Vaucluse Dreamer

The days are ticking down and after so many false starts, it finally looks as if our long-hoped for ‘Saddlebag of Memories’ bike ride is actually going to happen.

It’s nearly 7 years since Andy rode the Velodyssey with the boys on a Moor to Med cycling adventure down the west coast of France, whilst I took charge of logistics from a distance. Now, 7 years later, it’s my time to start pushing the pedals and join Andy on our own little adventure from East Devon, down through France, all the way home to Provence.

To be honest, I still don’t think I will actually believe the ride is happening, until we cycle onto the ferry at Plymouth, tie up the bikes and open the door to the cabin, in a little over 2 days time. It may sound horribly pessimistic, which is quite something coming from such an eternal optimist, but I’m still waiting for the last minute hitches, expecting the dice of life to throw yet another crisis, bike failure or illness our way, but the closer we get to Tuesday, the more real it is starting to feel.

We had originally planned to do the ride three years ago, but COVID brought the world and our wheels to a shuddering halt, and we simply had to shrug and say we’d do it the following year. Unfortunately COVID had other ideas and more restrictions meant it was too risky to book anything, so our ideas were put on ice again. Then last year life just seemed to throw every possible ball in the air, and the maps were put away in the drawer for another year. That’s why, based on past experience, with only 2 days to go, I still can’t be 100% certain that we’ll actually manage it this time.

As I sit, typing this in our little back garden in East Devon, Andy is fettling with the bikes, fitting the frame bags ( happy that we have actually managed to get the right size), whilst the living room floor is covered with piles of clothes and kit that we want to fit into the bags. We’re at the chaotic stage of getting everything ready, with mole-hills of bits dotted across the carpet, linked by little lists, all in the hope of making sure we have everything we need for the trip.

I say everything, but in comparison to what Andy and the boys took on their ride, it feels as if we are taking hardly anything at all. They rode with heavily laden bikes, all carrying panniers, front packs and everything they needed for camping too. The bed-rolls, sleeping bags and chairs (yes chairs) were split across the three bikes, with everything else bungee-strapped onto the pannier racks too. At the time, we had a big out-building and the floor was covered to such an extent that I couldn’t even start to imagine how they would fit it all in, let alone turn the pedals and actually start riding the bikes out of the village.

Sadly, the weight did take its toll, with both Andy and Tom suffering broken spokes in their rear wheels, as they cycled along bumpy canal-side tracks, on the second day This could have brought a very swift end to their adventure, but in a bizarre twist of fate, they turned a corner and found a track-side repair man, who somehow managed to fix the wheels with rusty, reclaimed spokes from a pile of bikes on the back of an old trailer, allowing the boys to continue. That chap has gone down in family folklore as a ‘Bike Repair Genie’, conjured up in a moment of need to help them out.

The repairs lasted and a few days later they reassessed what they were carrying, finally sending a huge parcel home, when they arrived at La Rochelle, where they also bought a trailer, which meant they managed to finish the ride, without further problems.

We would have been stupid, not to have learned from their experience, so when we started to plan our own little adventure, the first decision was that we would not be camping and the second decision was to travel as light as possible. We have decided to use our road-bikes and to only take what is absolutely essential, rather than having to carry anything that we may not need. So we have pared it down as far as we can, focusing on making sure that everything we take is as light as possible.

I’m not saying that this has become a bit of an obsession, but earlier this week you would have found me in M&S, gauging the weight of bras, trying to choose the lightest and most compact one possible and also in Boots sorting out which deodorant would take up the least amount of space. We have chosen sandals to wear in the evening, not based on which ones look best or are most comfortable, but rather on which are the lightest. Based on that Andy will be taking a pair of Birkenstocks, rather than the Keen sandals, he thought he would be packing. Even the 50 grams saved here will make a difference, I’m sure

As we’re using our road bikes, we cant fit panniers, so have decided to use the front carriers that the boys took with them, together with other bits of bike-packing kit from Alpkit. My favourite bit of this being my flowery rear carrier, which has a label in it, telling me that it was handcrafted by Jen, to allow me to ‘Go nice places and do good things’. So thanks Jen, hopefully I will.

I’ve not ridden this bike with anything more than bottle cages on it before, so had been wondering what it would feel like, once it had weighted bags on board. It didn’t look as cumbersome as I feared it would …

And taking it for a little pootle up and down the road through the village, it felt slightly different, but still managed to put a huge grin on my face too…

My first fear that once it was loaded, I wouldn’t be able to ride it, was totally unfounded and happily that was another little worry that I could tick off my list.

For any of you who have followed us for a while, you’ll know we love cycling and ride as often as we can around the hills and valleys of the Luberon & Alpes de Haute Provence, but the rides that I have done have always been circular.

I have never simply set off from a place, to head somewhere else and the concept of that still seems very strange. Moving from place to place, not turning round to head back will feel rather odd, but at the wrong side of 55, I’m happy to say that there is still a first time for everything, although it may seem ridiculous, but whilst I’m really excited, I am also finding the thought quite nerve-wracking.

The only sad thing about travelling light, is that we aren’t able to take our maps, which we have collected over the years, all marked with places we have enjoyed visiting, each one carrying its own special set of memories withing its folds. We have so many memories of France together and hope to revisit some of our favourite places and the memories they hold for us, as well as creating new ones for the future too.

The thing is that I do love a map. There is something lovely about following the roads on the page and seeing the progress you’re making, every time you turn it over, or have to put it away and move on to the next one. You can see so much more from maps, rather than a simple line on a ‘Google’ route planner or SatNav. There may be a green-edged, scenic road off to one side, which looks worth following, or perhaps an access to a nearby riverbank, which could be the perfect picnic spot for lunch. All of this information is missing if you don’t have a map, and although we want to make progress, we also want to be able to take a look at places that interest us, on the way.

So after a good bit of research and looking at all the options, we think we will use the ViaMichelin App to plan each day’s ride. This uses the Michelin maps that we know and love, with the roads colour-marked to give us an indication of how busy they may be; we are aiming to use mainly white roads and a few yellow ones too, whilst doing our best to avoid any red ones, which tend to make for very unpleasant cycling indeed. The aim is that each evening, we will sit and look at the next day’s ride, plotting routes through villages, rather than simply following the suggested route to where we want to go. All being well this will give us the flexibility that we want to have, without having to carry lots of paper.

Some people have been asking what the route will be, and I wish I could tell them, but at the moment we’re really not sure. We know we will be heading to La Rochelle, where we are aiming to have a day off, to enjoy the old town and port, which hold so many wonderful memories for us. But after that we have a few options, and we won’t really know which one we’ll take until we leave.

Whilst I will have the map on my phone, Andy will hopefully be recording the actual route we take on Komoot which we’ll be able to share each evening, along with a blog update for the day and hopefully a little video too.

Of course, we are aiming to make it all the way home, but on the little previous experience we’ve had, we know that a lot can go wrong. We will be doing it unsupported, so if bikes collapse or something else happens then we’ll have to deal with it all as we go, but the further we get, the happier I’ll be.

When Andy and the boys did their ride, they used it to raise money for a rugby charity, so we thought we’d look at doing something similar this time for one of the charities based in Apt, our local town.

We’ve decided to use Leetchi, similar to Just Giving, and open a ‘cagnotte’ to support our local Resto Du Coeur on our way down.

The Restos Du Coeur are part of a national charity, set up in 1985 to fight poverty and exclusion in France, focusing their efforts on those who are most in need. From food-banks to lodging and workshops to cultural activities, the organisation is at the forefront of supporting the members of our community that need it most. The Apt branch is well-used and is currently in the process of relocating to more suitable premises in the town, so I know they will welcome any donation that we are able to give from our ‘cagnotte’

If you would like to support our efforts, then you can donate here

All being well, and I say that with not just my fingers, but with my toes and eyes crossed too, on Tuesday, we will head out of the village on our way across Dartmoor to Plymouth at the start of our little adventure that (if all goes well) will see us cover about 1500km, between here and Provence. If I say it quickly enough, it doesn’t sound that bad!

I hope you enjoy coming on the trip with us through the blog and other posts.