Look at those lovely cows, I passed them down by the misty Blavet River leaving St. Barthelemy on my way North through Melrand and Guemene up to Gourin. Unlike most of my journey, I knew this section like the back of my hand and had a mental picture in my head of the miles of hills ahead, which was a bit depressing, nothing for it though, so I stuck on my headphones and laughed out loud to Ricky Gervais & Karl Pilkington, if you've not listened to those Pod casts you really should! I must have looked insane to passers by (both of them!). Eventually, after about 7 hours pedalling I made it up to Spezet where I stayed with Geoff, a very keen cyclist. I was warmly welcomed by him and some of his friends to drinks, nibbles and cheer. A fine topping off to another long day. Friends left and we tucked into our dinner chatting about prostates and definitely not being gay...
Next morning Geoff was up sorting out the bikes and checking my tyre pressures for me, something I probably should have done a thousand miles earlier ! They were both low, so he topped them up for me. After breakfast and a flick through photo albums of Lycra clad loonies and relentless references to "the Tour", it became apparent that having Geoff riding with me for the morning was going to be hard work, even though he insisted he'd go slow! The thing is, his whole bike weighed about as much as my front wheel, and he was dressed like a 67 year old Power Ranger! Yes, 67! Fit as a flea and could easily out pedal your average 20 year old, let alone a 42 year old top athlete, with a heavy bike, luggage, knackered knee and clanking heart!!
I felt rather embarrassed pedalling my heart out to keep up when it was obvious to me that he was actually struggling to go slow enough !!
Bloody lovely bloke though, and by the time we'd parted after a bite to eat in Huelgoat, a beautiful old town in the heart of Brittany, I'd learnt about slip streams, puncture repair, which side he dressed (it actually effects pedal set ups!) and the importance of bananas, not only for slow release energy but also using its skin for emergency relief on delicate or chaffed areas below! "Oh yeah, just slip it down ya pants, works a treat?"
I'll stick to the cream thanks Geoff, but thanks anyway...
I sort of enjoyed my few hours with Geoff though, and we did stop to look at some huge wind turbines and an interesting Crucifix. I've been getting a bit obsessed with them during my big ride. In Brittany you see far more much older ones than the rest of France, carved in granite. I've no idea how old but many hundreds of years anyway. Lots of them have the carved Scallop shells depicted too, which I think has something to do with Pilgrims way back in the 9th century, who'd traipse across Europe for months or years, making for Santiago de Compostela in Spain. I hope they found what they were looking for. The significance of the Scallop shell is that they'd carry one during their great walk or pilgrimage, which would identify them to villagers and country folk along the way and also act as a saucer for meagre but kindly gifted sustenance too.
The one photographed above is in Melrand and clearly shows the Scallops beyond the hands of Christ. All very interesting stuff, stuff you don’t normally think about unless you have 7 or 8 hours a day with nothing more to do.
The last half of my journey yesterday was pedalling alone again ... I was struggling a bit, having gone too fast all morning with Carlos Fandango AKA Geoff. Having said that, it was a lovely ride. Some massive hills north of Huelgoat but they eventually gave way to a long flat winding valley road all the way to Morlaix.
This is an amazing old town which prospered hugely from Piracy or Privateering, depending on which side of the fence you were sat?! Perfectly situated up wide but rocky estuary, sheltered and guarded from the North coast and the English Channel where the pillaging took place. It's most remarkable architectural feature is it's 19th century stone built viaduct, which is vast, and spans the valley across whole town, towering above and dwarfing all there is below, it's really quite staggering how those Victorian engineers put such things together ?!
This morning I start out on my last section, just 17 miles from here, along the estuary to Roscoff... It's going to be a strange one I'm sure, mixed feelings. I've kind of got used to this love hate relationship with pedalling now and life on the road....
The donations have really been pouring in the last couple of days for which I'm hugely grateful, thank you, each and every person whose taken the time and made the effort to give to the fund. I'm so close now to my target of £2500. So, if you've still not dug deep into your pocket then please do and help me smash that target! Come on, I've all but done it now, I've nearly reached Roscoff, well over a thousand miles (up hill !) with far too much luggage on a wing and a prayer, and still only 10 months out of major open heart surgery! Thanks for reading..... Jus.
Next morning Geoff was up sorting out the bikes and checking my tyre pressures for me, something I probably should have done a thousand miles earlier ! They were both low, so he topped them up for me. After breakfast and a flick through photo albums of Lycra clad loonies and relentless references to "the Tour", it became apparent that having Geoff riding with me for the morning was going to be hard work, even though he insisted he'd go slow! The thing is, his whole bike weighed about as much as my front wheel, and he was dressed like a 67 year old Power Ranger! Yes, 67! Fit as a flea and could easily out pedal your average 20 year old, let alone a 42 year old top athlete, with a heavy bike, luggage, knackered knee and clanking heart!!
I felt rather embarrassed pedalling my heart out to keep up when it was obvious to me that he was actually struggling to go slow enough !!
Bloody lovely bloke though, and by the time we'd parted after a bite to eat in Huelgoat, a beautiful old town in the heart of Brittany, I'd learnt about slip streams, puncture repair, which side he dressed (it actually effects pedal set ups!) and the importance of bananas, not only for slow release energy but also using its skin for emergency relief on delicate or chaffed areas below! "Oh yeah, just slip it down ya pants, works a treat?"
I'll stick to the cream thanks Geoff, but thanks anyway...
I sort of enjoyed my few hours with Geoff though, and we did stop to look at some huge wind turbines and an interesting Crucifix. I've been getting a bit obsessed with them during my big ride. In Brittany you see far more much older ones than the rest of France, carved in granite. I've no idea how old but many hundreds of years anyway. Lots of them have the carved Scallop shells depicted too, which I think has something to do with Pilgrims way back in the 9th century, who'd traipse across Europe for months or years, making for Santiago de Compostela in Spain. I hope they found what they were looking for. The significance of the Scallop shell is that they'd carry one during their great walk or pilgrimage, which would identify them to villagers and country folk along the way and also act as a saucer for meagre but kindly gifted sustenance too.
The one photographed above is in Melrand and clearly shows the Scallops beyond the hands of Christ. All very interesting stuff, stuff you don’t normally think about unless you have 7 or 8 hours a day with nothing more to do.
The last half of my journey yesterday was pedalling alone again ... I was struggling a bit, having gone too fast all morning with Carlos Fandango AKA Geoff. Having said that, it was a lovely ride. Some massive hills north of Huelgoat but they eventually gave way to a long flat winding valley road all the way to Morlaix.
This is an amazing old town which prospered hugely from Piracy or Privateering, depending on which side of the fence you were sat?! Perfectly situated up wide but rocky estuary, sheltered and guarded from the North coast and the English Channel where the pillaging took place. It's most remarkable architectural feature is it's 19th century stone built viaduct, which is vast, and spans the valley across whole town, towering above and dwarfing all there is below, it's really quite staggering how those Victorian engineers put such things together ?!
This morning I start out on my last section, just 17 miles from here, along the estuary to Roscoff... It's going to be a strange one I'm sure, mixed feelings. I've kind of got used to this love hate relationship with pedalling now and life on the road....
The donations have really been pouring in the last couple of days for which I'm hugely grateful, thank you, each and every person whose taken the time and made the effort to give to the fund. I'm so close now to my target of £2500. So, if you've still not dug deep into your pocket then please do and help me smash that target! Come on, I've all but done it now, I've nearly reached Roscoff, well over a thousand miles (up hill !) with far too much luggage on a wing and a prayer, and still only 10 months out of major open heart surgery! Thanks for reading..... Jus.
1 comment:
OMG youve done it!!wont believe it till the old bikes safely back in the shed!what a trip, what stunning photos, cant believe it!!!xxxxxx sam wiza and putts
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