Day 6 (I think, they blend into one)
We left lovely Strasbourg along the canal tow paths - 20'ish miles of straight route with inclines only where there was a sluice. We then turned towards the Alsace wine region and its pretty villages. And who did we meet? Our old friend the headwind with gusts of 60kmh! The speed of our steeds was reduced to a very slow pace. The scenery was lovely but progress was hard.
A large salad lunch in Ribeauville whilst watching the local resident stork being fed at a backdoor did revive us somewhat but I was limping on less than one cylinder - a mixture of possible dehydration and general bwadddrr!
South of Colmar we crossed the Rhein and carried on on German soil - more cafes but poorer quality roads than in France - what have they spent all those Greek IOUs on?
Somewhere along the way we boarded a train and arrived in Basel by early evening - 80'something miles of hard work and we went food hunting. What a grim place - Swiss architecture and city planning have few redeeming factors and the only impressive encounters are the prices of even simple meals. After a long search se decided that the hotel was the best option before the beds called us. Day 7 and the fun will start- the hills and mountains are now calling- we are aiming for Lucerne somewhere way up there!! Big breakfast and we're off! Auf Wiedersehn, Pets!!!
Wednesday, 6 May 2015
Tuesday, 5 May 2015
Shadowfax
What a day! A rather restless night in IBIS/IKEA land woken up by traffic noise and heavy downpour we had a rather rudimentary breakfast before loading up the steeds. The weather was dry and it gradually became sunny and - now pinch your inner what-evers- tailwindy! As usual we lost our bearings and headed up a double- v hill (>12%) in error. Paul managed it in tha saddle, the rest of us felt that our horses needed a rest and we walked them up. From then on we flew wind behind us 17-20 mph through beautiful undulating deserted scenery (ever tempted to buy a chateu in rural France? Don't - it is completely empty! No shops no cafes no nothing! ) We stopped for the application of sunscreen in an almost deserted village and a chap approached us clutching a thermos. He invited us for tea and we had a great chat and tea with a Parisian journalist now living in the middle of nowhere with his 200 metres (yes that is correct!) of bookshelves! We raced on towards Alsace via Nancy but to catch up due to time lost in the Picardian headwinds we boarded a train for the last part. We have now had a fantastic meal in beautiful Strasbourg preceded by a very tasty dark Fischer ale followed by a fizzy Cremant d'Alsace and then accompanied by a Grand Cru Riesling. It has been a great day in a beautiful country in great company.
Shadowfax? "Run like the wind, Shadowfax" - and that is what we finally did. Life is good!!
Shadowfax? "Run like the wind, Shadowfax" - and that is what we finally did. Life is good!!
Monday, 4 May 2015
this is more like it!! Reims to Bar le Duc
Day Four - let there be light, and there was light
And hills and still a bit of headwind!
Anyway got up early to an excellent breakfast buffet at hotel Campanille - great value and location!
The breakfast was so good that we did not get going until 0830 - inspite of the almost blue skies and less malignant movements of the air (wind just in front of a sidewind - a great improvement.) We got lost getting out of Reims and the canal path had been cleaned with soap or similar over night - very wet and very very slippery. We stayed upright, found the route and quickly lost it again but did make progress. The French countryside and villages have very few cafes/restaurants/shops and we therefore stopped at the only one we came across after 35'ish miles. We had a great starter buffet (enormous), chicken and pasta, pudding, coffee and as our WSW friend Geoff had caught up with us a caraffe of vin rouge. Total bill for 4 - 60€ !!! The lunch did take a bit longer than our average snack and we decided to limit our travel distance to 75 miles and will be spending the night in one of these modern IKEA-type hotels built on top of a hill - to get there you have to self -assemble a ladder and scale an open drainage canal and a grassy embankment - I have photographic evidence to publish when I learn how to do that! We expect Geoff to join us for a meal in one of the nearby hill-top establishments providing he remembers to bring a ladder! Anyway - the first good day of cycling where the only moisture was created by sweating up the hills -641 metres of ups and very very few of downs (and none of eider!(sorry))
And hills and still a bit of headwind!
Anyway got up early to an excellent breakfast buffet at hotel Campanille - great value and location!
The breakfast was so good that we did not get going until 0830 - inspite of the almost blue skies and less malignant movements of the air (wind just in front of a sidewind - a great improvement.) We got lost getting out of Reims and the canal path had been cleaned with soap or similar over night - very wet and very very slippery. We stayed upright, found the route and quickly lost it again but did make progress. The French countryside and villages have very few cafes/restaurants/shops and we therefore stopped at the only one we came across after 35'ish miles. We had a great starter buffet (enormous), chicken and pasta, pudding, coffee and as our WSW friend Geoff had caught up with us a caraffe of vin rouge. Total bill for 4 - 60€ !!! The lunch did take a bit longer than our average snack and we decided to limit our travel distance to 75 miles and will be spending the night in one of these modern IKEA-type hotels built on top of a hill - to get there you have to self -assemble a ladder and scale an open drainage canal and a grassy embankment - I have photographic evidence to publish when I learn how to do that! We expect Geoff to join us for a meal in one of the nearby hill-top establishments providing he remembers to bring a ladder! Anyway - the first good day of cycling where the only moisture was created by sweating up the hills -641 metres of ups and very very few of downs (and none of eider!(sorry))
Sunday, 3 May 2015
arras - Reims
Day 3
Into the wind!
We left Arras this morning with the rain soaked flags on the square pointing in the direction that any sensible person would travel - but we are not and we did not!!
You are probably familar with the hats fishermen wear when inclement weather is brewing- yes Sou'wester. Now have you ever heard of Sou'Easters?? - well soon you will because we will market them! The whole day we had the wind and rain right in our less than enthusiastic looking faces as we were cycling through lanscapes littered with cementaries with the poor young chaps who were sent to the trenches. At least the weather helped us maintain our sombre mood! Onwards south eastwards
We had the first stop in St Quentin where we on the rainsoaked square found an excellent establishment to fill our bellies with large doses of protein and carbs - and several litres of Orangina.
We sped (perhaps not an accurate description!) on up and down hills and as the rain increased we reached Laon - about 20 miles from Reims and we decided that mortal men could do no more and we bought traintickets for Reims (bikes free- vive la France!!) - the moment the tickets were bought the rain stopped and blue skies appeared! That didn't fool us and we stuck to iur plan snd boarded the train for Reims where we have just had an excellent meal accompanied by some local barley brew Affligem rouge and Edelweiss - small glasses, we are pilgrims on a mission! On the way back there was a spectacular Son et Lumiere show in the cathedral with bagpipes, choral music and organ recitals ( we only had two beers each, honest!). It was a beautiful warm evening and we do have some expectations for tomorrow when we will hopefully meet up with Feoff from back home!
Todays travel was 75 miles, 970 metres up and a few down. No mechanicsl mishaps today!!
Into the wind!
We left Arras this morning with the rain soaked flags on the square pointing in the direction that any sensible person would travel - but we are not and we did not!!
You are probably familar with the hats fishermen wear when inclement weather is brewing- yes Sou'wester. Now have you ever heard of Sou'Easters?? - well soon you will because we will market them! The whole day we had the wind and rain right in our less than enthusiastic looking faces as we were cycling through lanscapes littered with cementaries with the poor young chaps who were sent to the trenches. At least the weather helped us maintain our sombre mood! Onwards south eastwards
We had the first stop in St Quentin where we on the rainsoaked square found an excellent establishment to fill our bellies with large doses of protein and carbs - and several litres of Orangina.
We sped (perhaps not an accurate description!) on up and down hills and as the rain increased we reached Laon - about 20 miles from Reims and we decided that mortal men could do no more and we bought traintickets for Reims (bikes free- vive la France!!) - the moment the tickets were bought the rain stopped and blue skies appeared! That didn't fool us and we stuck to iur plan snd boarded the train for Reims where we have just had an excellent meal accompanied by some local barley brew Affligem rouge and Edelweiss - small glasses, we are pilgrims on a mission! On the way back there was a spectacular Son et Lumiere show in the cathedral with bagpipes, choral music and organ recitals ( we only had two beers each, honest!). It was a beautiful warm evening and we do have some expectations for tomorrow when we will hopefully meet up with Feoff from back home!
Todays travel was 75 miles, 970 metres up and a few down. No mechanicsl mishaps today!!
Day 2 of the epic journey!
I am having a few blogging problems - at my age it is often another B but not yet.
The first two blogs have been posted but heaven knows where they have gone!
Made it to Dover thru and unseasonal and inhispitable easterly wind - yes my blogname is sidevind meaning sidewind but should be headwind! We visited Canterbury - the official start of the pilgrimage route to Rome. I talked the ticket office out of charging us £31,50 as we are pilgrims!! Made it up and down the Kent'ish mountains and arrived to Dover 87 miles and 13-1400 metres of climbing. On to the ferry and off again (not for bad behaviour!) on to hotel Metropole on Rue Royal - excellent, fantastic breakfast!
This morning we started on smooth roads, still with a b... Strong b... Easterly wind! Several mechanical disasters, my jockey sheel dropped off the brand new derailleur and later I broke a spoke nipple broke and the brand new wheel (made by Rocketboy who if he comes near me will get a rocket up his backside!!!) had to be dismantled and repair done.
We made it to Arras after 75 miles and 950 metres of climbing nor including the three flights of stairs to our rooms. Now we Re having the first beer of the day (2010 hrs!!) and the day does not look too bad! Tomorro towards the Champagne capital, Reims. Not headwind again, ppppppppplease!!!
I am having a few blogging problems - at my age it is often another B but not yet.
The first two blogs have been posted but heaven knows where they have gone!
Made it to Dover thru and unseasonal and inhispitable easterly wind - yes my blogname is sidevind meaning sidewind but should be headwind! We visited Canterbury - the official start of the pilgrimage route to Rome. I talked the ticket office out of charging us £31,50 as we are pilgrims!! Made it up and down the Kent'ish mountains and arrived to Dover 87 miles and 13-1400 metres of climbing. On to the ferry and off again (not for bad behaviour!) on to hotel Metropole on Rue Royal - excellent, fantastic breakfast!
This morning we started on smooth roads, still with a b... Strong b... Easterly wind! Several mechanical disasters, my jockey sheel dropped off the brand new derailleur and later I broke a spoke nipple broke and the brand new wheel (made by Rocketboy who if he comes near me will get a rocket up his backside!!!) had to be dismantled and repair done.
We made it to Arras after 75 miles and 950 metres of climbing nor including the three flights of stairs to our rooms. Now we Re having the first beer of the day (2010 hrs!!) and the day does not look too bad! Tomorro towards the Champagne capital, Reims. Not headwind again, ppppppppplease!!!
Friday, 24 April 2015
London- Cesinatico May 2015
Pre-blog London- Cesinatico, Italy
April 2015
A glutton for more punishment! It is a week today and Paul, Robin and I will set off from Stratford in London heading eastwards,southwards and upwards. We will cycle (yes no engines apart from what our bibshorts contain (no, a bit lower than that!) via Canterbury, Dover, Calais, Arras, Reims (did you know that the "m" is silent? Well now you do!), Strasbourg, Basel , Andermatt, St Gotthardt, Como, Verona, Ferrare, Bologna, Ravenna to Cesinatico on the Adriatic coast where my cycle club as usual has a training camp. And as I will do almost anything to avoid Ryan Air I decided to cycle there. And fortunately others have agreed to come along. Paul claims that there is pressing work to be done so he will leave us in Switzerland. The total journey is probBly around 1200 miles - with some mountains thrown in for good measure - and some vineyards!!
And after 2 long'ish cycle rides (LEJOG 2013, and the southern part of the North Sea Route) I have finally learnt to limit my pannier content - 8 kg and that is not bad when you are 6'5 /186 cm!) and the route has been logged on to Garmin ( can be found on www.gpsies.co.uk). The tyres are puncture resistent 4 Season 28 mm to give some comfort (???).
So onemore week of repacking, unpacking,discarding items, repacking etc. Most other preparations sorted- an important one takes place tonight- the Bury Beer Festival - carboloading as Darren, my companion on last year's trip calls it. Well a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!
I have been asked if I do it for charity - well I didn't plan to but I will donate to Kids Company in London and if anyone else wants to then that will be much appreciated. I will set up a justgiving page!
Now off to do some training - by bike naturally ! Salut!!
April 2015
A glutton for more punishment! It is a week today and Paul, Robin and I will set off from Stratford in London heading eastwards,southwards and upwards. We will cycle (yes no engines apart from what our bibshorts contain (no, a bit lower than that!) via Canterbury, Dover, Calais, Arras, Reims (did you know that the "m" is silent? Well now you do!), Strasbourg, Basel , Andermatt, St Gotthardt, Como, Verona, Ferrare, Bologna, Ravenna to Cesinatico on the Adriatic coast where my cycle club as usual has a training camp. And as I will do almost anything to avoid Ryan Air I decided to cycle there. And fortunately others have agreed to come along. Paul claims that there is pressing work to be done so he will leave us in Switzerland. The total journey is probBly around 1200 miles - with some mountains thrown in for good measure - and some vineyards!!
And after 2 long'ish cycle rides (LEJOG 2013, and the southern part of the North Sea Route) I have finally learnt to limit my pannier content - 8 kg and that is not bad when you are 6'5 /186 cm!) and the route has been logged on to Garmin ( can be found on www.gpsies.co.uk). The tyres are puncture resistent 4 Season 28 mm to give some comfort (???).
So onemore week of repacking, unpacking,discarding items, repacking etc. Most other preparations sorted- an important one takes place tonight- the Bury Beer Festival - carboloading as Darren, my companion on last year's trip calls it. Well a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!
I have been asked if I do it for charity - well I didn't plan to but I will donate to Kids Company in London and if anyone else wants to then that will be much appreciated. I will set up a justgiving page!
Now off to do some training - by bike naturally ! Salut!!
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