Cycle route from St Malo to Santander

I'll be setting of with good friend and seasoned explorer, Emma, on 7th Spetember, aiming to arrive at Santander in northern Spain 13 days later in time to catch the 24hour ferry back to Portsmouth. W'ell be camping on route and hoping for strong tailwinds to help us up the 200 miles of hills in Spain. Here is the planned route:


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Life is short

Remember as a child, how the summers used to last forever, and how far away next year always seemed? Remember waking up feeling free and excited about the day ahead with a sense of optimism that maybe you can only get when you are young - when so much is unfamiliar and responsibility is something your parents have.

And now, all grown-up, how the years fly ever more speedily by and how my childish naive optimism has become charred by responsibility and consequences; and the freedom that I think I still have is actually chained up like a wild dog frothing at the mouth. These grown-up days are filled up with routines, clocks, facts and cynicism. I see the same things over and over, hear the same sounds day after day and every smell is so familiar, I don't even notice.

Maybe life isn't too short - it just seems like it is because the daily tastes, sounds, sights and smells don't really change much from day to day. 

So where to next?

Thinking about where to go next - just me,my bike and my video camera that is.

I like the idea of cycling through multiple countries so first thoughts were about flying somewhere far flung and exploring different cultures. But, then I thought about cycling over a mountain range. Turns out, in Europe we have one of those so I think I might be able to come up with a viable route where I can cycle across 6 countries and a mountain range in 14 days without even getting on a plane .

A route like this would take me over Lake Geneva and Mont Cenis (6827 ft). Too ambitious? maybe, but only one way to find out I suppose. Not decided yet, but this is a definite contender... At this point I think starting last week in August would be realistic since the high mountain passes might not be accessible until late summer when all the snow has melted.


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However, the reason I want to challenge myself like this, isn't just physical - in fact the physical challenge isn't really all that important. I want to go on the kind of cycling journey that takes me away from my comfort zone and further away from the things I know.

I think the idea of cycling over the Alps, just doesn't scare me enough - yes the physical challenge would be immense, but there would be no cultural hurdles, no real sense of venturing into an unknown and all in all, just a bit too predictable.

My coast to coast France trip taught me that the hardest thing to deal with was being alone. Every other challenge I faced was minor really. And you have a lot more time to feel lonely when you don't have enough practical things to occupy your mind with; so the best way to deal with that is to find bigger practical challenges along the way. Cycling through countries with alien traditions, language, culture and politics would surely be more unpredictable and maybe just a little bit more scary.

So, thinking like that, I am now looking at alternative routes - maybe the Adriatic coast - Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia. Maybe through Turkey to Georgia. Just don't know yet although just booked time off work this wee to do it, starting last week in august, so better come up with a firm plan soon.

I think I need to do some wild stealth camping too.

Video of my coast to coast tour in France

France coast to coast - Debrief

I have been thinking about a solo cycling adventure for quite a long time but I suppose never quite had enough courage to actually do one until recently. I think the timing was just down to the state of my 10 year relationship with Jessica and the uneasy sense that it was coming to an end. Although the thing that has always appealed to me about the idea of solo distance cycling has been exploration and meeting different people every day. Beyond that I think the idea of life on the road just seems less scary than the prospect of living out the rest of my life in front of a TV or computer.


I wanted this trip to teach me something about myself - to maybe show me how I might be able to take on the rest of my life - to see how much independence I could really deal with, but mainly I wanted to come back with a different perspective and be more prepared to adventure in future. Maybe that's quite a lot to expect from a 2 week 700 mile solo bike tour, but I'm not completely disappointed.

The most important parts of the trip, were the small challenges I faced along the way - these were the things that were going to help me get what I wanted. If I had carefully planned every aspect of this short tour, how you do when you go on holiday, it would have been a lot easier - I wouldn't then have a had to wrestle with the basics every day ( food, water,where to sleep), I wouldn't have got lost and I could have allowed myself a couple more days so I didn't  have to ride every day. So I left some things to chance and denied myself a few little home comforts.

I did not use gps to navigate - map and compass only.
I did not talk to anyone on the phone.
I did not plan where I would sleep each night - subsequently many camp-sites I arrived at were closed.
I did not allow myself any days off to rest and wash clothes.

This is about as difficult as I could make what in essence was a sunny stroll through France on 2 wheels - but its a start.

As it turned out, those 'basic' challenges were not the things that I found hard. Energy and hydration did require more daily effort than I'm used to, but loneliness is a problem that worries me for future solo tours.

This is what Al Humphreys (solo round the word cyclist) says about loneliness on the road:

"But also riding alone was ideal- it is much harder: you stand or fall by your own decisions, qualities and shortcomings, and people are much more receptive and welcoming to a lone traveller. It was very hard being alone- the hardest part of the journey - but very rewarding in the end."

So maybe I will find the courage to do some more challenging tours, perhaps longer, further afield solo trips so that I can learn to cope better. TV is a great for making you feel like you're not alone but TV's are usually heavy and need a lot of electricity - speaking of which reminds me that I must find a larger solar panel re-charger for my next journey - the powermonkey was great but needs at least 2 full days of continental sun to be able to fully charge an iphone - luckily I had lots of sun.

I met some really nice people on the trip and made new friends - this is probably the main benefit of cycling solo. I spoke lots of French, some Italian and got a lot fitter. I do feel mentally stronger somehow, perhaps more optimistic about my future and what I am capable of. But most importantly I think, this trip reminded me how important friends and family are - how important other people are - especially the ones we take for granted. I'll try and make more time for them in future. Jessica did announce the end of our relationship  a day or so after I got back, it wasn't a surprise, but somehow the trip has helped me deal with it and I'm ok.

I'll post some video of the trip shortly and more photos, maybe an itinerary too - just in case you are inspired to have a go yourself!

Follow me through France!

My very good friend Dave (Buddahmagnet) has rigged up a website that shows exactly where I am on my cycle trek on an interactive map, as soon as I send a voice message (Audioboo) from my phone.

So, instead of just sending tweets I will be doing my best to post audio boos to help chart my progress each day, and for anyone who is interested....this new website will allow anyone to see where I am, listen to my daily comments, see the pictures I have taken on route, and also, if you're not too shy, record your own voice message to me or send me a picture. Pretty cool huh! - provided my phone doesnt run out of battery and I dont cap out my roaming charges of course.

Take a look for yourself - here is the website: http://leonine.heroku.com/

let me know what you think too.

Ready to Roll!

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.