Cycling from Huddersfield to Gibraltar Day 6.

I'm well rested in the posh hotel I stayed at last night. I was looking out of my room window at the sun rising in the east this morning (Very nice view). Its onto the daily routine of loading up the bike, stocking up with water,red bull and food before the off..

Coming out of the centre was tricky and ended up nearly on another Motorway :-) I had to track back into the centre and make my way out of the centre on another road. All done and I'm on the correct road now. Very nice roads again, and great sunny morning although a little chilly to start off. I have noticed that the climate has now changed and is more drier than the moistness of Northern France, I can tell I'm heading further south.

I'm on my way to Parthenay, and its more or less an easy ride, flat with odd bits of hills but nothing major in the way, also there are lots of vineyards appearing now. I'm entering the outskirts of Parthenay along the D938, I stop on a bridge before hitting the main centre to apply some sun cream (Factor 25) Good stuff !

I'm in the centre now and cycling around checking the place out, I stop outside a cafe bar. From the outside this place looks very quiet! I go inside the door to order a coffee and WOW!! Lots of people in here having lunch... I would have never thought so many people could fit inside such a small cafe (It was heaving) I asked the lady in charge "Cafe au Lait" and she brings me my coffee outside where I sit in the sun with my bike propped up against the nearby kerb. I'm just relaxing in the sun thinking of my journey so far, and decide to update my followers by taking a snap and uploading it while I'm chilling out.

After a short while cycling the last parts of Pathenay, I'm on the road out of town heading towards Niort on the D743, It's a relatively easy cycle to Niort, once there it is quite a large place, plenty of shops and building to take time out to look at and to take plenty of pics (Great place) Once I had done a little tour of the place I was looking to eat (I'm very peckish by now its around 3pm) I stop in a little street in the centre at a cafe, several people are sat outside in the warm sunshine eating and drinking (Chilling out) It's very nice here. The waiter comes out and asks me what I would like (In French)! I try to chat but he is not understanding, I ask for Pasta, he say's something but I just agree and say Wee!

I'm wondering what is on its way for me to eat :-) In between he brings me a Coke um mm goes down a treat, I ask for another.. Meanwhile he brings out a toastie Sandwich Ham and Cheese.. Result!! I'm happy with that, that goes down nicely too :-) After a good 45mins chilling, I'm off outbound of the town or city of Niort.

Next stop is Saintes, I'm heading along the D650 and D150, via Loulay and Saint Jean d angely. Arriving in Saintes was similar to Saumur (Cycling over a bridge with great river flowing through the place, and a nice sunset once again) Once over the bridge I see a sign for Hotel on the left, I have to cycle down a cobbled patch to arrive at my hotel for the night, on the way towards reception I see a little old fashioned bike parked up in a little cove.. (Nice touch). I book in with no problems, once in its Shower charge all my phones cameras etc ready for the morning.

After shower I'm off out into town to check out what I can have for tea! Your right It's Curry time again :-) after a great curry again and a few beers its back to hotel and off to bed.. Great night.


Total miles = 122 miles.

Average speed = 14.0 mph.

Cycling from Huddersfield to Gibraltar Day 5.

Great nights sleep and nice breakfast in Gace. Settled my bill and its down to the garage/cellar to get my bike, bring it around the front of the Hotel then pack the bike up for the day ahead. One thing about the mornings, they were quite chilly until around 11am.

I'm off cycling en route towards Alencon the place where I thought I would finish last night. Didn't really know where I would end up today but Saumur would be nice. After the first few hours I'm arriving in Alencon (And - there's a McDs :-)) time for a coffee and download some pics from the previous days for my friends and family to keep them up to date. The McDs are very quiet so straight to the front to order a Coffee, with a pic of it on today's Blog :-)

Nice to be back on the road again, and its on the way to Le Man, the roads are fantastic in France very smooth and flat! And with an added bonus of a current tail wind ! Hope it lasts all the way :-) on route to Le Mans I pass through a town called Beaumont (Sent tweet to Mark Beaumont)

Le Mans is very nice, I have a few hours here just cycling around the centre, to the bank to top up my funds too, also its just after 12pm and I'm a little hungry I see a pasta type takeaway.. Once inside you have a meal deal a box of pasta, a coffee and a sweet! Brilliant the girl behind the counter who was taking my order pointed out 3 size box's, which size did I want ? Easy its the largest lol that Pasta in sauce was Fantastic :-) and... my energy levels that afternoon were WOW!! better than Red Bull, although I was downing around 6 cans a day of that fuel.. also another thing mentioning is the French Mars bars oh la la :-) Brilliant taste....

Coming out of Le Mans was quite easy, I was straight onto the correct road D307 and onto the D767 via Jumelles relatively easy cycling all afternoon, by the time I was getting close to Saumur the sun was starting to go down soon, not long after that I'm pulling up on this bridge with a wide river flowing and the sun setting in the distance (Absolutely Fantastic view and very rewarding sight) I stopped to take some more pics and uploaded to FB and Twitter. Just before the sun set I looked around for a place to stay, there was a great castle on the top of a hill and just below that was a really nice Hotel, I was in there asking for a room - No problem I'm in and the receptionist spoke perfect English... jobs a gud un! Bike sorted, I'm bathed and changed, I'm back down to reception "Is there anywhere to eat" I ask? The receptionist say "What food do you like" I say "Curry" funnily enough there is one and its only a short walk away! I'm off there..

I was in the Indian and it was very nice, only thing was No wifi !! :-( so no uploads! I try to ask the waiter is there free wifi but its no good, he does not understand, when I ask for password instead he says "my password is BMW" I give that ago on the wifi link but the password is not long enough.. I say "Its ok, no problem, I will do it later at Hotel" the waiter disappears, then a few minutes after he comes back to my table with an iphone (Its his, and he says I can use his) "No its ok thanks anyway" I reply, what a kind gent. After my nice Curry and several Beers its back to the hotel, I spend around 1 hour uploading things while there's a free wifi, then its off to bed :-)

Total miles = 124 miles.

Average speed = 14.1 mph.

Cycling from Huddersfield to Gibraltar Day 4.

Just before I start day 4 i would like to get in a thought from day 1 which I forgot to add in. And that was a stop off at a McDs in the first morning, I was asked by a motorbiker if I was doing the Coast to Coast ? And I said no, I'm cycling to Gibraltar..... He nearly passed out :-)

Ok here we are in Abbeville waiting to cycle on into the day ahead.. the sun is out once again (Lucky me!) I'm spending too much time checking out the sights in Abbeville, instead I need to crack on with today's daily mileage.

Trying to find my way out of town in the mornings is becoming a challenge, trying to get on the right roads is proving a task in itself, with my iphone I manage to find my way onto the correct roads via the Map application. I find the road and its lift off... the D928 all the roads so far are brilliant well maintained and flat ish...

Looking at the roads and places to go through I reckon my target town on the map today would ideally be Alencon if I was really pushing it. I'm heading along the roads very well when I see a city come into view wow there's is a stunning building in the distance its spires dominate the centre (Looks like a Cathedral) its a long decent into the main centre, passing lots of shops along the was and nice shaped buildings... I've cycled through the city, and I am looking for the road out to take me south again, but its a really nice place. I'm heading on the right road when the road number just disappears and I'm left checking what now? the road if i recall was the D3. The iphone again comes in for the rescue and tells me I have to go around a residential area with back streets to get back onto my road I had originally come into the city on (It was a stretch of Motorway that stopped the link for my D3 road) Now I'm back on the road out of this great place, the road takes a route up a steep ascent for about a mile.. Phew! That was unexpected! But now I seem to be back on a high level and the roads are flat once again.

The afternoon flies by and its late afternoon. Somehow Alencon is looking too far for today! I may have to stop at another place before, but I will crack on.. I'm on the correct road again the D438 heading to Brionne then Bernay. It is late afternoon and I'm looking at potential places where I will stop over.. after so many more miles I'm hit by some hills/climbs.. The scenery is still very nice to pass through, but I do see a place on the map where I have decided to stay for tonight and that's Gace (Cracking Sunset at Gace too). More or less after entering Gace there was a nice Chambre D' Hote on the left side of the road.. that is my stop over if I can get a room for the night, I head off the road down a lane to where I think I can get access to the hotel, but I hear a shout out! I turn back around onto the main road and make my way back a few metres to see a chap at the front door of the hotel, I'm getting ready to ask in French do you have any rooms for the night..

As I'm about to ask, he says "Do you want a room mate"? I'm amazed! Its a Brit that owns the hotel hes called Graeme. Nice guy, welcomes me in and gets my bike in a garage for the evening. After telling him my trip to date and where I'm off too, hes Impressed :-) I ask where I can get food from, he informs that there is a Pizza place just on the main street in the village. So after a shower and quick change I'm off for a stroll into the village for food. After a checkout of the main street the Pizza place looks closed, but there is a hotel that has a bar/restaurant... I head into there, I see the Menu and I'm lead away to a table. There's only me in this big dining area, so I order my meal - Soup first, lovely .. Then afterwards I get another soup ? Oh well I will have it I'm very hungry I thought. After a while I notice a guy waiting for his meal oops! I think they brought his starter out to me ha ha... Oh well it went down very well that extra soup. Now I'm tucking into my Steak ummmmmm VERY nice :-)

Right after the bill is paid its a little stroll back to the hotel, well not really a hotel as such, more like a big mansion. I'm back in and its time for bed. Great day today all in...

Total miles today = 127 miles.

Average speed = 13.6 mph.

Cycling from Huddersfield to Gibraltar Day 3.

Nice stop over in Ashford B&B now lets get to Folkestone for this shuttle ......

I'm on the road and its another sunny day. I'm headed on the A20 to Folkestone and there's a Headwind ! Oh no.... This is going to be hard just what I don't need when I'm rushing to catch a shuttle bus :-( Wow.. there's a Racecourse! nice one and a John Smiths emblem.. I could just have one of those now - my Favourite :-)

Well before you know it I'm here in Folkestone now lets find this Express Hotel. Its 7.30am at the minute and I'm well on time, I see the signs for the hotel. Bingo!

I arrive at the reception area and asked the guy on the front desk "Excuse me, do you know if the shuttle will be arriving soon to take me and my bike to the terminal" he replied "Have you booked sir?" I replied "I did book for yesterday for 3.30pm shuttle but there was no way I could have made it, so I thought I would just catch this mornings instead" :-)

Well he did say he would try this guy's mobile to check if he was on his way...... Not good! his mobile is switched off! An indication hes not coming I was told.. What will I do now ? I know I will get the hotel to call me a cab to take me where the mini bus would have taken me.. Great idea Andy or so I thought......

When the taxi arrived I asked "How much to the terminal my friend ?" he replied "which terminal?" I explained to him the score with the shuttle bus.. "Passengers board at Ashford mate" he said. I was confused... I replied "I have just cycled about 20miles from there, this morning I'm not going back there". He said "you do have alternative and that was Dover and go on Ferry". After a check on my map it looked around 10miles to Dover, I said to the taxi guy "Thanks, I will make my way to Dover then"

After a manic cycle I'm in Dover phew!! I seem to be getting somewhere now :-) Booked onto the ferry, and while I'm waiting the 45mins to board. I treat myself to Coffee and some cakes and take a well earned rest in the ferry terminal lounge. Before I know it, its boarding time, great its onto the ferry with the cars, park up on ferry and everyone makes there way upstairs to the decks of the ferry (Very nice ferry too) think it was SeaFrance.

The crossing was very windy, but sunny again so can't complain. I was checking out the decks from front to back, looking back at the white cliffs of Dover watching them get further away as we make our way over the channel to the French coastline. My signal on phone soon changes over network. Now I have to be careful with how much I use it (It could be very costly)..

Were here in Calais.. Brilliant! I'm ready to go.. cars are all ready... and were off the ferry, now where do we go? I'm just following the traffic on the other side of the road now (Strange). I was amazed at how many people were on the outside of the high fences of the ferry terminal at Calais...think they were looking to come over to England I suppose..

Well I'm well and truly in Calais centre now and looking for the road number/sign that will take me on my way/direction to St Omer firstly. I have the road in sight and I'm off (This feels great) although I have my first strong headwind! Damn. I crack on for the rest of the afternoon battling against this strong headwind. Somehow I end up on a motorway going in the direction of St omer !! Oh no not again. I speed up its only about 2 miles that I'm on it, don't know how I got onto it but I got off shortly afterwards with no Police assistance.

From St Omer I decided then that Abbeville would be a distance to cover for the rest of the afternoon/early evening. As I was going through the centre in St Omer I was coming up to a shop it had a sign (Coiffeur) think that's how its spelt.... I though Great! I need a brew, so I pulled up only to be disappointed that it was a Hairdressers :-( (No Brew!).

The afternoon went on and by now I had a light tail wind to push me along (Yes) great news, does make it that bit easier. I was approaching Abbeville the place I was going to stay on my first night in France. I managed to find a hotel right in the centre. It was a little difficult to understand the language barrier but after a while but the lady of the hotel did speak a little English which was Great. She asked where I was cycling too.. I said Gibraltar, she turned around to several people in the foyer and told them.. they all looked amazed !

I was booked in, got all my kit emptied out in the room to sort out (phone to charge etc) had a shower, after that switched on the telly just to see what was on the box, knowing full well I would not be able to understand a thing that anyone was saying, and the first person I saw in France on the telly was Eric Cantona ! :-) then after a quick change of clothes I went out for a little strole around the town, it was very nice and quiet. I eventually went into a cafe and had something to eat and a few beers.. That was me for that night, I made my way back to the hotel for some sleep and ready for a 8am start the following morning.

Total distance today = 101miles.

Average speed = 13.4mph.

Cycling from Huddersfield to Gibraltar Day 2.

After a nice relaxing sleep in Uppingham, it was breakfast time down in the Hotel dining room. A large fry-up was just the job with cereal and toast, and a few cups of coffee :-)

I was off again on the road. Another sunny day how lucky was I ? I cycled up a few hills before cycling past a very nice lake over in the distance just outside Uppingham. I was heading to Corby, Thrapston and down towards Huntingdon by the river.. Before Huntingdon just at the side of the A1 I noticed a McDs so I cycled over into their for a Quarter pounder with cheese meal and coffee (Very nice... and yes, you know I do like a McDs now and again)

The plan today was to get as far as poss to Folkestone (There was a shuttle mini bus that takes yourself and your bike onto the Eurostar and takes you to Calais for £16 one way I did book this for today at 3.30pm at the Express Hotel in Folkestone - but there was no-way I was going to make Folkestone for 3.30pm today as I didn't make the distance up yesterday with all the polava of the pannier rack and detour from my original A1 route.. well never mind as I was told that there were 2 departure times daily from Folkestone and the other time was 8am from the Hotel. I would just have to try for that one tomorrow morning)

So after my food I'm off again heading towards London. The suns still shining its a great day very comfortable riding. I was now following the A10 towards London and took a detour though a little village/town called Ware... very nice river going though. Out of Ware I was back onto the A10 London bound. The plan was that when I got on the outskirts of London I planned to take the North circular (But when I got to the North circular road, cyclists were not allowed) !! Bummer! Now what ? Quick look at the map on iphone showed I had to get back onto A10 and head directly into London centre.. jeeeez!!

Before I know it I'm crossing over the M25 at j25 heading through Harringay and Tottenham, whilst passing through these 2 places the Police helicopter was swooping around the skies overhead. I topped up with Red Bull and water at a local garage along the way. Soon I was going over Tower Bridge wow! Photo shoot.. plenty of people crossing the Bridge and it was a nice evening weather wise. Now I had to find my way out of the London area - the plan looked easy follow the A2 towards Faversham (Good but after so many miles from the start of the A2 I was on a road which was still A2 but all of a sudden had a hard shoulder? Oh well ! I carried on regardless and pedalled on for ages, until I got within a few miles of the M2 I was pulled over by one of those Traffic Officer 4x4s -- They asked me to stop and said "Where are you going"? I replied "Folkestone" they said "Not on here your not its Motorway regulations it has a hard shoulder sir" I said "Oh yes" lol

I was moved onto a cycle path just of the carriageway and started of on my cycle via the path to Strood where they said I could rejoin the A2. Better do as I'm told I thought! From there it was onto Faversham then south down to Ashford where by this time it was very dark and I had to find somewhere to stop for the night, the plan now was to get up early the following morning and rush to Folkestone for 8am to catch this Shuttle to Calais from the Express Hotel.

I did find a B&B for tonight, but they didn't do food at that time of night - It was around 10.30pm so they told me I would have to walk into town there's a Pizza place etc... Off I went after checking into my room/recharging my gear (Camera/phone etc) I decided to go for Pizza, had to wait around 20mins then I was off again walking back the the B&B which was a good 3 miles away munching away on a Large Ham and Pineapple pizza (Delicious) Once back I headed for the bath, quick soak then bed. Wow ! what an eventful/long day that was...

Total miles today = 154miles.

Average speed = 13.5mph.

Cycling from Huddersfield to Gibraltar Day 1

The alarm was set for 5am on the morning of Saturday 10th April. My kit was all ready, it was just a case of having a bite to eat and drink and I was off on my Adventure for 2 weeks.

I pushed the bike out of the house fully loaded onto the street, it was still dark and not a sole around at this time. I free wheeled down the street to the main road junction, from there I was pedalling..... when !!

Blimey ! my trainer heals were banging onto the pannier bags. Damn! I had not tried out the new bike loaded up with the panniers and here we go a dilemma. I adjusted them so half was on the rack and half the bags were off just until I got going until it got daylight then I would adjust and see if I could fix in anyway..

The sun came up around an hour after and what a beautiful site that was a clear blue morning sky with the sun rising up, what a nice start into the cycle. I got off the bike and started to play around with the panniers, eventually I managed to sort them out so they were secure.

I was now properly off headed towards Barnsley cruising along steady away, right through Rotherham when I noticed the pannier rack had split !! oh no.. I carried on checking out my iphone for any local cycle shops I could get a replacement rack (I did think it was cheaper style one anyway so I did need a more solid one) so here I was headed towards the nearest cycle shop. It was a small shop in Retford, very busy by midday.

The owner Dom came outside to see me and asked if I was ok, I asked him to have a look at the rack he said "Come on through I will sort it for you" he led me through the shop into the garden out the back, it was very nice day, very hot and sunny, he said "Just hang on here do you want a coffee/tea" ? I accepted and thought that's a nice touch while I waited for him to finish with his other customers. He was in between each customer so he brought a rack through to me "This one has a lifetime guarantee this one! It looked the business and I said "That will do for me"

He asked where I was cycling too ? I told him Gibraltar, he went rushing back into the shop telling everyone I was cycling to Spain lol They all came out and I think they were impressed, although I was thinking come on I have to get to Folkestone for 3.30pm tomorrow!

I ended up fixing it to the bike myself, he did do a bit of tweaking here and there, and was happy for me to leave after paying that is.... "Which way are you going from here" he asked ?

I replied I'm off on the A1 He was in shock when I said A1 ! he replied !You don't want to be going down there" here he got a map out and started plotting a route that I should take. the route he put down was all over the place, very scenic but not a fast route that I needed.

Well then, I said my goodbyes to him and his customer's and said Adios and was off - heading towards the A1 ha ha.. When I did get on A1 I did go along it until Clumber park then had a second thought in my route, I would slightly take on board what he had said, and took a little different route to what I had originally planned. Firstly I stopped at a take away cabin for some Beans on Toast x 2 lots and a large mug of Coffee (and couple of Flapjacks)

I was off again after heading towards Nottingham the headed through Melton Mowbray, I eventually hit some hilly terrain around the Rutland area, by this time it was not far away from the sun setting. I continued along the very nice countryside past Rutland water (Took a few pics it was very nice) but.... my water bottles were empty and no food spares on me, with about 6ish miles to go I was starting to flag a little, the hilly roads were getting slower and slower, I did end up having to knock on some kind ladies door to ask if she could fill up my water bottles. She did she was very kind. I continued along the hilly roads still flagging but not as bad, eventually I came to a Petrol station Yipeee!! I stood the bike up outside and stormed inside taking all sorts of the shelves ha ha Ginster pasty, cakes, sandwich's, Red bull, water and a Hot coffee, it was all about a tenner ! But I went outside and had a mini feast it was Great and I felt much better.

It was dark now and I had to look for somewhere to stay for the night, that wasn't too hard to find as my iphone picked up a Hotel just down the road in Uppingham/Garden Hotel very nice it was too, there was a place for my bike, and the room was very cosy. I was very full by now and just charged all my phones, cameras etc ready for the next day, I had a shower and that was about it for that day it was straight to bed after a call home to let my family what the first day had been like. Great day I thought apart from Pannier rack :-(

Milage for Day 1 = 122 miles.

Average speed = 13.0mph.