Vaucluse Dreamer

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this year has been far from what we imagined.

As the night sky above the Arc de Triomphe was filled with the colour and sparkle of New Year’s Eve Fireworks, we were asleep, dreaming of a settled 2024, with a late spring cycle ride from Amsterdam, back to Apt and perhaps a few other little trips too. Then as we stood, watching the first sunrise of the new year across the valley from the Foret Des Cèdres above Bonnieux, we chatted through our plans, looking forward to the summer

We really did get ahead of ourselves, and life’s twists and turns saw us having to take the hard decision to cancel that trip, leaving our plans to do another long cycle ride in tatters. Making new plans …..

We had such fun on our ride through France to Provence from Devon last summer and were hoping to do something similar this year, taking the opportunity to visit some new places on the way, but it really felt that life had conspired against us.

Happily, I’m a great believer that everything happens for a reason, and that there will always be a positive to counter a negative, even if it takes a while to become evident. In fact, as the dates for our planned ride approached, the forecast deteriorated and the weather closed in. If we had gone ahead with the ride, we would have spent a very wet, and probably rather miserable 3 weeks cycling home through storms and into headwinds. As we’re really not fond of wet weather, there’s every chance that it would have put us off cycling for good!

The problem was that the itch to do another ride was still very much there, and as all itches have to be scratched, we pulled ourselves together and started to make new plans.

It almost feels a little reckless, writing this post. If I’m honest, I am more than a little worried that by putting pen to paper, I may jinx what we have decided to do. It all went horribly wrong earlier in the year, so I fear that it may all happen again, but sometimes you just have to take the plunge, so here goes.

In a little over 8 weeks time, (fingers, toes and everything else crossed) we will have our bikes, and bags packed into carry-on luggage and will be hopping on the TGV at Aix, at the start of a long day’s trip to Madrid, with the aim of cycling back to Sète (or somewhere near there).

I know that we could have simply looked to do the Amsterdam route that we had already planned, but we don’t have quite enough time and in late September, we’d rather stay south to give ourselves a chance of having better weather. (I think I may have mentioned, we really don’t like rain). So we grabbed the maps and started to think about where we could go, finally deciding that a ride through the Spanish countryside may be just what we needed, so we bought the maps and set to work making plans.

It may sound a bit strange, but neither Andy nor I have ever been to Spain, and we’ve decided that the time has come to change that. And, what better way is there to explore a new country, than by following the local roads, pottering from village to village and town to town on two wheels.

I don’t think either of us had really appreciated the size of the country, and as we started to plan a route, we quickly realised that we certainly wouldn’t have the time available to pedal from top to toe, or coast to coast. So, after looking at all the options, we plumped on starting in Madrid, which is a 7 1/2 hr direct train ride from Aix, and set about planning a route back into France from there.

We first became aware that there was a direct train to Madrid, when I dropped Andy for an early morning train to Nice. He was the only person on the platform for Nice, whereas the opposite platform was thronged with people, who piled into the train heading to Spain. From that point on, we knew that would be a great way to travel across country, should we ever have the opportunity to use it.

I suppose it would be logical for us just to ride home, but we’ve ridden back twice in the last 12 months and if we’re honest, haven’t fully enjoyed the last couple of days of cycling as we have had the end of holiday blues. So this time, we’re aiming to get to Sète (cycling along the parts of the Mediterranée à Vélo that I haven’t done before) and from there, catch a train back to Cavaillon or even Avignon and cycle the last few kilometres home.

As with our trips last year, we’re taking just the minimum amount of kit that we will need, packing it all into our bikepacking bags & front carriers, and staying in holiday accommodation. This means that we don’t have to worry about carrying tents or other sleeping equipment as we go. I’m still not certain that Andy has recovered from camping with the boys, when they rode from Dartmoor to Sète just over 8 years ago. It still feels too soon, to try it again

Whereas cycling through France felt like pedalling on home territory, riding through Spain already feels different. Last year, we were happy to book as we went, stopping each lunchtime to find a place to stay for the night. Our knowledge of the country meant that we could easily visualise where we were, and it was easy to think through the options we had to get from one place to the next. This time, we don’t have that basic level of knowledge, in fact we have none at all. To make things easier (or hopefully easier) we’ve decided to book in advance, just so that we’re certain we know where we will be going, and that we have a route to get us to where we need to be.

We will start with a couple of nights in the heart of Madrid, allowing us time to put the bikes together, explore a little, enabling us to start getting a sense of Spain. From there we will start heading north-east, taking a route between towns in Castilla La Mancha, Aragon and Catalonia on our way back towards France.

We have only heard positive things about cycling in Spain, and from the initial routes we’ve looked at, the areas we will be cycling through look incredibly beautiful. There are some ‘green-ways’ and well-maintained roads winding through stunning countryside. From looking at Street-View, there seems to be very little traffic too.

Once again, we’ve had the maps spread out across the floor, marking a basic route and identifying places, where we can stay on the way. If all goes well on this first visit, we will pedal for a little over 1000km along roads that wingle their way through the countryside, passing pretty villages allowing us to get under the skin of the country.

During last year’s ride, we were on a real mission to get from A to B, but this time, we’re aiming to ride for just a few days, before stopping for rest days in places that look particularly lovely. We’ve built in time to give ourselves a chance to explore Zaragoza and Girona, before hopping across the border for a final day off in beautiful Collioure, ahead of the last couple of days riding towards Sète.

So that’s the outline of the plan. We have to finish plotting the daily routes, and this time will upload them onto Komoot , so that we can easily follow them as we ride. We’ll still carry the paper maps, as I will always worry that we need to make some tweaks, as we go, and I need to be able to see the bigger picture, which is impossible on a little route guide. But all being well, it will go as planned.

It’s all very exciting really, and despite the unsettled, frankly chaotic start to the year, I can’t wait to start turning the pedals .. My bike is currently in for a service, we’ve bought new lights (mandatory for cycling in Spain) and we’re stocking up on all the things we’ll need to carry with us. I’m finally daring to begin looking forward to this latest little adventure.

I’m also trying to learn a bit of Spanish, as the only phrase I know by heart is ‘Venga conmigo  en el guardarropa de mi tío, donde gruñiremos como los toros’ .  It’s a throwback to a silly sketch we wrote for a school entertainment show nearly 40 years ago, which for some reason has lodged itself firmly in my skull. I’m not sure that ‘ Come with me into my uncle’s wardrobe, where we will grunt like bulls’ will be of much use, when booking into hotels, or asking for a cup of coffee ! Perhaps a few more appropriate, basic phrases will be needed …..

I hope it all happens now and that you enjoy coming on the journey with us ..