Calais to Le Mans

Calais to Le Mans

Cold, wet and windy. I had to check that I made the ferry crossing as Calais was suffering worse weather than the UK. After a slow start and having to cycle back into Calais from the ferry port, I worked out the difference between the E, D and C roads and headed off into Northern France. The first day was quick as my legs were tired from the run, but not too affected by the bike. I pushed hard and made it to Abbeville. The next two days however were really testing. The first day strength was zapped out of my legs, the hills became larger and more frequent, and the wind started.

With the wind directly against me I reduced all breaks to an absolute minimum, and kept a tight routine. Up at 0650, snack bars and water, and on the bike at daybreak. One morning break for pain au chocolates and powerade then all other food/water taken on the move. Lunch is the first highlight of the day though. Varying between 10 and 15 Euros, the suggestion du chef weights in at 4 courses. Starter, main, cheese and desert. One such delight just north of Le Mans even came with a 1/4 bottle of vin rouge. I was the only non-french person in the room, and certainly did nothing for the English as I merely observed the wine even though I was desperate to drink it! Finally the afternoon ride starts with setting a very ambitious target and pushing really hard to dusk to make it. Elation is the only word that comes to mind when I finally pass the sign and enter the final town of the day. The second highlight is the supper and hotel. Well actually supper, as I have stayed in what can only be described as basic places. The first night was in a Formular1 hotel. Its the Ryanair of hotel chains, but for 35 Euros a night the bed has sheets and they do provide soap for the showers. Supper generally takes the same form as Lunch without the desperate speed eating Englishman in the corner of the room looking slightly jaded. Instead there is an exhausted wind tanned person in jeans and a rugby jersey who walks like John Wayne and has a habit of eating all the bread before the starter arrives...

The landscape is rural to say the least, with tractors being one of the more common forms of transport alongside, bizarrely, ambulance cars. I know France has a great healthcare system, but is it because everyone in Northern France is either a farmer or a healthcare worker primed to look after a farmer as soon as he is injured?
As I have moved south the weather has remained overcast and grey, but the wind has reduced and finally the temperature has improved. I am looking forward to cycling in a single top without my all weather long sleeve underneath and just maybe seeing a little sun! Anyway, aside from the obvious pains in my legs and bum generally I am working well, and looking forward to some flatter riding as I approach Poitier and Bordeaux before the quick run into Biarritz. Hoping that the next stage will enable me to make up some time before I enter Spain via the Pyrenees. Changing bored looking cows in hilly fields punctuated by the odd ruined chateau for flat sun soaked roads lined by trees with the occasional sight of barrelling surf is actually what I have been dreaming about. Hopefully looking forward to updating you with that in the next instalment somewhere south of Bordeaux...

James