Bikepacking - Rest day #1 in Draguignan

Day #

28

State of Legs

:-)

---

	Distance (miles)	Distance (km)	Ascent (feet)	Ascent (metres)	Punctures
Today	0 miles	km	0 feet	metres	0
Trip Totals	1274 miles	km	54690 feet	metres	0

Today's Route

There isn't one!

Route So Far

---

Travelogue

Today is a very welcome day of rest in a studio apartment in Draguignan. I'll be doing all the usual things. Washing and checking the bike. Charging my battery pack and this time, the lights on my bike as well. Cleaning out the sleeping quarters of my tent. Eating. Sleeping. Watching movies. Reading.

I'm also planning the next few days. This generally involves looking at my route, assessing how hard or easy a section might be from the profile and then identifying possible destinations, each 50 - 60 miles apart (unless there's a substantial flat or downhill component in which case I might choose to go further). At each stage, I research accommodation, looking first for campsites or places offered on HomeCamper. As long as I don't have to make an enormous detour off my route to get to a campsite, it will be considered. It's only occasionally that a site lies right on the route.

With candidate accommodation found for a destination, I consider the destination to be suitable and it becomes part of the plan. If I can't find a campsite or HomeCamper place then I either adjust my plan for that day, usually to cycle further in the hope of finding somewhere to stay, or I change tack completely and hit AirBnB and booking.com for a room or apartment.

I rarely book accommodation more than one day in advance now. Things can go wrong. I can change my mind. So, it's not worth it. And anyway, many campsites don't accept reservations for one night of camping.

Right now, the next five days of cycling tentatively look like this, with approximate cycling distances in brackets:

1. Saint-Martin-de-Pallieres (@50 miles)

2. Niozelles (@50 miles)

3. Cavaillon (@60 miles, much downhill)

4. Saint-Gilles (@50 miles)

5. Frontignan (@50 miles)

I'm also considering the weather forecast when I think about daily distance, especially the temperature. Until I have a confirmed booking, everything is provisional. It's good to be flexible. You have to be.

Meanwhile, The Mule has had a nice wash and is looking better if not quite sparkling after nearly a month on the road.

In checking the bike over, I've noticed that the rear tyre is wearing much faster than the front tyre. Given all the weight over the back wheel, this is not surprising but I am wondering at what point I should consider replacing it. Opportunity may be an issue. I'll need a bike shop, so this is something I need to plan for. I have two cities on the route coming up; Montpellier and Perpignan and imagine I'll have several bike shops to choose from at either of these places, should I decide the tyre needs to be replaced.

front

rear

The other issue is whether or not I can replace with the same make (Continental) and model (Ride Tour). I'd certainly like to. Without wishing to tempt fate, these tyres, coupled with the Tubolito thermoplastic inner tubes have so far given me no trouble at all. After 1200 miles and some very tough trails, I'm pretty impressed by this. Being forced to use a different tyre would be a risk but if that's the way it goes, that's the way it goes.

I checked brake pads too and they look fine. And I did a simple chain-wear test and it too is OK.

There seem to be half a dozen or so Decathlon stores along or near to my route over the next couple of weeks. I intend to see if I can get a suitable replacement tyre from one of them. I don't think the current rear tyre will last another thousand miles!