Our Velodyssée Adventure

  Today’s ride was the last on the tour for Cindy, Pete, and Betsy 😢.  844 miles for Pete and Betsy, 218 miles for Cindy. Hooray!  Another VERY straight and mostly flat road.  We had trouble finding services, the towns were small, and somewhat deserted. No chance of a good cup of café crème.  Energy waned as we searched for a place to take a break. Around lunchtime we came to a crossroads and decided to search the town of Salaunes for a bite to eat.  Surprise! The lovely Le Farfadet Restaurant was located in the middle of town and had seating for 7 under its large shade trees!  We had a delicious meal complete with dessert and café! Our last stretch into Bordeaux was well marked but more traffic and increasing temperature slowed our progress (or perhaps it was the big meal!). Bordeaux finally greeted us with its fine bike trails and grand buildings.  We met for a delicious Italian dinner where we met up with Stephanie’s cousins Brigitte and Franc...

  Today we left the interesting Hôtel France located across from a lovely church with its tolling bells and on seemingly the busiest intersection in France after a breakfast of coffee, croissants, and baguette, but no plates! We knew the route would be very  straight and wondered at how to conquer the tediousness of such a ride. Playing capture the baguette was thrown out as a suggestion but not, met with much enthusiasm!  We seem to have no shortage of good conversation and appreciation for our surroundings and the opportunity to be on the bikes headed somewhere interesting.  We also had the anticipation of a café crème stop which we did at a beachside restaurant in the surfing town of Hourtin Plage. The coffee stop lead right in to lunch of fish and chips or woked vegetables and beef.  We had a nice chat with German riders Birgit and Ule who had lived in the US for 15 years. After lunch we spent some time on the large dunes and down on the beach.  We watc...

During last year's BEBA (Betsy's Epic Ride Adventure), having a nightly briefing helped to set expectations for the ride the following d ay. Last year that responsibility often fell to Pete.  This year Betsy came up with the bright idea to rotate that responsibility.  Not only does that help to balance out the responsibility but it also engages each person to do a little bit of research about their assigned ride. The primary role is to figure out the ride for the following day...the length, elevation climb  and potential stops along the way.  In addition, the Briefer is expected to scope out restaurant options (they get an A+ for picking a restaurant!).   Thi s role also has morphed into the "arbitrator"  meaning that if there is any difference of opinion or if there is un certainty regarding which way to go...the Briefer rules! Each rider approached the responsibility in different ways. Lance got an A+ for doing the most extensive r esearch with not o...

 A day of easy rides and boat trips! Today we all got to sleep in. Breakfast at our hotel (at 8:30!)  was exceptional with eggs and cheeses and desserts along with the usual fair. After breakfast some took a nice morning stroll along the beach boardwalk in front of the hotel watching the water walkers (a unique French exercise program). ) AIS was a relaxed 10 AM as we had an exhausting 1.5 km ride along the beach to get to the ferry. Waiting in line for the ferry, we met a charming young lady from Germany who was on her college break and riding through France toward Spain. Her near perfect English shamed all of us and our feeble attempts at 2nd languages. (Stephanie excepted!) After a pleasant 30 minute boat ride (serenaded by the soothing sounds of 20 car alarms all going off as the boat rocked), we landed in La Pointe de Grave and remounted. The vegetation had again changed as we rode through sandy pine forests toward the coast. Our first stop was  in Soulac sur Mer for...

Today stood out for a number of reasons -- not so much the scenery but the variety of experiences.   First, the night before the Briefer informed the group that there was a navigational miscalculation (similar but different than a navigational malfunction!).  Instead of a planned 40 mile day the route would be closer to 55 miles -- ooopppsss! As a result, we all agreed that an early start was in order.  We also agreed we'd do our best not to make any navigational malfunctions which could extend the mileage even more. We had a quick breakfast which, for some of us, included the veal leftovers from the night before.  Our accommodations were in what appeared to be a tenement building that masked an updated and clean apartment. The morning temperature was brisk and some of us regretted the decision to leave our warm gloves back in the States.  As we headed out of Rochefort the sun was coming up and blaring straight into our eyes which made spotting ...

This was the day we crossed the 3 km long, and very high bridge from Île de Ré to La Rochelle.  Some had crossed earlier in gale force  winds and so a concerted effort was made to avoid another crossing. The ferry had stopped for the season 🙁.  The bus didn’t take bikes ☹️.  Swimming didn’t seem like a good plan. We therefore set off in the cool morning mist with some trepidation. We found the trail easily for once and before we knew it we were OVER the bridge and everyone agreed that it wasn’t that bad, and boy, did we deserve a café crème! We stopped in the beautiful old town after traversing the Saturday marché for a little rest and tasty coffee.   We traveled along the old port and then towards the coast for some more beautiful views.  The route continued to wind through suburbs, small towns and fields.  We stopped for a lunch on the beach  in the sand just before the town of Châtelaillon-Plage. We chatted with a young man who was curious abo...

  After a bountiful breakfast including local honey and special regional brioche we loaded up and headed out. Today we had a big adventure before even arriving at the EV 1 trail.  The route seemed fairly direct but we decided to ask our host for a route to avoid traffic (bad idea).  We ended up winding our way over stone canal bridges across farm fields and rutted paths.   In the midst of all the route changes and group consultations, the Vaden’s were thinking about turning in their bikes and making a train connection 😬.  Eventually we found the Velodyssée only to be detoured around trail construction 😫.  We all rejoiced when we finally saw La Rochelle on the sign post.   The rest of the ride was mostly along the canal on rough gravel and at a constant uphill grade.  Upon arriving in La Rochelle, there was much discussion and indecision regarding the best plan of action. Eventually we ended up at an outdoor cafe for lunch and evacuation! ...