Fit in my 50s

  Day 3 Laval - Angers. 99kms This ride was an absolute joy. One hundred kilometres along the Mayenne river with just the odd short diversion up into the odd village up on the valley side. These diversions were less than useful in terms of buying food or other supplies as so much of the centre of France is almost deserted nowadays. Shops and restaurants shut, businesses closed down and nobody around. It’s a real shame. But, we were making great progress along the route de halage, the haulage path or towpath along there canal. It was flat, flat, flat.  We stopped in Chateau Gontier where we had coffee and cold drinks. There was an enticing lunchtime menu at the cafe but it was only eleven thirty so we decided we’d stop later on. However, it was two o’clock before we came across another restaurant and it was shut. Ah well, there was always the biscuits and the cheese from the Ibis breakfast. It was around 5.00pm when we arrived at the Ibis in Angers where I helped myself to t...

 Let the Train take the Strain. Day 2 July 22nd 2022 Flers - Laval 113kms Having surpassed the hell out of ourselves yesterday, and what with discretion being the better part of valour, we took the train from Flers to Laval. We both wish now that we hadn’t. Two changes, one at Alençon and the other at Le Mans, with delays and rammed trains it really wasn’t as easy as these things should be. While the various network operators are geared up to cater for passengers with bikes they seem a little laissez faire in delivering on what they promise. On the first train there was a baggage area reserved with straps to secure the bikes so that they didn’t fall over on anyone during the journey. This was by the door and several people had thought to themselves, ‘ooh, that’s a nice handy space for my suitcase, I’ll leave it there.’ Now, French trains have on board either a chef du train or a directeur du train and what they do for their money is beyond me. It certainly isn’t very much. I had to...

A route of two halves . Ouistreham - Flers 100kms. Puncture fixed, thanks in some part to nurse Paula’s encouragement, we set off down the ferry ramp to passport control. We passed all the other folk in their steel boxes by the expediency of diverting into the HGV lane and joining the queue for customs at the front. All those jolly folk sent us on our jolly way by waving at us enthusiastically through their windows, although sadly, it was clear that many amongst them had fallen foul of the same accident or disease and had had all but their middle fingers removed. Along the canal we went, passed Pegasus Bridge and into Caen. There we had breakfast and I can heartily recommend the boulangerie L S Vivien on Rue de la Gare for pastries and coffee. Our goal for the day was Flers, some one hundred kilometres south. The route turned out to be one of two halves. They first fifty kilometres were lovely. Following the river Orne it was flat, flat, flat. It was a cool morning and we soon reached ...

It’s all in the preparation. Or maybe not. Just over a week ago I was sat at home contemplating and planning this summer’s cycle tour. Just over eighteen hundred kilometres in western France taking in stretches of the Vélo Francette, the Velodysee, the Velomaritime and a week and a half on Île de Re. I couldn’t wait.  The excellent weather we enjoyed at home throughout the late spring and early summer had offered up many opportunities for training rides to prepare for such an adventure and we had taken advantage of none of them. Suffice to say as I sat there on the sofa watching the Tour de France, I knew that I at least was undercooked and poorly prepared for what lay ahead. There were excuses, there always are. We both caught Covid around two weeks before the event and we moved out of our house over a period of about a week and half immediately before departure. However, we’d had ample time and opportunity to get ourselves in condition for day after day of one hundred kilometre r...

Covet not thy Neighbour’s Donut. (Or for that matter, his Religieuse!)   Spring has sprung, cherry blossom abounds, the trees are turning green again and as lockdown eases Pedro is meeting people he hasn’t seen for a while. The Shopkeepers, colleagues, friends and family who have not seen Pedro’s human for many months are taken aback by the way he looks. “Oh my word, Pedro,” many exclaim, “your human has lost so much weight!” and Pedro swells with pride. Pedro is my inner chimp. He can be a tricky character, but I can’t get by without him. I need him and he needs me. We all need our chimp. According to Professor Steve Peters, our chimp is   “the emotional machine that we all possess. It thinks independently from us and can make decisions. It offers emotional thoughts and feelings that can be very constructive or very destructive; it is not good or bad, it is a Chimp. The Chimp Paradox is that it can be your best friend or your worst enemy, even at the same time.” If you let yo...

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