Labenne

We ride down the coast on a new asphalted bike trail.  So many days on bike trails I think Cindy brought Holland with her. We look at all those fresh croissants and I by a loft of bread.  Okay I also got a couple of other pastries. There is a little rain in the evening and a lack of fuel for the stoves.  I break Cindy need for cooking and we go have pizza.

Labenne

6/30/12

85.4 Kilometers, 5:28 moving time, Max Speed 40.9 k, Moving Average 15.6, 

 Stop Time 5:07, Overall Average Speed 8.0 k,   Start 14:00 and 17:00  Accent 278 meters 

Clouds in evening

Love & Kisses

Steve

Good Combo O2 and Velo

Easy Rider

Mimizan Plage 2

Decide to spend another night camping here.  Get in a little swim in the morning and then I head into town for food and water.  We have burritos for dinner as I found reasonable facsimiles to Mexican food.   My body is still holding up to no croissants or pizza.

Rest day

Mimizan Plage

6/29/12

15.7 Kilometers, 1:16 moving time, Max Speed 28.8 k, Moving Average 12.2, 

 Stop Time 4:38, Overall Average Speed 2.6 k,   Start 14:00 and 17:00  Accent 35 meters 

Sunny day

Love & Kisses

Steve

Mimizan Plage

Spend the day riding the bike paths through the forest and in the afternoon we come to the coast.  We find a pleasant spot to wild camp for the evening near a quiet beach. 

Mimizan Plage

6/28/12

52.5 Kilometers, 3:24 moving time, Max Speed 25.9 k, Moving Average 15.4, 

 Stop Time 3:17, Overall Average Speed 7.8 k,   Start 12:00 and 19:00  Accent 55 meters 

Cloudy day

Love & Kisses

Steve

Parentis-en-born

Leaving at 11 as that is the latest time to leave.  Get to ride more bike paths down the coast for half the day.  Then the route turns inland.  At a lake we get to camp and go for a little swim in the shallow water.  We have another great dinner and day three with no croissants. 

Parentis-en-born

6/27/12

52.9 Kilometers, 4:00 moving time, Max Speed 54.2 k, Moving Average 13.2, 

 Stop Time 4:26, Overall Average Speed 6.3 k,   Start 12:00 and 18:00  Accent 208 meters 

Sunny day

Love & Kisses

Steve

Vieux Plya

I am getting use to a new routine in the morning looking for a bakery for fresh lunch bread not croissants.  Then in the afternoon we look for veggies to cook for dinner, not stopping for pizza.  I keep telling myself that my body can handle the shock to its system.  The day is spent riding on a bike trail through the forest as the there is a large inlet from the sea that must be gone around.  In the evening we look for a spot to wild camp, but the forest is thick with many pointy plants that wish to stick to us.  We end up at a campground.  After dinner we climb the 100+ meter famed dune between us and the sea.  This is so we can roll down it to settle our dinner.  I am the first to find my insides are not use to spinning down a sand dune.  So I am off to the showers.   We get to hear the camps karaoke as we go to bed after midnight.  Yes, alcohol brings out the best unpracticed singer here in France.  They can find the most unusual harmonies to the music that is being played.

Vieux Plya

6/26/12

84.3 Kilometers, 5:05 moving time, Max Speed 34.8 k, Moving Average 16.6, 

 Stop Time 2:58, Overall Average Speed 10.4 k,   Start 11:00 and 18:00  Accent 140 meters 

Sunny day

Love & Kisses

Steve

Lacanau Lac

Hey, wait for me

Later start but it was good after a couple of century days riding.  We headed back the way I came last evening.  Found a pleasant empty second of beach after lunch.  After doing a bit of the narrow path decide to head over the ways to the road for a smother ride.  At camp found the spot with mosquitoes. 

I am converting as distance discussions need to in the same measurement.  So measurements are going to metric.  It will also give me bigger numbers so that will look more impressive, except for the accent as feet numbers are more impressive than meters.  I just need to start thinking in terms of kilometers instead of miles as Cindy uses them and the road signs are all in kilometers.  Time does not seem to change and I am not sure why that is?

6/25/12

Lacanau Lac

60.2 Kilometers, 5:04 moving time, Max Speed 65.5 k, Moving Average 11.9, 

 Stop Time 8:18, Overall Average Speed 4.5 k,   Start 11:00 and 18:00  Accent 152 meters 

Very light rain and fog

Love & Kisses

Steve

Montalivet-les-Bains

Up at dawn and was happy no one asked me to move on.  I needed to head to the northwest if I guessed Cindy’s route correctly.  It was Sunday and I had not gotten food.  In town there was no shops open but I spotted a flea market and someone had a basket full of croissants for sale.  The gods were good to me.  Most of the day was on road riding, till I came across a bike path through the woods going my way.  It was nice to be back on a quite path.  After 75 mile I was where I thought Cindy could camp.  I was off by 28 mile when I found an internet connection.  I headed north on a very narrow bike path through the wood along the coast.  At first the bad spots were small and I could jump them.  Then the sand traps got bigger and I had to push the bike out of them.  I was trying to get to the campground by nine hope it would be still open.  There were signs warning the bike path was not recommended because it was in bad repair.  I just raced on thinking oh shit when coming up on the bad parts way to fast.  I mad it to the camp by nine and the tracking system lead me to her exact camp.  Good to see her smiling face.

6/24/12

Montalivet-les-Bains

102 miles, 9:36 moving time, Max Speed 21.7, Moving Average 10.5, 

 Stop Time 13:41, Overall Average Speed 4.3,   Start 6:00 and 21:00  Accent 930 Feet  Sunny hot day.

Love & Kisses

Steve

Canal route

I get an early start to get some mileage in.  Canal route was straight was about the same distance as the road.  I could make good time, but it was sunnier with not as may trees lining the route.  At seven I had come the end of the canal that had turned into an inlet from Bordeaux.  It took a while to find an internet connection where I found Cindy had not move locations.  I had all already gone a hundred mile plus.  It was over a hundred miles to her location.  It was time to find camping location.  The camp that Google maps showed me did not exist.  It was another night ride and only 12 miles to where the forests were on the map.  I came to a nice road side picnic tables and camped.  I was tired and could be seen from the road but I did not care.

6/23/12

Santernes roadside park

116 miles, 11:13 moving time, Max Speed 30.3, Moving Average 10.3, 

 Stop Time 3:52, Overall Average Speed 7.7,   Start 8:00 and 23:00  Accent 1459 Feet  Sunny hot day.

Love & Kisses

Steve

Toulouse

In the morning I head back to the canal.  I am planning to meet Cindy near Biarritz.  Canal is easy riding as with a bike path and shade trees.  In Toulouse I find urgent email from Cindy.  I spend two hours of emailing back and forth while I am keep a careful eye on the bike and gear, as it is crowded and lots of people passing by.  A general route is decided on.  Taking another canal route to Bordeaux I try to get 20 miles in before finding a camp.  I do make it the twenty and then takes another 15 miles to find a camp at 9 pm.  I am thinking It a put in a long day tomorrow I will get to Cindy’s location as she heads south.

6/22/12

Saint Aigman

72.3 miles, 7:25 moving time, Max Speed 27.2, Moving Average 8.7, 

 Stop Time 4:56, Overall Average Speed 5.8,   Start 9:00 and 21:00  Accent 934 Feet  Sunny hot day.

Love & Kisses

Steve

Lac Tessauque

I leave Carcassonne late.  Checking the internet and pondering on going the Pyrenees to Andorra.  I was thinking of the two day climb into the hills.  I could save a bit on a new camera but the savings would be used up on the number of croissants to get there and away.  I head for Toulouse by the canal route.  I end up on the wrong side of the canal on a small path with rose branches over the trail.  The only thing to smell is my blood if I am not careful.  Once on the paved trail riding was easier and in the shade.

Once again as evening came on I was hunting for camping.  Here as in other camps I keep running into Hollanders.  So thinking I could use a little Dutch as that is Cindy’s native language I asked the Hollander campers in the next spot over for a Dutch word to learn.  They tried for four words and I got a glass of wine.  Of the words they choose only two have stuck which is one word in Dutch (goedemorgen).

6/21/12

 Lac Tessauque

58.5 miles, 6:42 moving time, Max Speed 20.6, Moving Average 8.7, 

 Stop Time 5:56, Overall Average Speed 4.6,   Start 9:30 and 21:00  Accent 1118 Feet  Sunny hot day.

Love & Kisses

Steve

Carcassonne

Carcassonne has become more touristy since I last saw it in mid winter.  I found a nice quiet spot in the battlements to hang out and write.  Of coarse people see me there and must come over to see if I have a good view. 

New town

That guy Charlemagne came down to take Carcassonne.  After a five year siege the local king had died and plague had ravaged the city.  Parts of the wall were manned by bodies placed armor.  Then the queen start to feed a pig.  This was not very popular.  After six months the queen had this fat pig gorge on grain.  Then she had it pushed off the battlements.  Charlemagne leave shortly after this thinking the siege is not working.  The queen is now honored for saving the city.

Start to leave Carcassonne and see that the time is five.  I head for the camp in town.

6/20/12

Carcassonne

17.8 miles, 3:17 moving time, Max Speed 23.5, Moving Average 5.4, 

 Stop Time 3:12, Overall Average Speed 2.7,   Start 10:00 and 17:00  Accent 700 Feet  Sunny hot day.

Love & Kisses

Steve