths are few and far between. The coast to coast route which goes through Pau is mainly roads with an insignificant amount of proper path added each year.
The Vélodyssée route down the west coast is the best route to the Spanish border from where you are. It's a bit contrived in places but generally safe. The surface is usually OK except for some rooty sections in the pine forests. I sometimes found myself doing a lot of east-west detours when I wanted to head south, the alternatives were more dangerous though so I mainly stuck with it.
From the Spanish border you'll find yourself on roads a lot of the time. The North Coast Compostelle (St James way) touring bike route is probably your best bet for your section to Bilbao on a touring bike with trailer. The MTB and walking routes are quite physical with steps, stiles and very steep climbs.
Most of the tourists will be heading home on 27/8 so you'l be riding through places with a nice end of season holiday feel but no trouble finding places on campsites. I avoid wild camping in the forests when it's dry but treat the rest halts along cycle paths as free campsites.
Ta
Went and had a poke around the town. Not really a tourist town but some really old buildings and a fab oak marketplace
Gotmy clothes all washed. Chickened out of having a haircut tho🙄🤣
Got a good feed for tonight. I suppose i should check the bike over as well
Edukator
I’m in Pau
No way. I did my uni placement at the FJT Logis Michel Hounau on Rue Michel Hounau, working at Turbomeca out in Bordes. 30 years ago though, shit. Beautiful town, really ned to go back.
I stayed in the Michel Hounau foyer when I first got to Pau in 1987. Several members of our MTB club work for or are retired from Turbomeca and we worked some contracts with them in the 90s, personally I'm not keen on their corporate culture though. I'm just next to the Stade Nautique.
30 years ago we were running a business in rue Marechal Joffre. The center is all pedestrianised now which means the bars have spilled out onto the pavements, no more being stuck in a traffic jam while the soldiers buy their cigarettes from the XV leaving the car running outside blocking the traffic. A beautiful town gets better, just don't ask locals about their taxe foncière bills.
Having a bit of a ponder as no cycling today. In some ways this last week has been the toughest. Ive been very much on my own. I dont have enough French for casual conversations and being off the coastal route there has been no other tourers to chat to. On the other hand i have been loving the riding.
Just checked the bike over. Tightened the chain a touch. The second time this trip. Still got some wax in the chain but i ran it thru an oily fag. Headset needed a wee tighten as well. Not bad for how many thousand miles i have ridden.
I should get back on the coast in a day or two. Looking forward to that
we're still loving it though. It's quite restful