We can´t stop here. This is Basque Country.

Staying in Biarritz was a good laugh, it looks like a place I´d like to go back to at some point. But I left the city with a euphoric high, knowing I would soon be in Spain. I wanted to cycle along the beach, so left the main road, only to meet a dead end and a massive hill to climb back to the street. I did this about three times at different points until I learnt that if I ever wanted to get out of the city, this wasn´t a good tactic. It was getting very hilly now, but I didn´t care, I just cycled on with a stupid smile on my face.
The border between France and Spain was a little disappointing. I was expecting there to be a definite line with passport control or something, but there wasn´t, so I didn´t realise that I had actually got to Spain. I asked someone for directions at some point (Donde estas San Sebastian), and he replied in English, so as I left, I went to thank him in my native tongue, but I actually said "merci." Apparently I quite like speaking French now.
Compared with those in France, the roads in Spain are awful; treacherous things that had me gritting my teeth every few seconds, in fear for my life. Finding San Sebastian was easy enough, however, and once inside the city it is nice to ride, and a lovely place.
And so now I must say, with regret, that my journey ends here. I enjoy a little idle chit-chat with madness now and again, but I believe that to cycle through the mountainous desert that is Spain, alone, in the middle of summer, would be to embrace insanity fully. More importantly, as Bristol to Morocco was mine and Barney´s project, a trip that we planned together, it doesn´t feel right to do the whole thing alone. I hope you can all find it within you to forgive me this.
I have still had an amazing time, met loads of great people and seen some amazing landscapes, travelling over 1000km to reach here. Our justgiving page (http://www.justgiving.com/Barney-Sean-Morocco2011) will remain open, and I´m sure we will attempt the trip again in the future.
I just want to say a big fat massive thank you to everyone that has sponsored us so far, and helped us raise almost 700 pound for Cancer Research UK, and thank you in advance for everyone yet to sponsor us. And I would like to also thank everyone I´ve met along the way, people that gave me use of their home, Arnaud, Laura, Mat, Azalee, Cedric and Gaelle, as well as everyone I met who gave me the support I needed to get this far.
Peace and Love,
Sean

Adieu

Staying with Cedric, Gaelle, Vincent and Francis in Taller was great. They live sustainably, growing acacias and oaks, growing their own vegetables, and gaining water from a well, giving it a nice tang of iron. I admire and fully support what they are doing, adding a bit of much needed diversity amongst the monocultures of pine forests, and living from the land they own. Leaving Taller there was a nice cycle path through to Castets, and I went from here to Léon, from which there was another cycle path that lead me to the coast, a beautiful ride down to Biarritz. Entering the city was, as usual, hard, and the lack of roadsigns to Biarritz was somewhat frustrating. I went into a McDonalds with the soul intention of asking for a Royale with Cheese before I left the country. They didn't have one, so I got a Big Mac instead, but this left me a little angry at them.
Tomorrow morning I will wake up to head towards San Sebastien. I will certainly miss cycling in France. Ernest Hemingway once said, "It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best," and I couldn't agree more. After caressing the contours of France with my tyres, I have grown to love it, and the beautiful sights it beholds for those travelling through it. Anyway, onward to new territory.
Hasta mañana, Spain

Les Landes

So yesterday, as I was on my way to the campsite, I get a call from Azalée, who I contacted on couch surfing, saying I could stay at hers. This was great, as I wasn't really looking forward to a night in a tent, and her apartment is in a lovely setting in the centre of Bordeaux. She also helped me arrange a place to stay for tonight, with her boyfriend in a little village called Taller, in Les Landes, about 120km south of Bordeaux.
Today has been the longest ride of the trip, though I don't think the hardest. The hardest was the ride to Bordeaux, which was so hot there was a layer of sweat on my skin, and this day was the only day I entered the realms of first gear since leaving England. Today was comparitively easy; surprisingly flat, considering I am flirting with the edge of the Pyrennees, and there was a nice cloud cover, so although it was still warm, there was no scorching midday sun. Getting out of Bordeaux city was much easier than entering it, just one straight road from Azalée's flat, which lead me into some great little villages. Belhade was one of my favourites, an eerily beautiful (or beautifully eery) mediaeval town, complete with some guys playing backgammon on a bench. Most of the journey found me surrounded by pine forests. I eventually finished the long hard slog to Taller, to meet Vincent, Azalée's boyfriend, and Cédric and Gaelle, the owners of the house, which they built from scratch out of local pine.
My calfs are now as big as baby dolphins. I looked down at them today and saw that they're not so muscly, rather lumpy. I also have a wicked cool tan.
My plan for now is to leave for Biarritz tomorrow, which shouldn't take too long, then on Monday find my self across the Franco-Spanish border in San Sebastien, a whole two countries away from England.

Bordeaux

I stayed in La Roche-sur-Yon on Monday, to have a day off. Laura and Mat were both great, letting me cook and wash at theirs. They also recommended I visit the beach at Les Sables d'Olonnes, and I'm so glad I didn't ride on Monday because it was probably the hottest day so far. In the evening we went to a bar, where I sampled 'trouspinette', and the next morning I left for La Rochelle, where Laura and Mat had gone to uni, and was recommended by them. The ride to La Rochelle was brilliant, a bit hilly leaving La Roche but the hills soon turned into long straight roads. I also managed to hold a decent conversation with a French cyclist whilst we rode alongside each other. I also met a guy from the Alps, a cross-country skier, who was on a training run, on rollerblades.
I arrived in La Rochelle at about half 3, then made my way to the city centre. I also had to buy a belt as my jeans are now very loose. There is a festival in La Rochelle this week, so the city was buzzing. I was heading toward the Rue de St Nicola, which Laura and Mat had told me about, when I saw a band playing outside a bar, which by chance had also stayed at the campsite near Nantes that I was in on Saturday.
On the Rue de St Nicola there was an Irish pub. An actual pub, not like anything else I've found in France, where I could buy a Guiness for 3 euro. Outside I met Guilhaume, who had friends in a band playing next door. I stayed with Guilhaume and co for the night, and they were great company.
On Wednesday I managed to leave the campsite by 11, with the intention of riding in the direction of Bordeaux, and then to start looking for a campsite about halfway there. I found one in Cozes, where there were a lot of Brits staying. One lovely English couple, Brian and Babs, cooked me a full English in the morning, which was so much appreciated by me.
I left Cozes at 10 o clock, and managed to arrive in Bordeaux by half 6, and find a hostel. The roads towards Bordeaux are much more hilly now, hillier even than Somerset. I was in a bad mood upon arriving as it took me about 2 hours to get into the city, and it had been a long day. It was a national holiday yesterday, and so when I arrived in Bordeaux I headed for the quayside to watch some fireworks, and hang out with some locals for the evening. I also met some English people, Claire and Bryony, who I spent today with, making it less lonely for me. I plan to find a campsite in Bordeaux now, as the hostel is pretty expensive, then tomorrow I will grab an early start then head in the general direction of Biarritz and St Jean de Luz, on what will be the final stretch of my travels in France. Give me 2-3 days and will be in the kingdom of Spain.
I estimate to have travelled around 650km so far, in 8 days of cycling, which I personally don't think is too bad. Morale right now is a bit low, I am craving a bit of company, but when I get on the road tomorrow I will be alright.
Au revoir for now.

Hills and Headwinds

So, where to start? I left Bristol 5 days ago, and a lot has happened since then, and I think it's about time I write a blog to let everyone know how I'm getting on.

So, to pick up where I left off, I packed my bags ready to go last Tuesday, before realising that I didn't have a map or directions to Poole. As we don't have internet at our house, this was quite a problem. So this put me into a mild state of panic, which continued into the morning as I loaded up my bike and set off. I had made the journey before, though I wasn't sure I trusted my memory to guide me in the right way. I thought I'd wing it anyway, the worse case scenario being that I would be stuck in England another day. I set off into the lame kind of drizzle that Bristol likes to produce, and Bristol soon gave way to Somerset and the rolling hills of the Mendips, which left me quite exhausted, though the weather did seem to ease up, and the sun even began to shine. It seemed that after each small village there was a steep hill, before the ground gave way to leave me coasing toward the next village. I found my way to the B3081, which took me to Dorset, where the hills are much more forgiving than in Somerset, though what Dorset lacked in hills it more than made up for in headwinds. It was at this point that my memory began to grow a little hazy. I recognised a few of the town names on the signposts, but I had to fill in a few gaps here and there, hoping I was heading in the right direction. I eventually made it to Poole, which gave me a boost in morale that could not be dampened even by a burst of heavy rain, and made my way to the ferry port. I boarded the ferry, 8 hours after leaving, knowing I was leaving the comfort of the English language, along with the get out of jail free card that is a quick train ride home.

I arrived at Saint-Malo at 10.15 local time, and set up camp. I found a bar in which all the customers were English, some guys were cycling around France, another two were motorbiking. The bars in France are a bit weird; they're like cafés in the day, and bars at night time, all the while selling cigarettes and Loto tickets. I think they should make their minds up and be one or the other.

On Thursday I managed to find a computer to see if my potential host, Arnaud, had got back to me, so that I had somewhere to stay in Rennes. I had my breakfast in the same bar as before, and I have to say that the French don't really know how to do breakfast. A croissant consists mostly of air, with a little bit of pastry. You can't eat air for breakfast, not if you have to cycle 90km that day. I had hoped to catch a bit of the Tour de France that day, as I was told I would be crossing it's path. However, it took me about an hour to actually get out of Saint-Malo. After leaving the actual city, it was a lovely bike ride, though blemished a little by a few showers of rain.

I reached Rennes at about 7pm, where I was met by Arnaud, who was fantastic company. He gave me a warm shower and cooked a bolognaise, and he also liked good music. That evening we visited Rennes, which is a nice mediaeval city dotted with modern buildings. There was a free music festival in a garden, where we saw the bizzarity that is Guz II (www.myspace.com/guzdeux).

Friday morning I left with the intention of making it to Nantes (115km), which was quite a nice ride, though it was very windy, with strong headwinds all the way. It also took me a while to leave Rennes as I got a little lost. At the town of Pléchatel, a lady pointed me the way to go, and as I rode on she was at every crossroad waving frantically in the right direction, until we parted ways near Guipry-Messac. Soon after, I left Bretagne to find myself in the Pays de la Loire. Less people spoke English at this point, but I have come to recognise a few words (gauche, adroit, etc). At this point it went a bit tits up. It started bucketing down with rain at about 6km from Héric, where I knew there was a campsite, so I thought I'd stop there to find somewhere cheap. There were no hostels, the hotels were expensive, and I didn't want to set up my tent in the rain and have to spend the night in a wet tent. I resigned myself to staying at the campsite anyway, as I would only have the same problem in Nantes, and that would be after another 30km cycling. So then my tent poles decided to snap. The campsite owner, however, informed that a few of the tents were empty, so that I didn't have to be homeless for the night. I then drank some wine and had some dinner, and talked to a nice French couple, Frank et Fleur. They offered me a home for the night, but as I had already dumped my things in a tent, and I wanted to have a bit of a lay in, I declined.

Saturday was supposed to be my day off in Nantes, but I was 30km away, about the same distance from Bristol to Bath, so I cycled there, for a nice two hours, and began looking for a place to stay. After much deliberating over expensive hostels and campsites, I bought a new tent for 25 euro and stayed in a campsite in St Luce sur Loire. It was  brilliant campsite, costing about 9 euro, and with a free glass of wine for every cyclist. I set up my tent, next to some Belgian guys, Niels, Jan and Joric (I don't know if they're spelt right), who were playing fantastic games such as 'throw the bottle'. It's pretty self-explanatory; it consists of throwing a bottle, and quite a bit of drinking. So we threw the bottle for a good three hours, and getting through a good few Cara-Pils.

I woke up the next day and immediately decided not to ride that day. But it got to around 2pm and I felt a bit better, contacted some people in La Roche-sur-Yon, and changed my mind. It was probably the best decision of the trip so far. The weather was at its best at around 5pm, and the ride was through some lovely villages and vinyards (the first vinyards of seen on the trip so far). Sunday is very strange in France as everything is closed, even the big supermarkets. But in some villages you can see window shutters wide open, families sitting at their tables for dinner. I arrived in La Roche at about 9pm, and met up with Laura et Mat, who I am staying with now before setting off tomorrow. Laura and Mat let me eat at their house last night and I will stay there tonight before heading to La Rochelle, which Laura and Mat have recommended as great city to stay in.

So in 5 days cycling I have made it roughly 385km, and almost halfway down the west coast of France. My overall impression of France so far is that drivers are very forgiving to cyclists, and most people I have met are very supportive people.
Au revoir,

Sean

brb, bike ride

With 12 hours left before I set off, I'm looking outside wishing for the return of the weekend's good weather. It would have been lovely to start off the journey with a pleasant cycle down to Poole Harbour tomorrow morning, the sun glancing down upon me, but right now it looks set to be quite the opposite.

Many of you reading this will know that Barney, due to recent events, can no longer accompany me on this arduous voyage. His company will be sorely missed, and it is a daunting concept for me to do this alone. I know if Barney was riding alongside me I would feel more prepared, because quite honestly I don't feel as though I am at all ready. There's not much more I can do now though except go over check-lists again, pack my bags and try and get a good nights sleep before waking up at stupid o' clock in the morning. I haven't ever done anything on this scale before, so I don't actually know what to prepare for; all my training has essentially been to make sure I will remain comfortable sitting in the saddle all day long.

So, after a day spent buying a plentiful amount of energy bars, I can now go home, shower and sleep, all in the knowledge that this time tomorrow I will (hopefully) be on a ferry from Poole to Saint-Malo, stepping out into the world to pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.

And before I go, just a little reminder that I am doing this to raise money for Cancer Research UK. By visiting http://www.justgiving.com/barney-sean-morocco2011 you can donate money to this great charity, to help meet our target of £2000.

Thanks, see you in a few weeks!

Blog #1 - Let it begin.

Dear lovely people,

Many thanks for getting this far and checking out our blog. We will be posting here from now on, charting our progress from our current training, right through to the golden moment when we make it through the 1400 miles to Morocco. We hope that by keeping you all informed of how we are doing, we can not only reveal the pains, joys and tribulations of our trip, but also hope that some of you may be inspired to take on such a trip for yourself. 

I can not say when exactly the idea for this trip came about, but in the past few months, plans have gone from broad generalisations and dreams to detailed preparations and training. What I can say for certain, though, is that this trip will be our best achievement to date. Travelling over 1400 miles in 5 weeks, with nothing but our finely honed sportsman physiques and steel nerves to keep us going, this trip will be epic on many levels. Your support will be a huge and essential boost to our trip, as without support and encouragement we will not get very far at all.

We are aiming to raise £2000 for Cancer Research UK. While we realise that this is a huge target to reach, we also know that the difference this money will make will be incredible. We all know someone that has suffered as a result from cancer, whether it be a personal experience, or from the repercussions of cancer on those close to us. We are therefore certain that through our choice of charity we will be making a significant difference, and the charitable repercussions of our trip will no doubt keep us going when the miles become tough. If you would like any more information on Cancer Research UK, and where the money you donate goes, please follow this link - Cancer Research UK.

We will keep you updated with how we are getting on. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and please do follow our progress, donate on our  Just Giving page, and let your family and friends know about our trip. The more coverage and donations we can raise for this trip the better, and it is all for a very decent cause.

Much love always,
 Barney and Sean xx