Day 3 - Marennes to Royan to Le Verdin Sure Mer | Cycling in France

We woke up after last nights thunderstorm and everything was wet! Drummer Pie got up early while I snoozed for a little longer, he popped back in to Marennes and picked up food for the day, and treated himself to a sneaky coffee!

We packed up camp very slowly, trying to dry everything as much as possible before putting it away. We rolled out of the campsite at about 12 midday. On our way out of town we had a cross a massive bridge- it had a partially segregated bike path on it, but it was busy and pretty high. Also after the previous 'SPD top of the hill almost disaster', i wasn't keen to have both feet clipped in in case i had to make a sudden stop, it was harder work climbing it without being clipped. As I mentioned before Drummer Pie is not the biggest fan of heights but he said he actually enjoyed this bridge because the view was incredible!

We rejoined the Eurovelo route at Ronce les Bains and got on to a lovely bike path through quite dense woods, after following this for around 18km we had enough of trees and were itching to see some scenery! Luckily it was sunny and dry, and our kit was airing out on the back of our panniers.

For lunch we stopped at a massive lighthouse called 'Phare de la Coubre', we didn't go in for a look around, but instead found a little picnic area in the shade and stuffed our faces with crisps, brie and baguette. Just as we started to leave a french family sat down next to us and unpacked a picnic feast that put ours to shame.

We continued along the path through the woods and at La Palmyre we started to see the sea again! The path was winding and we had our first taste of le petit hills, they were fairly energy sapping, but we were soon at Royan to catch the ferry over the estuary. The ferry cost 9.80 for both of us and we managed to cycle on right before it left. Just before we got on I bought some cans of ice cold fizzy drink and we very much enjoyed cooling down with them whilst sitting on the top deck of the boat enjoying the view over the water. The journey was really quick and before we knew it we were on the other side of the channel.

Following another stop at another tourist information for camping directions we were on the bikes again heading towards a bike path, this was VERY well signed and easy to find. The path followed the line of a small tourist railway and was very cute. About half way down the path Drummer Pie had a bit of a meltdown, which was quickly solved by a load of water and a banana. This happened to us both throughout the trip, sometimes as we were cycling so much and it was hot we would just kind of forget to keep ourselves fuelled properly, by the end of the holiday we got much better at avoiding this.

After some helpful directions we finally found the campsite, Le Royainaisse. Supposedly an eco friendly campsite, it had a special price for cyclists (yesss!) and was quiet and leafy. We had another great pitch and took the time to wash a load of clothes that evening, to avoid getting any stinkier.

We had a home cooked dinner on the trangia stove, and headed to the campsite bar. So far we had avoided the campsite bars and cafes, but this one had a nice feel and fairly cheap wine. We also had a portion of chips, as everyone else had them and we couldn't resist the smell.

I have to admit I think this was the first really good nights sleep in France. No thunderstorms, not too hot or cold and very quiet, delightful!

Day 2 - La Rochelle to Marennes | Cycling in France

We awoke to a quiet camp, despite the beer neither of us slept brilliantly, but it was enough. Drummer Pie got us croissants for breakfast from the boulangerie van, and we had nearly set down the whole camp when the skies opened and it properly tipped it down! This was not the beautiful french sunshine we were promised! Sadly we had to pack the tent wet, and I got covered in mud when rolling it up. Spirits were high though, and we were both excited about our first proper full day on the bikes. 

The vague plan was to head south, hugging the coast, and we eventually found the Eurovelo 1 route. Although it was pretty well signed, we actually ended up kind of following two french cyclists who were clearly more familiar with the route and cycling on the wrong side of the road! 

After getting caught in a massive downpour- where we hid under some trees with a man and his dog, we stopped in Aytre for coffee, more pastries and an absolutely delicious lardon quiche. It was around 11am and everyone else in the cafe seemed to be having a beer, quite strange! On leaving town we got a bit lost, but flagged down and car and a lovely gentleman pointed us back in the direction of the bike path, we were back on the Eurovelo route. The route was great, almost all along the coast and segregated from the traffic.

We stopped for lunch in Roquefort, and ate our lidl packed lunch in the square- delicious square shaped brie! We also bought a new route map, it was an IGN one, it had all of the bike routes marked- very handy! There was a small part of the route we didn't have a map for and it had become obvious that we would really need one. We had a tasty coffee and were on our way.

As we went to leave town it started to chuck it down with rain again, and we made our way towards the transporter bridge- cool! It was a suspended platform that moved across the river, a very cheap crossing which avoided a horrendous big motor bridge. Drummer Pie doesn't like heights so he was a bit worried about it, but actually ended up chatting to a lovely Belgian cyclist the whole way across. One of the nicest things about cycle touring was meeting other cyclists and discussing their routes and hearing their recommendations.

We got off the bridge- it was still raining, and we set off to find the bike route again, we cycled up the hill to the main road and I had my first SPD disaster! As we came up the hill I realised that I couldn't unclip my feet and that I was going to fall off sideways, ahhhh! Absolute panic ensued and I shouted for help, very luckily Drummer Pie caught me just in time and I got off lightly with a bruised leg. Feeling pretty silly and full of adrenaline we cracked on and got lost.

Eventually we came across the two French cyclists that we were following earlier and we had a lovely chat. We also took advantage of the fact that they had GPS and a better map than us and they pointed us in the right direction. The Eurovelo route then took us on to a canal path , which was good for about 3km, until it turned into a gravely, bumpy, slippery track for about another 10km, very hard work!! 

After what felt like a very long time, and some very slow kms, we came off the canal path and travelled on tarmac across a marshland area. Finally the sun came out and we dried off a bit. There were a lot of birds in the marshland and it was very quiet, and then WE SAW OTTERS!!! Just one escaping into the water off the path at first, then another two on the bank!! We were sooo excited by this as neither of us had ever seen otters before in the wild- we travelled silently for the next km or few just in case we might see another!

Out of the marshland we crossed a horrendously busy main road and dropped into the small town of Marennes. It was a typically french town, and the blue shutters throughout the town looked beautiful in the now sunshine. We stopped off at the tourist information to ask about camping, and they gave us a great map and told us about the night market that was on later- exciting! The campsite was another few kms away on the other side of town but has a nice little area for cyclists and was under 20 euros for the night.

By this point I was pretty damn exhausted, Drummer Pie made a dinner of pasta and tuna, but it was really hard to eat it. We did around 70km that day and I was tired. Eventually Pie convinced me to get up again and we went to the night market. I am really glad we did because it was so much fun! A local blues band were playing, we had a cheap bottle of wine and watched the locals dancing. When we cycled home the bike path was covered in baby frogs and snails, it made for some interesting slalom techniques!

That night we cosied up and dropped off almost immediately, then a few hours later a HUGE thunderstorm hit, it went on for hours and the tent leaked, nightmare!

Day 1 - London to Paris to La Rochelle | Cycling in France

05.15 Start

We were up very early, feeling groggy from a late night of packing and preparation. We left the house later than expectedand got the bus. When we arrived at St Pancras it was absolute chaos! Queues out the door and just one poor man trying to keep things calm and moving. By the time we got through to the departure lounge it was already time to board. I fell asleep on the train almost immediately and left Drummer Pie listening to music all the way to Paris!

We arrived in Paris to no sign of our bikes, and no train guards to question! After many minutes faffing a crowd of other velo travellers assembled. Eventually after some strained conversation with a porter it was established that the baggage reception had them at the other side of the station. This was BLOODY MILES away from the platform/metro/taxis!

Our original plan was to quickly grab the bikes from the platform and then take the metro to Gare Montparnasse. It became immediately apparent that this would be very tricky, and I was really struggling to carry everything! We were also starting to run out of time to make our connection. We approached the taxi rank, the first taxi we asked gave us a quote of 80 euros, crazy money! I felt really silly for not researching this cost beforehand. Before having a total panic we approached another driver, who had a slightly smaller car and he estimated it costing 15-20 euros, phew! He swiftly packed everything into his car (it was cosy) and we had a great chat in broken english/french, about the welsh rugby team and cycling in Paris. The taxi driver dropped us right by the escalators for the station, and wished us good luck, little did we know we would need it!

Then things got really stressful. There appeared to be no luggage trolleys in the station so we were again carrying everything, and by this time it felt like my arms might fall off! There were also so many people getting on our train, and everyone had loads of luggage- silly us didn't realise that travelling on the 1st August in France was a bad idea (te first day of the French summer vacations)

At this point I was standing on the platform getting more and more panicked as Drummer Pie tried to get the luggage on- and find a guard for some help- all the luggage racks were packed full. I was stuck on the platform with the bikes watching the clock in a mess of anxiety, when the guard finally came along and told us just to get on and sort the luggage out on board, we got on with seconds to spare! Once we were onboard the stress continued, and after much luggage tetris finally we got the bikes in place, having to store our bags across several racks!

Once all of the luggage was in place we headed to the dining carriage for an overpriced sandwich and cold drink. If felt like a huge relief to finally be on the last bit of the journey!

Arriving at La Rochelle felt like a massive achievement, and although we had to put our bikes back together and find a campsite, the holiday mood hit us! The bikes had survived the journey perfectly and reassembled them on the station platform.

The next stop was tourist information, which thankfully was very close and easy to find. I didn't really know what to expect of La Rochelle, it is a beautiful town and it felt great to be by the sea! Outside tourist information we bumped in to some Brits also on bikes, and they reassured us that the municipal campsite was not only close but nice, and pretty cheap, wahoo! They were correct, it was another 5 minute cycle and was only 15.60 euros for the night.

We had an enormous pitch and our tiny tent looked hilarious in comparison! This is when we realised that we had forgotten the hat for our tent (that covers the ventilation mesh at the top) and also that the lightweight pegs that we bought especially didn't actually fit through the anchor points for the tent - whoops! I hastily constructed another hat out of a bit of the mattress bag and some gaffa tape, and attached it with clothes pegs, perfectly fine! Then we weighed down the tent with our luggage and headed back in to town for some dinner and a well deserved beer.

After a wander around the beautiful walled town we found a bar- it was full of Brits! La Rochelle seems to be a very popular british holiday destination, and after a pretty darn expensive beer we asked for some restaurant recommendations from the ladies on the next table. They recommended a strip of restaurants all know for Moules Frites on the opposite side of the harbour, we headed over and we were not disappointed! There was even a bargain set menu! Drummer Pie tried mussels for the first time and they were a big hit.

Feeling full and tired we popped to a shop for some (more) beer and loo roll- an essential in french campsites- and slowly cycled back to camp. After enjoying Leffe in a can we and drifted off with every intention of an early morning start the next day...

Cycling in France!! The night before...

After a long summer break it's now time to tell the story of our short holiday cycle touring in France!

The story starts the night before as we dropped off our bikes at St Pancras station after work. The next day we would take the Eurostar to Paris, change trains, and carry on to La Rochelle on the west coast.

The Eurostar bike policy is quite frankly bonkers! (more on this another time - I can rant on this for some time!) But for now the essentials, for packaged bikes under 120 x 90cm you pay £10 extra to send them as excess baggage with their baggage company Euro Depart. If you want to put them on built it costs £25, not guaranteed on the same train, or £30 on the same train- provided you drop it off at least an hour before and book in advance.

We decided to try and keep it cheap and went for the £10 option. We knew that this would involve some sort of box or bag, which we would either have to carry or dump when we got to France, so I set about the internet research! After reading many other blog posts and scouring online bike shops we found the CTC clear bike bags on wiggle.com at £12 each. We liked the idea that the bags were see through, so baggage handlers may be convinced to take a little more care when they could see our precious cargo inside. However £12 for essentially a large plastic sack seemed a little pricey, so I started looking in to alternatives and found mattress bags! We ordered two double mattress covers from the local bed shop at £10 for two, with the idea that we would use them to bag our bikes for travel, and carry them as extra waterproof sheeting/groundsheets.

When packing our bikes we took both wheels off, and the pedals, and turned the handlebars around. We also covered any delicate bits with plastic bottles (cut to size) ie the derailleur, forks and bottom of the chain ring. Then we covered the bikes and bags in 'fragile' tape, and dropped them off hoping that they would arrive safely in Paris!

Preparing for cycle touring.. In France!

Im not sure if I have mentioned it before, but this summer DrummerPie and I are planning to do some cycle touring in the south of France.

We are very lucky to have friends with a fabulous house near Agen, so the plan is to end up there after 8 days of cycling and camping. We will meet a bunch of friends there for a relaxing cheese, wine and sunbathing marathon.

After extensive research/discussions/googling we decided that the best way to get to the south of France and back, was via Eurostar and train. (Getting bikes on these services is a total nightmare BTW- but maybe another post on this in the future!)

We are going to start our adventure in La Rochelle, cycle down the coast, skip north of Bordeaux, and finally cycle east along towards Agen. Over the last few months we have been collecting equiptment, and we now have a full cycle camping kit ready to go! 

Today we had the pleasure of pootling around London picking up some final bits, including some essential maps for the journey. I also decided after our last long ride that I would most certainly need a new saddle for my blue bike, and after trying my pal Lucy's Tokyo Bike I decided to get a Tokyo saddle. It's a beautiful brown saddle and has loads of padding, but I like that it isn't too wide, I hope it will be super comfortable! I will be sure to review it afterwards. 

I also picked up 'The man who cycled the Americas' by Mark Beaumont. A few years ago I read his book 'The man who cycled the World', and I can honestly say it was one of the best adventure stories I have ever read. I am forever boring my cycling friends with anecdotes about the book!  

I am super excited to read this new book, especially as I loved watching the BBC coverage of his journey a few years ago. I am hoping that this will give me some serious motivation when we are eating up the miles in France this summer. 

I am planning to keep a diary of our little adventure, and maybe even do a bit of vlogging too, but before that I will be trying to keep you updated with all of our preparations! 

Cycle Surgery Womens Cycling Evening at Waterloo

Last night I had the pleasure of attending an exclusive Womens Cycling evening at Cycle Surgery on Waterloo bridge. I attended a similar event last year at the Southwark store and it was so friendly and informative I didn't want to miss going again! I dragged some cycling friends along, and we made a night of it.

We were greeted at the door with some fizzy wine (or fruit juice!) and tasty cupcakes, and given a wicked goodie bag. In the bag was a Nuun water bottle and electrolyte tablet, some tasty chocolate from Divine, and an awesome multitool from Leyzne- so handy!! There was also a copy of Womens Cycling magazine, and a catalogues and some leaflets.

Tasty cakes! There was also a running event no at the same time.

The main focus of the evening for me was the brilliant talk and demonstration by Nancy, she covered various issues, including how to fix punctures, cleaning your bike and clothing advice. I cannot stress enough how great she was at explaining everything in a non patronising and fun way! She certainly made me and my friends feel like we were prepared to tackle bike maintenance on our own, and even recommended some good products to help us. Nancy and others were also on hand afterwards to answer questions and give specific advice.

Although this was partly a sales event, there was no pressure to buy anything, but if you were feeling spendy then there were discounts on many products to help you out, in some cases 50% off! I picked up some new brake pads (boring!) and my friends stocked up on tyre levers, inners tubes and pumps. 

If you are new to city cycling, thinking about getting a new bike, or even if you have been cycling around London for a while, I would really recommend these events. It's great to get a reminder on bike maintenance and to meet other female cyclists to share your tips and tricks with.

There are more events coming up across the city over the summer, well worth dropping in on...

Victoria 26th June

Covent Garden 3rd July

Holborn 23rd July

Southwark Bridge 5th August

You can reserve you place at the event online, which is super easy, just follow this link for more info... http://www.cyclesurgery.com/womens-events/content/fcp-content

Let me know if you get the chance to go, how was it? Did you learn something? Would you recommend it to others? 

Happy summer cycling!

Secure saddle!

A little while ago DrummerPie bought himself a snazzy new saddle. Although it is apparantly very comfy, it is a bit of a thief magnet, so we came up with a plan to keep it safe. Although we have extra extender cables for locking up, it can be a bit of a faff to carry extras, so we thought we would try something else.

We used recycled bike bits to make the lock, a length of bike chain and an old inner tube.

Use a chain breaker to get the chain the right length, it should wrap through the saddle rails, and under through the frame. Take a length of innertube and thread the chain through it. This will act as protection against the chain rusting, and stop it scratching the frame. Thread it through, and seal up the innertube with a bit of electrical tape.

We hope that this will keep it safe out on the mean streets, hopefully it will act as an extra deterrent! Do you have any trick for locking your saddle? Or do you just use a cheap one like me?