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| A QUIET ROAD IN FRANCE |
That is dream of the open road on the bike and plan next years touring rides.
It is only just over eight weeks since I returned from my Rock2UK ride and I am missing the daily routine of being out on the open and quiet roads of France and Spain.
I do get out on my bike on most day's of the week, but our roads are considerably more crowded than those that JD and I encountered on our trip back from Gibraltar.
Just look at the photo above. It was taken in France on a weekday at about midday...not a lot of traffic to be seen is there.
When I get back from my daily ride I get the maps out and checkout various routes on the internet. At the moment I have got about six routes on my shortlist but making that final decision is not proving easy.
First there is the length of a touring ride...it is always nice to ride with companions, but the people I usually ride with still have to go to work so the length of a trip that they can do is dictated to them by their jobs. On top of that any trip has to fit in between other cycling events that I am hoping to do next year....things such as Club rides-Audax and Sportives.
I'm thinking that if I decide to do another ride of about 1500+ miles I might have to ride it solo, but as I have said no final decision has been made yet.
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| STEEP HILL IN FRANCE |
So many routes to ride and not enough time (or money) to do them all.
The second photo here shows one of the many water towers we saw in France. Although it is difficult to see in the picture, that small road up towards the tower was really steep.....something in the order of 18% was shown on the garmin....always a bit of a challenge on a fully loaded touring bike but I am missing it..!!
10 comments:
Do you get confused about which way to look the first day or two whenever you arrive in France or other places where they use the right side of the road?
You sir, are a lucky dog!
Can't wait to see your next adventure.
It was funny for me to read your post tonight. Where I live we just got blanketed with almost 12" of snow. Winter will be here for about 4 months and we have a Whitetail deer hunt going on now in which I participate in. I don't hunt very hard. I mostly just sit high in a tree, don't shoot if I do see any and daydream. Today's daydreaming consisted of bicycle touring...when, where and how far.
Thanks for the post.
*Steve A*
Riding on the opposite side of the road has never proved to be a problem, probably because you are so aware of it. The biggest problem is when you return to the UK, that's when most mistakes are made.
*limom*
Yes you are right of course....when the biggest decisions you have to make are 'When- Where and for How Long' you are going to ride your bike, life has got to be pretty good.
*rlove2bike*
Thanks a lot for your comments...glad that you were able to relate to the post.
Trevor,
I hear great things about the TransAM tour. Something to consider if you haven't done it yet??
Paz :)
*Chandra*
Funny that you should mention the TransAM - as someone is giving us a talk about his experience on this at my Cycle Club on the 5th December.
So true! The planning is always such a big part of the fun for me, even if it's just a short morning ride. I've never done an extended 1,000+ mile tour, but looking through maps, making packing lists, gearing your bike ... must be great.
*Jason*
The planning is almost as much fun as the actual trip....
I have been absent for a while (busy with my own travels and planning I suppose, which of course is no excuse) and missed your amazing trip. The roads of France look like they are begging to be ridden. I will go back now and read the previous posts to catch up on all your exciting cycling stories.
*Groover*
Nice to hear from you...As you say the roads of France are certainly begging to be ridden - a real cyclists paradise.
-Trevor
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