The Pilgrim

After another long days ride through great French countryside we got to our night's stop in La Souterraine. A really nice English run B&B where all the guests joined each other for dinner. 


What a surreal experience!


A 'posh' English family of four with young kids who, inbetween bragging about how important Dad's job is (PR.......), were totally ignorant if one of the kids so much as sqeaked. Unfortunately their evening was cut short when the swing did the honourable thing and wacked 'little precious' on the head. Phew.


Next an English couple about to get married, who had decided before committing they 'needed' a year off and had been travelling around India. Guess what - they did not get the runs once. Yawn. They had since been travelling around France preparing for getting back into the real world - of recruitment.....


Last but not least - the Pilgrim. A Dutch guy who was looking to 'find himself' and was in the process of walking from Holland to Santiago de Compostela - the Way of St James. 1,300 miles!!

The following day was the last leg of the journey back to Cherbourg and it pissed it down all day which made 580km's a bit dull.


We paid extra for a room with a view.

I asked for a refund.


At least I could keep an eye on the bike parked on the square.


Not sure who this is but he looked important.

The following day we hopped on the excellent Condor ferry back to Poole. 2.5 hours crossing.


Goodbye France.

The end :(

Gorges du Tarn

Leaving the Millau bridge we headed for our hotel in the middle of a 30 mile canyon the Gorges du Tarn.

The roads have been carved through in places.

The Gorge is an excellent place for anybody interested in outdoor activities. Loads of camp sites supporting kayaking, walking, climbing, cycling.

We stayed here, Hotel du Cascades

Bloody Ricky gets everwhere...

Four Ticks

When we started the blog we said the aims were sea, mountains, beach and hopefully the Tour de France. 3 ticks so far and today was the day we had the chance to make it 4.

First we called in to see some friends over the border into France. This meant we crossed over on the side-road instead of the motorway which was an experience!

Amongst various goods on offer at discounted dates (booze, fags etc.) there were lots of pretty girls sat on chairs at the side of the road. Apparantly they do a roaring trade as it's a major European truck stop and the Police show no interest whatsoever.

We moved on to our friends house in the hills which turned out to be massive.

Their daughter was more than happy to be photo'd with Dunny the dog.

Next back on the trip and on the back-roads we hit some major traffic. The spider-sense started tingling. Could this be the TDF? The advantage of a bike is you can get around queues and soon we got to the front.

The crowd were all set (pictured from my vantage point on a window ledge).

Then they all came flying through. You can pick out one of the Shleck brothers.

Fantastic - but it was over so quickly. At least we were at the front of the queue to get away......

Next the Millau bridge.

Show me the way to Tamariu

We arrived in Begur to find we were actually up in the hills, a few kms out of town, and a bloody tricky ride up spanish 'concreted' slopes which quickly deteriorate into dirt.

However we had made it.

Nobody even thinks of walking around these parts albeit some fantastic coves and beaches are 3-5 km away. Ok a few hills on the way back.

Riding the bike around was never going to be an option and so we walked. Fantastic pine forest kept us out of the sun and 45mins later we arrived at Tamariu.

Tomorrow time to start heading back north and into France. The days plan is:

• Call in to see some friends
• Cross over the Tour de France days route
• Pass over the Millau bridge

To all frog-eaters we are about to meet - please look after us.

And on to the Med

Great days riding. It turned out to be similar in overall time to the last leg but we took a more laid back approach.

One place we stopped was Sorts, which is an outward-bound centre including rafting/canoeing, with the river going straight through the centre of the town. Nice spot.

We ascended to to over 1700m but only have this evidence recorded.

Hopefully the Med will be similar to this.....

Oh - I forgot

Cavo in green

Ainsa - the highs and lows

Ainsa's a shambles (if you've been to York this will mean something).

Ainsa is split into upper and lower

The upper has been well looked after

The bottom is aptly named!

Turned into a beautiful day.

Even met up with some England fans left over from the last Spanish campaign.

Five 5's

0500 - massive electrical storm to start the day.

550km - the length of todays journey.

15C - starting temperature in the Picos.

35C - finishing temp in the Pyrenees.

What a trip!

We set off with the lightning and thunder still in full play complete with varying intensities of rain. The first section was a 'quick' hop over a 1300m range of hills. The roads were under repair which meant a number of sections were unpaved......eek!

We then plateaued onto a plain full of wind turbines before falling back down to the lowlands.

Various roads later including a fantastic rolling stretch alongside a clear blue lake and we came to Pamplona. Onto the last leg which was very slow and very warm as we climbed up into the Pyrenees.

It's nice to count down the distance on the signs as you approach your destination - but the first time we saw the Ainsa sign was as we rolled into the town :(

8 hours in the saddle!!

Was it worth it?

Just looked at the forecast

for Ainsa - our destination tomorrow

Picos de Europa

A mountainous region of northern Spain = great biking roads in a good climate (not boiling).

Natural wildlife includes the Spanish wolf and the brown bear - which happens to be the name of our hotel. Del Oso. We are in Cosgaya just above Potes.

At the end of our road is Fuente De - a cable car up into the mountains.

We got lost on the top. Unclear signage didn't help.

Going down

Quick stat-fest

Bugger - Where's Dunnie the Dog?

We rushed back to the Bear hotel - no worries....

Tomorrow time for the Pyrenees.

We should pay our armed forces more?

Had a good night talking to two ex marines on their way to I-beef-A.

They were actually driving across we assumed for a break but it turned out they were going to work for a few months. Work on Ibiza??

They were being employed as security/protection by the rich, famous and infamous (footballers) during party time. This pays 3-4 times more than the paultry rewards of staying loyal to her majesty.

So we are paying ££££'s to get these guys trained up for the benefit of the 'private' sector.

Feck, feck, feckity feck

F1
''BBC Radio Travel News - if you are planning to go anywhere near Silverstone, forget it due to the British GP''
Bollox - detour via Coventry required.

F2
I agreed to give my daughter a lift to work to avoid 2 bus journeys. Truck broken down on roundabout = 30 minutes traffic queue.

F3
Weather shite. Properly pissed it down for long spells of the journey down to Portsmouth.

F4
Service light comes on!!! We've only got a few thousand miles to go......

F5
Had to descend the biggest/steepest metal ramp down into the ferry. No fun on a fully loaded bike.

However all came good when we got on board. Sat in the bar watching the Tour de France and another Cavendish win.

No Bull

As we plan to leave the Pico Mountains and move to the Pyrenees we will go through Pamplona. 


Guess what? The festival is on including the running of the bulls!!

As if riding a bike wasn't a bit risky.....


However it's not all about bulls - I'm told there are some very good street parties

First we find out we cross the Tour de France and now the bull run.


What next??

We have a Hitcher

Say hello to the St Dunstan Dog

St Dunstans is a charity supporting blind service men and women. To raise the profile of the charity they had the idea to make a limited number of Dunstan the Dog's and have them photo'd around the world.

Here's a few of his trips so far:

Everest

Front-line

So - our 'hitcher' is coming with us to the Pyrenees. First things first, we had better get to know each other better.....