Day 22, Faringdon to the Amicii kennels!

Well, after an absolutely brilliant night's sleep at The Old Crown Coaching Inn in Faringdon (probably one of the most comfortable beds I've ever slept in) and a proper breakfast (none of your pinchos or croissants here), I set off about 10am on the final leg (on my final legs).

It was fairly flat and fast across the Thames valley and I made pretty good time, although I very nearly got distracted by a tractor parts sale, but I can't have been paying attention to the route planning, as I had a fairly long stretch along the A361 and another on the A40, neither of which were very pleasant. 

After Burford I cut across to Bourton on the water, which was as busy as it always is, then I headed off up the long hill towards the north side of the Cotswolds. I had a wonderful surprise when I arrived at the top, as there was my work colleague Stephen, waiting with his family to cheer me on and, more importantly, they had donuts!

There followed the long drag across the Cotswolds, before the well deserved drop downhill in to Broadway. I had to stop for food in Broadway, as I was running low on energy.

Then it was another unpleasant blast along the A44 in to Evesham and finally there was an unpleasant surprise in the form of a couple of steep hills after Lenchwick and Church Lench, a final sting in the tail!

After that, it was a short run to the Amicii Dog Rescue and Rehabilitation UK kennels, where a reception committee was waiting with coffee and cakes!

So, after over 1,700 miles and three weeks this adventure is over, and what an adventure it's been. Last year's trip (apart from the food poisoning) was a breeze in comparison. There was more than one occasion where I was ready to throw in the towel. The day to Seville in the heat and at least one time riding up the west coast of France in the pouring rain. Everyone's comments spurred me on though, and the generosity of all of you that have donated to the cause. The Amicii Dog Rescue Romania team and the team here in the UK work so hard in often not the best conditions to help all the dogs and without your funding none of this would happen. 

Once again, thank you for all your support and no, I won't be doing this again!

Special thanks is reserved to my wife, Jill, without her support none of this would be possible. 

Sorry, I didn't take any photos today, but here's a photo of my Amicii Dog, Stella.

#abitofabikeride 

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Day 21, Portsmouth to Faringdon, 82 miles.

Not a huge amount of sleep last night on the ferry. Got on and went to have a shower and straight to bed, but after all the announcements about turning off alarms and putting your handbrake on (not applicable), about the bars being open (unwise) and what to do if the ferry sank (it didn't) it was about midnight. Five hours later I was woken by more announcements telling me breakfast was available, etc...

Rolled down the ramp at about 6.60 and headed off in to the darkness. Managed to navigate through multiple roundabouts and avoided cycling down the M27 and within 30 minutes had found my first hill. There were hills a-plenty today, the south downs and the north Wessex downs mostly, but plenty of ups and downs along the way. Apparently according to a 77 year old cyclist I met at the top of one hill we were at the highest point in Hampshire. 

I managed to remember to stop for food a couple of times, which was oh so much easier to find than in deserted French and Spanish villages.

The weather was good, although the wind was a bit cold to start with, but OK after a while. The route, while a bit hilly and busy with traffic at times, went through some beautiful villages, which I stopped to take pictures. 

And so I've stopped in Faringdon, Oxfordshire. I feel a bit guilty, because the entire distance from Portsmouth to the kennels is just 130 miles, a distance I've ridden many times and usually takes me about 12 hours. However, that's with a bike that weighs 10kg, not 40! Hopefully a night's rest will sort out the cramp in my calf and tomorrow the remaining 50 miles will fly by!

#abitofabikeride 

Amicii Dog Rescue and Rehabilitation UK 

Amicii Dog Rescue Romania 

https://justgiving.com/campaign/a-bit-of-a-bike-ride

Day 20, Domfront to Ouistreham, 72 miles.

I probably should have stayed in bed earlier, or had a more leisurely breakfast, because despite riding as slowly as possible, I've still arrived at least five hours too early. I blame the French cycling routes, they're just too good.

I left Domfront at 8.20 and almost immediately headed out on about 15 miles of old railway. When that ended, it was a bit up and down for a while before I hit the Voie Verte Normandie Suisse, which took me all the way to Caen. Passing through Caen was also very efficient due to the well designed cycleway, then there was another traffic free ride all the way to Ouistreham. 

I must admit, it was a bit nippy in Normandie Suisse, because it was cloudy and there was a sharp north wind. I stopped at Le Caillou - Restaurant et Café in, well in the middle of nowhere, but it was just in the right place for me. Nice cup of hot chocolate and a cookie and I thought "that'll tide me over until lunchtime". Now lunchtime should have happened at Thury-Harcourt, but the cafe by the side of the Voie Verte was closed. For lunch. Whoever heard of a cafe that closed for lunch? Only in France. 

Anyway, I just carried on to Caen, which wasn't much better by this time, unless I was prepared to divert to the centre. Salvation came in the form of a German supermarket. 

From there it was just a slow ride along the Caen canal to Ouistreham, and now I must wait...

#abitofabikeride 

Amicii Dog Rescue and Rehabilitation UK 

Amicii Dog Rescue Romania 

https://justgiving.com/campaign/a-bit-of-a-bike-ride

Day 19, Château-Gontier to Domfront, 70 miles.

There's an author who's books I read who coined the phrase "Mercedes Day", when all things told, you'd rather have done the trip in a chauffeur driven Mercedes than on a bike. Today was not a Mercedes day, although heaven knows, I've had a few on this trip... The day riding to Seville, when the temperature hit 45°; The day riding from Bayonne in the pouring rain and hail; the day to Saumur when it couldn't make up its mind if it was going to rain or not, and yesterday, when it rained continuously for hours. I may get another, but let's hope not.

I left Château-Gontier at about 8.30, after a good night's sleep and a good breakfast, and almost immediately went back on to the riverside path, following the Mayenne for miles and miles. And I mean miles and miles, about 40, to be precise. It wasn't paved, but the surface was so good I made excellent progress.

After a couple of hours (as explained in this morning's video update) I heard this voice "Steve! Steve! C'est moi, Pierre" and I was caught up by the guy (I assume the manager/owner) of the bike shop from the previous day. "Thanks for the (Google) review!" He was just out for a morning ride, but I guess he got to Laval a lot faster than me, because I saw him on the way back too!

I stopped for a coffee and a lemon pie in Laval and in a typically French scene, the post lady pulled up outside with her e-bike and stopped for a coffee too.

Just before Laval there was some serious work being undertaken on one of the weirs, and all the lock gates had been left open to let the river level fall enough to perform the works. This continued all the way up the river until the town of Mayenne itself, but nevertheless the riverside scenery was very pretty. I stopped taking pictures of lockside buildings after a while...

After Mayenne, I left the riverside, but followed an Avenue Verte, on a disused railway for about 15 miles, followed by a short stretch of roads and another railway for another 10 miles. It makes me wonder why we don't have so many of these in England? Imagine the Taunton to Barnstaple greenway, now that would be exceptional.

I arrived in tonight's stop of Domfront at about 5.15 pm, time to walk up to the old town before returning to digs.

With a bit of luck, tomorrow should be my last day in France, I have less that 75 miles to the port and the ferry doesn't sail until 23.30 or something silly. Then it's Portsmouth on Friday morning and homeward bound...

#abitofabikeride 

Amicii Dog Rescue and Rehabilitation UK 

Amicii Dog Rescue Romania 

https://justgiving.com/campaign/a-bit-of-a-bike-ride

Day 18, Saumur to Château-Gontier, 75 miles.

Well, what a day! I knew it was going to be wet, but that was ridiculous! Six hours in the pouring rain, until eventually I just rode out of the north side of the storm. It doesn't matter how good your waterproofs are either, if you ride long enough and hard enough you're going to get wet.

I hadn't even gone a mile before I got to the first "route barrée" sign either, so it's been another one of those days too. I think there were four divisions, two that I knew about and two that I didn't. All required some weaving around the houses to get me back on track.

I'm sorry, I didn't take many pictures in the rain, I just don't like my phone getting that wet. The exception had to be when I got to the DIY chain ferry across L'Authion river/canal. I'd heard about it, but to be honest I'd put it to the back of my mind in the "I'll deal with it later" cubbyhole. Well, I had to deal with it today. Typically the thing was on the other side of the river, so I had to pull it over so I could use it. Then I was concerned I'd slip in to the river getting on, or that I'd drift off down the river like Corporal Jones in the Dad's Army film. Fortunately, nothing like that happened and after a lot of heaving on the chain I was on the other side. The only casualty was my cape, which got muddy. The pouring rain soon washed that off.

I rode through the old Angers slate quarry, which looked like it could have been worth more time, but again, not in the rain. I made my way through the city and headed off up the path by the river Mayenne, which I'm sure would be delightful on a sunny day, but the path had turned in to a muddy quagmire through which my tyres squirmed their way.

About 2pm, the rain stopped and I was near Montreuil-Juigné by this time, so I took a few photos when I could. The river Mayenne is obviously navigable as there are plenty of locks and attractive lock buildings. I don't know if they are Mills too. The odd château kept materialising too.

On one of the diversions it became obvious that something was very wrong with my brakes, as the back one was making a horrible grinding noise and the front one wasn't working very well at all. At one point I went straight past a turn, because there was no chance of me stopping! I investigated and the grit and water of the paths had totally worn down my brake blocks, so they needed replacing urgently. I did wonder if they'd make it to the UK, but there was no way. My odometer was approaching the 75 miles mark as I pulled in to Château-Gontier, so I searched for local bike shops and picked one nearby. I didn't hold out much hope, but Espace Cycles 53 came up trumps, I bought two pairs and sat outside the shop in the sun and fitted them. I even oiled the chain. After that was done it was time to look for somewhere to stay, to have a shower and wash of the grit and grime.

A bit of quick arithmetic says I'm 145 miles from the port and I have two days to do it in, so I should be fine. I just hope it doesn't rain too much!

#abitofabikeride 

Amicii Dog Rescue and Rehabilitation UK 

Amicii Dog Rescue Romania 

https://justgiving.com/campaign/a-bit-of-a-bike-ride

Day 17, Parthenay to Saumur, 68 miles.

 Not far enough really, must try harder tomorrow. Which could be tricky - weather forecast is for rain all day tomorrow 😒 

Today didn't look to hard on paper, but it seems like lots of things were conspiring against good progress. Firstly the rain; one minute it was raining, the next it wasn't. Then it was again, then it wasn't. I lost count of the number of times I put my rain cape on and took it off. Then there was a fairly brisk wind, not a headwind, but the way the route wound to and fro sometimes it was, sometimes it wasn't.

The road also left a lot to be desired at times. Ironically most of the unpaved parts were nicer to ride than the paved parts. The part from Thouars to Saumur was particularly bad. I couldn't ride quickly because it was so bumpy.

Finally there were the road blocks. None of them took me that far out of the way, but the one in Thouars was somewhat annoying, because instead of putting the sign at the top of the steep hill, they put it half way down, meaning I had to ride (OK, walk) back up again. 

Anyway, enough complaining, the plus side was that the scenery today was lovely. Most of the day was spent riding down the river Thouet, a tributary of the Loire. There were many pretty lakes and weirs, and the fields of sunflowers in different stages of their death throes and fields of maize were interspersed with pretty little villages, all with their impressive churches and even the occasional chateau.

I didn't stop a lot today, mainly because I was constantly stopping to put my rain cape on, but I did manage a baguette in a place called Airvault, where I was served by an attractive young lady who didn't have any teeth. She did speak good English though.

Let's hope tomorrow goes better, despite the rain. At least if it's raining all day I'll know where I stand. 

#abitofabikeride 

Amicii Dog Rescue and Rehabilitation UK 

Amicii Dog Rescue Romania 

https://justgiving.com/campaign/a-bit-of-a-bike-ride

Day 16, Rochefort to Parthenay (74 miles).

 Hi all, so this morning I sat down and had a look at the map and calculated that if I headed straight from Rochefort to Niort I'd effectively cut 40 miles off the route to Caen. I spoke to the hotel proprietor at breakfast (8am) and asked him if the road was busy and he responded with an emphatic "Non", so it was a done deal. Main road to Niort it was. In fact, it wasn't, because despite it being Sunday, so not HGV's on the roads, the constant stream of traffic soon sent me off to the back roads.

Nevertheless, this didn't add many miles to the route and it gave me the advantage of seeing some small towns and villages along the way.

What I would like to know though, is what do the French do on a Sunday? Despite the presence of cars outside the houses, the streets were deserted!

From Niort I started to ride the Velo Francette route, which passed through some very pretty areas, more typical of what you'd think of as "France" and very refreshing after the forests of the Vélodyssée. 

It tried to rain all day, not much, not enough to put on waterproofs, just enough to be annoying. I couldn't decide if it was warm enough for shorts either, but eventually succumbed. Not until about 4pm did it really start to rain, but at that stage I'd already got the finish in sight.

All day we'd been trying to arrange a rendezvous with Ann Pursey and Clive, and it seemed that Parthenay was the ideal place. The planets aligned and I met up with them both for a beer and a meal (actual food) in the evening. Diet up until then had consisted of two bananas, some jam tarts and lots of Haribo's. Was really good to meet up though, if a little emotional 😢 

Tomorrow, who knows? Maybe Angers. Hopefully at least 120km further along the road. 

#abitofabikeride 

Amicii Dog Rescue and Rehabilitation UK

Amicii Dog Rescue Romania 

https://justgiving.com/campaign/a-bit-of-a-bike-ride