Wednesday 12 August 2009
Thursday 23 July 2009
Stage 12
Beach day
Train station to Arcanon (resort town). Awesome beach. Went for a swim. Relaxed on the sand whilst Adam caught crabs. Tapas and Sangria in water-front restaurant. Train back. Cycle into downtown Bordeaux. Beers in the nice student area. Sleep.
Train station to Arcanon (resort town). Awesome beach. Went for a swim. Relaxed on the sand whilst Adam caught crabs. Tapas and Sangria in water-front restaurant. Train back. Cycle into downtown Bordeaux. Beers in the nice student area. Sleep.
Stage 11
With the disappointment of stage 8 still lingering over us we purposefully rose and aimed our wheels for Bordeaux (a full 190k away). An excellent start along perfect racing roads gave us a real confidence that we could get there and in doing so smash our record of 140k. The new tactic of 'not stopping for lunch' worked well and before we knew it we were 80k in. Surprisingly we have not seen to many other people touring on bikes so when we finally met some we'd destroy them in a race. 'Mark&Adam' 1 - '3 girls & 2 guys' 0.
ha.
As the sun came out and the air got hotter the going became much more difficult but we managed to get through this and make it to Bordeaux. The day feels like an achievement because of the distance travelled (around the same as a TDF stage), we did it with panniers and also because our train leaves Tuesday morning and now we have a free day tomorrow.
ha.
As the sun came out and the air got hotter the going became much more difficult but we managed to get through this and make it to Bordeaux. The day feels like an achievement because of the distance travelled (around the same as a TDF stage), we did it with panniers and also because our train leaves Tuesday morning and now we have a free day tomorrow.
Stage 10
An uneventful day of pure cycling. Lots of hill climbs followed by quick decents. 90k done.
So instead, a playlist of tracks that have kept the ball rolling:
1. Arcade Fire & David Bowie - Wake Up (Live)
2. DJ Shadow - Giving up the Ghost
3. The Clash - Lost in the Supermarket
4. Beruit - The Gulag Orkestar
5. The Beatles - Long and Winding Road
So instead, a playlist of tracks that have kept the ball rolling:
1. Arcade Fire & David Bowie - Wake Up (Live)
2. DJ Shadow - Giving up the Ghost
3. The Clash - Lost in the Supermarket
4. Beruit - The Gulag Orkestar
5. The Beatles - Long and Winding Road
Stage 9
The weather seemed a lot better this morning. Overcast and cold would do very nicely for expedition team from England. After a couple of little showers (washing and raining) we arrived at a local town on market day. Whilst munching on some Pain a goose escaped from an old market seller who could easily have been in allo'allo. I decided this was the fight for me and spent the next 5 minutes chasing and wrestling a goose with said monsieur. Thanks to international cooperation the bird was returned to its cage. It only occurred to me afterwards that I probably should have helped it escape instead of effectively sealing its death warrant. God, obviously annoyed that I have thwarted a bid for freedom by one of his animal kind decided torrential rain would piss me off. So be it. The next 40 minutes were spent sheltering in a mens fashion shop in which you could buy anything you want as long as it was brown. Some cycling finally happened but the stop start nature of the heavy rain made it impossible to make any real distance. We eventually gave up and found a hotel for the night. Inside the bar lives a tiny dog which Adam described as the ugliest dog he'd ever seen (see picture). If you think the dog looks scared then you should have seen Adam. I felt sorry for the creature because the owner seems to insist on shaving its fur off but also because its scared of absolutely everything (including cameras).
Stage 8
Campanile hotel (Issodoune) to hot hot hell
Due to our lack of mileage yesterday and on the first day 'objective Basque country' is looking dangerously unlikely. Determined to put a good stint in we piled out of the hotel after a disgraceful two man assault on the breakfast buffet. The idea was to do exactly the same route (in reverse but riding the bikes forwards) as the TDF boys had done a day previous. 40k was taken down in record time (20 of that was not even on the stage route and was us getting to the starting line) but so were full bidons due to the intense heat. Lunchtime was a welcome sight and we stopped at a great little road-side restaurant. Steak and salad x 2 please. Not realising that the high salt content of our meal would probably make us even thirstier we tucked in. The cheese desert (brie, stilton and goats) was also a woefully bad idea. Feeling a lot heavier we continued on our quest. Things started to go wrong around 20k afterwards when having finished off the emergency bidon we somehow got lost. So, so, thirsty, like an oven only more hilly. Things got really bad after we had cycled 2k down a country road to be greeted by a dead end, a farm house and the mud-track up a massive hill. Much to the amusement of the farmer I decided to have a lay down in the middle of his road so that I could dream about Orangina fountains. I told Adam to leave me there and to think of himself, he didn't and in a very 'Saharan film' manner we struggled to a nearby village. In a local bar we ordered 3 drinks each (coke, water and beer) and agreed we were done for the day. We knew it was going to be a hard, the stage in the wrong direction goes mostly uphill and it was insanely hot but it still felt like a massive failure. Camping was our punishment.
Due to our lack of mileage yesterday and on the first day 'objective Basque country' is looking dangerously unlikely. Determined to put a good stint in we piled out of the hotel after a disgraceful two man assault on the breakfast buffet. The idea was to do exactly the same route (in reverse but riding the bikes forwards) as the TDF boys had done a day previous. 40k was taken down in record time (20 of that was not even on the stage route and was us getting to the starting line) but so were full bidons due to the intense heat. Lunchtime was a welcome sight and we stopped at a great little road-side restaurant. Steak and salad x 2 please. Not realising that the high salt content of our meal would probably make us even thirstier we tucked in. The cheese desert (brie, stilton and goats) was also a woefully bad idea. Feeling a lot heavier we continued on our quest. Things started to go wrong around 20k afterwards when having finished off the emergency bidon we somehow got lost. So, so, thirsty, like an oven only more hilly. Things got really bad after we had cycled 2k down a country road to be greeted by a dead end, a farm house and the mud-track up a massive hill. Much to the amusement of the farmer I decided to have a lay down in the middle of his road so that I could dream about Orangina fountains. I told Adam to leave me there and to think of himself, he didn't and in a very 'Saharan film' manner we struggled to a nearby village. In a local bar we ordered 3 drinks each (coke, water and beer) and agreed we were done for the day. We knew it was going to be a hard, the stage in the wrong direction goes mostly uphill and it was insanely hot but it still felt like a massive failure. Camping was our punishment.
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