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Today started (rather harshly) with a long, long hill and our day ended with an even longer hill, with more hills along the way, so now it feels far more than 49 miles. The final hill was a real challenge in the heat but with the prize of an absolutely stunning village at the end. We crossed open plains and cycled through quirky tunnels cut through mountains. We looked forward to cycling through ‘Miranda de Ebro’ as it’s such a lovely name, but were disappointed to find it was busy and dense with factories and noisy roads, bearing no resemblance to its beautiful name. At the start of the day I felt a little ominous about the rain clouds over the mountains, but by lunchtime they cleared giving us blue skies over vast plains full of sunflowers as the day heated up. No complaints! And I had a yet another puncture in a rather desolate and probably deprived area. A little old lady walked down the empty street in the distance while Neil fixed my bike so I took a photo. And finally the last long hill brought us to this beautiful ancient village where they’ve made salt since long before Roman times. It’s steeped in history which we’re about to explore. The Romans certainly have left their mark through most of the places we’ve cycled. We’ve encountered so many long straight road which seem to go on forever. I prefer bends, guessing what might lie around the corner! When we reached our destination, Neil was so hot he headed straight to the nearest bar for a beer while I checked the bikes in etc. He absolutely deserved that beer as it was a 7 km steady climb in the heat. Well done Neil. All in all, a good day. 

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Neil: Every day unfolds like no other . Today was no exception as I wheel out the bikes from the back of the hotel …bother …another flat tyre ! Always the back one . Decide to put new tyre on . However dodgy valve ! Put back on old one with patch , all takes over an hour. Following a motorway when Ceri noticed a bulge on tyre . We decide to divert to bike shop in Vitoria . At first he says he is too busy, but relents and fixes it . Just needed more pressure than I could provide with my hand pump . Phew , Actually cycling is really pleasant gradually down hill over the 45 miles . Lots of map debates with software, both Google maps and Outdoor Active have their moments . It feels like the real Spain now with small villages and big skies . We are approaching the Ebro now , Spains longest river .

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Ceri: (rewritten as my previous blog got lost during website problems) Today was our ride up to the Pyrenees. It started well . All uphill, until Google Maps decided to send us along a factory track. The guy at the gate would not let us through and our only option was either to follow the motorway for 1000m or turn back. No way was I going to cycle downhill so we followed the hard shoulder of the motorway for 500m with huge lorries zooming past, until we saw a gap in the railings. We climbed through and followed a vague footpath through brambles for the most part until we were back on a safer road with very scratched ankles! Up and up we cycled around hair pin bends through pretty rural mountain villages. Neil enjoyed a rewarding beer with our picnic at the pub at the top. Then a long whizz down to Altsasu. There were no restaurants open and occasionally, hotels have microwaves, so I’ve mastered the art of micro wave meals: baked potatoes plus whatever we find to add. I have problems eating the fatty Spanish food, so the occasional bland food certainly helps my system. I brought loads of teabags and cups so we often enjoy an English cup of tea as well.

Neil’s wants you to know it was 9km of uphill. (Not bad for a 72 year old!!)

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Neil: Today has been a chapter of accidents but all is well at the end of the day. You can see why the Basques wanted to separate, everywhere is factories and hills with hard working people. This all makes for really unpleasant cycling , joining traffic from left and right, all of it in your face, with sudden short sharp hills. At one stage it looked like we were joining a motorway. Biking software like Komoot or Outdoor active shows the way. I am leading so have to shout over my shoulder to Ceri. We stop at a small shop, I forget to unclip my shoes, smack onto the pavement, people help me up , chain has come off, chain rips the back of my calf. Nothing worse than injured pride and puzzled onlookers. The short hills are extremely steep. Picnic in vibrant town square. Eventually things improve and we follow the valley up towards Tolosa. The Basques have painted out the Spanish signs which adds another stressful dimension! Steadily climbing we reach our destination. We realise we are in Spain as siesta time is upon us. Ceri pens the following addendum!

Ceri: Our hotel has a garage a little way away where we could store our bikes. Getting in was OK as she’d given us a pin to enter and the door rolled up. We left our bikes safely but the pin didn’t work to close the door. We had to press a switch inside, but every time we did this then left the garage, it triggered the door to stop closing and crushing a car. I’ve now started giggling. Neil tried all sorts of ways and speeds between pushing the button and running out but each time he triggered the door to stop moving. I had a few goes too. Laughing more at each failed attempt. We were triggering the beam low down across the entrance. Now imagine the theme tune to Mission Impossible and continue reading. Neil’s decided to try a Tom Cruise approach. (I’m now in absolute hysterics) Surely he wouldn’t!!! But he did!!! He pressed the switch, lay down on the garage floor and rolled and rolled under the beam and onto the street. It worked!!!! He did it!!! The door closed successfully and we laughed all the way back to the hotel. It turned out the lady should have given us a different key to get out. What a day it’s been!!!!

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Ceri: It’s funny how easily a mistake can change our direction. Last night I scoured Booking.com and AirBnB for accommodation with bike storage in Saint-Jean-de-Luz but failed. Neil looked too. No luck. Then suddenly Booking.com offered up a beautiful “palace” hotel and I was totally seduced. Neil agreed. Book it!! So I did. Done! But only then did it occur to me to check its exact location. It was 100km away in SPAIN!!!! And slightly off piste. Oops!

Initially we thought we’d brave it and cycle the 100km. Then common sense prevailed and we decided to catch the train to Hendaye on the Spanish border. Even the Tour de France cyclists have a rest day and this became ours. Just 17 miles to the station and 4 miles to the hotel. Easy.

Well not quite! St Vincent de Tyrosse station has 2 platforms separated by a huge bridge of steps for the double decker trains and we needed to be the other side. No Groan. My bike is particularly heavy, but at least we had an hour to get to the other side. Neil rather heroically carried both bikes across and from then on was plain sailing. We enjoyed a picnic on the platform, the bikes stored easily on the train and the passing scenery was beautiful.

Now we’re in a beautiful historic hotel (Obispo) with a bath and huge fluffy towels. Bliss. I must confess I did feel rather guilty today about using the train, but now we are relaxed and rejuvenated, ready for the Pyrenees … eeek!

PS. Just back from exploring Hondarribia. What a stunning medieval Basque town it is buzzing with life. It’s steeped in Spanish/French history. We’re so glad we came. 

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Neil : A truly lovely day cycling nearly all on dedicated cycle paths . Good tarmac often away from any roads . We are part of Velodyssie or EuroVelo 1 which runs all down the west coast of France from Brittany to Biarritz we are also seeing many more signs for the Camino now . We drop into some lovely beach resorts as we go . More cyclists too on the route too . As each day unfolds everything gets simpler . Cycle – eat- sleep repeat . Everything else fades away . How are the legs ? That left knee seems better today , must drink more water, need a beer . We pass though an area I know so well with countless holidays when my children were younger . We can see Spain in the distance now !

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Ceri: What a day!!! Before we’d even left the B&B, Neil discovered I had a flat tyre, so set to and fixed it (my hero!). The cycle path which followed an old train track seemed endless, so we stopped at Andernos-les-Bains for coffee. It’s a pretty town on the lake and it happened to be market day. There’s absolutely no room in my panniers to buy anything…. but I could drool at the beautiful clothes I couldn’t buy.

On we continued following Neil’s app ( THAT APP again 🙄) and found ourselves walking over grassy paths and sandy lames…. again! Then after a while we found ourselves on a fantastically wide empty road. Bliss. The sun was shining, the wind behind us and not a car in sight. Far too good to be true. At the end of a few easy kilometres, it ended with a long sand lane. Not again 🙄!! And even when that ended, we had to cycle/walk along miles of atrocious surface. Once we were safely out of that, we decided to play safe do the next 20 miles on the main road. It started ominously well! The main road was empty with a perfect surface. Definitely too good to be true! Soon we were faced with a massive set of contraflow road works. We queued a long time with the cars and lorries. When the green flag waved, every vehicle seemed determined to make up for lost time. But there was no room to pass us so, after letting many through, we just had to cycle as fast as we could to the end. The road surface was horrible and cycling unpleasant. Eventually it all calmed down and Neil became desperate for a beer so we stopped at the first available beer stop. Boy it felt good to simply sit and watch the cars go by. We finally arrived at our hotel at 4.30 and boy, that shower felt amazing. We ended our day with the most delicious kilo of moules frites in a lakeside cafe watching the sun set.

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Neil: In 1959 Dinah Washington sang: 🎵What a difference a day made, Twenty-four little hours, Brought the sun and the flowers, Where there used to be rain🎵

and so that’s how today went … mostly . The cycle ways in Les Landes are simply the best . For the most part tarmac and away from roads . A good start to a perfect day is to have the sunshine to match . A little chilly to start and then shirt sleeves with a following wind . No need to map read, easy to chat side by side . 20 km takes us to Hourtin Plage and a huge Nutella crepe. A few surfers challenging good waves. Another 15 km takes to an inland lake and a swim . How can two days be so different! Always a caveat though . My bible ‘ Outdoor active ‘ mapping software shows a short cut across a lake of 10km . All goes roughly well for 2km then track deteriorates into sand . I have to walk and push with my thin tyres whereas Ceri attempts to cycle, slide and push her heavy bike through the sand. We plough on .. literally! It’s a stunning wetland walk anyway. Then back to fabulous tarmac trails through endless pine forests . Still a lovely day though . Tonight in average B and B in Le Porge

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Gosh what a long day! The little ferry we had planned to take us south had mechanical problems, so we had to back track 18km up the island to cycle out of Ile d’Oleron. It was a stunning beachfront ride despite the rain, but the long bridge taking us to the mainland was full of deafening lorries belting past us.  On we cycled past endless oyster beds and shacks, then another long bridge, then more long glorious beaches towards the ferry at Royan. The sea was right there, but it was too cold and wet to even consider a swim. In summer they’d certainly give Australian beaches a run for their money, but today felt more like winter. After the ferry to Pointe de Grave, there’s a glorious 300km cycle path all the way down the coast to Biarritz. Normally it would be full of cyclists but not today. Rain does have its advantages. We’d been cycling over 8 hours by the time we arrived at Montalivet and it ended really well. We’re in a beautiful, peaceful, comfortable beach cabin away from all the bustle and campsites. I cooked supper and I think we’ll sleep rather well tonight. 

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Neil: As Brain Clough once said , “ Football is a game of two halves “ today was such a day . My turn to navigate today . Flat flat flat , winding small roads in dappled sunshine. We meet a young girl who is cycling to Morocco with a huge amount of kit . Even for us she is a little slow so we part after 30 mins of franglais! The whole area north of La Rochelle is crisscrossed with bike tracks . We drift down to the. ‘ Vieux Port ‘ Heaven is Moules and frites with a glass of Muscadet . I do love ferries so we take a late afternoon one across to Ile d’ Oleron . Ceri had her finger on the booked website ticket to show the lady as we get on the ferry . Inadvertently she moved her finger and pressed the delete button…and it doesn’t appear in her deleted e Mail! Only by showing the bank statement do they let us on . Still 20km the other side and it’s getting dark. It’s cold now and lots of cars . We arrive by 8pm with lights on the bike to our room in shared house . Bryan Clough was right . It was 1-1 !

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