This is from a few months ago (video of him reading), but I am so proud of Calico :)

Fun ride! Here is a rough sketch of my blackberry tour.

Totals?

• 1,269km (longest ever)
• ~68 hours of riding
• 8,064m of altitude gain
• 21 days of riding
• Average km/h of 18.5
• Average ride distance was 60km
• Average ride length was 3 hours and 16 minutes

This is the most kilometers I’ve done in a tour and the most riding days. I feel good! I always go a bit too fast in the early stages, but it is nice to wring yourself out like a wet towel.

This tour was flat; I didn’t have to do any big climbs. Weirdly, I kind of missed it. I had 8 days in Italy with 700m+ climbs and only 1 here.

The first part from Bordeaux to Paris was very rural and wild. Some days, I was only going 15-16km every hour because of the heavy mud or grass or bike hiking. That was fun in its own way. For my next tour, I want to add more history stops.

Notes

• I could bring only my running shoes next time; then I have more comfortable walking shoes. But I think the bottoms of my feet would be sore, given they are not as tough as the biking shoes. Either way, I need shoes for walking if I want to explore more.
• I need to include a rest day every 5 or 6 ride days. Possibly with more upfront.
• I should plan rest days around historical sites if possible. I am thinking about doing a future trip around following the Band of Brothers book from the landings through Eagle’s Nest.
• For training, I need to do more long rides. This time was better, and by the 2nd/3rd week, I was feeling good about the distance.
• This tour was wetter and colder than I expected. I am really glad I brought 2 jackets, and wish I had brought my new waterproof jacket.
• I think I could have done more economic rest days every 5 or 6 days and then ridden the EV1 down the coast to Bordeaux. But I would have been exhausted and needed to push ~70km a day on average.

Ideas for the next trip?

It might be fun to follow the Band Of Brothers from start to finish in WW2. And planning rest days and history tours as some of the key spots.

I am also interested in riding around the Pyrieas mountains, so going across the front and the bike. Lot’s of amazing castles and history there.

68km / 3 hours 28 minutes / 416m gain

The trip has ended; long live the trip.

The first half was on back roads through the French countryside under a heavy fog. Then that lifted, and I spent the last half on a beautiful gravel canal route. It was an amazing way to end the trip. It is always bittersweet. My bike and I catch a train tomorrow to Paris and then Bordeaux (tomorrow, I pick up Calico and Lindsey from the airport).

Between days 20 and 21, I took 5 full days off with how the trip played out. That was nice; it gave me some time just to recuperate and have some “vacation” time. I am not riding that far, but doing it every day is a lot as it stacks up. I watched all 3 seasons of Deadwind, which I love (Finish crime drama; it has some insanity, but it is still really good).

Here are some early morning pictures from Mont St. Michel of the flooded road/town. Pretty crazy; I didn’t go into the town as the bike parking was underwater. I was really looking forward to trying this egg souffle thing it is famous for, but having read reviews; I skipped it as the restaurant charges 45 euros and has a terrible rating. Apparently, the family that owns the restaurant bought everything in Mont St. Michel, and now all the food is bad, and the hotels are a nightmare. With 1.3 million tourists a year, I guess they don’t care (the Google reviews are hilarious). I wanted to see the church at the top, but I was so soaked by the time I got there so I skipped it.