Onto the Danube

DAY 27
We leave the house after having a huge breakfast with the family and head back towards Freiburg. Our route takes us back down the river then towards the lovely titled "Hell's Valley". Everyone we´ve asked about the route seems to say it's nice but lots of hills, we are basically riding over the black forest and to Donaueschingen where the river starts.

We go through Kirchzarten and then Buchenbach and then we start climbing through the valley through Schweighöfe. Great scenery but the climbing is tough, we continue up through lots of bends and eventually pass over 1000m high where we stop for some coffee and cake. Route is down hill now through farms and then we have a decision. Wind has picked up and looks like a storm coming, we could continue down into Neustadt or go left through more hills and try and reach the Danube. Stupidly we continue through the hills through Schwarzenbach which turn out to be the steepest we have faced yet, Mei is reduced to pushing her bike for the first time on the trip and the weather closing in has made our mood worse.

We eventually come out at a ski resort near Esienbach and finally comes the descent. We cane along through towns that blur past, lots of pine forest and long straight downhills and now the storm seems to be moving away so everyone is a bit happier. We arrive in what we think is Donaueschingen where a big festival is in full flow, Mei soon realises we are actually in Huffingen so we continue. Soon arrive in Donaueschingen where we see the actual source of the Danube, a small spring that merges with another river to be the official starting point of the Danube. Would like to stay here but the campsite is about 5km down the Danube trail so we head off that way and get to the camp. Huge place full of mullet wearing Germans drinking beer, i feel quite at home. A truly terrible band are playing near the restaurant but we eat there anyway.

100kms across the black forest mountains, very pleased to be actually on the Danube.

Switzerland and beyond

DAY 20
We feel like we have earnt a rest so today in generally spent lazing by the lake and checking out some of the street entertainment. Lots of tourists in Annecy but it´s a nice place. Only problem is our campsite is halfway up a mountain, very steep walk out of town.

DAY 21
See day 20...just a bit hotter and sunnier.

DAY 22
Hot, lake, sunny...do we really have to ride again? Meinir is looking in a lot of shops now and is tempted to buy non cycle related clothes, i don´t mind so much because i have switched the panniers to her bike so she has to carry whatever she buys now.

DAY 23
Back on the road. We leave Annecy early and completely lost trying to leave town. Trying to stay on the smaller roads and keep running into the motorway. I think it took about an hour to get on the right road. On the N508 to Frangy for a mid morning coffee and then the D992 for s steep climb and then flatter sections towards Geneve. After some nice rural scenery we cycle over a hill and see Geneve in the distance. Caned it from there down some fast hills and then passed through a little shed which i think was the Swiss border. The first difference i notice between Switzerland and France is things just seem to go right in Switzerland, cycling along and somehow end up on a cycle path heading towards the city centre. Not sure which direction to take? We take a guess and it turns out perfect. In France these situations always end up with us dodging speeding traffic along motorway slip roads.

Ended up at the lake and then found the train station at about 14:30, got some tickets for us and the bikes and were on the nice air conditioned train at 15:13 heading for Basel. After 2.5 hours we depart at Basel and head off along the Rhine cycle path towards the black forest. Pass through a similar border shed and we are in Germany. Third country in one day and now we can say we have seen Switzerland. It´s getting a bit late now, decide to try and get to Lörrach, no signs at all, no idea what´s happening, somehow pass back into Swiss territory i think but not sure. Blindly cycling around with Mei almost sick with hunger. Cycle through a small town and it turns out to be Lörrach, a simple sign saying something like "Lörrach" would be nice, just a little something so people know where they are. More aimless wanderings, asking lots of people where the camping is, very helpful Germans pointing us along different paths through a huge park. Next thing we are at the campsite which has a great restaurant and large beers.

87 kms and 3 countries.

DAY 24
Bit scary today, after last nights lack of signs and us having no maps things aren´t looking good. Start the day with a "Grosses Frühstüch", big continental breakfast. We are on a street called something "Schwartzwald Strasse", sounds good so we take a gamble that it will lead to the black forest. Miracle, we find an exellent cycle path that has all of the town names we need so off we go. I´m still amazed by this luck, great trail through lovely small towns in the black forest. Today is the first day that isn´t stupidly hot and sunny, warm and humid but cloudy, storm may be on the way. Head through Kandern and Badenweiler where we are really in the forest and there are several short steep climbs. I see a small deer in the forest watching us...which was nice. Mei is attacked by lots of strange flies, for some reason they like her which means they stay away from me.

Now travelling through wine country so we stop at Castelberg Kellar to taste some of the local stuff. Surprisingly good so we buy some for the evening then continue downhill to Staufen. Not far from our destination of Freiburg now.

42 kms

DAY 25
Hot, hot again. Took the scenic route over the mountain and through farms to Freiburg. Camp near the river just out of town and meet up with Florian (Swingles German agent) for pizza and a beer. We then generally wander about town, lovely place and it´s much bigger than the places we have been in the last few days. Huge storm comes in late and cools things off a bit.

DAY 26
Nice day of strolling around Freiburg, shopping in the market, some currywurst and beer for lunch, some shopping, walking around the old streets then sitting in the park relaxing. Great day. In the evening we cycle to Florian´s house which is about 15 kms outside the city. Lovely dinner and a few beers there and our first stay in a proper house in weeks.

Heading north

DAY 18
Huge day today. Short but steep climb out of Vizille and then fast to outskirts of Grenoble. Head up towards Chambery on good roads and stop for lunch in the searing heat at Pontcharra. Had our first run-in with a motorway just outside Chambery, pretty scary stuff, managed to walk backwards down the slip road and escape to safety. Got some tourist info in Chambery but took ages to find the way out of town, then found a nice cycle path just as we were getting knackered and cycled along the lake to Aix-Les-Bains. I decided today that Mei has overtaken me in the speed stakes, i think the mountains have made her stronger than i could have possibly imagined and she is now faster than me. Think i'll try shifting the weight of the panniers over to her and see how that goes.

105 kms, huge day today, this is a picture of Meinir trying to work out how far we have to go.

DAY 19


Over a few beers last night we have made a slight change to our plans. We need to be in Freiburg by the 27th to meet someone and we have come to the conclusion that we will not make it in time considering the Swiss hills that stand in the way of our athletic bodies. So, we ride to Annecy because it is a lovely place on a lovely lake and here we can sort out getting our bikes on a train and getting closer to our destination. Think we can do it, it also means we can chill by the lake for a few days which is nice.

There also happens to be a festival in full swing in town and lots of street performers in the evening. This is a bunch of jazz guys who were going off last night.

37 kms today, stupidly hot again, now for some rest time.

King (and queen) of the mountains

DAY 13
We have a day off in Vizille before heading off for the Tour de France tomorrow. Got a bus into Grenoble and took a look around, ended up walking up a mountain to see the castle so it wasn't such a resting day. Got the bus back to Vizille and massive storm cane just as we were passing the bar...it was safer to head in for a drink than risk the storm

DAY 14
Croissants, coffee then off on the road to Bourg d'Oisans. Go along the slightly busy N91, generally up most of the way but not too bad. Cyclists everywhere as we get closer to the mountain and campervans have set up home in all sorts of strange places. We have a place booked at a campsite in Le Garde en Oisans which is about 3kms up the Alpe. This first section is the steepest, we join the stream of nutters attempting to cycle up, i have to say it is pretty hard going and i feel like a nob with all my luggage and the trailer attached. We get to the campsite and the people there tell me we have no place because i didn't confirm by email, i say that i did so she goes in and prints out the actual email i sent her that says "I would like to confirm for these dates..." and tries to argue that i didn't confirm then pretend she doesn't speak English...damn arrogant French. We end up with a spot anyway, under a bush on the edge of the cliff, nice view.

Walk back down mountain to get some food, quite a few people painting on the road. Get bus back but it doesn't stop for us but continues another 5kms up. Last bus so i take the 1 hour walk back with an angry Meinir. Not bad actually, we walk past "Dutch" corner where they have a full sound system in operation and a guy doing bingo in 4 languages with about 20 people playing by the roadside, quite funny. Also some impressive road painting operations with a team of 2 Dutch painting with rollers and a woman attempting to stop the traffic.

40 kms.

DAY 15
Our big day arrives, we attempt the climb of l'Alpe d'Huez. About 14kms straight up with average gradient of about 8% and gets over 10% in a couple of places. Race is coming through tomorrow so heaps of people cycling up already as we start at about 9:30. I decide to ride to the bottom to do the whole thing, Mei thinks she did the bottom bit yesterday so she goes straight from the camp.



The 21 hairpins are numbered from bottom to top. Hard start but eventually get a rhythm and it's nice to not be carrying the trailer for once. I catch Mei at about hairpin 6 but she is cruising along pretty well, the mountain opens up towards the top where the ski resort is, i make it all the way but a bit confusing where the ending is, eventually find it and total time is 1 hour 17 mins, respectable. Record is 37 mins. As soon as i get off the bike i collapse in agony, i think being sat in the same position for so long has done some damage around my bum area, i manage to greet Mei as she arrives about 15 mins after me. I eventually manage to stand and after about 2 hours i'm capable of riding back down. Scary descent but get back safely and get ready for race day. Notice now that there are heaps more vans and cars and tents placed all over the mountain, no ones seems to care.

About 30 kms total.

DAY 16
Wake up early and walk to town to get some food and beer for the day, also get a bag of frozen beans to keep the beers cold. Stupid numbers of people cycling up today, thousands. Saw the guy dessed as the devil at the bottom of the mountain, had some pizza and walked back up. Stacks of people setting up chairs on the side of the road early. Got backt to our spot on hairpin 16 and ate and drank beer in the heat. Earlt afternoon and the police start clearing the road of cars and after that cyclists have to stop. The the caravan comes through, this is about 1 hour of sponsors and promotional cars driving up throwing stuff out to people. Bit like Notting Hill carnival. Finally that finishes and the helicopters appear in the sky which means the race is approaching, then the riders come through and everyone goes mental, especially the Dutch. Awesome, the riders all look like they're in pain, it's hard to make out everyone but i can defintely say they were going faster than i was. Afterwards we meet some people in the bar and drink far more than we should. Great day of sporting action, i recommend it.



DAY 17
An English guy we met in the campsite is driving to the Col du Glandon to catch the stage today, we go with him. Before this i decide to tackle the mountain again, i head to the bottom and then start the ascent, after about 10 mins i lose all motivation and head back to the tent.

We drive along a really hairy mountain road in the wrong direction and then turn around and go along an equally hairy road towards the race. Again there are lots of cyclists and cars heading to the race. We manage to park on a verge and start the long walk to the Col, running late so we have to get a move on but eventually make it. Get a great sport just as the riders begin the descent of the Glandon before getting to the Col de la Croix de fer. Lots of people but not as crowded as the Alpe, lots more room. Riders start coming through in bits, one of the Quickstep team throws his drink bottle away and it land s next to Mei, i manage to grab it before someone else. Awesome, this is one of the best souvenirs you can get from the race. There was even some bright green drink still left, no way i was touching that though.



Get back and pack up the tent and ride back to Vizille, another great day.

45 kms.

Into the mountains

DAY 9
Much needed rest day in Gap. There was a cycle race from here yesterday and lots of the cyclists have returned to the campsite. Another really hot day with and evening thunderstorm, this is becoming a standard routine.

General walking around town and sitting by the pool again, heaps of kids here though, not so relaxing by the pool. There are about 5 resident peacocks in the campsite, they seem to have the run of the place and make a lot of noise...i wonder what peacock kebab tastes like on the camp stove?

Still having some problems with my gears, i'll check that out tomorrow.

DAY 10
Another rest day, same again really, until i try to adjust the gears on my bike and manage to break both gear changers. Small disaster, Mei is starting to think her new husband is useless, i blame the fact that my bike is really old and this was just going to happen.

Manage to find a bike shop in town where no one speaks English, i point to the broken bits, they smile the smile of a dodgy mechanic that means this will cost me...

DAY 11
Went to pick up my bike at a random time in the morning, not quite ready so i go for a coffee. 11am on a weekday and there are guys in there drinking pastis and some bloke comes in for a swift beer and then back off on his motorbike, what's all that about? These French lead a strange life.

Anyway, get my bike back and the bill is €37, bargain. Manage to get on the road at about midday, straight onto a massive mountain out of Gap, steep hill that tops out at Col Bayard at 1248m. Then huge descent through awesome alpine towns and fields. All day spent on the N85 north, apparently this is the route Napoleon took at some stage in his career, i'll leave you to do the history research but there is definitely a lot of reference to him. Stupidly hard hills keep on coming, another 12% climb for about half an hour followed by descents that have my brakes smoking. Another qfternoon thunderstorm is coming in, just get to a campsite near La Mure as the rain starts, quickly down 3 beers and off to bed, drunk Frenchmen next to us make lots of noise into the small hours.

71 kms, hard

DAY 12
Head for Grenoble on N85 again, basically a nail-biting 18kms where i need to stop twice to let brakes cool, i have a feeling they will just explode on one of these descents, i have a grand total of zero spares with me. We arrive in Vizille about 15kms from Grenoble with a mad look of fear on my face, need a coffee. We decide to stay here instead of continuing into Grenoble, very nice place, campsite has a pool and sells pizza, what more could you want.

18kms, it doesn't sounds like much...and it isn't

The stench of lavendar

DAY 6
Another well earned rest day, walked up a rocky staircase to the chapel which is up in the cliffs, great view of the town from there. Some coffee, some food, then sat down to watch the Tour de France time trial on tv with a few beers. Nice day, finished off with a huge storm which cooled things down nicely.

DAY 7
Heading north now. Passed through Riez where they had the fete in full swing. Lots of people dressed up and riding horses and stuff like that, all very cultural i'm sure. After lunch we continued on the small D6 road to Valensole and then decided to risk using the smaller D15 so we could ride through the lavendar fields. The risk was worth it, small roads often mean bigger hills but this time it was miles of nice country side and lavendar followed by a high speed descent to the Durance river. Dodgy stormy weather was approaching so we hammered it along the flat to a place called Les Mèes, known for its weird rock formations behind the town.



Into town for some pizza and settle down to watch the world cup final. Bit disappointing really, the French should be banned in future for the lack of excitement about the world cup final. There were a few guys getting drunk on Pastis and talking crap, everyone else was having a chat and occasionally watching the match. Therefore they deserved to lose i say.

Another nice day, 62km

DAY 8
Destination Gap, gateway to the alps. We continue north roughly along the Durance river. Hot, hot day, ends up reaching near 40 dedgrees. Stupidly we continue onwards, on the busy N85 road then the smaller D4 through small villages and then fields of fruit trees. Stop in tiny sleepy Thèze for lunch, water that we have left is almost boiling so we refill, then back into the sun. Stop again in La Saulce for fluids then the final 15km to Gap via the N85. To be honest we had had enough by this stage, finally get to Gap and head for the nearest campsite, about 2km out of town on the way to Grenoble up a huge hill. We get there completely wrecked, the Etape cycle race has left from Gap today, the city is gearing up for the real race on the 16th to 18th July.

Mei missed a thin strip on her lower back when she was putting on sunscreen and now has an awful comedy burnt line, i have lost some of the feeling in 2 fingers on my left hand, think it might be from the pressure on the handlebars...hope it gets better. Think we have booked in for a couple of rest days now.

88km today in sweltering heat, impressive.

Finally on the road

DAY 1
We have finally left the UK now and i am trying to type this on a comedy French keyboard. We arrived in Nice on a hot and humid Monday afternoon. All of our luggage was there and Easyjet had only managed to bend the axel on my rear wheel. I really expected everything to have been smashed in transit so a bent axel was a good result. After beating the crap out of it for 20 minutes i managed to get it all together so we set off cycling around the 2 terminals in Nice airport for an hour before we found the exit.

Monday afternoon rush hour traffic not good, heading down the coast towards Antibes then turned off to a small town called Biot, found a camp site and settled down. Grand total of 20 kms covered on day 1, at this rate we will reach the alps by Christmas. A few beers at the bar and off to bed.




DAY 2
Early start today (about 10am) we continued to q place called Grasse, everything was fine until we reached the last climb which was about 15% steep, i was almost crying. Apparently Grasse is famous for perfume making but it was already the afternoon and i had football to watch so we skipped the tourist sites and found somewhere to camp which had a tv and bar and pool and watched the game. Mei was so excited, she really loves football. Actually, she had a bad belly today and was a bit ill, i think she blames the six egg omelette i made on the camp stove. About 35km today...still pretty pathetic.

DAY 3
This keyboard is doing my head in now! Hot, sunny, sounds like a rest day. Sat by the pool, got burnt, drank beer, watched more football. Greatest day ever (there would be a question mark here if i could find the f*****g thing) Great day.

DAY 4
Up hill for 4 straight hours, not joking. Up, up, up. Might start needing EPO and blood doping like a real cyclist soon. Eventually reached a col of about 1261 metres before an evil storm cane in and scared us. We descended a bit into a tiny place called Sèranon and stayed there the night while the storm raged. Huge day, legs are destroyed, 45 kms, getting better.

DAY 5
Left camp at 8am, plan is to reach Comps-sur-artuby for an evil French coffee and then ride through the Gorges du Verdon. Amazingly this plan was achieved, the canyon was awesome, great fast riding until the last steep climb at the end. The final descent was a bit tough for my brakes trying to stop all of the weight of the load i was carrying, they were red hot by the end and making scary noises. We passed 2 girls cycling through the gorge, when we passed them on a hill we smiled and sped up to make it look like we were cruising, somehow this cycle touring has become competitive. Decided to continue from the gorges past some lake and into Moustiers-ste-Marie, lovely town surrounded by rocky cliffs, Another rest day tomorrow i think. New record, 78kms today, that's more respectable.