Oh dear, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Orinoco said:
Excellent, thanks for posting, I’ve recently started cycling, just a few miles each week and enjoining it. It’s one of those thoughts I’ve had, jumping on a ferry with the bike and panniers, but not yet… maybe just the IoW!

Good luck with this, will be following. Cycle.Travel is a great app, really useful
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Lots of hills on the Isle of Wight!

Strangely, I pulled my bike out of the garage this week, pumped up the tyres and put some dual pedals on it (bought off here 👍).

Wifey and I recently discussed hauling them across to France for a week - decent cycle paths and vastly reduced traffic sound very inviting.
 
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EVskiy said:
What a way to cheer @stever1 on :rolleyes:. Oh well at least he's looking after himself a little and getting out there....
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did you miss the bit where I said ditto to the thanks for entertaining us?

I know English is not your first language but you do seem to miss nuance and irony in many posts, then offer a critique based on your interpretation.
 
wessie said:
did you miss the bit where I said ditto to the thanks for entertaining us?

I know English is not your first language but you do seem to miss nuance and irony in many posts, then offer a critique based on your interpretation.
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Caaaalm down Dear, it was only a mere poke, to get you to react, which you duly have done. Thank you :D +1 to me
 
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Day 3, and it was bloody hard going. 3 reasons for this. It’s hotter today. As it’s Sunday most of the shops and bars are closed, so getting cold drinks became a priority as my cooled water was warm by lunchtime.
And the 3rd reason was climbing. Bloody hell I’ve climbed 2943 feet today. I’m from Ull, we don’t do hills. 🤪
So I set offfrom the prison camp at 07.45 after virtually no breakfast
By about 09.00hrs I was confronted by my first climb, and it was already hot. I soon realised there was no point in trying to race up, often I was in lowest gear and struggling to breath, sometimes I even pushed the bike up hill.
Just let it happen and keep going.
At 11.00 I found a boulangerie open so I had a coffee, a coke, a bottle of water and a choux bun. Well, most of it, asitwas too much for me.
I struggled on until I came across a bar that was open at about 14.45. The owner spoke good English and engaged in conversation whilst I had several cokes. He thought I was mad.
I ended up in Abbeville for the night, I haven’t covered as many miles as the previous days, but the climbing made up for that.
Pedalling along gives me much time to ponder on life’s challenges.
Today, even though I was working hard I realised I was in a better frameof mind than I’ve been in for years. It’s partly down to my weigh loss, and I think I’m in a better head space since my relationship broke up last year.
We never really look at ourselves in depth but as I struggled along, I realised the ‘old’ Steve would never have attempted this challenge.
Ho hum. Looking forward to tomorrow. Going from Abbeville to who knows where. IMG_0300.jpgIMG_0295.jpegIMG_0296.jpeg
 
wessie said:
there's an overnight ferry from Le Havre to Portsmouth if you don't fancy heading over the Pont de Normandie to Caen. Docks at 0730 or 0900 in Portsmouth depending on the day so plenty of time to get the train north
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Good info. I’m thinking of a one way van hire to get home.
 
glenn2926 said:
Don’t try to do too much. A couple of mates and I did a cycle ride from our home fire station to Sarajevo fire station at the end of the Balkan war. This was to raise enough money to buy a water tanker as all the mains were damaged due to the bombing. We were completely unsupported. Just the three of us on three MTBs. We stayed at fire stations every night. Which obviously resulted in drinking far too much with the lads whose stations we were staying at. We definitely did too much. 2100 miles in three weeks.
Half that distance or twice the timescale would have been more enjoyable.
We rode from West Yorkshire to the Hull- Rotterdam ferry then onwards to Sarajevo.
I haven’t really cycled since as it became a bit of a chore. So don’t over do it as it stops being fun.
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That’s 100 miles a day. Way above my standards
 
Hustler said:
I've been following this thread for no reason at all to start with.
But now, 3 days in, I just caught myself looking at push bikes for sale on ebay.
It's many, many years since I've ridden a push bike.
I'm sure a purchase won't happen and of course I haven't a clue what to buy, size wise, bike type wise, nothing at all really.
But thank you steve as it has been at the very least, something I've found very interesting to read.
And very well done for your achievement to date.
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Get a bike. I did, just to burn calories. Now look at me. 😁
 
Bloody well done today Steve. That's some climbing on its own..let along on a hot day lugging a load of gear with you too. Enterprise do one way hire...i was looking at it when I did LEJoG...bit in the end I sorted rail travel...HOWEVER....bike spaces need booking and id you do a journey with one or tow changes, you MAY have an issue with just one of the legs fir bike space. I booked via TheTrainLine app BUT.altho it allows you to book a bike space, it doesn't appear to actually tell the rail operator you use so it can cause issues if space is at a premium.
(Happy to do a bit of online digging for you if you're stuck)
Dave
 
Quick check.
Enterprise medium van, Portsmouth to Hull one way...c £72
Train with 2 or 3 changes including getting from Waterloo to Kings Cross (The Train Line uses the tube whoch you wouldn't be doing) is minimum £75 and at least one Train shows no bike space...
 
Davey B said:
Bloody well done today Steve. That's some climbing on its own..let along on a hot day lugging a load of gear with you too. Enterprise do one way hire...i was looking at it when I did LEJoG...bit in the end I sorted rail travel...HOWEVER....bike spaces need booking and id you do a journey with one or tow changes, you MAY have an issue with just one of the legs fir bike space. I booked via TheTrainLine app BUT.altho it allows you to book a bike space, it doesn't appear to actually tell the rail operator you use so it can cause issues if space is at a premium.
(Happy to do a bit of online digging for you if you're stuck)
Dave
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Now then Davey, first, how’s the house move going ?
I’m definitely thinking a one way van hire will be the best way home.
I can’t book anything yet as I don’t know where I’ll sailing into.
 
Glacially slowly...maybe another fortnight...I'll holler when we are in.
If you do need a leg up finding owt, give me a nudge. Happy to help
 
Hustler said:
I've been following this thread for no reason at all to start with.
But now, 3 days in, I just caught myself looking at push bikes for sale on ebay.
It's many, many years since I've ridden a push bike.
I'm sure a purchase won't happen and of course I haven't a clue what to buy, size wise, bike type wise, nothing at all really.
But thank you steve as it has been at the very least, something I've found very interesting to read.
And very well done for your achievement to date.
Click to expand...
Start here... a map showing bike refurb charities, they'll be honest with you and a cheaper way of finding out what might suit :)

www.cyclechat.net

Bike refurb & repair charities | CycleChat Cycling Forum

I know a few people volunteer at or use bike repair charities. Would it be useful to have a pinned post listing the ones we know about with their locations? I know of three in this area: Recyke y'bike - shops in Byker, Newcastle and Chester-le-Street WATBike - Kirkley, Northumberland Cycling 4...
www.cyclechat.net www.cyclechat.net
 
stever1 said:
Oh dear.
Just barfed at the side of the road climbing out of eu Le Tréport.
Think I’ll stop at Dieppe have an early finish. Get a bit of a recharge. Struggling
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Well earned and you have lots of fluid to replace now, plenty of lucoazade/gatorade etc and boring ole water.

Keep pedalling fella.
 
Go steady Steve. Lots of fluids...like a litre an hour minimum! Watch your sugar intake tho. See if you can find a bike shop or a Decathlon Sports Store as they'll likely have the tubes of electrolyte tablets (20 tablets...1 in a bottle of 500 or 600ml of water...replaces salts and minerals lost when exercising)
 
OK, day 4.
I wasn’t fully with it when I left this morning. I didn’t take my inhaler, or start my strava app. So the distance is actually 6 miles longer than recorded.
The cycle. Travel app took me right round the houses so I decided I’d navigate by a more direct route to minimize mileage and climbing.
So I found my way onto the D925, where I spent most of the day. To be fair it was good, no really steep hills, mainly I could keep pedalling up them, albeit in a low gear.
The scenery was good too, as was the behaviour of the traffic.
I’d had a massive breakfast today including 5 small glasses of orange juice, so I was better hydrated than yesterday. I maintained this by stopping often at cafes and having a drink.
Only downside was I REALLY barfed up at the side of the road as I was climbing out of Eu Le Tréport, followed by falling off a short while later. At that point I was mentally poleaxed. I just wanted to go home.
However, as the day passed my mindset got better.
I decided that Dieppe was my target for the day even though it was only 45 miles away. Perhaps I need to be more realistic in daily mileages. The last 13 miles where on lovely quiet back roads which helped.
When I got here I found a room in the Hotel Aguado. When I rang it was 199 euros room only. I booked in at 14.50 and he took pity on me. I was offered a selection of rooms all cheaper. So I’m in a broom cupboard at the back for 96 euros including breakfast….RESULT.
I’m thinking I’ll do fewer miles aday from now on as I was fine when I got here..
What now ?
Good question, wet weather is coming by Thursday, but it would have been good to keep going if it stays dry.
I’m still thinking Ouistreham, but Wessies idea about an overnight from Le Havre has much merit to it

Oh, I’ve included a pic of the worlds smallest room 😆

IMG_0309.jpgIMG_0307.jpegIMG_0306.jpegIMG_0301.jpeg
 
All you need is the bed and a shower/shitter...small is fine.
How long between a big breakfast and lots of juice was the actual hard bit of riding? Maybe there was a little too much in the stomach? Anyhow...good to see youre back on track
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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