#288 France

Friday from Amsterdam: Train to Paris Gare du Nord, ride round to Gare St Lazare, train to Cherbourg, collapse in hotel.

#287 More from Amsterdam

We wandered around Amsterdam some more, took a ferry, drank more coffee, did more tourist stuff.

Then we found the source of all the supplies sold in the "coffee houses", obviously the plants were fenced in to prevent them from escaping.

#286 Amsterdam it's Lekker!

Lekker is Dutch for Nice
and F*cking is Dutch for . . . . . ?

Then we went on a train with Jay & Mascha.








































We went out for pancakes (they were lekker!)























Monday we rode over to Haarlem - we didn't see any Globetrotters.
(although there are a lot of very tall people in Holland).

Tuesday we went on a tram:






















We boated round the canals:














We went to the Van Gough Museum, I must admit I can take Vincent or leave him, but I really liked the pictures by his mate Emile Bernard, more . . . . graphic?

Then we went to the photographic museum FOAM but best of all we went to a mega Chinese supermarket Dun Yong to buy green Thai curry paste - even more lekker!

#285 BCN to AMS week 2

Stage 14 Hilvarenbeek to Amsterdam 140km
. . . . arrived . . . . . :-)
Today I rode 120km of 140km on cycle paths; some good but a lot twisting and turning, made of cobbles or made of bricks, up and down kerbs and generally not that relaxing for eight hours. Beautiful roads but a navigational nightmare, good job I had detailed maps.























Stage 13 Huy to Hilvarenbeek 130km
I've gone Dutch! Stayed at Herberg St Petrus 10/10.


















Stage 12 Virton to Huy 142km
Huy is just a bit left of Leige, Hôtel de Fort - crummy.

Stage 11 Toul to Virton 130km
Into Belgium and the biggest bed so far at the Relais de la Vénerie.

































Stage 10 Luxeuil to Toul 127km
Road. Fields. Sky. and not much more.
Hotel de l'Europe wanted 5€ wifi charge - no way, José.


















Stage 9 Pontarlier to Luxeuil les Bains 130km
Very wet and cold, wore rain cape all day. Beau-Site a really nice "old school" French hotel.








































Stage 8 Leysin to Pontalier 122km.
Freewheeled first 16km down to Aigle, then pleasant ride round Lac Leman, through Montreux and Lausanne. Last 6okm mostly up and more up out of Swiss and into France.

#284 leysin layover

Very nice three days r&r, went swimming each day and cooked Thai chicken for Brett and Fiona and (pictured) Sophie, Nichola, Lizbeth & Astrid, Rebecca, Christine and Tereza.

Next, me and Astrid up on the roof.

Phil from Hefti Sports who gave me bolts to fix my bag (again).

#283 BCN to AMS (a work in progress)

Stage 7 arrived Leysin after 130km + 10km by mountain railway . . . . . . . . . .


















Stage 6 Pont en Royans to Seyssel 141km
wizzed along all day - must be getting fit! Hotel right on the river, and here's a bit of it.

















Stage 5 Aubenas to Pont en Royans 118km
Climbed over Col de l'escrinet 787m and into head wind for rest of day. Hotel v nice.

















Stage4 Ganges to Aubenas 130km
One of those stick-in-the-mud days. Big thanks to Etien at Cycles7 in Aubenas, I used his tools to fix broken barbag.










































Stage 3 St Pons to Ganges 113km
first long climb 10k up in 1 hour then 10k down in 10 min! Climb 2 v long but corkscrew down and final 20k beside river La Vis beautiful.
Hotel de la Poste awarded most grotty room of the trip.


















Stage 2 Quillan to St Pons de Thomière 120km
Twiddled down to Limoux, spinned into Carcassonne, peddled over the Col de Se? and into St Pons for apricot tart and beer. Jobs a good'un.

















Stage 1 Ribes Freser to Quillan 130k
Six and a half hours. Thunder and lightning, cold and wet but still, first stage completed!
Hotel Cartier charged an extra 1€ for bike parking - wtf?

#282 Let's Monk Again

I thought I'd been forgotten! But no, finally on 1st July 2009,
(sound of trumpets) Me as Monk on Sleeveface!

#281 London Bridge Station

I just sold my last disc wheel (I had three at one time). I advertised it on the London Fixed and Single Speed Forum for a hundred pounds and got a buyer called Andy. The wheel was with my mate Jonny F in London and I put them in touch with each other to organise collection and payment. They arranged to meet at London Bridge Station and do the deal.

I must ask Jon how Andy found him, did he wear a white carnation or carry a rolled-up copy of The Times or what . . . . . ?

Anyway, big thanks to Jon for looking after the wheel and collecting the cash.

#280 SWOBO No Go

Begin rant / As an add-on to the item below I wanted to buy a nice white SWOBO cycling cap. Sort of brand loyalty if you will, after the nice vibes I got when winning one of their shirts (#264).

However shipping a $15 cap for $76.25 seemed a bit OTT, don't you think? Not that I haven't complained in the past but all I get is an electronic shrug. / Rant over

#279 1600km in one pair of shorts

Nearly ready to go riding from Barça to Damm, (see map #273) kit organised, credit card at the ready, list of 5 star hotels taped to top tube.

On the left is my daily riding gear; Swrve cap, Uvex varicrome glasses, white retro Campagnolo track mitts, white Rapha Club Jersey, Assos H5 no-bib shorts, Rapha wool socks (L & R), Specialized mountain bike shoes.

Each night I wash my shorts / jersey / socks with the hotel's shampoo and hope it's all dry by next morning. If not, the hotel hair dryer comes into action!

In the handle-bar bag I have enough clothing to change into each night. Viz: Kenzo double breasted electric blue suit, a dozen Gieves & Hawkes sea island cotton shirts, an assortment of silk ties (I used to buy two each year at Harrod's spring sale, so have quite a selection), Vans shoes with Addict print (as an alternative a pair of Bally grey suede tassle-over loafers), one pair of David Beckham's Armani underpants - it's all right, he washed them!

It does pay to look one's best on arriving at one's hotel, so I make sure to have my jacket open and trousers at half mast so that the Amani pants are quite apparent - then I will be marked down as a man of taste and style and probably upgraded to the Presidential Suite.

You have to know the tricks of the trade when travelling across Europe ;-)

#278 My Guess is . . . . . .

We went out for lunch at restaurant Mena in Las Rotas, Denia. Salad and a platter of sea food. Not wanting to neck a whole bottle of wine we asked for just a glass each. It seems there was half a bottle of Baron de Magaña left over from some earlier do, so we had some of that.

We had to grin, the bottle was as big as Ramon, our waiter.
Yes, but how big? answers on a postcard, please.

#277 Curry Nights

Our guests think Sally is serving them water to go with their curry - actually, it's gin! They really enjoyed the curry ;-)

#276 Little bit of Road

Here is a little bit of road, on a nice sunny day, pale blue sky, no wind, no cars, all downhill, perfect riding :-)

#275 Spot the Difference?

Sally has been digging her allotment and harvested this bunch of carrots, potatoes, radishes and a marrow. All organic, you know.

When son Tom was little, he grew his own marrow. Here is a pic of both of us with our marrows. Can you spot the difference? I realise it's difficult to tell us apart, especially as we are wearing practically the same cycling jerseys . . . . . . .

#274 Spotify

Don't Panic!
I found Concrete & Clay
by Unit 4 + 2
on Spotify :-)

#273 Forward Planning

I'm planning my long ride this July to be from Barçelona to Amsterdam via Leysin in Switzerland. I might take the train out of Barça and start riding from Puigcerda, then seven days across France and a little bit of Switzerland. Leysin is half way up an Alp so I plan to take the mountain railway for the last 15k.

Rest & Relaxation in Leysin with some mates for three days, then off again through France, maybe Luxembourg, Belgium and into Holland to arrive chez Jay & Mascha in Amsterdam another seven days later.

If you still think in miles, it's about 1,000
(or in kilometers a bit further ;-)

#272 Touring Mode

My Specialized Roubaix back from the paint shop.
Rebuilt as an even longer distance touring bike with:

HED Ardennes wheels - wider rims/smoother ride.
Nito bars that curve back for an easy position on the tops.
Brooks Pro leather saddle - (being broken-in).
Campag triple chainset as a double - 30/42
White Hudz brake lever hoods - to look nice.
2 Bottle cages.

Handlebar bag adapted and re-enforced.
Original bike #163

#271 Fancy a Date?

Sally bought half a kilo of dates but as it was the end of market day the lady gave her a kilo for the same price :-) We ate a few, they were really ripe and wouldn't last much longer (no going out of date jokes here - too obvious).

Anyway, I got creative and made a primal Date & Walnut Cake (no extra carbs from flour or sugar like all the recipes tell you) and it turned out OK!

I peeled and stoned the dates, had about 250 grams of pulp. Using a food processor I blended in crushed Walnuts and ground Almonds, in total about 250 grams. Then slowly added 2 beaten eggs mixed with some sour cream and a teaspoon and a half of baking powder.

Put in a dish lined with baking foil and cooked in the 220c degree oven for 25 minutes.

Voila!

#270 Bring Back Debonair

We watched a *fairly* interesting (bit long, if the truth be told) documentary about Baroness Pannonica Rothschild. She was a white, Jewish, baroness who befriended various bebop jazz musicians, like Thelonius Monk and Charly Parker, back in the days of black & white film.

Poor Thelonius suffered with a bipolar mental condition but, more interestingly, it seems the whole Rothchild family was also a bit nutty.

There has been a series on BBC tv by Alan Whicker, looking back over 50 years of his reporting from the four corners of the world. He revisits and re-interviews people from his old programmes.

The plastic surgeon and his (same) wife have moved from California to Florida, the 13 year old bride in Bali has grown up, but for some reason Alan Whicker didn't choose to go back to Haiti and talk to the Tonton Macoutes again - bit too dangerous, apparently.

I think you might call Alan Whicker debonair. Not really fashionable to be debonair these days, is it? Bring Back Debonair is what I say!

#269 Recent Films: Bad 2 - Brill 1

Films I have seen, or half seen, and now I'm a Movie Critic :-)

Gomorrah is brilliantly brutal and believable (and Italian).
Cadillac Records; much too clean, beautiful, handsome, well dressed and shiny to be true. Same for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Johnny Depp plays a pretty Raol Duke /Hunter S Thompson - and he wasn't, was he?