Thanks John I will try that.
How was the trip?
Well I really enjoyed it. It was however a lot harder riding that the Germany tour I did last month with Klaus because Of several reasons:
I dont speak any french
french hills are bigger
french headwinds are stronger
french shops are always closed
However the road surfaces outside of the towns are much better in france which is important for my bike. The campsites are also much cheaper in france although the further south you get the more they cost until in Montpellier they are just stupid money.
The weather was as changeable in france as it was in germany although generally better. I had one day of solid freezing rain and a strong headwind, and another 3/4 day of the same, otherwise it was sunny. I had several long rides which were more like survival rides in temperatures over 35 degrees in the shade and where there was no water for miles and miles.
The big towns are just like any big town, except the french big towns are dirtier. I avoided them whenever possible.
Although riding alone I did meet people in the evenings. I met a nice family on the first night who poured unlimited bacardi cokes down my throat for free, an american from new york who was riding around europe (had been for three months) and just appeard out of nowwhere from behind one evening as I was riding into the village...shouting..."Hey man, stop!!! you speak english right?!"...which indeed I do, so we camped up and shared any food we had and a few beers...he was literally drifting, sleeping in forests and with no contemplation of where he was, not even a map, just riding by gut instinct of where North was and the road signs!!! Then there was the english campervan group who decided that because I rode more Km each day than they drove I was in need of free beer all night, and the australian cycle tourer who was about to shoot himself because of the terrible rain that day. I met a rastfarian from south London in a tiny french village called St Seine D ' labbaye, he was lost in a campervan. On the last night I met Lotti who had literally just arrived in montpellier in nothing but the clothes she was wearing, no tent nothing, just sleeping on the beach. We had a great time and sung songs with some guy who had a guitar.
The bike was perfect, now technical faults at all wwhich was good because I only saw one bike shop in all of france and that was closed.
I cooked my own food and managed the trip on under 140 Euros excluding the flight. Maximum spend in a day was 30 euros in Montpellier and zero euros in La Riceys.
Sometimes I slept off of campsites, like one night when i slept on the village football pitch!
I was riding 120km each day on average, less on hillier sections and more on the flat sections. I had no problem navigating as I had 1" to 2.8mile 1:180,000 scale map pages torn from a road atlas. I used these 90% of the time and used my GPS to get through towns and to find the campsites in the evening. I didnt have to ask for directions once...which was good because I would never have been able to understand the reply!
I saw some really beautiful parts and some not so nice parts (in the towns). I rode through the champagne producing villages, the Cotes du rhone and the chateux neuf du pape vinyards. I rode along the rhone river south which made navigation a breeze. i rode on the smaller roads when possible, but i often had to take the larger national routes because they were the only roads going my way...mostly they were traffic free though...until I got to Avignon...then all hell broke loose and the roads became fast moving death traps . Montpellier is a shithole...my advice is DO NOT GO THERE EVER!...dirty, expensive crowded, full of thieves and ugly. I had another week before my pre booked flight home (as I had thought it would take me 2 weeks)...but rather than stay in Montpellier I decided to change the flight and come home. Besides the prospect of another night with Lotti on the beach , whilst appealing, wasnt the right decision to take!
This trip was about the riding...about getting there. I didnt stop for anything except food and sleep....my Tunnel blick, a good fast bike and God got me there safe.
I lost another 9lbs on this trip as well, even though I was eating anything and everything!
. I am going to sleep now, then i'll put up some pics and more info etc.Hope UR all well
