Samoens - Saturday 6 September -after three lovely rest days.
Thanks to Simon and Derval Jenkins for the use of their lovely house in Samoens. We have had perfect weather here each day and have done a variety of things, apart from eating and drinking! Yesterday two friends of mine, Mark and Wendy, from Kidderminster came over from St Gervais where they have an apartment and happen to be at the moment. We watched a bit of the Mont Blanc to Morzine car rally blasting down the steep roads, then had a snack lunch. It's always rather nice to see 'local' friends out of normal context.
Today we each did something different. Paul did a walk on part of GR5 a long distance path from Nice to Geneva. He went to the Cascades du Rouget a pretty spectacular waterfall a few miles away. Kevin also went there, but by bike via the village and ski resort of Sixt.
I cycled slowly up to the nearby hamlet of Le Mont (up being the operative word here) then, after hiding my bike in bushes, carried on walking up a long steep path towards a distant summit. Sadly it remained distant however much I climbed. At 1393 metres there was the last chalet and a guy living there with three dogs, a goose, a land rover and two horses, sold me a welcome coffee. I carried on up for another 500 metres, still in forest, then my ankles decided they had had enough (I was using my cycling shoes) and I turned downhill for home. I had hidden the bike so well I had a job to find it! Glad I had taken it though as the last few hundred metres and three miles descent passed very much more quickly than they would on foot. I promptly fell asleep for half an hour when I made it back to the house!
We had a last meal and drink in Samoens in the evening then got busy cleaning the house and making it presentable to leave.
The journey back may be a bit of an epic as we have to take 3 trains from Cluses to Annecy then Lyon then Givors where we will hopefully meet the coach at 2145hrs this evening to take us overnight and drop us at the Northampton services on the M1 tomorrow afternoon! From there we cycle to Northampton and take more trains back to Kidderminster. Hope that all works out! Next time I'm flying back!
Thanks for the many messages and texts. It's been good to hear from folks while en route and thanks for sponsorship. I think I will have raised over £1000 towards the work in Gambia so am very pleased with that. I will do a final post from home to round off but thanks for reading the blog. Hope you've found it of occasional interest. Au revoir!
Saturday 6 September 2014
Wednesday 3 September 2014
Wednesday 3rd September
Made it! We arrived at Samoens at 1700hrs after conquering the Col de Joux Plane - a real Tour de France climb 11km (c.7 miles) with an average gradient of 1 in 10, and much steeper in places. Took us about 90 mins continuous hard effort. Phew! There was then a dramatic descent down to Samoen, made more scary by the fact that there was a car rally on the same roads with cars racing up the climb. Several near misses. What a stupid arrangement on a public road! Anyway we survived and have had a pleasant couple of hours on the balcony of Simon and Derval's lovely house sipping champers and then beer. This is actually to celebrate the fact that, as schools in UK have started back properly today, this is the day Paul starts proper retirement. And I start my 8th year of retirement!
Actually I'm starting at the wrong end because the day started in Lausanne with another lovely morning and a 35 minute ferry crossing to Evian. We've been so fortunate with the weather and it was another cracking morning. When we got to Evian we stopped after a few miles for a coffee and, in a Paul's case, a Cognac, for the first of several celebrations of his retirement! The ride onwards (and. upwards) to Morzine was a treat. About 20 miles through impressive scenery and with a smooth surface and steady gradient. We all got 'in the groove' and just flowed up the climb to the lunch stop at Morzine. Funny for me to be there again as I have snowboarded there a few times and never thought if cycle there as well!
I'm sure you're dying to know - we've done 708 miles to get here from Bewdley and today alone climbed nearly 6000'. No punctures on the whole ride and no real mechanical problems either so we've been lucky. We only got lost a couple of times as well! Not bad with me as navigator.
The best timing today was to receive a text just as I crested the Col from someone saying they had sponsored me for the ride. Perfect timing! Thanks Wes - you know who you are!
Well that's all for now. I'll try and do a summary post and one about our return but thanks for reading this far anyway. So sorry I haven't been able to post photos. I'll try and do so once I get back to the UK. Cheers for now. Bon Nuit!
Made it! We arrived at Samoens at 1700hrs after conquering the Col de Joux Plane - a real Tour de France climb 11km (c.7 miles) with an average gradient of 1 in 10, and much steeper in places. Took us about 90 mins continuous hard effort. Phew! There was then a dramatic descent down to Samoen, made more scary by the fact that there was a car rally on the same roads with cars racing up the climb. Several near misses. What a stupid arrangement on a public road! Anyway we survived and have had a pleasant couple of hours on the balcony of Simon and Derval's lovely house sipping champers and then beer. This is actually to celebrate the fact that, as schools in UK have started back properly today, this is the day Paul starts proper retirement. And I start my 8th year of retirement!
Actually I'm starting at the wrong end because the day started in Lausanne with another lovely morning and a 35 minute ferry crossing to Evian. We've been so fortunate with the weather and it was another cracking morning. When we got to Evian we stopped after a few miles for a coffee and, in a Paul's case, a Cognac, for the first of several celebrations of his retirement! The ride onwards (and. upwards) to Morzine was a treat. About 20 miles through impressive scenery and with a smooth surface and steady gradient. We all got 'in the groove' and just flowed up the climb to the lunch stop at Morzine. Funny for me to be there again as I have snowboarded there a few times and never thought if cycle there as well!
I'm sure you're dying to know - we've done 708 miles to get here from Bewdley and today alone climbed nearly 6000'. No punctures on the whole ride and no real mechanical problems either so we've been lucky. We only got lost a couple of times as well! Not bad with me as navigator.
The best timing today was to receive a text just as I crested the Col from someone saying they had sponsored me for the ride. Perfect timing! Thanks Wes - you know who you are!
Well that's all for now. I'll try and do a summary post and one about our return but thanks for reading this far anyway. So sorry I haven't been able to post photos. I'll try and do so once I get back to the UK. Cheers for now. Bon Nuit!
Tuesday 2 September 2014
1300hrs. Monday 1 September
We're in Switzerland! Just having a celebration steak at head of the Lac de Joux having crossed from Mouthe in France over the Col de Something or other at 1260metres! Lovely descent from there to this beautiful lake. From here we have another Col to conquer then it should be downhill all the way to Lausanne.
One of the nice things about cycling in France and Switzerland is the fact that distances are in Km so that when it says 10 to go you've only got about 6 miles, and you seem to get there more quickly! Very encouraging!
Tuesday 1230 at Vevey on Lake Geneva
Some catching up to do here as unfortunately the Youth Hostel in Lausanne doesn't have an internet connection which worked with my phone. You will have therefore gathered already that we made it to Lausanne. In fact after a big lunch we had a brilliant afternoon cycling. The climb was quite steep but not that long, after which we had several miles of lovely downhill with views down towards Lake Geneva and Lausanne in glorious sunshine. It gradually warned up, having been seriously chilly in the hills. When mainly freewheeling I averaged 23mph for more than 5 miles and when I decided to go for it reached 42mph! After a bit of getting lost we found the large modern Youth Hostel to find the sign saying 'Fully Booked'. Oh heck! We were 24 hours early of course but the staff could not have been more helpful and fitted two of us in one dormitory and one in another. Tomorrow (ie today now) we will have an en suite room for just the three of us. We ate at the hostel then had an early night. The less said about the night the better as the other occupants came in and out, crashing around. Sleep was somewhat intermittent shall we say! But hey - we were lucky to get in and it was a very good decision to combine the last two days and get to Lausanne early. Mileage to here is 663.
I say it was a good decision also because it is a glorious day today and after a walk along the lake with Kev and Paul I found I was in time to take a trip on one of the fleet of old paddle steamers (well this one is now diesel) which ply the Lake. K&P decided to stay in Lausanne to sample the town while I headed off.
The cruise was simply stunning. The mountain back cloth and sparkling water on the Lake, plus a 107 year old paddle steamer was a magical combination and I loved it! I have two hours in Vevey then return on another paddler, this time steam powered (La Suisse only 104 years old) back to Lausanne. What a bonus! I am meeting the boys back on town at about 1530hrs.
Our last day cycling tomorrow will be the hardest in climbing terms with a huge climb from Morzine. We have all day for it though and start with a nice ferry crossing to Evian. Should be fun if the weather is kind again.
I now have a cyclists tan with brown arms to above the elbow and white hands (from wearing gloves) and brown legs from mid calf downwards and white feet! Maybe too much information but some said they wanted a picture painted!
Anyway you will gather all is well and plans have worked out really well. I won't be able to add to this tonight but will do so when I next get a chance. I will post some photos on my Facebook page. Hope they make you jealous! Thanks for reading. Au revoir!
We're in Switzerland! Just having a celebration steak at head of the Lac de Joux having crossed from Mouthe in France over the Col de Something or other at 1260metres! Lovely descent from there to this beautiful lake. From here we have another Col to conquer then it should be downhill all the way to Lausanne.
One of the nice things about cycling in France and Switzerland is the fact that distances are in Km so that when it says 10 to go you've only got about 6 miles, and you seem to get there more quickly! Very encouraging!
Tuesday 1230 at Vevey on Lake Geneva
Some catching up to do here as unfortunately the Youth Hostel in Lausanne doesn't have an internet connection which worked with my phone. You will have therefore gathered already that we made it to Lausanne. In fact after a big lunch we had a brilliant afternoon cycling. The climb was quite steep but not that long, after which we had several miles of lovely downhill with views down towards Lake Geneva and Lausanne in glorious sunshine. It gradually warned up, having been seriously chilly in the hills. When mainly freewheeling I averaged 23mph for more than 5 miles and when I decided to go for it reached 42mph! After a bit of getting lost we found the large modern Youth Hostel to find the sign saying 'Fully Booked'. Oh heck! We were 24 hours early of course but the staff could not have been more helpful and fitted two of us in one dormitory and one in another. Tomorrow (ie today now) we will have an en suite room for just the three of us. We ate at the hostel then had an early night. The less said about the night the better as the other occupants came in and out, crashing around. Sleep was somewhat intermittent shall we say! But hey - we were lucky to get in and it was a very good decision to combine the last two days and get to Lausanne early. Mileage to here is 663.
I say it was a good decision also because it is a glorious day today and after a walk along the lake with Kev and Paul I found I was in time to take a trip on one of the fleet of old paddle steamers (well this one is now diesel) which ply the Lake. K&P decided to stay in Lausanne to sample the town while I headed off.
The cruise was simply stunning. The mountain back cloth and sparkling water on the Lake, plus a 107 year old paddle steamer was a magical combination and I loved it! I have two hours in Vevey then return on another paddler, this time steam powered (La Suisse only 104 years old) back to Lausanne. What a bonus! I am meeting the boys back on town at about 1530hrs.
Our last day cycling tomorrow will be the hardest in climbing terms with a huge climb from Morzine. We have all day for it though and start with a nice ferry crossing to Evian. Should be fun if the weather is kind again.
I now have a cyclists tan with brown arms to above the elbow and white hands (from wearing gloves) and brown legs from mid calf downwards and white feet! Maybe too much information but some said they wanted a picture painted!
Anyway you will gather all is well and plans have worked out really well. I won't be able to add to this tonight but will do so when I next get a chance. I will post some photos on my Facebook page. Hope they make you jealous! Thanks for reading. Au revoir!
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