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Deep in the Massif Central

We have been following the Lot river now for 3 days as it gets smaller and smaller . One of the consequences of this is that it enters very steep sided valleys , impossible for a road to go through. Today was a case in point. As soon as we left the hotel it was relentless up . The roads that we now find relatively easy we would not have found on day one or two . I am still not on the smallest cog and Ceri hardly using much electricity.

People have asked how we practiced for our trip and the answer is not at all . I like to call it the Don Whillans approach to fitness . He climbed with Bonnington and is a real working class hero from Salford . Sadly he is no more . I attended a lecture once and he was asked the question how he trained before climbing in the Himalayas. He answered that when he has left the last ‘ Changi ‘ pub in Nepal he would get fit ! But I digress . We are slowly riding up hill all day and now up to 720 metres . I feel that we are working together so well as a team and each depends on each other at different times . Continental divide tomorrow

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D’Olt is actually the name of the river Lot: same letters in a different order. Today was so beautiful that we felt we could cycle on forever, even after the 14km climb. We must be getting fit. I’ve got 4 levels of assistance on my bike and only used levels 1 and 2 all day meaning I got to the hotel having used less than half my battery. I’ll need that power on the longer steeper climbs ahead of us. This route is so well planned with the flatter terrain at the start then more hills appear as our fitness improves. There were stages today, away from the river, which looked exactly like Devon – even the red earth in the fields , but with one big fortunate difference…. no potholes!! Long easy roads. The 10km wizz back down the hill felt so safe. Neil called me the kamikaze downhill speed freak! It felt just like skiing! Dare I say we’ve been lucky with the weather. Last nights long thunderstorm cleared before we set off. Long May this continue.

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Back into the groove today . My lovely cousin Alan drops us off just east of Figeac . Despite a wonderful rest and friendship it’s good to get back in the saddle with just one thing in mind . As Nice gets closer you begin to realise barring accidents , we will get to dip our wheels in the Med . We come across lots of walkers who are walking the Camino St James . At Montredon they are putting on compeeds . Our journey for the next three days is all about one thing going along the glorious River Lot . First of all few lumpy hills to get into the valley , with my highest gear now sorted hills are a lot easier . Half way along we meet a small group of people with two clergy blessing a shop and singing . This is real rural France slightly poorer I feel than the Dordogne but the whole valley os achingly beautiful. We have a swim and I have a snooze . Not far to our destination 60km . More Lot tmw !!

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Alan is Neils second cousin. He and Heather have lived all over the world and have lived for 19 years in a beautiful farmhouse in Martiel, south of Figeac which is on our route. We stayed with them 5 years ago and they are wonderful hosts and we really enjoy their company, so we were excited to return. Alan met us near Figeac and drove us home where we had a glorious swim in their pool, a super supper and watched Ireland v Tonga. Saturday morning I awoke to Neil singing the Irish national anthem. Honestly !

We had the perfect non cycling day with Heather looking after us. Neil and Alan took Neils bike in to have his gears fixed while I did the laundry. We all went to lunch in a beautiful restaurant garden owned by a friend of Heathers. The owner, Marian, was a real character and lunch lasted from 1 to 5. In the evening we all chilled swapping stories. It was so relaxing and the perfect rest day.

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Since I’m appending to my old operation blog, which some people may still be following, and we’re having a rest day, I thought I would use the free time to mention some post op long term symptoms since over five years has now passed. I very rarely mention them these days as I have learnt to live with them and I’m just enjoying life too much to worry about them.

When my surgeon warned me I’d wouldn’t be the same after my surgery, I thought quietly to myself, rubbish. I WILL be the same. But of course he was right, so I have found a way to manage various niggles.

Since I no longer have an oesophagus, my stomach now sits above my diaphragm in the same space as my heart and my lungs, so I can feel quite sick when I exert myself too much . I guess it’s because my heart pumps more and my lungs work harder using the space my stomach shares. This is where the electric bike is absolutely brilliant. I try not to use the assist power too much as I would like to get fit, but when I feel my heart rate going up, I simply press the turbo button and cycle gently on avoiding any unpleasant symptoms. This generally happens on long hills as I sail past poor Neil slogging away! I still feel I’m cheating with an electric bike, but thank heavens for it.

I can also suffer from something called dumping. It happens if I eat too much sweet stuff as it passes too quickly through my stomach. My body quickly creates loads of insulin to deal with it and I get a diabetic type of hypo, feeling woozy, hot and sick. This usually passes after about an hour. Life is too short to skip on ice creams, especially during this trip, so I just carry on knowing it will pass.

And lastly, I can get extremely painful reflux as I have no valve preventing food from coming up from my stomach, so I can no longer stand on my head ! Haha. But if I eat the wrong food, up comes the burning bile which flows down into my lungs and I end up coughing painfully for weeks. However, we’ve solved it!!! It usually happens if I eat creamy cheese in my meals or lots of creamy desserts which gives me dumping anyway, so I tend to avoid them if I can. Also we bought an adjustable electric bed at home so I sleep with my upper body elevated. Definitely worth buying!! When we camp, we park the campervan on an uphill slope. And when we are travelling like this, I just use lots of pillows and try to sleep with my body elevated. Fingers crossed I have not had one of these horrible episodes for almost 2 years. It’s great having learned how to avoid them.

So I lead a perfectly normal happy life (if you call cycling from St Malo to Nice normal). My praise for the surgeons and teams at Plymouth Derriford NHS Hospital will always be endless.

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I keep meaning to add how amazing Neil is cycling up long hills refusing to stop. I’m sure he won’t mind me saying he’s 71, and nothing defeats him. Whether it’s swimming or cycling he never gives in.

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Neil has suggested on this blog that I’m addicted to coffee and he may well be right, BUT!!!! There wasn’t any! We left at 6.40 in the cool morning air, meandering up and down small country lanes feeling like we were cycling through Devon, but didn’t pass a single boulangerie/cafe/coffee stop. We’d left before breakfast and had run out of our picnic supplies, so scavenged our last titbits of old toast we’d saved with only good old Werthers Originals to keep us going. The day was heating up towards 30 (hence our early start) and we had made a few navigational errors adding some miles and rocky farm tracks. We have to be careful with these as Neils super duper bike could easily break a spoke. Then at midday we reached Assier with the most wonderful sight. A pretty village restaurant, popular with the locals, with an outdoor terrace shaded by large Indian bean trees. It was far too late in the day for my coffees, but we both enjoyed the most delicious meal ever! 3 huge courses! Heaven. Thoroughly satisfied, we could barely get back on our bikes.

And then on to Figeac where Neils cousin Alan was waiting to drive us to their home near Martiel. He and Heather have lived in this beautiful French farmhouse for 19 years and are the most generous and fun hosts.

So here we will stay for 2 nights, enjoying their company, chilling in their pool, using their washing machine and enjoying their delicious cooking. Ahhhhhhhhh. We really hope we get the opportunity to repay their wonderful hospitality to Devon.

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Du Broulliard today as we leave Sarlat. Starts a whole load of nonsense in my head . Mr Whitton my French teacher and Whitmarsh book 4 . All the verbs were at the back and we all had to learn the next days verb … he would enter the class room door with one word

Whoever he pointed to had to compose a sentence in the present tense and so on until we all been pointed too in several tenses . He was a strict teacher but gave me the confidence to have a go , often misplaced too . I still think I’m fluent just a bit rusty

Really lovely cycling though today . Ceri’s bicycle purring along like a new machine . De rigeuer coffee stop and gentle cycling by the Dordogne. The sun comes out and we have lunch next to a now customary church . A swim has to follow in the oh so picturesque Dordogne. I put on extra lube as I know there is a stonking 4km hill . Ceri keeps out of the way as I weave up the hill . Out of Dordogne now and in Quercy . Looking forward to our mini break chez my Irish rellies Heather and Alan

Ceri here: Neil is amazing. That was a tough 4km hill and he didn’t stop once!

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Wow! We started with a 7km downhill start! Neil had his coat on and I was actually cold! What a contrast to the previous week. We had also started later enjoying breakfast from our lovely B&B hostess. It had rained during the night leaving fog everywhere as we descended into a valley. Brrrr! Not complaining though.

Neil has a cousin south of Figeac whom we’ve stayed with before. They are such great company that we’ve actually incorporated a rest day and we’re staying with them Friday and Saturday nights. Wow! But it did entail a lot of planning and rearranging our route, so last night we spent hours working out viable cycling routes and accommodation (which are everywhere but not with a restaurant or within walking distance of one). We’ve never planned 4 days in advance before!

Cycling today felt quite autumnal with the leaves turning, orchards dripping with fruit and cool drizzle. There were times we could have been in Devon! It was an easy ride to Sarlat where we found the most wonderful cycle repair shop. The man worked wonders on my bike fixing brakes, rattles and my rear light. No more gaffa tape!

And Sarlat was another absolutely stunning medieval town. We spent a lovely evening wandering around enjoying bars and restaurants with music drifting from talented musicians. The rain had long gone.

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Yesterday afternoon was one of the best. No more heat exhaustion as we reached Brantome by 2 and our hotel room had AC. Refreshed and rested, we wandered around the stunning medieval architecture, through the gardens along the river. We were relaxed and happy.

Then today became another day of surprises! Dawn in the Dordogne was stunning and it’s still very rural but getting quite hilly. Today the temperature had dropped to about 25 which made for glorious cycling. But my brakes started making a funny noise so we stopped to investigate. A huge Alsatian charged at us barking excitedly, crossing the road causing traffic to slam on brakes. There were so many near misses. While Neil searched out the owner, I gaffa taped up my brakes as a bit had fallen off. They seem to work 😬.

Further one, I noticed Neils helmet on the ground as we left our coffee stop, so picked it up. At the top of a huge hill I commented on his decision to cycle with no helmet. His face turned suddenly from horror, to ‘sod it, I’m not cycling that hill again, I’ll buy another one’ to relief as I produced it. He’ll no doubt get his own back soon. 😂.

Then the best part of our day was reconnecting with Leslie and Jonathan, the couple we’d swam with in the channel on day 1!! What a wonderful surprise it was. Amazingly, we’d all stayed in the same town last night. They are faster than us but had had bike problems so lost a day. It was such a fun reunion over beers, then we parted ways again as they head home tomorrow. We’re now staying in a lovely farmhouse B&B with a pool. The rain started just as we turned in…. Perfect timing

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