The first seven days - from a riders perspective.

Some notes from James:

Blog from riders prospective:

Day 1

-set off cycling on the left side of the road out of roscoff. 

-very hilly and rural, off bottom of a farm track got confused then joe ran in to jake. Gears nearly fixed joes wheel not quite straight. 

Day2: 

-red hot. 

Got up way to late. 

Proper hot. 20m/hr average for 25 m afternoon. Hard 

Had the choice to either ride far south to a bridge, or take a short trip on duel carriage way, so did that instead. 

There was a diversions and roadworks, so thought it safest to go flat out fast, averaged 25 on the flat. Jake hit a drain. 

Met Emma for lunch at Mont at Michel and saw the castle. 

Saw castle at distance, it looked close so did massive prelatron.

Free camping and beers. 

Swim fajitas. 

Day 3

Early start today!

Efficiency coming along but still taking far too long. 

Jake farts a lot

Great roads, started off well rolling country side. Then came to a dual cartridge way. Instead of 2 miles on that, we took a 10 mile diversions. Road of bones. Jake fell off. James rode down a ditch. 

After lunch in laval went to camp site. No one around so free camping at Mesley du Maine, and had a BBQ. Joe addicted to energy gel. Jake went for full on nudity in the Ladies showers and got caught. 

Day 4 - ton day. A long flat day that we decided to put on an extra 15 miles to avoid Tours. This turned out to be a great plan, giving us a 50miles rest day on day 5 and the roads kept flat all day. We racked up the miles early by keeping to main roads for a while averaging near to 19 miles an hour until the first patisserie break. We then cruised down to the loir valley, which was really nice riding. We pulled off the main road and through French Henley-on-Thames and past some massive chateau. The only down side was the 15kt headwind for the last 10miles to lunch, in La Chartres sur la Loir. We got into full pelatron mode and made it there for lunch. After lunch it got real hot and we continued to tap out the miles to Amboise where we stayed in the middle of the river. Nice. Good achievement on day 4.

Day 5.  Another flat day in the heat. We suffered from a lack of Cruisely for breakfast and had to have a few breaks in only a 50mile day. Ended up at Leveoux for the night in a small campsite. Generally a tough day without much banter on the bikes. Our rest day turned a bit full on with our first major mechanical. After getting to our destination for lunch we chilled out for a while drinking coffee then at   1800 joe discovered a very loose spoke on his front wheel. Panic. We had to then rush into action with a back up plan and drive 18km to chateauroux. After driving around some closed down bike shops at 1850 we found a motorbike/cycle shop that closed at1900. Winner. We still thought we would have to come back and get the wheel the next day but the guy was a wizard in there. Fixed the spoke and trued the wheel in 5mins. And another bonus, joe found a 1990s cycle jersey for 16euros. Turns out it's a French lottery jersey! Not so much of a rest day after all. 

Day 6 not much to report. Flat and up hill after lunch. Levroux to Gouzon with lunch in La Chatre. Camped in Gouzon. 

Day 7 and we started climbing. Gouzon to Clermont Ferrand via Manzat. We thought we might be getting into the massive central, then after 50miles if gentle climbs (by Devon standard, not London-poor jake) we saw a faint out line of a few peak hills on the horizon -day 8 could b hard.

Day 8. Clement Ferrand to Saint Etienne.

Well. We end the day with high spirits, but it started bad and just got worse. This tale has a happy ending, and the Ligne will continue - albeit on a slightly different course. 

We woke up in Clermont, and over breakfast decided that given it was chucking it down we would stay for breakfast and look at accommodation options in the mountains. The day was meant to be about 75 miles, but a quick search on the internet revealed no results for hotels. The options were - 11 miles less, or push on an extra 12 to Saint Etienne. We opted for the latter. 

It was raining hard during breakfast, and a quick check of the forecast made us none the wiser as to what the rest of the day had in store. Some sources had things clearing through, and others had thunderstorms. Eventually the boys set off in the rain at around 11. This normally would spell bad news - the boys favoured an early start at around 8am to avoid cycling in the hottest part of the day. 

With accommodation sourced in Saint Etienne, I set off at a similar time to the boys in order to do the usual - supermarket stop, find the lunch spot and locate a picnic area. The route was very hilly. As in, very hilly. The views were amazing but I couldn't help but feel sorry for the guys. 

I must have been about 2 hours ahead of the boys when the car started making a ticking sound - similar to that my Corsa made when the water pump went. I parked up, and after consultation with james' dad and james, decided to leave the car for an hour to see if it cooled down. 

I went back to the car an hour later, started it up and continued on to the next town. It's a bit difficult to judge a car's performance when it's up and down mountains and literally no flat road at all!!! It was down hill all the way to the next place, so the car sounded fine. 

I eventually rolled up at Ambert, and once on the flat it started making horrendous squeaking sounds, so I decided enough was enough. Thankfully we had got European breakdown cover sorted, so I phoned it in. They were great and so helpful. At this point, the boys rocked up, having cycled something like 50 miles up and down the same dramatic hills that had ruined the car. I was told the tow company would be about an hour, then a taxi would take me to collect the replacement vehicle... That's the short version of events. It actually took about 2 or 3 hours of stress and admin to sort out!!!

While we were waiting, the thunderstorms started. Along with the biggest hail I have ever seen!!! Nightmare!!

The tow guy was lovely. Didn't speak much / any English but we got by. He came with me to collect the hire car too, which he didn't have to do so I appreciated that. 

The hire car was a fiat panda - slightly different to the estate car we came in! But oh well I told the boys the gather about three days worth of stuff and the rest stayed in the big car. 

Once the boys were happy that I was being taken to safety, they carried on with their bike ride - a further 40+ miles to saint Etienne. They clocked up 93 miles today. A late start, bad weather, a break down, a three hour rest and some pretty nasty mountain climbs. Poor buggers. 

France being France, the garages close at lunch time on Saturday and doesn't reopen until Monday. And us being us, of course the breakdown happened just around lunch time on a Saturday. It's a miracle they found us a hire car, and we can only have it until Wednesday. This will have a big impact on the rest of the trip. The further away we go, the further I have to go back to swap the cars back over. The consensus was to have a rest day tomorrow, and perhaps chin off mont ventoux... We'll see. 

We all arrived there at around 8.30, completely shattered. A quick bite to eat in the restaurant next door and then to bed!

It's raining!!

Oh no!!! Looks miserable outside. And the forecast is for heavy thunderstorms and gusty winds. Great. 

Currently sat at breakfast, watching the boys maximise how much food they can get on their tiny trays. 

Jake's first course:

Arrived in Clermont Ferrand.

There wasn't much worth writing about in Manzat, so I didn't bother!!

The boys had another 20 miles to do to get to Clermont Ferrand, and we arrived about 5.30. They've been doing bike repairs ever since - Joe needs a new chain. I'm in the hotel doing my photos from my posh camera finally!!

We're staying in a b&b tonight to give us all a good rest. Looking forward to my night out in Clermont...!!!

Here's some pictures from lunch

Nice picnic spot, and standard lunch time power nap

At one point yesterday they were all snoring at the exact same time...!!

Day 7: Friday 27th June. Getting hillier!

Ive just arrived at Manzat, where I am meeting the boys for lunch. The roads have suddenly become very steep and very windy today. It was a very hilly 40 miles and even the car struggled so I think the lads will really be feeling it. The views while driving are spectacular, but I can't help but go "oh dear God..." each time I catch a glimpse of what's to come!!

I passed them at just around the half way point for the morning, and did a quick exchange of water. Jake then shouted out that he had thrown the wrong bottle and had to back down the hill to swap with me again!!!

(They have 4 bottles each, two attached to the bike at any one time, normally one with just water and one with some energy tab or something. I swap the bottles over with fresh ones at lunch, or give them a top up or quick change if I pass them en route. 

The first part of this trip was really hot, with cloudless skies. It's been cloudier yesterday and today, which they will be pleased about. But it chucked it down yesterday evening so that's not great. 

I've got our b&b sorted for Clermont Ferrand this evening - I can't wait!!!! Not tent and cooking admin, and the boys can all have ice baths and use some wifi. 

Right. I'm parked up in Manzat now. Going to have a look around, scout out a picnic spot then take some pictures. I have good internet signal here, so if I spot something good I'll post it!!

I'm absolutely overwhelmed that we have reached £1000 now too. The guys can't quite believe it either, and it really is a great source of encouragement. So thank you once again xx

All up hill from here!

It's the morning of day 7, and we are just about to set off from Gouzon where we arrived last night. The last part of the ride yesterday was all uphill - not very steep but continuous. Which sets the scene for what it to come over the next few days. 

Looking at the map, we are right in the middle of France, so that's good. We are where the purple pin is. 

Today we head for Clermont Ferrand. Our usual tactic is to head for small villages and avoid the cities, which makes my job of accommodation hunting more difficult, but is far easier to navigate the cycling that way. But tonight we are city bound. A night in a bed and breakfast will give the boys a good recovery before the real hill work starts tomorrow - all building up to the biggy - Mt Vontoux on day 11. 

Yikes!!

Day 5, Wednesday 25th June: To levroux.

Fb Not much to report today. Not had much 3G to update blog. 

Only 50 miles today so "recovery" day. 

Disaster for joe - fell off from 0 miles and hour at traffic lights. 

Realised joes bike spoke broke in the evening. Drove to shop and fixed it at 6.50 at night.