This video series follows my adventure in Sept-Oct 2023, along with 19 other cyclist friends, old and new, with Pedal Britain & Europe cycling from the English Channel at Saint Malo in France, across the entire country to the Mediterranean at Nice 14 days later, visiting the “Beast Of Provence” Mont Ventoux along the way.
A Spine injury has meant my preparation was almost non existent for the preceding 3 months and with Surgery booked for my return to the UK, I was at the start line full of Nerve Blocking medication and full of doubt as to the possibility of completing the full trip and certainly the ascent of Ventoux seemed a forlorn hope when we set off
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After a spine injury requiring surgery when I get back home I joined this band of 20 hopeful cyclists on a Traverse across France over 14 days with pedal Britain taking on the Beast of provance Mount Von 2 on day 11 before finishing on the prominade in N doop on nerve blocking medication to
Keep the pain in my back and down my leg at Bay and with 3 months off my bike my excitement when I booked this turned to trepid as I had no idea how my body would react to 900 miles over 14 days The Adventure Starts in Portsmouth as we
Bard our Ferry with many unanswered questions including is this Allan’s secret car looing diet the overnight Ferry allowed for getting to know new friends and cycling buddies and catching up with old ones too as I’ve previously ridden a pedal Britain tour with eight of them on this
Trip we arrived next morning in s Marlo and checked into a hotel inside the city wall with a free day to explore this beautiful ancient city in the second world war being a walled City made it difficult for the Allies to house the occupying German Army and in 1944 the
City was almost totally destroyed by Allied bombing it was rebuilt over a period of 12 Years from 1948 and I have to say you’d be hard pressed to think this was anything other than the original ancient world City day one begins with the famous pedal Britain magic numbers WhatsApp message 73 Mi to
Chatur but more importantly 22 miles to our first coffee and cake stop sadly two of our three American friends John and daughter Olivia are victims of flight cancellations and will miss the start while the rest of us are outside the hotel raring to get going and making last minute
Adjustments so just approaching the tral start line beautiful morning we posed for our start line team photo minus John and Olivia then it’s time to get underway the Grandy part and we’re off finally after all that Waiting oh beautiful I think Iel over in this no no that’s for it might actually be way in the distance I mean it’s about 20 odd miles that way but you can see it from here but it’s tiny but yeah that could be it like a little nipple from here yeah yeah that
Is it that is it on Sam Michelle and here we have St buard deson a little village that uh me my partner and heard camped in in 2019 along this beautiful Coast little containers of ice everywhere for the muscles and oysters this local cyclist really shouldn’t be passing me on the inside
And with Richard stopping to take photos oh back yeah in the main in the main town there were some potholes wasn’t there but out here nothing I saw one back there did you you saw one I’d report it to the authorities yeah photograph the PO the one potle we
Saw look at I bet that’s great fun though when the wind catches you absolutely wonderful day to be cycling wonderful day to be alive feeling great so far but mustn’t get cocky cuz we’ve only done 12 miles of a total of 9950 so uh I’ll uh not get too
Confident with it’s feeling good so far it’s just wonderful wonderful got a bit of a headwind because that’s what you get in this part of the world that’s why there are sand Yachts on this particular part of the beach but it’s just wonderful and when I come to here in
2019 it was when I did my first serious cycling if you like on the roads because the roads are so safe here and actually did my first 50 m bike right here started from just back there where we were camping and cycled to mon s Melle
I’m back had to go in land at the end to one of the little Villages just to rounded up to the 50 never thought I’d be back here in the same place on day one of a 900 mile Traverse across the country just a few years
Later stick at it you don’t think you can because you can I’m almost sure that building over there on the left is the windmill that I remember if it is it hasn’t got it sails on anymore oh there it is now there’s a windmill Clive I’ll put in a photograph of a
Closeup from when I was here a few years ago we’re in a really really wide open area now and the wind’s howling against us it’s quite difficult uh try to take my turn with Steve to give him a bit of shelter So we’ve now turned in land hopefully now protected a bit from the wind and uh looking for somebody waving at us telling us that there’s cake because we’re about a mile away from the pl first The Brew stop here we go down here yeah lovely yeah turn right here
Yeah there should be a sign on there just saying cake left left sorry Steve Steve yeah left and then right oh here we go there’s a van look woohoo Flapjack there’s plenty of essential cycling fuel on the pedal Britain Brew table and as usual a lovely spot to stop and rest this time affording us our best view will get of mon San Michelle before we turn in Land oh W folks see you at lunch there mon Sam Michelle ahead of us Now so after lunch I’m with c and Rachel and we are still blighted by this strong headwind on Long flat open roads so uh taking turns at the front to try and make easier I’m glad you’re behind the fence Paul there’s no happy oh God another one you just look
Like you want to play Though Just like most of the villages I’ve ridden through in France it always looks like nobody actually lives Here I may be finding it more tiring than I should be but it’s still bloody lovely looks like we’re going up again Got a big gun one argue with him with his big double Barrel hang a left to to coggles C cogle kles or whatever who knows how you pronounce it it definitely isn’t pronounced coggles 34 miles in which is almost halfway in the first day of 14 and this wind is making it hard for me the uh by now you’ll know about my lack of
Preparation throughout the summer and uh it does start to tell when yeah you’re just Against the Wind for 30 odd miles and then you worry about having 13 more day cycling after this I’m not feeling like I’m absolutely knackered but I’m definitely working harder than otherwise should
Be compared to how it was back in June I think we’re going to find this most of the 14 days now it is just mile after mile of lovely quiet Lanes with nothing that most of the population of France seems to be all sucked into the cities and these vast expanses in
Between with nobody in and yet the road surfaces are magnificent Coggles all right so nice yeah that’s a nice Spot Yeah and then it goes right left so left Here in the absence of people I’ve now taken to waving at farm animals it seems wow some yellow at last they must have planted those really late nearly all the sunflower fields are just dead sunflowers but that’s obviously a late crop never expected to see that that’s Beautiful Down here guys yeah yeah Down the chatau de fer is a 12th century Fortress built by the local Baron who actually kept his donkeys there bizly and their descendants can still be found grazing in the courtyard once we’d finished our grazing we set off again over the cobbles alongside the Magnificent Shadow fillings all falling
Out oh God that wasn’t pleasant how beautiful though Yeah first left Clear mile 56 there going to be a root baret we just had a te we just had a WhatsApp from George we said we need to read what he said when we get there yeah we can do it when we get there just stop and read
It50 M could R mile 51 and a bit I mean like 4 miles ahead he’s a bloody Speedo isn’t he I’m not sure what I prefer the wind or the hills oh here we go now we got the bloody we got the what tourist Train rot Beret mile 56 I ignored it and the town streets at Mile 57 are a mess it only lasts a quarter of a mile so no worries just go through it yeah it just go through it and if if we have to go on the payment and walk then we do it
For a couple of hundred Yards now something I really needed to get my head around and get used to without real power in my left leg I was getting dropped every time there was a hill of any significant length getting dropped oh Dear Oh there we Are wa thought we do another lap o done cheers buddy thank you very much thank you thank you really oh oh yeah how many extra miles did Richard do in the car park 72.9 Ser registering 72.9 s m on her head unit Rachel decided to what the group call do
A Richard and round it up with a Lap of the car park post ride drinks by the hotel Lake just had to be done and we toasted a great start to the trip an easier day with flat terrain was canceled out with a headwind almost all
Day but I made it it’s going to be a great 14 days with a wonderful group of people who cares how hard it’s going to be if this day one film has been of interest you can watch the others when they are uploaded by clicking on this
Yellow icon to subscribe to the channel and on the right here there’s a couple of other videos you might be interested in while you wait Ooa from chatur
1 Comment
Bringing back happy memories Bill.