Sorry for my absence for the last few days – how time flies by when the sun shines and there’s a million things to get done! One little pleasure I had yesterday was to get out on the bike for a few hours in the sunshine. There is a ‘marked cycle route’ that goes past [...]
I haven’t mentioned cycling for a long time, my own rather poor efforts to cycle short distances at slow speed not being very interesting, but I thought I’d give a special mention to the Tour de France 2010, which is turning out to be one of the best for years and is about to reach [...]
For those of us trying to make a living in France there are numerous possibilities – mostly sharing the common feature that they don’t really make very much money. So I was pleased to see that France was listed as offering one of the ‘Top 10 jobs in the world’ – that of cycling around [...]
Today was one of the few days in the year that I look forward to and dread at the same time – the day when we (myself and the local chap I usually cycle with) go out for a bike ride with the regional cycling group. It’s all very nice thinking you’re doing a great [...]
Occasional storms aside, it has been very hot and sunny down here for a very long time. This is good for holidaymakers, who expect nothing less, and less good for the garden, as many plants have long since abandoned all hope of rain and chosen instead to shrivel away and wait for winter. While the [...]
I’ve avoided talking about the Tour de France this week, because I know that 99% of readers will go off and have a nice cup of tea instead, but today there is an experiment in the competition that is interesting even if you couldn’t care less about the race itself, so I’m going to tell [...]
The Tour de France starts next week, and has the potential to be the most interesting Tour for years. It is the only sporting event I have any interest in so bear with me… The course has been well planned, especially the idea of fighting out the last but one day on Mont Ventoux, to [...]
I’m without a bike this morning – it seems I have been overdoing it and have stretched the chain! Result is I can’t go out for a ride, which always puts me in a bad humour for the day. Not that I’m any good you understand, I can’t imagine how I stretched a chain, but [...]
This week it’s sunshine and the open road that’s kept me amused and off the computer, and I’m pleased to report that there are already more cyclists on the road than normal for this time of year. Undoubtedly there are a couple of reasons for this enthusiasm: 1) Cycling is free! It’s also great fun [...]
The Marais Poitevin is a marsh region between Marans and Niort in southern Vendee / northern Poitou-Charentes. A fascinating and unusual region, where silent tree-lined canals traverse the tranquil landscape. Sounds interesting I thought, and yesterday I sketched out a bike route on the map which would take me past some of the highlights. The [...]
Usually during the summer my life is very calm. I stay shut away in my little office, beavering away at my websites, while the rest of the world does holiday type thinks – swimming pool, visiting medieval villages, getting drunk and singing in the courtyard and so on. The main times I emerge from my [...]
Long-standing regular readers of this blog will know that during the three weeks of the Tour de France I seldom get to the computer, but I wonder how long that might continue. In recent years the Tour de France has had many problems related to drug-enhanced-performance, and lots of big name cyclists have been lost [...]
Motivated by the Tour de France I went out for a long bike ride yesterday afternoon. Common sense would have told most people that cycling too far, too fast, in baking sunshine, was not the best idea but I am not most people and it seems I have no common sense. So about an hour [...]
Yesterday was the first proper outing of 2008 for our cycling group, and despite the impending danger of snow the six of us set off courageously into the countryside. The wintry weather held off and a good time was had by all. It constantly amazes me how much there is to discover in the lanes [...]
During January and February the weather can be a bit, well, unappealing, and I get most of my pleasure by staring out of the window, looking miserable, and making life miserable for the rest of the family. Mrs B will tell you I always get my pleasure by being miserable but it’s not quite true… [...]