La Voyage par velo est fin et les Bleues est battu!

Yesterday I packed the bike and the French team were well beaten by Mexico. I share with the French people a sense of relief that it has all ended.

I have been reflecting on the bike trip with mixed feelings. Riding across hilly Limousin and Dordogne and the still hilly Loire Valley in not great weather took its toll. But already after one day relaxing in Paris I feel a lot more positive.

However, overall, whilst a worthwhile experience, I haven't enjoyed it that much and wouldn't do it again this way.

Some of my family and friends think I am whinging so I will start with the positives. Firstly, I am fitter and more tanned than before. Just for the moment all my geriatic aches and pains have abated. Also, I enjoyed my various encounters with people and in writing about them. I have enjoyed the "drug" of the traveler, the constant movement and in particular the arriving and departing. I have enjoyed seeing the country change slowly and mostly I have enjoyed the French people, the odd jaded hotel or railway official aside.

The French are fundamentally and extremely polite and helpful peoples. Yes, I know much of the manners are institution but this is a good start compared to some other cultures including our own. I like the way they help if they can with such things as directions (very useful in big cities) and that when they walk into a bar in rural areas they shake everyones hand including yours just because you are there. The simple "d'accord, à gauche c'est mieux" from a busy mechanic as I tried to traverse Limoges will stay in my memory. Of course this does not mean the French are all peaches and cream and thank God for that.

What I haven't enjoyed has been the increasing fatigue. That feeling of non-specific pain in the legs and the lack of appetite brought on by a hig level of exhaustion. I am writing about this now because I am already beginning to forget. The constant up and down and changes of gear from 3/6 or 7 to 1/1 and back again. I was careful about water deprivation but could see some signs of it. There were stretches of road where it seemed that every truck in Europe was passing and these are narrow roads. I remember the 25 km stretch into Périgueux as much for its flat profile and lack of traffic as for the beatiful scenery.

However, what I didn't like the most was the solitude. Talking to yourself only works to a limited extent.

Au contraire, I enjoyed greatly that freedom a bike gives you to move and sometimes it seems like glide through a city or town. I am not a great one for the visiting of "sites". I prefer a purpose to my tourism and this is what the biking does. My last ride from Gare Austerlitz to my hotel was along the Seine and north along Bd de Sebastopol and other busy roads at 6.00 pm. This was with a broken set of front brakes (see a following posting on travelling on trains with a bike). This was a memorable trip as much for the observations of the behaviour around me as for the fact that I made it unscathed.

I hope this is the right mix of whinging and hopefulness.