As I was croaking my way through recording the links for the latest episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast that was published overnight, I mentioned that I would put all the relevant links to the accommodation providers on the website. We, here I am doing just that. The four people interviewed were Tahverlee Anglen from the accommodation sharing website WarmShowers, Simon Ainley from the Youth Hostel Association of England and Wales, Simon Kershaw from a new hotel – soon to be a chain of hotels – called Bike and Boot in Scarborough and the wild camper Tim Millikin. You can find more details about Tim’s travels and the book he has written by visiting his website.
Day 39 existed. I didnโt just time-warp myself from day 38 to day 40 but having met up with friends Basil and Liz in Pรฉzenas yesterday lunchtime after having done my pit-stop tasks (washing, post office, podcast editingโฆ) we had a very enjoyable afternoon and early evening of drinking, eating, wandering, drinking, eating and drinking. I took one pictureโฆ
Phew! What a scorcherโฆ And itโs apparently going to get hotter. I daubed myself three times today with factor 50 but Iโll be investing in a cap of some description tomorrow (as well of more supplies of the sun cream). Yet Iโm staying well hydrated and fed by the French. Todayโs food has all come courtesy of the toil of French labour; pastries from the boulangerie in Le Crotoy, fruit from a market in the same town and now a three-course meal in Dieppe at a restaurant called Le Sully. So far – a starter of smoked salmon and herring on a bed of new potatoes – so good, but Iโll update you as the meal progressesโฆ I feel like Rick Stein without a film crew (and a bicycle).
The omens were not good at 8am. The campsite at Saint-Quay certainly lived up to its name by having a โbelle vueโ. Indeed my pitch – as with many others – was facing north-east and if there were no clouds, we were in for a cracking sunrise. I happened to be awake at 5am so I clamped the GoPro to its tripod and set in motion a time lapse video. Alas it was cloudy and the resulting video merely showed black clouds become grey ones. Nothing too spectacular there. However, by 8am the sun had risen and was beginning to poke through the clouds. Perhaps an opportunity to get the drone in action to capture the magic. And it did. You can see that shot at the start of todayโs video.
So, summer has arrived. Well, meteorological summer. Pedants who insist on sticking with the astronomical one (which starts on June 21st) will still have to live in spring for a few more weeks but the rest of us are already basking in the sunshine… (That’s how it works, […]
To answer Joe Staffordโs question (that he posted to YouTube a few moments ago) immediately; yes, itโs hot but if you take the necessary measures to protect yourself then I think youโll be fine. Joe is coming to France soon but as long as he does what we are told to do; cover up (Iโm on my second hat of the tripโฆ), plaster yourself in factor 50 (Iโm still looking very pale compared to the French), drink lots of water (my two Cycle Touring Festival bottles are drained at least three times a day) and keep eating (no problem there if you are burning lots of calories), youโll be fine.
It’s that time of the year when TheAdventureJunkies.com publish their list of the top cycle touring websites from around the world. And CyclingEurope.org has maintained its mid-league position. The Leeds United of the cycle touring world? It’s always good to review the ‘competition’ and there are some cracking sites on the list. I’ve just spent a happy couple of hours doing just that. Should you know of other sites that you believe should be on the list, you can submit them via this page of the Adventure Junkies site.
Avid readers of CyclingEurope.org (I’m sure there must be one or two such people out there, no?) may remember this post from last March about my visit to the 2017 Sheffield Adventure Film Festival or SHAFF. Well, this week I have received an email about the 2018 festival […]
