This blog started when I owned and MZ Skorpion Traveller and a bike magazine dismissed it with the phrase 'you can't tour on a single'. The Skorpion's gone and was replaced by a Triumph Bonneville which I owned for ten years. My main bike now is a 2006 BMW R1200ST. I can't be bothered changing the name of the blog, so we're stuck with it!
Left a rather misty Bordeaux and headed northwards up the coast. The misty soon went and it became a hot sunny day with temperatures reach 32C. Today's route was mostly through flat farmland, so not really all that much to see.
I've mentioned before 'hotel room laundry', where you wash and dry your clothes in your hotel room. I've found that it usually takes two nights of being hung up before clothes are dry, so are put in a plastic bag in the luggage when I'm riding if still damp. Today I put some in a mesh bag and strapped it to the back of the saddle. My theory was that the warm air swirling around it would help dry the clothes, or at least unless it rained the clothes wouldn't get any wetter.
Each time I stopped, I turned the bag over so both sides would dry. It worked a bit, some of the clothes were almost dry, whereas others have had to be hung up in the hotel room again.
On my trip I stopped at the attractive town of Rochefort (didn't he sing 'Cuddly Toy'?)*
It remained a very hot sunny day as I arrived in my destination for tonight, the very nice seaside town of Les Sables-d'Olonne.
Just a short one today as the weather was so bad that I didn't take many photos and most of the riding was a bit boring.
Left Pierrefitte-Nestalis on a rather damp morning with the intention of spending a day riding some of the high passes. First up was the nearby Col du Soulor (1474 metres). The ride up to it was through thick mist and heavy rain, but it was reasonably clear at the summit.
Information board for cyclists (and very friendly dog) at summit
A group of older French riders were there
I headed on to the Adjoining Col d'Aubisque (1709 metres), but there was close to no visibility and I crawled along. Again it was reasonably clear at the summit and there were plenty of French riders.
Monument to the head of a cycling club. He had a terrible life - lost an arm in WW1 and sent to a concentration camp in WW2, dying just after he was liberated.
That's what's wrong these days - not enough cyclists wearing the correct trousers!
There are large bicycle sculptures in the Tour de France jersey colours. Saw a lot of these going down the valley which will be part of the TdF route next month
Because the weather and visibility was so bad, I abandoned plans to ride any more high passes (the two I had done were the highest), and headed downhill. For most of the rest of the day it was sunny intervals and heavy rain showers. It was interesting to see how within a couple of hours' ride the landscape had changed from high mountains to flat farmland then to forestry. I stopped for a break and something to eat at a supermarket and spoke to a Belgian rider who was in the first few days of a two week holiday, He was heading towards southern Spain, so I told him of where I had been.
The weather had improved enough that I could take my waterproofs off and it was a bit more pleasant and gradually got warmer. By the time I reached the outskirts of Bordeaux, my destination for tonight, it was very sunny and the temperature had got to to about 32C. Unfortunately, I got caught up in the commuting traffic and from the outskirts to my hotel was an hour and a quarter ride in very hot stop/start traffic! Was really glad to get to get there.
Map of the start and finish of today's ride. Due to the time I spent in the mountains and city, I rode for about 7 hours today.
Left my hotel this morning and made my way to the Andorran town of Canillo for a trip to the motorcycle museum there. Website It was a bit hard to find as it is housed withing the building of a gondola/ski lift and not visible from the street. I parked where my sat nav said it was and had to go up a moving staircase to find it. I had to wait about 10 minutes for it to open, which meant I was the only customer there.
Only Harley Davidson I've ever liked and, ironically, one of their poorest sellers. the late 70s XLCR 'Cafe Racer'.
I left Andorra and crossed the border into France, this time it was unstaffed and the barriers left open so you could just ride through. I carried on through rather pleasant countryside for a couple of hours, then could see low cloud on the mountain tops and the temperature noticeably dropped. As the road I was on was climbing, I was soon riding through the cloud which turned to heavy rain. It was so heavy and the visibilty so poor that I seriously considered my plans, but carried on and the rain stopped. A bit further on and it started again, but I was too close to my destination to turn back. I climbed through the mountains to the legendary Col du Tourmalet, one of the 'big climbs' of the Tour de France. I had been there before about 20 years ago and rode past a 'closed' barrier and was helped by a council team who were clearing snow from the road. I couldn't continue past the summit due to snow drift and had to return the way I'd come. I'd always planned on returning to complete the crossing.
When I got to the summit there was a lot of work being done on the buildings and road surface, but I managed to get a photo at the famous sculpture (thanks to a Swiss rider who took the photo).
I also took a photo of the road I was about to ride.
It was a great ride down as the rain had stopped and the road wasn't too wet. I rode on a short distance to the small town of Pierrefitte-Nestalas where I had booked a hotel. My plans for tomorrow aren't certain and will depend of the weather. Currently it's raining outside, I'll see what it's like in the morning.
