FRANCE - DAY 3

HOUSE IN TOWN CENTRE

COUTANCES CATHEDRAL

ANOTHER VIEW OF THE CATHEDRAL

MIKE BACK IN PRO PHOTOGRAPHER MODE

VIEW INSIDE CATHEDRAL

HOUSE ENTRANCE - COUTANCES

TOWN HALL - COUTANCES

FRENCH OMELETTE  FOR LUNCH 

TOWN CENTRE SQUARE - COUTANCES

On day three we spent the time looking around the town of Coutances.......Above is just a little of what we saw.........................

FRANCE - DAY 2

PETER'S BIKE - COVERED  IN RED DIRT

 The second day of the trip started with an overcast sky - a far cry from the nice weather of our first day. Following breakfast we broke camp and just as we left the site it started to drizzle....you know the sort of stuff...that really fine rain that manages to soak everything. But no need to worry.  I put on my lightweight Shutt Race Cape.
This great item of cycling clothing rolls up smaller than an orange- keeps you dry- and is 'see-through' so your club colours can  still be seen.  After about ten minutes I had to stop and take the race cape off, as the rain had stopped. Luckily that was the last we saw of the rain till the penultimate day of the trip.

The plan for this second day was to cycle to a place called Coutances. The others had found information about a cycle track that would take us the entire 42 miles to Coutances. This track was along a disused old rail track bed that had now been converted to a cycleway.
Now I must admit I am not a great fan of cycletracks. I am a roadie. I love smooth roads and France has smooth roads everywhere. However I am always willing to give things a try so I was quite happy as we pulled off a nice stretch of smooth French road on to the marked track.
It appeared to be quite a wide track and was covered with a reddish dusty gravel. Every quarter to half a mile you had to negotiate a barrier where the track would cross a road or lane. This was a bit annoying as it tended to slow my rhythm but hey...it wasn't a race so it didn't really matter.
After about 4 miles Mike and I pulled over at one of the barriers in order to wait for Peter and Chris who were just a few minutes behind us.
When Chris caught up with us one of the first things she said was 'Hey Trevor -  look at your bike'. So I did. What I saw was what had been a nice clean polished machine was now covered in a reddish muck. Where it had been raining earlier it had dampened the dusty gravel and in just the four miles had made my bike dirtier than it ever got when I cycled the entire length off France in 2009.
Well that was enough for me. I made up my mind that I would be off the track at the next convenient road crossing. The others decided to stick with the track and we arranged that we would meet at the campsite in Coutances.
At about midday we went our separate ways- Mike Chris and Peter sticking with the cycletrack and me electing to enjoy the beauties of French road riding.
Enjoy it I did. Although this was shown on the map as a main road, the traffic was very light and at times there was nothing in front of me and nothing behind. I managed to achieve an average speed in excess of 15mph fully loaded and it was a cyclists dream....this is why I love cycling in France so much. France is made for cyclists..!! I stopped only once -  for an energy bar and a drink -  and at 1400hrs I arrived at the campsite in Coutances.
Tent up...coffee on the go....time to reflect on what had been a rather special ride. I then cleaned my bike and went for a walk to explore the area. By 1600hrs I was starting to get a little concerned as the others still had not appeared. I made another coffee and at 1700hrs I tried to make contact with them by phone but their phone was on answer phone only so I just left a message. I then left them a text message. I then decided to walk down the road to where I had seen a shop and a small cafe just to check them out and as I was walking back up the road who did I see grinding their way up the hill....yes...it was Mike Chris and Peter.
They all seemed to be pleased to be arriving at the days destination and Chris's face said it all.....she looked pooped..
They were all glad to have arrived and seemed surprised that I had been at the site for almost 4hours. They told me that the track had proved difficult to ride as it gave no respite....you had to keep pedaling....you couldn't freewheel...if you tried, the bike would just slow up rapidly. All their bikes were sporting a very liberal coating of reddish dust and apparently the track itself was surrounded by trees for much of the way so they didn't get to have much in the way of views. Their experience made them view the idea of riding on cycleways very differently......after all.....why cycle on a dusty track from which you can't see much of the scenery when the roads are so cyclist friendly...! Interestingly my total mileage for the day was only 35.5 miles the others managed about ten miles more. Not only had the track been more difficult to ride it was also further.
They put their tents up....put on a brew....then cleaned their bikes. We then all went to the shop to get something for a meal. The rest of the evening was spent chatting around the campsite.

SCENE IN COUTANCES

PETER CLEANING HIS BIKE

MIKE CLEANING BIKE - NO PICTURE OF CHRIS AS MIKE CLEANED HERS AS  WELL

RIDING THE TRACK PROVED VERY TIRING....TRACK TEAM  RECOVERING

OUR PITCH AT COUTANCES

FRANCE - DAY 1

CHRIS AND MIKE IN EARLY MORNING MODE

 For our recent French Touring trip it was an early morning start for the ferry.
Well it was 'early' if you happen to be retired..!
The ferry was booked to leave Poole docks at 0830 hours....we had to be there at about 0700hrs. Peter had stayed at my place overnight so that he didn't have the trouble of getting to the ferry from his home at Blandford.
Mike and Chris were going to cycle in from their home at Wimborne a distance of about 9.5 miles. When Peter and I arrived at the ferry port at about 0715 Mike and Chris told us that they had been there since about 0600hrs having left home at about 0500hrs.
Now that was EARLY !!.... Apparently they wanted to make sure that they didn't miss the ferry...!!! The photo above shows the effect the early start had on them both....they sat in the lounge area of the ferry for most of the trip with a glazed look in their eyes.

CHERBOURG - STRAIGHT TO TOURIST INFORMATION

 On arrival at Cherbourg at about midday we set off in the opposite direction that we needed to because there was a tourist information office at the other end of town and we wanted to get some leaflets on cycle routes and camping sites.
I waited outside the TI with Mike and the bikes while Peter and Chris went in to raid the free leaflet racks.
In the 10 mins that Mike and I stood outside two people approached us interested in our ride.They wanted to know where we were from? ...where we were going?.....what sort of bike we had?.....What GPS etc etc. Apparently there was a cruise ship in the port and both these people were passengers from the ship. Both were Americans and they stood and chatted to us for quite some time.
Finally Chris and Peter emerged with the required leaflets and we finally set off back in the direction we had just come. It was a nice bright and sunny day- warm but with a nice breeze.

MIKE IN PRO PHOTOGRAPHER MODE PEERING OVER A FENCE

 We soon found the route that we needed to be on and after a minor problem with routing at a roundabout we broke free of the environs of Cherbourg.
After about 10 - 12 miles Mike could be found peering over a fence.
Now Mike is a Professional Photographer.. but I never thought that he was into peering over fences to try and get a scoop shot of some French Celebrity !!  As it turned out Mike was just trying to get into a good position to take some shots of a Chateau.

CHATEAU - OBJECT OF MIKES DESIRE....(AFTER CHRIS OF COURSE)

ANOTHER BUILDING IN THE GROUNDS OF THE CHATEAU

 After our first of many photo opportunities we set off again heading for L'Etang Bertrand where we had it on good authority  there was a good campsite there.
Now I love French campsites, as even the municipal sites offer good facilities and at reasonable cost.
When you have a small one or two man tent and no car you don't want to be charged the same as a family with a car and a six berth bungalow tent!
In the UK I think that backpackers and cyclepackers often get a raw deal at a lot of campsites where they just don't seem to cater for the lightweight camper. In France it is different....they have a good pricing policy which includes the lightweight camper....Not once during the whole trip did we pay more than 6 euros for a pitch and some of the facilities were really 5 star.

OUR FIRST NIGHT'S PITCH

After about 26 miles (I told you we wouldn't be doing high mileages) we arrived at our first nights campsite.
It was a Farm campsite and it was in a fantastic rural setting.
Three grown men pushed Chris into the farmhouse in front of us all as she is the only one who can speak French. The Farmers wife showed us all the facilities which were pretty good and told us that it would be 4 euros each.... UK campsites please note...4 euros..!!
Mike and Chris were pretty tired after their early start but we were all glad to have arrived at our first site of the trip. There only seemed to be a couple of other people camping in the field and I must say that it was a really nice and tranquil spot.
It had been a longish day for everyone...but the trip had finally started..........

To be continued.......................................

NB: I will also be posting some 'arty farty' type pictures taken in France on my Photo Site 'Aura of Past Shadows'. 

THAT'S BETTER

THAT LOOKS A LOT BETTER

The Brooks bar tape arrived this morning.
This afternoon I fitted and treated it and I think that you will agree it looks a lot better match with the saddle than the lighter coloured Cinelli tape that was originally fitted to the Cinelli bars. I am out riding on the Felt tomorrow, so it won't be until early next week that I get out on the Tifosi with it's increased Retro look.

A BETTER COLOUR MATCH THAN THE PREVIOUS TAPE

RETRO COOL

OUT OF THE BOX

i

OUT OF THE BOX THE ITEMS ARE IN THEIR OWN BROOKS CLOTH BAG

 Being an impatient kind of guy I couldn't wait too long before getting the Brooks items out of the box and fitted. Once out of the box the items were found to have their own cloth bags.....what class....there is certainly something about Brooks products.
I have been using a Brooks Team Professional Saddle on my touring bike for a number of years. It is a very..very...comfortable saddle. It was comfortable from the moment that I started using it.
With this in mind, ever since I bought the Tifosi I have been considering fitting a Brooks. The final decision was helped along when I noticed that my Selle Italia saddle that the bike was supplied with was starting to show signs of wear.
With a Brooks, the more miles you ride the more comfortable it becomes and the better it looks. Most other makes of saddles can start to look a little 'mile worn' the more you use them.
 Having made my mind up to change the saddle the next decision to make was exactly which Brooks model to go for.
Although I love my Team Pro I wanted a more racy design for the Tifosi.
Final shortlist was a Swallow or a Swift. I also wanted to get a saddle finished in 'Honey' brown. My final choice was a Brooks Swift Chrome in Honey.
Having seen a lot of various bikes on the 'Brooks' web site I felt that the modern 'Retro' paint job of the Tifosi would look just great and classy in this classic colour. I had also decided to get a 'Challenge Tool Bag' to match the saddle.

'CHALLENGE TOOL BAG

A THING OF CYCLING BEAUTY.. .A SWIFT SADDLE FINISHED IN HONEY

 I have now fitted the saddle and the bag to the bike....I think it looks good.....but Oh dear.... The existing Cinelli  natural cork tape looks Ok but I know that the bike would look so much better with the matching Brooks bar tape.
So more £..ss had to be spent.
I ordered the bar tape and it should arrive in a day or two. I will not ride the bike until I have fitted the tape because I keep hearing a voice telling me that 'image is everything'. Oh! and if you are wondering what was in the little box in the last posting.....it was Brooks Proofhide leather conditioner.

SADDLE AND BAG FITTED...BUT OH DEAR...!!

HOME

After eleven days in France, Chris -Mike- Peter and myself are all now back safe and sound in the UK. 

For  the other three it is now a matter of getting back into 'work' mode. I am the lucky one as I just have to get into'planning the next ride' mode. 

Waiting for me on my return was a large brown cardboard box delivered courtesy of the Royal mail. On opening the box there were more boxes inside all marked 'Brooks'. I will share with you what exactly this delivery contained later in the week. 

First thing that I will be doing over the next few days is to catch up with the recordings of the Giro d'Italia and the Tour of California that Anne made for me while I was in France - Then I will upload and sort the 300+ photos that I took in France - when all that has been done I will put together a review of our trip spread over a few postings.. and ...most important....... I will also be catching up with all you guys out there in the blogosphere to see what you have all been up to while I have been pedaling around the French countryside...............

WAITING TO BE OPENED ON MY RETURN FROM FRANCE

In the queue.

In the queue for the ferry back to the UK. I will post some more detailed reports of the trip over the next couple of weeks.