I’m sitting on the terrace of the apartment that we booked for the night, typing this, after a truly superb day on the bikes. If I had to sum up today’s ride in three words, they would be exhausting, exhilarating and magical. It was always going to be a big ride, as when we were … More Saddlebag of Memories Madrid to Sète Day 4.. Pastrana to Beteta
We had a lovely day exploring Madrid yesterday, but by the evening we were just itching to get on the bikes and start cycling. We needed the day just to sort a few things out, but once we’d done that, we just wanted to get on the bikes and escape the city. We really aren’t … More Saddlebag of Memories Madrid to Sète. Day 3… Madrid to Pastrana
I can hardly believe it, but after months of planning and a lot of fears that something would happen to throw a spoke through our wheels, we are actually on our way to Madrid. We will have a day to find our feet tomorrow. Then on Saturday, we’ll cycle out of the city, beginning the … More Saddlebag of Memories Madrid to Sète … Day 1 Aix to Madrid
All being well, four weeks from today, we’ll be finding our feet in Madrid, spending a day exploring the city, before starting our cycle ride back, across Spain to Sète.Espagne à Velo We will (if everything goes as planned) arrive by train from Aix, with our bikes dismantled and packed into bags for the trip. … More Spain à vélo, 4 weeks today
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, … More Espagne à Velo
Sometimes, the best-laid plans fall apart, whilst those made on the hoof turn out OK, and that certainly feels as if it has been the case, this year. It’s been a very strange start to 2024, which has unexpectedly seen us criss-crossing the border much more than we had imagined. In fact, apart from long-planned … More Making new plans …..
Join us as we watch the first sunrise of 2024 over The Luberon Valley, and start to think about what awaits us in 2024 and the exciting year ahead … More Dawn on 2024
We always get back from a bike ride saying we’d had a lovely day, it’s hard not to…. But today, all we could say was ‘wow, just wow’ After yesterday’s long ride around Beziers, we thought we’d take a shorter route today, especially as we start to cycle home tomorrow, so will have another long … More Bikes and Brocante Day 5… A perfect day
It’s hard to believe that we only finished the ride a few days ago, as life has been a bit full-tilt since we pedalled back up the hill to the house, and finally unstrapped the bags from the bikes. The grins are still there though, as they come from deep inside, pushed up on a … More Saddlebag of Memories… A few days on… What we learned
Yesterday evening was a bit of a blur, after the mad dash into Carcassonne to try to beat the storm. We were a bit drained, both physically and emotionally, so simply dashed out to the supermarket, between the storms and bought bits for supper, and hunkered down in the apartment, whilst the next storm raged … More Saddlebag of Memories… Day 12 … Carcassonne to Capestang
Postcards from Provence and beyond 