Final sign off meesage

Wed 8th October

Well - much later than promised, here is a sign-off post to round the blog off - and with some photos, now I am on the home computer rather than the phone.

The journey back from Samoens was, as predicted, a real epic, and frankly a bit of a slog.  The pick up point for the coach home was, we thought, Lyon.  In fact, and thankfully we checked in time, it was at a town called Givors which is about 20 miles south of Lyon.  To get there involved leaving at about midday, then cycling to Cluses, the nearest point on a railway.  From there we travelled about for three hours, changing trains once en route, to get to Lyon.  We then had a very enjoyable cycle ride across Lyon which looks to be a very nice City (at the least the bit by the river).  Then another train from a different station to Givors from where we managed to find the actual pick-up point which was on the edge of an industrial estate, the point being it was near the motorway!
We managed to get a bite to eat at a nearby hotel bar while waiting for the coach to arrive (late because of an accident) at about 2300hrs.
The coach was very impressive with an enormous trailer attached to carry our bikes and those of the other 50 or so people coming home this way.  There were at least 4 tandems among them so you can imagine how big it was!
We sat in our reclining seats and settled in for a long night travelling up through France.  Paul went straight to sleep (lucky fellow) while Kevin and I struggled to get much real rest!  We reached Calais in time for the 1045 ferry to Dover, and had a very pleasant crossing with the White Cliffs looking as stunning as ever in the sunshine.
Then followed a lengthy journey up the M2, M25 and M1, stopping for comfort breaks and to drop off others at most service stations (or that's what it seemed like!) until it was our turn at Jn 16 on the M1, at about 1615hrs.  We then cycled the seven miles to Northampton and took a train to Birmingham then another to Kidderminster before pedaling the final 4 miles or so to home in Bewdley!  A 32 hour journey! Phew.
Nest time I think we will cycle to Geneva and put the bikes on the plane for a swift flight back to the UK!  Hey ho, all good fun really and part of the experience. In case you are tempted the company is www.bike-express.co.uk.  Quite an impressive set up, especially if your pick up and dropping off points are somewhere near where they go!

I'm pleased to say we all not only survived the whole trip but came back a lot fitter than when we departed!  I think we could have all cycled further if we had planned to do so and, who knows, we may do so another time!

The pictures above show us firstly at the start - 0700hrs on Sat 23rd August, then secondly at the summit of the biggest and last climb of the trip, at the top of the Col de Joux Plane, a real 'Tour de France' climb to the summit at 1700 metres.  Downhill all the way from there which is why we are looking so pleased! (I note we have all changed colours in between!)

Many thanks indeed to everyone who sponsored me for the work we do in Gambia.  I'm delighted to tell you that, with Gift Aid reclaim, I will have raised over £1750 so am very pleased with that and extremely grateful to all of you for your support.

On that happy note I'll round off this blog report and hope you have found something of interest or enjoyment.  Thanks for reading it.  Please keep in touch and let me know what you thought of it. For now though - Au revoir!

Malcolm

Samoens - Saturday 6 September -after three lovely rest days.
Thanks to Simon and Derval Jenkins for the use of their lovely house in Samoens. We have had perfect weather here each day and have done a variety of things, apart from eating and drinking!  Yesterday two friends of mine, Mark and Wendy, from Kidderminster came over from St Gervais where they have an apartment and happen to be at the moment. We watched a bit of the Mont Blanc to Morzine car rally blasting down the steep roads, then had a snack lunch. It's always rather nice to see 'local' friends out of normal context.
Today we each did something different.  Paul did a walk on part of GR5 a long distance path from Nice to Geneva. He went to the Cascades du Rouget a pretty spectacular waterfall a few miles away. Kevin also went there, but by bike via the village and ski resort of Sixt.
I cycled slowly up to the nearby hamlet of Le Mont (up being the operative word here) then, after hiding my bike in bushes,  carried on walking up a long steep path towards a distant summit. Sadly it remained distant however much I climbed. At 1393 metres there was the last chalet and a guy living there with three dogs, a goose, a land rover and two horses, sold me a welcome coffee. I carried on up for another 500 metres, still in forest, then my ankles decided they had had enough (I was using my cycling shoes) and I turned downhill for home. I had hidden the bike so well I had a job to find it! Glad I had taken it though as the last few hundred metres and three miles descent passed very much more quickly than they would on foot. I promptly fell asleep for half an hour when I made it back to the house!
We had a last meal and drink in Samoens in the evening then got busy cleaning the house and making it presentable to leave.
The journey back may be a bit of an epic as we have to take 3 trains from Cluses to Annecy then Lyon then Givors where we will hopefully meet the coach at 2145hrs this evening to take us overnight and drop us at the Northampton services on the M1 tomorrow afternoon!  From there we cycle to Northampton and take more trains back to Kidderminster. Hope that all works out! Next time I'm flying back!
Thanks for the many messages and texts. It's been good to hear from folks while en route and thanks for sponsorship. I think I will have raised over £1000 towards the work in Gambia so am very pleased with that.  I will do a final post from home to round off but thanks for reading the blog. Hope you've found it of occasional interest. Au revoir!

Wednesday 3rd September
Made it!  We arrived at Samoens at 1700hrs after conquering the Col de Joux Plane - a real Tour de France climb   11km (c.7 miles) with an average gradient of 1 in 10, and much steeper in places. Took us about 90 mins continuous hard effort. Phew! There was then a dramatic descent down to Samoen, made more scary by the fact that there was a car rally on the same roads with cars racing up the climb. Several near misses. What a stupid arrangement on a public road! Anyway we survived and have had a pleasant couple of hours on the balcony of Simon and Derval's lovely house sipping champers and then beer. This is actually to celebrate the fact that, as schools in UK have started back properly today, this is the day Paul starts proper retirement. And I start my 8th year of retirement!
Actually I'm starting at the wrong end because the day started in Lausanne with another lovely morning and a 35 minute ferry crossing to Evian. We've been so fortunate with the weather and it was another cracking morning. When we got to Evian we stopped after a few miles for a coffee and, in a Paul's case, a Cognac, for the first of several celebrations of his retirement! The ride onwards (and. upwards) to Morzine was a treat. About 20 miles through impressive scenery and with a smooth surface and steady gradient. We all got 'in the groove' and just flowed up the climb to the lunch stop at Morzine. Funny for me to be there again as I have snowboarded there a few times and never thought if cycle there as well!
I'm sure you're dying to know - we've done 708 miles to get here from Bewdley and today alone climbed nearly 6000'.  No punctures on the whole ride and no real mechanical problems either so we've been lucky. We only got lost a couple of times as well!  Not bad with me as navigator.
The best timing today was to receive a text just as I crested the Col from someone saying they had sponsored me for the ride. Perfect timing!  Thanks Wes - you know who you are!
Well that's all for now. I'll try and do a summary post and one about our return but thanks for reading this far anyway. So sorry I haven't been able to post photos. I'll try and do so once I get back to the UK. Cheers for now. Bon Nuit!

1300hrs. Monday 1 September
We're in Switzerland!  Just having a celebration steak at head of the Lac de Joux having crossed from Mouthe in France over the Col de Something or other at 1260metres!  Lovely descent from there to this beautiful lake. From here we have another Col to conquer then it should be downhill all the way to Lausanne.
One of the nice things about cycling in France and Switzerland is the fact that distances are in Km so that when it says 10 to go you've only got about 6 miles, and you seem to get there more quickly! Very encouraging!

Tuesday 1230 at Vevey on Lake Geneva

Some catching up to do here as unfortunately the Youth Hostel in Lausanne doesn't have an internet connection which worked with my phone. You will have therefore gathered already that we made it to Lausanne. In fact after a big lunch we had a brilliant afternoon cycling. The climb was quite steep but not that long, after which we had several miles of lovely downhill with views down towards Lake Geneva and Lausanne in glorious sunshine. It gradually warned up, having been seriously chilly in the hills. When mainly freewheeling I averaged 23mph for more than 5 miles and when I decided to go for it reached 42mph!  After a bit of getting lost we found the large modern Youth Hostel to find the sign saying 'Fully Booked'. Oh heck! We were 24 hours early of course but the staff could not have been more helpful and fitted two of us in one dormitory and one in another. Tomorrow (ie today now) we will have an en suite room for just the three of us. We ate at the hostel then had an early night. The less said about the night the better as the other occupants came in and out, crashing around. Sleep was somewhat intermittent shall we say! But hey - we were lucky to get in and it was a very good decision to combine the last two days and get to Lausanne early. Mileage to here is 663.
I say it was a good decision also because it is a glorious day today and after a walk along the lake with Kev and Paul I found I was in time to take a trip on one of the fleet of old paddle steamers (well this one is now diesel) which ply the Lake. K&P decided to stay in Lausanne to sample the town while I headed off.
The cruise was simply stunning. The mountain back cloth and sparkling water on the Lake, plus a 107 year old paddle steamer was a magical combination and I loved it!  I have two hours in Vevey then return on another paddler, this time steam powered (La Suisse only 104 years old) back to Lausanne. What a bonus!  I am meeting the boys back on town at about 1530hrs.
Our last day cycling tomorrow will be the hardest in climbing terms with a huge climb from Morzine.  We have all day for it though and start with a nice ferry crossing to Evian. Should be fun if the weather is kind again.
I now have a cyclists tan with brown arms to above the elbow and white hands (from wearing gloves) and brown legs from mid calf downwards and white feet!  Maybe too much information but some said they wanted a picture painted!
Anyway you will gather all is well and plans have worked out really well. I won't be able to add to this tonight but will do so when I next get a chance. I will post some photos on my Facebook page. Hope they make you jealous!  Thanks for reading. Au revoir!

Sunday evening. End of our rest day
Just a short update as limited wifi access today. After a  simple and basic, but at least home made, breakfast and a visit to the Inter Marche for picnic stuff, we did a gentle ride to some impressive waterfalls called the Cascades of Herrison. After baguettes, cheese, pate, tomatoes, grapes and two bottles of wine they looked even more impressive. An even more gentle ride back and we all fell asleep for an hour or so!
The lethargy had another effect though as it made us feel more energetic for tomorrow and, perhaps rashly, we have cancelled our booking for halfway to Lausanne and decided to go the whole way in one go. It's only about 60 miles but has two very big climbs so it may yet be a challenge we might rue. We'll see tomorrow!  We will be cycling in another country though so that will be fun.
Now just having a final glass of vino before turning in. I'll try and paste a photo of the waterfall on my Facebook page. Keep your feedback coming. All for now, goodnight!

1730hrs Saturday 30th Augusr
Just arrived in The nice little town of Doucier which is to be home for 2 nights. We found the hotel check in only opens at 6 so, although it was a hardship we had to have a couple of beers to pass the time. Interestimg day today. 40 normal miles to Lons Le Saunier then we did a ridiculously steep climb to a village for lunch - which it turned out was in the wrong direction. In trying to get back on course we ended up pushing down a long muddy footpath and getting the bikes, and us,  covered in sticky mud!  Once we were back on track, cleaned up and climbing another humongous hill (in increasing heat) we had the nice surprise of crossing an old railway track which is now a cycle path!  This took us through several floodlit tunnels as it climbed upwards in the right direction, making our climb a lot less arduous than expected.  Once we were back on the proper road it wasn't very far to our hotel in Doucier.  I'm a bit disappointed with this actually as our room has one double bed but then two bunks. As we are here for two nights I had hoped for better facilities. Hey ho!
Apart from that the day has been great with another 60 miles covered and we are all feeling we've arrived. The ride so far has been 'getting here'. Now we are in the Jura Mountains and have only relatively short rides ahead, it seems as though we have arrived!
Later
We ate at the hotel where we appear to be the only guests. Food is 'their thing' and all was homemade and carefully prepared, though the wine was very expensive!
We have been surprised here and right through France how quiet everywhere is. There seem to be very few tourists around now, French or from elsewhere. Seems as though their season has pretty well finished, despite the weather still being fine and summery. At least it makes the roads a hit quieter.
There is no wi-if in the hotel so I am sending this on a cool Sunday morning. Enjoying a break from the bikes of course but now need to head for the Inter Marche before it closes early as it's Sunday, to get some reasonably priced wine as well a picnic. More next time. Thanks for reading.

Friday evening at Isle St Laurent at Chalon sur Soane
Just taxied to the restaurant area from our rather naff hotel on the outskirts of town. Not my best choice of the week it has to be said. Perhaps surprisingly we are all feeling pretty good after another 80 mile day which included 4 big climbs totalling nearly 5000'. Actually the roads on the climbs are very well engineered with a steady gradient meaning you can select a comfortable gear and just pedal away steadily and before you know it you're at the top (I wish). In fact they do seem to go on for ages but, in truth we have managed them better than we expected. That may well change when we're in the  Jura Mountains or the Alps however!
The countryside has been beautiful today and we've reached the Burgandy wine region with numerous vineyards, cruising through the town of Mercurie which is quite a centre for wine production.  The weather has been quite cool and once again the rain kept off, so an ideal day for cycling in hills. Tomorrow should be shorter then, joy of joys, we have a rest day on Sunday. I'm hoping that will be a nice hotel as we have two nights there.
As some will know I like engineering stuff and today we saw a very impressive and beautiful aqueduct which was 100' high (sorry to be anoraky). It was actually a feeder to a canal rather than a canal itself. I will post a photo on Facebook (as I have with a number of others now) so you can judge for yourselves.
Thanks to all who have responded to the blog and photos on my Facebook page, it's good to have your feedback.
Now about to eat so that's your lot today!  Cheers