#456 Up the Danube

On the Donauradweg (Danube Bike Path) with a group of 9 Spanish cyclists. I've volunteered to be a guide for my friend Chus who's company, Rutas Pangea has organised this trip from Regensburg in Germany to Vienna, capital of Austria.  I'm the lantern rouge, riding at the back and dealing with punctures, chain derailments, broken bits and keeping the tail enders on the right route.

Tuesday: Regensburg to Straubing 60km.
Wednesday: Straubing to Passau 109km.
Ice cream day.
Thursday 45km.
Paseo in Passau and a swim in the hotel's pool in Schlogen.
We are now in Austria.
Friday Schlogen to Linz 45km.
It's not the chocolate town.
Saturday Linz to Grein 60km
More swimming -  a chilly river Danube.
Sunday Meandering from Grein to Melk 45km
Monday First we walked round a bleeding great monastery. Then we rode down the bike path and then quite soon stopped for wine. Some ham & cheese then off again but had to stop straight away for more wine. Final ride to hotel in Krems and another round of . . . (I'm not sure what happened next). . . .
Tuesday to Vienna 90km

About 500km in 8 days. 95% Asphalt. Mostly bike path, some roads shared with cars. No hills.
Very nice bunch of riders - I'm now super fast at changing inner tubes and extracting bits of backpack from rear wheels :-)

Regensburg

Non stop wine tasting in Krems

In the Danube at Grein

#455 St Nazaire to Regensburg

Two days looking at this:

#454 Down the Loire valley

This is the first week of riding as a bike guide for Rutas Pangea (same as #456 above). There are 28 Spaniards riding from Orleans to St Nazaire in France. I'm the Lantern Rouge or as I'm in a Spanish group El Farolillo Rojo.

I'm making a big mental adjustment, I normally average 20km/hr on my long rides but with this group it's more like 10km/hr. Frequent stops and no rush to arrive means we are really relaxed - very Spanish.

Plus I'm learning to be patient helping riders with less experience than my (roughly) 55 years of road bike riding.

Last day we had to cross the Loire by bus as the bridge was deemed to be too dangerous for cyclists (It is!). As is tradition everywhere the group started a sing song which included the lines:

Que buenos son,
Con Chus y John
¡que  excursión!

(or something to this effect).
And a jolly good time was had by all :-)

* some of these pictures make it look like a wet week, but we actually only had two rainy days.



Day 1
Orleans to Blois 63km
Day 2
Blois to Seillac 82km
Visited Chateau de Chambord
Day 3
Seillac to Tours 85km
Visited Chateau de Chenonceau
Rained ALL day :-(
Day 4
Tours to Saumur 92km
Excellent!
Day 5
Saumur to Angers 58km
Then some wine tasting . . . :-)
Day 6
Angers to Nantes 98km
Longest day and the shortest, at our hotel by 6pm.
Day 7
Nantes to St Nazaire 6km
We reached the Atlantic. Por fin.

Orleans

On the bridge in Blois (it's wet).

Add caption

#453 Next day

. . . Even more food!

#452 Repas Gourmand

Duck and potatoes, choice of various wines -all at the same time :-)

#451 day 3

To Lalbenque 85km, beer :-)
Then I cooked a Thai green curry for my hosts.

If you think I look gaunt and knackered, it's cos I am.

#450 day 2

To Lavaur, 126km. Over 7 hours due to headwind and hills that went up. GPS went on the blink so had to go back to traditional navigation.

#449 To France 1

Sunday from Puigcerda in Spain to Quillan in France. 85km. Stayed in a very nice Chambres d'hôtes - interior design Charity Shop Chic.

#448 Allez Wiggo

I'm gutted!

I wanted to buy a Bradley Wiggins/Fred Perry shirt, there are no size M available so I sent Fred a mail asking when they would have them back in stock and got this reply:  

"Due to the item(s) being part of our current season collection we will not be getting any more stock in."

 Boo . . . . .

#447 Packing

  I'm going for a ride.

In my handlebar bag: Red Specialized wind jacket, black long flight socks, white Rapha cycling socks, black Rapha touring shorts, red Icebreaker long sleeve T, grey Rapha short sleeve T, grey Northface trousers, black Adidas swimming trunks, grey Nike Air shoes
.

In the front pocket: Assos rain cape, bike lock, alarm clock, mini bike lights, Body Shop face cream, mini toothpaste, toothbrush, swimming goggles (and a mini phone charger).

and this is where I'm going:

#446 iPod Touch

I've just spent all day configuring my new iPod Touch.
One App asked me if I used a Dictaphone?
I said "No - I use my finger, like everyone else!"

#445 Saturday? it must be Fiesta time.

#444 Ironman logo

My Rapha Lightweight jersey has a black arm band that makes me look like I'm going to a funeral. I cut this Ironman logo from an old T-shirt and Sally sewed it on (might have to get an M.dot tat next).

#443 Bob Marley

psI'm watching Marley, a documentary on the life,
music, and legacy of Bob Marley.
Great pictures and great music.
If you want more info it's the one directed by Kevin Macdonald.
ps It's 2hr 25min long.

#442 El Marino

Bati, the boss at El Marino, attempting to levitate.

#441 Day Trip

Thanks to Barbara Butler for this goat feeding pic - all mine got lost :-(

We went on an organised coach trip to visit a goat farm near Quatretonda, a village a bit north from us but still in the Valencian region. Very interesting for us as we used to be goat keepers.

As their milk is not pasteurised they must keep the cheese a minimum of two months before sale. Consequently the cheese is a bit . . . . strong (to put it mildly).

Then in the afternoon to the Museu Internacional de Titelles d´Albaida, which is a puppet museum. I thought we'd be looking at some bits of painted papier-mâché models that only get brought out on a Saint's days or fiestas.

I was surprised to find an excellent collection of international puppets; Chinese, Japanese, Javanese and all types of puppet; glove, string, some worked by rods - I even saw a few Muppets as well.

(pic: valenciaterraimar.org)

#440 le mort mène le peloton

In my youth, when I was an avid racing cyclist, my month wasn't complete without reading the latest edition of Sporting Cyclist / Coureur Magazine. One of their regular contributors was René de Latour who always seeemed to have the inside story and be on first name terms with the entire Tour de France peloton.

Par hasard, I found this book (Death Leads the Peloton) by Monsieur Latour on a French second hand books website for 10€ - et voilà.

#439 Curry for the neighbours

I cooked a curry for all our friends and neighbours who live or work in our square.

We commandeered a couple of tables in the Restaurant El Pati next door and everyone came and went when they could and sampled; Captains Chicken, Rice, Raita and Banana with Coconut.

I forgot to take any snaps except this one when we were almost finished. . . . . .

I think we served 13 or 14 people and a jolly time was had by all (I hope).

#438 Barça

Parc Guell (detail).

Vietnamese in Barcelona. √√√

#437 in Amsterdam

#436 to AMS

Sushi in St Pancras

#435 London

On our way to London:
Went through security check at Valencia airport - my metal hip did not set the buzzer off (bit of a worry).

We got on the very crowded plane couldn't sit together but my new companions, a young couple, looked very worried and within two minutes the girl freaked and demanded to get off the plane, which they did. The cabin crew came and checked nearby overhead luggage bins for unknown bags or bombs (bit of a worry).

We arrived in England half an hour late, but Ryanair still announced that we were an on-time arrival (wtf?).

Anyway, finally arrived at my mum's in Muswell Hill - all OK :-)























On Wednesday went shopping in Covent Garden and lunched in the new Raymond Blanc Brasserie.
I had Steak Tartare and a plate of odd cheese.

Our guest of honour was Jasmine Flatters one of our very good friends from the triathlon days.

Then to the Barbican to view a Bauhaus exhibition, was OK.




















On Thursday had a pleasant day walking around Muswell Hill, including a stop for salad in a café in Highgate Woods. I had a glass of excellent ginger beer - not the same as Rioja - but a nice change.

#434 Leather Tape mmmm.

55€ for handle bar tape?

Yes, it's true but I'm hoping that it will last a good few years and prove cheaper than fitting new cloth tape each season (and it's made by Brooks of England :-)

*Late News* My box of bar tape arrived missing one of the two cork bar end plugs. Sent a mail to ChainReaction, they said "no problem, we will send you the missing bar end plug". I eventually received a complete new box of tape and bar ends. I imagine it was more economical to send a replacement than to actually go through the hassle of contacting Brooks, finding a new plug, having them send it off, then re-posting to Spain. But, to be honest, I don't need another set of leather tape. Pues nada.

#433 Sunday Ride

#432 Sushi and . . .

There is a new tapas bar called MariSushi across the road from our house. It's a bit bizarre, it serves Sushi and Flamenca (not the music but some type of Southern Spanish tapas) plus very exotic booze.

The other thing is the decor is a bit . . . rococo, if I were to be polite. Anyway, I fit in very well when wearing my new pink jersey ;-)