Archives (page 2 of 21)
It’s been a long time coming, but I finally got my self a new daily ride. My old bike, a Specialized Secteur comp which I got back in 2012 had seen better days. So the time was right for a new bike. I wanted a bike capable of going on dirt tracks so I settled on Specialized Diverge.
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Welcome to Episode 7 Day 5 My trip ends in Lourdes
In short the weather for the next week is going to be crap. Also I’ve loaded up the bike too much and its all becoming a pain. The good bit is that I spent the day exploring Lourdes. Find out the whole story by listerning to my podcast. Thanks for joining me on my journey..
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Welcome to Episode 7 Day 4 Bedarieux to Lourdes by Train.
The previous days riding left me battered bruised. I woke up and looked out of the smelly rooms bedroom window. The weather looked grey. The mountains in the distance were covered by dark grey clouds filled to the brim with water. My exit plan was in full swing. Get the train to warm climbs. Head north west to Toulouse or Lourdes better still. I arrived at the station at 8am. Were is the ticket office. A sign on the window says, open at 9.30 am. I looked around not knowing what to do. Then from now where a women showed up. She clearly worked there. I asked how I buy a ticket. Billette I asked in my made up French. She pointed to a machine. This is where my problem began. Listen to my podcast to find out more.
So how much stuff do I need to take on a bicycle tour. The simple question is, as little as possible. On my last trip I took too much and regretted it, and on this trip i’ve done it again. I really didn’t plan this well. I’ve take stuff that I wont even use. The only things that I find a must is electronics. Stuff like laptops or iPads and a mobile phone. With these simple tools you can plan stuff ahead and I feel safe knowing that I can make a call for help. Other stuff like clothing can be purchased on route.
The other question you need to ask is what is the terrain going to be like. Hilly, gravel roads and weather conditions. All these things play a part in working out what you need to take. I think I would of taken 50% less and saved my self and of heavy hauling. We’re learn from our mistakes and I learning fast now.
Camping or staying in Hotels / hostels. This trip in the south of France, camping is proving to be a problem. There are limited places to tent camp and the cost is about 20 euros per night. If you consider that you first have to find a place to camp, which might be hit or miss and when you do find a place. You will need about an hour to set your self up. This all means that you have to start looking for a place at around mid afternoon.
If on the other hand you want to stay in hostels or hotels, you can travel lighter which means faster, or high climbs and travel for longer because there is very little setting up. The cost is about double or triple than camping but at least you get a warm shower and a soft bed at night. Next time I’m going to travel light and see how that works out. Also if you are in main land Europe hotels . Hostels are a lot easier to find than camp site especially in city’s.
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Welcome to Episode 7 Day 3 Montpellier to Bedarieux, 55 miles.
This was a hard day. In fact very hard. I didn’t expect this to be so tough. The mountain just didn’t stop coming and this was in part because of the Garmin Touring plus route choice. It just loves to take you on the scenic route. When I finally got to Bedarieux I was disappointed. There seems to be a lot of poverty around and I think it attracts a lot of immigrate workers. The place looks iron down and doesn’t have that rustic french feel to it.
In view of a few days climbing mountains Ive decided to get on a train out of here. Listen to the podcast for the full sp.
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Welcome to Episode 6 Day 2 Nimes to Montpellier
Today was a lazy day. Taking full advantage of a nice soft large bed before a long days ride.
Crepe pitstop
Today’s ride took me thru Le Vidourle with it’s lovely water fall where i stopped for a crepe filled with nuttella and an expresso. The waterfall is at Villetelle. I continued on to Lansargues while making my way to Montgpellier. Finally called it a day in a campsite call Eden. Im finding a lot of campsite dont infact like people with tents. Found one in the end with part services open. No food availible so had to make do with noodles.
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Welcome to Episode 5 The Day after Mount Ventoux
Today was the first day of my ride home to back to the uk. Coming off the back of riding Mont Ventoux, Today was going to be hard. Having said that I still managed to put in a solid 70 miles and ended my day in Nimes. Had to stump up the cost of a hotel as all the camping sites were full or didn’t like my face. To tell you the truth in was probably for the best as my body needed a nice bath to relax and a good bed to sleep in.
The beating of Mount Ventoux is a was eased by the help of the Mario, James, Christian and Phillip. We all conquered the Mountain and got home save and sound. This will be my fifth time climbing Ventoux and I think it his year was the hardest due to a few extras pounds. This ride home will kick start my dreams of a slender body in to gear.
I”ll sign off now will a photo montage of the last few days.
Podcast: Download (14.0MB)
Welcome to Episode 4
In this episode I asked the question do you need to get fit before going on the cycle tour?
Christoph Rehage 2.0 with his second video in China
