Day 7 - Vielle-Saint-Girons to Biarritz

Team 1- it was our last night together and so as duty calls we toasted to a successful first week. Beers and wine were the order of the night and as much as we all wanted to stay up, share stories and long winded jokes, we could barely keep our eyes open and so bed was calling.



We had a relaxed morning. One thing that has taken us by surprise is the contrast between the heat in the day and the Baltic cold we are greeted by when we wake in the morning. The early morning mist with the backlight of the rising sun and the silhouettes of the pine woods is a great sight but, with head torches on, hoods up and even talk of beanie purchases we couldn't fully appreciate it. Today, it was nothing that lashings of porridge, scrambled eggs, beans, fried bread, green tea and coffee couldn't sort out and before we knew it Day 7 was under way.



We have learnt a lot about each other so far. One thing especially is getting used to each other riding style, a major benefit of being in a group in the speed you can create and maintain over quite a long period. We could prove it...2 suited and booted French cyclists sailed past us as we chewed the cud. Not a word was said and before we knew it we had locked on to their back wheels and they were carrying us. Despite their best efforts - accelerating out of every roundabout and pushing the biggest gears they could. They realised the thunder train was certainly not a force to be reckoned with.



Our elevenses came when we arrived into the town of Hossegor. A particular favourite of Laurie's, this town did not disappoint the boys, despite his promises over the laid back atmosphere and surf shop boutiques. We were on the hunt for a creperie and one we found!! Chantilly, banana, Nutella, butter, sugar and even a gourmet pudding for Rob was ordered. The waitress questioned our order of choice as she saw us arrive on the bikes...we ensured here that our not-so-athletic physiques need some serious maintenance and so we munched!



The roads on the approach to Bayonne and Biarritz were some of the best so far. A debut arrival into Bayonne only brought compliments for the stunning French city, this trip has certainly made us realise how much there is on offer in this country and something we all want to make the most of. And so to Biarritz where Jane and John were waiting for us in the campsite. Some meticulous planning and Ryan Air style efficiency, the exchange of support drivers took place...we welcomed Team 2 - Greg and Helen Hannon.



An afternoon on the beach, with the initial disappointment of no surf boards for hire saw us take to the water to body surf instead. We have certainly appreciated the easier day we've had to let our bodies recover as we leave France behind us.



As we sit in our campsite, the Pyrenees cast shadows in the distance...




Today's distance: 67 km
Average speed: 23 kph
Top speed: 52 kph
Time on bike: 2;50 hrs
Total Distance; 935 km

Max heart rate: 91% (182 bpm)
Average heart rate: 63% (126 bpm)
Calories burnt: 1600

- @Access2a
- www.access2africa.co.uk

Location:Rue d'Harcet,Biarritz,France

Day 6 - Mios to Vielle-Saint-Girons

Record distances felt fantastic yesterday. When the alarm went goes off at 6, it's suddenly a distant memory as we repeated the now slick routine of tent down, breakfast, chamois, cycle, as perfected over the previous 5 days. Our camp for the night had seemingly been populated by the local market traders, as we crept past a selection of white vans, clothing rails and suspect brown packages, to make our way back on the road for the day. For the first time our first hour was a slow one, partly due to the previous day and further compounded by the cold weather that delayed the normally swift warming of the thunder trains pistons.



Having slugged through the first 40 km, we arrived in an abnormally bustling market town to see the battle bus sat under the veranda of a typically French cafe. This was exactly what we needed. After the best pain au chocolat of the trip so far, and Fred applying the 11th dose of chamois cream to his slowly reddening bottom, we set back out on the road and the battle bus browsed the local market for overpriced chickens and under ripe melons.


This stop reinvigorated the team. With 60 km to go, the battle bus was sent ahead to the evenings campsite and the thunder train slipped back in to a sustainable rhythm. An afternoon of cruising through harvested forests along the previously mentioned gun barrel straight roads, was wiled away over inanimate chat and high fiving innocent bye standers. Led by the miss understood Garmin, we arrived according to plan at our evenings accommodation.



After Laurie got a sniff of the sea being within 10 km, he was a man on a mission. The tents went up, bib shorts were washed and Fred applied more Chamois to his tender buttocks in record time. With the battle bus packed with beach balls and tanning oil we escorted an excitable Laurie to the beach. Brilliant sunshine was the order of the day as we all unwound in the breaking surf and on the beautiful warm sand.



This afternoon rounded off a fantastic first stint from our support drivers, Rob and Jane John, with our first restaurant meal in what has been a week defined by feeding. Having endured our naivety and insatiable appetites they have managed to remained constant motivation and support through our first and hopefully longest (distance) week (although half their time has been spent clearing up Fred's ever wandering gear). Over the past week they have got us off to a flyer, and Robs words of "concentrate" at every rest stop, will be ringing in our ears long after they have left.



Today's distance: 98.23 km
Average speed: 24 km
Top speed: 48 km
Time on bike: 4:02 hrs
Total Distance; 865 km

Max heart rate: 84% (167 bpm)
Average heart rate: 55% (110 bpm)
Calories burnt: 1676

- @Access2a
- www.access2africa.co.uk

Location:Lajaougote,Vielle-Saint-Girons,France

Day 5 - Rochefort to Mios

After an appreciated afternoon off the saddle which consisted of ping pong and traditional French boulle, everyone was extremely relaxed! Waking to a very still, fresh morning after a great nights sleep, everyone was raring to go! Setting off in high spirits, we ticked off the miles on the slickly surfaced French roads arriving at Royan ferry terminal were we had to get the 20 minute ferry across the estuary to Le Verdon sur mere. After the ferry we cruised along the gun barrel straight roads which seemed to last an eternity! We then entered the famous Medoc region, famous for its vin rouge. The roads were lined with immaculate rows of grape vines and stunning chateau's. As always a veritable feast was laid on for lunch by Rob and Jane beside a vineyard- a stunning setting.



The afternoons riding was excellent and the craic was ninety! We had our first encounter with an angry French driver who wasn't tolerant of cyclists. Horns were honked, internationally recognised hand signals were thrown around and expletives were shouted! But we had a good laugh about the situation as they fled into the distance.



As we cycled along a professional rider from team BMC zipped past us leaving us eating his dust. Fred being Fred followed in hot pursuit trying to catch his casual 45 kmph pace on the flat, but failed valiantly! Soon after it was our turn! We caught up with a solo rider, had him on the back of our peleton then chewed him up and spat him out. It was like a game of cat and mouse- we gave him a glimmer of hope, but in the end the cat always prevails.



After over 7 hours on the bike and 112 miles (a pb distance for all) we rolled into our secluded campsite for the night and enjoyed the evening sampling some of the local produce.



Today's distance: 122 miles
Average speed: 15.7 mph
Top speed: 31 mph
Time on bike: 7; 30 mins

Max heart rate: 174 BPM (87%)
Average heart rate: 120 BPM (60%)
Calories burnt: 3,500

- @Access2a
- www.access2africa.co.uk

Location:Mios

Day 4 - La Roche Sur Yon to Rochefort

The Access2Africa tour has been some what of a learning curve for the lads. We have learnt to add at least 10% to everything we do. Time, distance, food, water and the most important one, Chamois Cream. Having decided time was something we felt we could control, we agreed on an earlier start time of 8am. This would warrant an alarm of 6:30am in order for all the chores to be carried out. However, a certain Rob Garratt failed to change the time on his phone meaning an earlier rise for Fred and Rob G at 5:30!!! Marcus burst from his tent and shouted "I will bap you with my helmet"



Despite all this we left on time and Day 4 peletoning across the open French roads began. After what can only be described as a cricketers dream but a cyclists nightmare our back to back hundreds (miles) in a row were behind us. Today a short and sweet 120km.

Field after field shot by, as the newly christened thunder train stormed along at a breezy 35-40km/h. Lunch was again served to a Michelin stared standard with fine French baguettes and pâté being the order of the day.



As we rolled on towards our final destination, contact was made with the support team. The result of this phone call was one we hadn't hoped for, a drama that Fred would normally associate with himself. A passport had been left in the previous nights campsite. However instead this was a like son like father moment and it was Big Rob who had left his passport!!!



They finally returned after a three hour journey to end the evening with games of table of tennis, boule, beer drinking and a campsite spot on the banks of a river near Rochefort.



Today's distance: 119 km
Total Distance: 580 km
Average speed: 27 kph
Top speed: 54 kph
Time on bike: 4:30 mins

Max heart rate: 159 bpm
Average heart rate: 65%
Calories burnt: 2360

- @Access2a
- www.access2africa.co.uk

Location:Rochefort

Day 3 - Rieux to La Roche sur Yon

Day broke and the team rose enthusiastically to tackle our second day on French soil together. Jane's first camping experience only resulted in ear to ear smiles and praise for the new way of life, the huge king size bed and home comforts were suddenly pushed to the back of the mind - a result! We had another long day planned and some meticulous planning last night made sure we were to get off to a good start in an attempt to learn from our navigation lessons from yesterday - of course the first 100m went perfectly...the rest is history but we set out in search of Roche Sur Yon, a further 160km south closer to our final destination!



Long straight, flat roads which joined the dots between the ever sleepy French towns was on the cards. We were keen to exploit the impressive road surfaces we have experienced so far and an efficient peloton was soon formed, those pesky kilometres didn't know what was coming for them. We stumbled across a stunning classic French chateau on the shores of a lake, on closer inspection this spa/hotel created a stir amongst the boys...could we collectively afford a week in there instead...We decided probably not so munched on our crumbling flapjacks and got on our way.



At about 45km in the impressive Pont San Nazaire rose in to view with the HGV's that send shivers through all cyclists bones looking like tiny specs rising on the arched structure in the distance, now all we had to do was find our way to join them. The area can probably be best described as an over sized Port Talbot. It was however the home of Airbus which posed some impressive views of planes being loaded onto planes particularly impressed us!


Another perfect lunch served by the Battle Bus meant that we were fuelled up to take on the afternoon, which provided more of the same in terms of cycling. It is always nice to have support on tour, we got our first taste of what is must be like to have a persistent Tour de France fan running alongside you on the road...for us it came in the form of a grasshopper! The desperate critter clung on to Laurie's jersey for the best part of 25 km before finding his way on the Robs wheel. He was soon flung over in to the Brittany countryside miles from home to fend for himself with the support of the A2A team...an emotional moment for us all but nonetheless he provided a bit of entertainment for our mature sense of humour.



A quick pit stop with the support team ensured we had enough energy to see us through to our final port of call - La Roche Sur Yon. It is a busy town with lots of industrial units on the approach, the next challenge was a rendezvous at the campsite. Keeping our wits about us we navigated the rush hour traffic and were escorted to our spot for the night. Another successful, long day!



Today's distance: 162 km
Total Distance: 468 km
Average speed: 24 kph
Top speed: 54 kph

Max heart rate: 82% (163 bpm)
Average heart rate: 59% (118 bpm)
Calories burnt: 3100

- @Access2a
- www.access2africa.co.uk

Location:La Roche sur Yon

Day 2 - St Malo to Rieux

Our first day on foreign soil lay ahead of us, as we enjoyed the Butlins style evenings entertainment in the ships bar. We slept through a rocky night on what seemed like the bottom deck of the boat in our sardine style cabin feeling every wave as it struck the boats hull.



After a serious breakfast refuel on the ferry, we departed our floating hotel, rebuilt the bikes and headed full steam ahead towards our days destination. 45 minutes later... we were still meandering the beautiful, if repetitive, streets of St Malo. Our dear friend Mr Garmin, seems to be a country boy and is not at home in the urban environment. But never the less, we made it out alive, and headed for our first checkpoint of the day through the beautiful Brittany countryside.

We arrived in Dinan in great spirits, boosted by questioning from a lovely English lady who took great interest in our trip, and later followed our conversation with a motivational tweet! Again, Garmin had a bit of a hissy fit leaving the town, resulting in the recreation of the Paris-Roubaix, as we rode through the towns cobbled streets for the 4th time.



Eventually we made it to our lunch stop with the fantastic mobile catering and support van team (The Battle Bus) of Rob and Jane. Filling our stomachs lifted our spirits and changed the course of the day for the far positive. The thunder train rocketed up to full speed, aided by the tail wind, faultless road surface and red arrows style formations. We glided through stunning scenery, and beautiful small towns, keeping Garmin happy with the open country air.



Before we knew it, we where at our final stop for the day with only 25km to go and the same distance to our first and (hopefully) only 100 mile day! Apart from Fred's tyre puncturing on the driveway up to the campsite, it all ran smoothly and we stabled our horses after an emotional and geographical roller coaster! Another carb, cheese and french bread filled meal was the order of the day, followed by Janes award winning ginger cake, to round of what has been a hectic baptism of fire for the first couple of days. Our first day on French soil had shown us how amazing the next week will be in this cycling mad country pushed along by a brisk tailwind and brilliant sunshine! Now to enjoy our first night under canvas and look forward to our first 'normal' day, away from ferries and slipping into our already developing routine.

Today's distance: 160 km
Total Distance: 304 km
Average speed: 23km
Top speed: 60.5

Max heart rate: 87% (173bpm)
Average heart rate: 65% (130 bpm)
Calories burnt: 3765

- @Access2a
- www.access2africa.co.uk

Location:Rieux

Day 1 - Oxford to Portsmouth

It started as a dream. Today it became reality. After months of planning and training the 1,500 mile journey has begun!








We had a great send off from the famous 140 Divinity Road from Laurie's family, Viv and Charles G and our support team for the first week Rob and Jane John. Guest rider for the day was James Macmillan (Macca). After last minute checks, several photos for the worldwide press and hugs and kisses we were off! A very easy start rolling down the hill until we had to stop 30 seconds into the journey as Rob decided he was cold and needed a top! We had a couple of nasty A roads leaving Oxford but finally got onto some lovely surfaced quiet roads, thanks to route planner FJ. We were just getting into the rhythm until we all discovered we had weak bladders and had to stop regularly to relieve ourselves. At least we were well hydrated! After some lovely riding through the mansions of Berkshire we had a little hiccup trying to direct ourselves through Basingstoke. We then arrived at our lunch spot for the day in Hatch Warren with the back of the ride broken. Rob and Jane were waiting with lunch as we climbed the hill finishing for the morning- now that's what I call service!



Lunch was exactly what the doctor ordered! We were refuelled and ready to go. The afternoon ride was lovely, we even passed a pair on a tandem bike also riding from Oxford to Portsmouth! We were climbing the last hill into Portsmouth when we got our first puncture of the trip- inevitable, it was only a matter of time. We arrived at the top of the hill and there was a sense of achievement- we could finally see the harbour, day 1 was coming to a close. Just the 1,400 miles to go! So as we begun our final decent of the day we were half way down the hill when we realised we had taken a wrong turn off- story of the day! Back up then against the head wind, oh well. As if one wrong turn off wasn't enough we were half way down another hill before déjà vu struck! Another wrong turn off! We can see the harbour, however we are struggling to get there! Finally we arrived down at the port to be greeted by the masses! We got showed and fed at the Moffit's and then loaded the van in preparation for the boat. Off to St Malo we go! Roll on day 2!



Today's distance: 89 miles
Average speed: 15 mph
Top speed: 48 mph

Max heart rate: 93% (185 bpm)
Average heart rate: 68%
Calories burnt: 4,000

- @Access2a
- www.access2africa.co.uk

Location:Portsmouth

Packing light!

With only a day before we leave, the packing is in full swing. Due to the geographical spread of the team, this is not the most coordinated of efforts, and only once we come together on Friday night will we know who packs light and who has brought the kitchen sink (Laurie). 

It is only as we approach this stage that the details of the expedition have been brought into focus. Packing efficiently and ensuring nothing is left behind could be the difference between and difficult first few days and a difficult, stressful and expensive few days! Just to give an indication of what we are bringing below I have attached an approximate kit list of everything that individuals need to be bringing;

Cycling Items	Quantity	Tick   ✓✓✓
Bib Shorts	2/3
Cycling Jersey	3
Cycling Jacket	1
Waterproof	1
Under shirt	Optional-2
Socks	4
Helmet/Gloves/Sunglasses/ Cycling shoes	1 of each
Chamois Cream	1
Bottles	2
Cap	Optional-1
Casual Items
Smart Short	1
Casual Short- E.G. Ox MCCU	1
Swimming Trunk	1
Long Trouser	1
Trackie	1
Jumper/Hoodie	2
Shoes	3
Boxers	4
Socks	2
T-shirts/ shirt	5
Other
Sleeping Bag	1
Pillows	1/2
Sleeping Mat	1
Wash Bag- 1. Toothbrush 2. 2 people to bring paste 3. Deodorant 4. Hair product 5. Shower gel 6. Moisturiser 7. Floss- Marky	1 of each
Pack of Cards	1 pack
Football	1
Rugby Ball	1
Electronics 1. Garmin 2. Ipads 3. 1x laptop 4. cameras 5. go pros 6. all chargers	Where applicable
Suncream	Lots
After Sun	Lots
Need to Discuss Food etc
1 Bag to fit clothes	1 Bag for other