| Day # | 14 | State of Legs | :-) |
| Distance (miles) | Distance (km) | Ascent (feet) | Ascent (metres) | Punctures | |
| Today | 0 miles | km | 0 feet | metres | 1 |
| Trip Totals | 694.3 miles | km | 17198 feet | metres | 1 |
| Today's Route |
| No cycling today |
| Route So Far |
 |
Travelogue
Today was a fairly standard rest day. We rested. But we did other stuff too.
The day started with M1 walking around the corner to the boulangerie and coming back with pastries (PaR for M1 and PaC for M2) and a couple of Pastel de Nata, bought because they were there and therefore had to be bought.
After breakfast we set about researching and planning the next week of our trip and booking places to stay. We're now got everything planned and booked for up to and including day 23. And remarkably, on day 21 we will cross the border and arrive in Spain, putting us easily a week ahead of schedule. If all goes to plan etc.
Finding places to stay was quite difficult. We're passing through what look like very popular places for holidaymakers like Biarritz and of course as each day goes by we approach peak season. There are dozens and dozens of places that market themselves as campsites but most of them are really holiday camps and they either don't accept tents at all or there is little space for them. They make their money from renting chalets, mostly. Consequently when there are pitches for tents, they're about three times the price we'd usually pay. And this brings about the logical conclusion that if you're going to have to pay that much, you may as well go with Airbnb and book an apartment or find a bed and breakfast. The price is barely any different. So out of the next 9 nights, we'll be in the tent for 4 of them, in a bed and breakfast for one and in two different Airbnb apartments for 4. Both apartments are in Spain, the first in San Sebastian and the second a bit further west in Zarautz.
With Trip Admin completed, we set up outside on the terrace and relaxed with our books for a while.
There's a grocery store a five minute walk away so we went there next and bought food for tonight.
It was approaching mid-day when we returned. M1 decided to give the bikes their weekly clean and to degrease the chains ready to be lubricated tomorrow. Job done.
After more reading and listening to music and generally resisting the temptation to have a nap, we went for a walk in this small seaside town. We're actually in Ronce-Les-Bains which is adjacent to La Tremblade. There's not a huge amount to see to be honest but that's no bad thing. And there's certainly no shortage of places wishing to sell you an ice cream!
M1 is a bit of a geek and likes his numbers. Out of curiosity, he compiled some distance and ascent stats for the trip so far and did some comparisons with the European bikepacking trips of 2022 and 2023.
The stats above show that the toughest day so far, both in terms of distance cycled and total ascent was the first day when we cycled all the way from home to Portsmouth. And to add to the Leg Trauma, the cumulative distance and ascent columns indicate that the toughest three days in a row and five days in a row were in that first week too! The furthest cycled in a four day block was over the last four days though, so whilst it's been much flatter this week, we've still given ourselves lots of work to do!
The distance and ascent league tables for the three trips look like this:
2022 was the year of big rides it would seem. But sliding into fifth place in the table of total ascent in one day, is our Banstead to Portsmouth ride! No wonder we were so tired all that following week!
That's it for today.
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