I spent most of bank holiday Monday rigging up my bike with panniers and all the clothes and camping gear I'll need for my 700 mile coast to coast tour. (pics below)
I leave in less than 2 weeks so better get a shift on as I still need to sort out a few things- not least, how I am going to get back since I need to dismantle my bike and put it in a bike bag before getting on the tgv train at Montpelier. I've found a bike shop there that is only a few miles from the train station so hopefully they will be kind enough to help me sort that out. (Assuming of course that I will make it to the south coast in 13 days!).
I suppose the biggest hazards to not getting to Montpelier in time to catch the train back will be getting lost and/or health/injury problems or bike problems that I cant fix when I'm miles from anywhere. All part of the fun though!
I still need to highlight my route completely on all 9 large scale maps and mark on all the camp sites along the way using my newly acquired Michelin camping guide which is too heavy to take with me. I also need to get larger scale maps of the small towns I'll be camping in so I can actually find the camp sites without using gps.
I took the bike out for a decent spin this evening just to see how she rides with all the extra weight. Not bad! obviously slower up the hills and more leg work needed to get going, but on the flats and downhill, pretty good. I think the Brooks B17 champion saddle is starting to break in (my poor arse) with only 500 miles on the clock so with any luck, by the time Im half way down France Ill be fully in the comfort zone - althouth I may have sore legs by then.
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