The SolarCycle Diaries: 3 riders. 12,000 miles. 1 cause.

For not writing up on here for the last couple of days but as well as finishing up the trip, being in an area with no phone reception and traveling home - the main reason is the fact that I am only just able to type.

Note for next year: Mittens aren’t as good as cycling gloves for avoiding hand strain!

Anyhow - now have the ability to cut my finger nails without holding the clippers in my mouth so it’s all looking up. Even if the tan lines are going to haunt me for weeks. (Comments such as: “You look like you’ve tried to black up. Badly…” are never good.)

But it was an amazing trip.

After leaving Tarancon, a town near Madrid with a large population of boy racers, we decided to go South 10k and see if we could find somewhere to free camp. But the area around Tarancon is not the most inviting and so we kept going and as the light was beginning to fade we hit the town of Horacajo de Santiago. Where - using my exemplary Spanish (and several hand movements resembling a seal in its death throws) - we found the one bar in town which has rooms.

The look of sheer bewilderment and confusion from the 12 men in said bar indicated that it was not a place many tourists ended up. Neither did its location down a back alley.

Then a cackle rang out. The lady owner of the establishment entered and proceed to bumble me about like a mother hen on acid who has just found a new toy. A highly entertaining game of ‘let’s ask the random cyclists questions they can not understand as we ply them with beer’ then ensued. A surreal but very amusing evening!

The next day, it was up and out early for what should have been a fairly easy day. The terrain in the area is generally flat and the region mostly known for its links to the tale of Don Quixote allowing for much day-dreaming of having a horse and a lance. 

But after climbing 6k up the only hill we could see it dawned on Jamie that perhaps leaving me in charge of the map(will he never learn) might have been a bad idea. I mean, east is pretty similar to west right….

We had gone more than 10k in the wrong direction. So had to go 10k back….

Fortunately the day was glorious. There was hardly any headwind and - even though it ended up being closer to 150k than 120 for the day - we managed to make it to Bolanos de Calatrava before night fall and to Fuencaliente the next day with less navigational errors. (Though our map reading could still improve slightly if we bothered to read the key. What we thought to be ‘handy mountain tunnels’ were infact the three highest peaks in the region…)

From there it was just one more day to our destination, Embalse de la Bregna, for a spot of wakeboarding. 

But since I am about to be late for lunch with Horatio to get the low down on his meeting with world cycling hero* Mark Beaumont, I will have to leave that tale till tmrw. 

Have a brilliant day though.

Susie x

*Am now even more in awe of the achievement. Incredible.

Post Pamplona it was off into the Spanish heartlands.

Well - just as soon as Jamie had once again taken control of the directions and we had negotiated a large motorway backwards (must learn how to read the GPS).

Nevertheless the day was glorious and the roads good and reasonably flat. Even more excitingly for me (doesn´t take much) the hillsides were filled with hundreds of wind turbines. It was brilliant to see until… DOOSH… we rounded a corner and the first gust hit. “Ahhhhhhhhh. Wind turbines. That´’ll be why then….”

This was really the first head winds we had encountered and my, reeling across the Spanish plains they don´t half gather some speed.

Whereas the Pyrannees had been steep uphills and precarious downs, this was just slogging away all day. All day that is until the rains began. The torrential rains.

If there is one thing worse that strength sapping winds it is strength sapping winds accompanied by a driving downpour.

Still eventually, soaked to the skin and as dusk came down we got to Agreda and found the only hotel in town which fortunately was good, dry and had a bar attached.

The next day we jumped up early with a long stretch ahead to Siguenza. Breakfast was a multitide of exceptionally sickly sweet items the Spanish seem to favour and it the company of every single man from the town carrying guns. Sunday it seems is hunting day and me in illumious orange and Jamie in his Bermuda shorts (only thing dry) did stand out quite considerably.

Anyway it was back on the road and back into the hills, rain and headwind. It looked like it was going to be another testing one when, after 10ks we had to stop to attach some hessian sack from the side of the road to the back of my bike to stop the water giving me a rather unexpected colonic…

But the rains stopped, we entered a wind free dip in the hills and picked up speed. All was going pretty well and our hopes were up after passing some of the many solar power stations in the area, right up until… PING…  The first road side mend was on.

Fortuitously (and despite not thinking to bring a spare chain) Jamie was able fix it by taking a link out. I helped massively by providing a wet wipe for him to clean his hands with and eating a bounty bar.

But our challenges were not to end there. For in the distance you could see and hear… the thunderstorm. Which naturally we reached whilst going 60kmph down a massive hill. For those of you who haven´t cycled 60kmph down hill in a thunderstorm, do it!

It was AMAZING. Even if I missed most of the excitement and treacherous road rivers / dips in the tarmac being almost entirely blind for the experience. The lack of sunglasses mean I had to hold onto the bike with one hand whilst covering one eye shut with the other. Man alive.

Anyway - we ended up in Siguenza which is an astoundingly beautiful city in which there is an amazing castle. Which is also a bar…

Next day, the joints were struggling but it was up early again. This time though, we didn´t get far. Only one hill and the chain gave out properly. So it was off to the bike shop and then for a rather earlier than expected - but very welcome - day off.

We snuck a slightly cheating side step into the itinery and headed to Guadelahara. From where we have come today.

Currently we are in Tarancon after another 120k (it shouldn´t have been but again - I was charged with the directions so ended up 20k in the wrong direction by lunchtime) and thinking of heading another few out to find somewhere to camp.

We haven´t actually braved all that much camping yet and since Jamie has been gallantly lugging the tent about I suppose we should. Which actually means we had best get along before it gets dark.

It has certainly been a good and bad couple of days though. And my are the tan lines ugly!

Hope life is wonderful where you are. x

“Ok if we can´t go through the tunnel of death, what´s the other option?” “Mountain Highway” “Ah - marvelous”.

So we made it across the Pyrannees. The day couldn´t have been more perfect. The sun was beaming down and the landscape green and fresh from the recent rains. To be honest, the mountains weren´t really that bad either (though we did technically choose the lowest part of the range) and the only upsetting part of the day was not being allowed through the tunnels. 

In any case - it was probably more pleasant to avoid the thundering trucks and head over them instead. Even if this was potentially more dangerous for Jamie who is still insisting on asking me questions I clearly don´t know the answer to as we negotiate the steepest climbs!

(No I DON´T know why the sign for pamplona has that symbol on it…. oh my god I can´t breath and I think that my knee just gave way…. he´s still talking… think that was another question… all I can really hear is breathing though… does that mean i am breathing too much… what if I have a heart attack… that was definitely another question… I´m going to kill him… just as soon as we get to the top… where is the top… I can´t see the top… what if there IS NO TOP… etc)

Anyhow we did make it (without incident) and it was a fantastic day. Naturally there was a near calamity at the end with finding a place to stay but somehow or other seem to have ended up at the university so are back in halls for the night.

Had a quick run into Pamplona for tapas and a speed tour of the castle, squares and bull running route and now just trying to plan where to go next.

Heading south to Agreda or Olvega but can´t seem to find much information about them. Ah well - sure the GCSE spanish will sort us out when we arrive…..

xx

Finally we have made it to Biarittz for a day off!

Anyhow, Jamie has promised to write some pertinent facts on here later but till then you have me again. So here goes:

Journey so far

We’ve cycled over 400k from Limoge which hasn’t been too bad at all.

The first day was the longest and yesterday just a short ride in along the river.

This is our first day off so the plan is to do a spot of washing and to go and watch hot surfers… (well that’s my plan at least…)

Cycling in France

Cyclists and bike shop owners are extremely helpful and friendly.

France is VERY big. Much bigger than you might think. It is also very hilly. In fact, most of it is covered by the Alps and the Pyrannees. Especially the part that we just cycled through.°

There are free municipal campsites with showers all over the place.

There are Tourist Information Centres in every small town.

There is nothing else in any small town. Or, more correctly, nothing open. There are shops and restaurants but these appear only for show. In particular, should you make the error of stopping for lunch at lunch time, you will find that the supermarkets as well as any cafe or eating establishment are also closed for lunch….

France and the Environment

The French have loads of sensor lights on everything which seems very sensible.

They also have lights on timers which adds to the excitement of going to the loo quite considerably.

There is a lot of nuclear. And people living next to nuclear power plants get pills to take in case of radiation leaks. This seems less sensible.

Weather

Though the South of France should be sunny, on the 7th and 8th October, it can rain. Constantly. And be especially irritating if you don’t bring any wet weather clothes as you are going to the South of France.

Food

There is a lot of very delicious food. In fact, even if cycling long distances it is probably possible to put on a considerable amount of weight if your diet revolves largely around cheese, pàte and creme bruleè.

Health

Jamie has managed to do something to the tendons on his heels. We are hoping that an easy day yesterday and a rest today will help. Hope so for his sake. If I have to go to Seville on my own my mother will kill him!

I have sustained a number of injuries…. all of which are a direct result of the new cycling shoes. It is just so easy to forget that you are attached to the bike. Still - the falls are pretty entertaining.

Morale

Pretty good, though it did hit a low yesterday after we accidentally went past Biarritz and had to cycle back in over several steep climbs. (But, if Jamie asks me one more question when we are going up a hill on which my lungs are collapsing…..)

What next?

Next we are off to Pamplona. It is apparently extremely beautiful but unfortunately the other side of a large mountain range. And then - erm - not sure.

Anyhow - better go but will be back soon with another update (have relinquished control of the equipment which means that it is now working).

Hope everything is great where you are though. If not, grab some lycra and come and play!

x

°Well - it felt like it.

Finally on the road. A lot of road. (Thought we were doing a nice 70 miles yesterday but ended up nearer to 90.) In respect of navigation I have reached whole new levels of incompetence. We have maps and GPS on our phone…. only one of us appears unable to actually read them…

Anyhow -late for starting again and have about 80 miles to get through but the sun is shining, the legs are doing ok and our first stop is Condom for a cup of tea! All good. xx

Well - I wouldn’t call it successful so far (though the fact that I write this in fine company, drinking wine, post Strictly Come Dancing is certainly no bad thing)!

Getting organised and to the ferry was a manic affair. And pulling up alongside the lorries in the boarding line an intriguing experience on a bicycle. But the complications were not to end there. Firstly Jamie punctured his tyre while the bike was still in his living room, then we got stuck in traffic getting to Limoge and the day ended in a hail storm! (In October? Really? Is that necessary?)

Our fortunes changed temporarily with a fantastic dinner (our friend’s were there to watch the over 60’s International Fencing Championships - naturally) but on waking up this morning no matter how hard we tried - and how much we attempted to guess what WLAN actually means - we didn’t succeed in getting the phone to work. Couldn’t locate half the kit*. And had the wrong map.

So we did what any sane people would do…. and headed straight to Jamie’s aunt and uncle’s beautiful house in St Crepin de Richmond.

Brilliant!

After a delicious lunch we slowly pedalled 5 miles to the nearby town, got the things we needed, practised with the cycling shoes (only falling over once in the entire 10 mile round trip) and headed back to hot showers and a chance to practise using the equipment. (Jamie is now in charge after finding that the reason the camera was ‘broken’ is because I wasn’t pressing the big button right on top of the phone. Which actually has a camera image on it…).

Anyhow - we are therefore running a day late before even starting but the forcast is good, the GPS is working and we now have all things we actually need (well - some random stuff and a few illiminous orange things at least).

So tmrw we will be on our way and updating as we go.

Hopefully.

Hope ‘Horatio’ is doing a little better back home!

x

*Fixing the bike with a spoon was interesting…

Not sure if learning to use cycling shoes with cleats was best done in rush hour on Balham High Street! Toppling sideways still attached to the bike did entertain some tired commuters though. And so to France… x

Hello and welcome to the SolarCycle Diaries!

After a crash course in WordPress from the inimitable Rohan Gunatillake (thank you so much Rohan) the SolarCycle Diaries are finally up and running.

This will be the place where you can read about the trials and tribulations of organising a round the world solar powered cycle expedition (which, as I type, strikes me as a somwhat niche market…) and - next year - follow our progress as we peddle across the globe, chasing the sunshine.

We will be updating this blog as often as possible so please feel free to come and check it out and also to pass our link on to anyone who may be interested in our meanderings and - of course - in promoting solar power.

First things first - trial run with Jamie and I heading from Limoge in France to Cordoba in Spain (well Lands End to John O Groats has been done already…) Sadly ‘Horatio’ can’t make it but he will be holding the fort at home and catching up with Mark Beaumont for tips. Which we definitely need!

Anyway, as will undoubtedly be a common theme, I better run as late for something, but thank you so much for finding us and hope to see you back here soon!

Have a good one.

Susie x