Friday and Saturday: two blissful days of cycling!

These past few days have been simply amazing. Canals, rivers, footpaths, small villages, great coffee! You know when everything seems to just…work! The bike repair I did on the rear wheel somehow worked – not sure why or how but I’ll take it! I had the whole rear hub dismantled with bits everywhere but whatever it was that was causing the problem had gone when I set off on Friday – happy days. Whilst I got hopelessly lost a few times (again, following Maps and expecting anything different is surely the definition of optimism!) At one point, like one of those annoying Sat Nav voices telling you to go straight….when straight is straight in to a river….Maps was telling me to follow a track that ….wasn’t there (see photographic evidence). Anyway, being the stubborn bugger I am I decided to ride across this field much to the amusement of the cows! Other than that the day was blissfully uneventful but utterly delightful!

I think today, Saturday, was the best day because I simply stopped at every opportunity to soak up the final days of France. I met a fellow cycle tourer coming along the towpath….where he hadn’t been wasn’t worth writing about. Amazing character. Then I stopped up video a boat going through a lock on the canal for Niamh and struck up a conversation with a man who lived in the old lock keepers house. Well before I knew it I was sitting in his garden sipping coffee and enjoying the fellowship of himself, his singer song writer wife and then his friends who turned up for Saturday brunch! Delightful. I arrived at my campsite and pitched up, meeting other cyclists there too! Mind you it’s bloody cold tonight but I’ve all the thermal gear I need for a toasty night. I’m staying in Besancon for three days as I want to only spend two nights in Switzerland- that’s all I can afford. The prices are truly off the chart even for youth hostels!

*Un jour de repos – Monday *

Put simply….I did bugger all Monday…,when in France….🤣. Can’t say I missed anything, as well, most things were….yep, you got it ….closed. I truly cannot understand how this economy works at all….because no one seems to work at all! I’m sure that’s simply not true, but to the untrained eye one is left scratching your head pondering how anyone makes any money. France has truly enthralled me with what is on offer to see, but it’s exasperated me in terms of getting access to basic things……France was the one country I actually ran out of water in and could not find a soul to help me find a tap….this was Sunday last week when central France has a siesta for…the whole day! Then they take Monday off to recover!

So other than getting a few things in preparation for not being able to get them tomorrow, I stayed in my room. Read. Relaxed. Sorted, then re-sorted stuff, offloaded some stuff, bought flights and insurance, and generally tried to get organised for the final week in France before the eye watering expense of Switzerland 🇨🇭.
I did get to continue to listen to my favourite on line psych, Alan Robarge, talk about self comforting…excellent podcast.

And no rest day is complete without a dollop of Bessels book!

_Traumatised people chronically feel unsafe inside their bodies: The past is alive in the form of gnawing interior discomfort. Their bodies are constantly bombarded by visceral warning signs, and, in an attempt to control these processes, they often become expert at ignoring their gut feelings and in numbing awareness of what is played out inside. They learn to hide from their selves.” (p.97) Bessel A. van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score:

When I awoke Tuesday morning (having been up past midnight in a teleconference call) I had a familiar feeling of emotional tension – that uncomfortable burst of electric feeling I had so often experienced in Adelaide, a visceral feeling of unease. I think yesterday’s down time and reflections re-triggered me a bit.

Well today’s ride was the longest in a while, and nearly all of it along various canals and parts of the Loire. See the two videos in this blog entry…..it was in places very challenging indeed. I clocked 120ks overall. It was tough on bike and rider, but somehow the Ks clicked down and we survived. Well… I did, albeit battered and a bit bruised. Bob….well Bob is disintegrating on a daily basis but refuses to give in. Everything came loose at one point today, panniers fell off, derailleur got choked with grass and flying twigs, and things got stuck in wheels! The main problem is the freehub/pawls have started to disintegrate, so I’m nursing Bob hopefully to Zurich to get a new rear wheel …I hope! If not I’ll have to rethink how to do a work-around! I think that’s the last of the really tough sections. Whilst the EV6 is predominantly gravel and tarmac footpaths , today wasn’t following that track, but the Maps version of Paris-Roubaix along the canals of central France. And as someone who has experienced the torture of the Hell of the North, today came a close second!! I arrived at the evening accommodation to find it….closed, bar two very hungry cats! I waited for an hour then decided to try and locate an open door which I found in the upstairs part of the farmhouse….this appeared to be a vacant room for rent so I decided to stay! As it turns out it was my room – the owner appeared a few hours later, as if it was perfectly ok to leave guests to work out their accommodation on their own, mumbled something about breakfast and disappeared again, only to resurface in the morning seeking cash as she had no credit card machine. Whoops….I had no cash!! So I got her to drop me to an ATM in the nearby town – that was an experience as her ‘car’ was one of those weir lawnmowers with four wheels – they have two seats, forward and reverse, and not enough power to pull the skin off custard! Hilarious fun, noisy as hell and slow as a snail!

Wednesday was a wonderful day of riding. Rolling hills, tracks through vineyards exploding with autumnal colours, and canal paths for the whole day. I stopped for lunch in the village green, which was of course utterly deserted bar two old cyclists on electric bikes who like he had stopped for lunch. We had a sort of conversation about cycling, and they told me about going to the Barossa in south Australia 😊. After they left I lay on the grass under a tree and simply stopped. It was 24 degrees. The birds were singing. There was no urban noise at all. Instead of belting down food then rushing to my next stop, I stopped. And it was delightful!

I’m staying in Chalon Sur Soane today and tomorrow as I have a 3am conference call to Aus and I’m not cycling after that! After that I push on north east to the border with Switzerland 🇨🇭 😊

Samedi et dimanche

After a lovely breaki with my hosts I set of with some level of uncertainty after yesterday’s mind games on the bike. I knew I had around 85k to do and I was determined to follow the EV6 cycle route. Well…I can report it was a great day! I travelled over gravel, canal paths and small back roads all day. Yes, the wind was always in my face but that aside, it was sunny and dry! I stopped in the gorgeous town of Gian for a mid morning coffee, and here met a fellow cyclist. Feck aren’t we the most boring people to talk to!! He went on and on and on about this trip and that and I swear he never once asked where I was from or where I was going!! Shoot me please if I ever get like that (some might say……!!)

The scenery was stunning all day and tho Bob was quite sick (it sounded like two pissed off cats in the bottom bracket I had no misfortunes like yesterday. I had been forewarned about the climb in to Sancerre and whilst I didn’t need to go to the village (as I was staying near the canal) I decided to try. Well, around 150 metres in the road reared up and I stopped and wondered what I was doing! But then I thought ‘Sod it….I’ll keep trying’ so I chucked it in the 46 and hauled my sorry arse up this most ridiculous of climbs (of course Maps had found the toughest route to the top!). It ground on for about 1k at 20 odd percent with Bob groaning with the task. But god it was worth it at the top. What an amazing place!

I then flew down the other side to the one supermarket I knew was open and right next door was a bike shop. Bingo! Got chatting to the owner and through sign language and verbal gymnastics I was able to explain my predicament! I had a spare set of bearings so together we went to work. I think he said ‘c’est de la merde’ when he say the crap bearing that were fitted in Ireland! He laughed! I didn’t! Anyway….the sound of silence was restored to Bobs Bottom Bracket!
I stayed overnight in a sort of gite…a family run type of bed and breakfast but it wasn’t particularly good – they forgot they had fee paying guests and family chaos continued all evening. I was glad to leave this morning!

Ok so as I meandered today (more like buried myself in to the unrelenting headwinds of the Loire) I pondered a few things about France:

1: you do not need the precision of a Swiss Watch to know the exact time in France. Stand outside any shop in France at 1o’clock and you’ll have the exact time, for this is precisely when the doors close. Exactement!

2: I now know how NASA work out their ‘window of opportunity’ to launch. They send their best and brightest to France to examine how the whole of French life is dominated by tiny ‘windows’ when a shop (or anything come to that) might actually be open. There are minuscule windows in any given day when something, anything, is actually open. Outside of that….forget it! And as for launching on a Sunday….the windows all have shutters on them, so don’t waste your time!

3: to Team Ineos, or McLaren….forget your wind tunnels and ‘marginal gains’….just bring your time trial bikes and your F1 cars to the Loire and voila…wind tunnel for free 😊.

Today was another good day, though Bob continues to fall apart on me – these tracks have wreaked havoc with the bike especially as it’s so heavily laden. I got through the day well until I tried to find a supermarket open (🤣🤣🤣). I had directions to one which was open in the afternoon but when I got there I couldn’t find it. I was in an area which was clearly very run down, with significant signs of social deprivation. However, just as I was about to resign myself to having snack bars for tea tonight I asked a guy where the market was and he pointed out a small shop heavily boarded up. I got everything I needed and then bang….the heavens opened in what can only be described as a freak weather system….rain like a monsoon, hideous thunder and near constant lightning! In the end I had to leave as the shop was shutting so I did the last 4K in torrential rain 🌧!  But at least it was warm!

Thursday and Friday

Thursday was a day of rest!! And gee did I need it. I stayed with a host called Susan who comes from England but has made France her home for decades. Her home was utterly delightful. I had an apartment all too myself which was incredible. Susan is a cycle tourist too, and a tandem rider in to the mix too so we had much to share and reflect on. She had a cat at behaved like a dog and a dog that behaved like a cat!
In the morning I tried to map out my next week as I knew I had to be in certain places at certain times to ensure I could connect with colleagues in Australia. That done is strolled in to the gorgeous village of Beaugency -picture perfect French village. I can see why Susan made this her home – just beautiful. As she had ridden the Eurovelo 6 route a few times she was able to guide me through the route, with countless expressions of ‘you cannot get lost, it’s sign posted all the way…’. Note to self – trust your instincts when someone makes it sound so easy-peasy!
During the night it bucketed down with thunder and lightening so I awoke to a very damp morning with more rain before I set off for Sully Sur Le Loire. I found the EV6 easily but that was about the only highlight of the day! I am not ashamed to say I wept today – a combination of fatigue, general weariness, getting utterly lost (….’you can’t get lost…!!), then puncture after puncture after puncture. The first 20k on the veloway would have been easier in a boat! After some serious downpours of late the track which was hard gravel was submerged in large sections. Bob did not appreciate it one bit! Neither did I. Then the signs disappeared so I got lost going in to Orleans then …bang! Blew the back tyre. I found a coffee shop and asked for a bike shop which luckily was only a K away so I walked to it, filthy wheel in hand to get things fixed. The bike was a complete mess, as was I and the bags, one of which of course I couldn’t take off as it’s held on with cable ties!! This saga took an hour! Having got out of Orleans I then swapped my Maps to ‘car’ which then proceeded to take me to a motorway despite it being set to avoid that! Then I punctured! So I stopped for a bite to eat and try pull myself together. I had done about 30k in 3.5 hours. I got utterly lost soon after restarting. And punctured again. My cassette had worn loose and my bottom bracket which I did a temporary fix on day 1 in France gave up the ghost. So I walked the last 3k to my hosts. I was feeling pretty fragile! A hot shower and a cup of tea helped 😊. I spent the next two hours washing, fixing and generally giving some TLC to Bob! My hosts were so understanding and I appreciated not having to cook or camp tonight. 70k in 6 hours tells its own story. I had a huge sense of disappointment as I wanted the Loire valley veloway to be such a wonderfully calming experience…,it was anything but. And for other cyclists reading this you’ll know that feeling of just not trusting your bike any more – that it seems to be on a self destruct road and you can’t get off it. It takes all the joy out of riding when you’re constantly wondering ‘what next’. Tomorrow I can only but hope is better. I need new tyres and new tubes for sure….priority number one when I get to Sancerre tomorrow! I’m going to bed utterly exhausted and to be honest, homesick and sick of travelling! But I also know that’s just part of the tapestry that is cycle touring. France has thrown up challenges every day and so far I’ve coped – today was a step too far and it showed!
Tx

Sloooow down Tuesday:
Having made the decision to take a leaf out of Daniels book and slow down, I awoke with a calmness which has been missing. Knowing I could do my 85k and feel ok about it was refreshing! After an excellent petit dejeuner with my hosts, I set off to enjoy the day. I listened to podcasts, stopped to take photos and drink coffee, and generally reflected on a number of things, something which had gone astray in recent weeks. I had forgotten what all this was about. It had become about the destination not the journey, about emptying myself and in the process missing the bloody point…and then feeling so wrecked as to simply want to sleep! I’ve spent a career doing that, as well as spending a life dominated by seeking external validation. Lessons on this trip come from the strangest of places!
It was an utterly enjoyable day, full of off- road tracks, forest roads and cycle paths, though the open fields threw up their own challenge of strong cross winds! I stopped for lunch in a small crossroads/cross track in the middle of a forest…a moment to savour. I found myself just being happy to be on the bike and in my own head, reflecting on how old habits are so stubbornly rusted on. The urge to keep pushing on, to do huge distances, when actually that stops me from really enjoying the experience.
I loved this quote in reading Bessels book (again!)

‘Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer’
Rainer Maria Rilke

I love the idea of ‘loving the questions’…and not trying to answer them!

Slowed down: Wednesday
I don’t think anything prepared me for todays riding experience. I had heard about the ‘haut vente’ of the Loire – winds that whip across the wide open plains of central France. Well they didn’t disappoint 🥲. I remember doing a 62k climb in Malaysia to the Cameron Highlands. Today was a 64k ‘climb’ except with almost zero elevation!

Kilometre after kilometer the wind smacked in to the side of the bike which has the aerodynamics of a shipping container! Hour after hour at 15kph….expending huge amounts of energy to go nowhere is soul destroying. With a cadence of 90-100 it’s exhausting simply to stay upright and whenever there was a slight downhill my speed would increase by a measly 2-3kph and then only with pedalling. If I freewheeled I think I’d have been pushed back up the hill 🤣. At least when you’re climbing there’s a sense of elevation, scenery, the challenge of the climb. Here….”boring as batshit”, as the Aussies would say. It was the French equivalent of the Nullabor! I must confess to simply hating it. There was no enjoyment whatsoever….nothing to see, except seeing the road disappear across the plain knowing you had to get across to that horizon only to be greeted with….more of the bloody same! A lesson in mental fortitude and bloody mindedness 😊. I arrived at my Warm Showers host utterly stuffed. But nothing that a hot shower, food and a warm bed won’t resolve!! Rest day tomorrow- after 8 days of cycling (admittedly some days only being short ones) my body, mind and soul need a break!