LOOKING BACK - AND FORWARD


Did I enjoy it?

Yes! What an amazing experience! The whole trip had been wonderful and I enjoyed every second of it. Months later when I look at the photos I can still remember cycling that exact stretch of road and how I was feeling at the time. The fact that we had amazing weather did help - I can't begin to imagine what cycling in the rain for two weeks would be like. The only problems we had were a few punctures which considering what we had undertaken were insignificant in the big scheme of things.

We had seen some glorious scenery and visited some beautiful places, Coulon and Talmot are particularly memorable. We had stayed in some amazing places too - Chateau Bois de la Noe, the Central Hotel Coulon and Peyraguay Maison Rouge were favourites and we will return there at some point.

Would I do it again?

Yes! I'm hooked on cycle touring. This isn't going to be a one-off trip as I had originally thought - this is going to be an annual event for us from now on. The destination would always be the same (having the house as a goal gives the trip a purpose) but there are so many variations to the route we wish to try in the future.

What would we have changed?

Although the chambres d'hotes that we stayed in were very nice we would not have the table d'hotes again for a number of reasons. The main problem we found was that we didn't have any choice over what we ate and, more importantly after a day's cycling, how much we ate. Although the food served was always very nice there was never enough of it! The table would be shared with the other guests so we didn't like to take all the bread or take more than our fair share of food so often left the table hungry.

We would also have preferred to eat on our own. At the end of the day it would have been nice to talk to each other about the day's ride and reflect on it rather than having to make polite conversation, in French, with people we had nothing in common with.

The same thing applied at breakfast time. Often breakfast was taken with the other guests at a time specified by our hosts (which was sometimes later than we would have preferred). Apart from the hotel in Coulon we found the breakfasts were not at all suitable for the start of a day's cycling and we often left the table hungry having eaten a croissant and a piece of white bread.

What will we change in the future?

In 2009 we are going to camp. We didn't camp in 2008 as it was the first tour I had done and I was adamant that I wanted a proper bed at the end of the day. I really didn't know what cycle touring would be like and whether I would enjoy it so I felt this was a good compromise. However, having done a little bike tour with the tent as a trial run I don't think camping will be too bad - although the weather could change that view! Also, on a practical level we can't afford to stay in chambres d'hotes/hotels every night for 2 weeks again so it's a choice of camping in 2009 or not going at all!

If, another year, we did have more money to spend I would use larger chambres d'hotes or hotels again but choose ones in a town, or at least make sure they have a restaurant within walking distance or on the premises, where we could choose what we ate, when we ate and eat on our own.

Having said that we may find the flexibility of camping suits us better. Although the evening meal issue can easily be rectified by choosing the location of the accommodation more carefully there is still the issue of breakfast if staying at a chambre d'hotes or a hotel. When we are camping we can have breakfast at the time of our choice and will buy cereal and yogurt the day before and hopefully this will take us through until lunchtime rather than having to stop mid morning to eat more croissants that are extremely nice but full of butter and not very filling. Hopefully we will be able to get up and be on our way sooner too as we won't have to wait for breakfast to be served and we can therefore stop for lunch earlier and be back on the road during the lunch break to take advantage of the empty roads. Whether this happens in practice remains to be seen.

Food was also an issue at lunchtime. We either had the set menu if we happened to be in a town with a restaurant at the right time or bought a picnic. As we were shopping in small towns/villages there was not much choice and we often found the only thing available to us for a picnic was white bread and cheese and maybe a quiche which we had to eat a lot of to get full. It was unfortunate that we could not buy things like ready-made pasta salads as this would have been much better for us but this didn't appear readily available. We look harder in the supermarkets for these on the next trip.

As previously we will probably aim to be at our destination by 6pm at the latest but again, depending on what happens during the day, this is not always possible.

Things you may want to know but are too polite to ask

Yes - I did put on weight - I managed to put on a stone! I think this was all the white bread, cheese and croissants we were eating to try and fill ourselves up when there was nothing else available.

No - I didn't get saddle sores thanks to the chamois cream I used although I would have moments when I just had to get off the bike for a few minutes.

No - We didn't have any domestics which was suprising considering we were on the tandem 8 hours a day and didn't have our own space. In fact, in anything, the trip brought us closer together.

Here's to the Tandem Tour 2009!