The Cycle Route

The planned route will take us from my home in Hampshire - near Hedge End -  down to Portsmouth Harbour. From there we'll take an over night ferry (allready booked) to St Malo in France. I'm hoping the weather stays toasty warm, like it is at the moment, so the channel crossing is uneventful. We maybe seeking adventure and intrigue but I'd rather avoid the ferry toliets as the first significant place to explore.

On arrival in France, we'll disembark the ferry on our bikes and this will mark thestart of our 6 day route from St Malo to Caen. Here is the route plan for each day:
Day 1 - Horton Heath to Portsmouth Harbour 16.8m

Day 2 - St Malo to Beauvoir 38.5m

Day 3 - Beauvoir to St Cyr-du-Bailleul 43.7m

Day 4 - St Cyr-du-Bailleul to Carrouges 38.7m

Day 5 - Carrouges to Vimoutier 52.1m

Day 6 - Vimoutier to Cambremer 36.2

Day 7 - Cambremer to Caen (Ouistreham) 25.3 and Portsmouth Harbour to Horton Heath 16.8m

That is a total distance of 268 and the all important 0.1miles. Our plan is to start each day at a leisurely time between 09:30 and 10:00 in the morning. We'll break the back of our journey through the morning and work in two stops. The first stop will be for the all important French coffee and pain au chocolat or croissant and the second break will be for lunch. If we stick to this plan we should be out of the saddle around 2pm each day with the opportunity to explore the immediate area in the afternoon. Alternatively we can choose to kick back and relax and if lure of red wine, maybe the odd Port or three and runny cheese proves to much we may just have to indulge. It's holiday afterall.... I wonder how many whole camembert's I can fit in my panniers?

Kitted up and test run complete

The bike upgrades are complete and the 'yellow ban-aaaan-naa' is running really well now, the gears are smooth and there is no chain noise. I'm sure we'll have to make a few adjustments along the route as the new chain and gear cables stretch but tis to be expected.

To put the bikes through their paces  we managed to squeeze in a small ride this afternoon. The route was only about 13 miles but it was long enough to check the panniers didn't get in the way of the pedals and I also noticed the bike computer wasn't reading properly. We might not be the quickest cyclists, but I doubt we were doing our bikes justice, racing down a gently decline in top gear with the computer reading a speed of 4mph!....At that rate we'd be extending our stay in France and we'd choose to walk as it would be quicker.. Fix bike computer - one more to add to the todo list.

Next blog - Our route plan.

Introducing the Bikes

Here'se a quick overview of the bikes that we'll use thoughout our cycle trip. It's safe to say the bikes are well seasonsed and getting slightly long in the tooth but, they both have seen lots of upgrades and are well cared for. They are oiled, tune and chomping at the chainset to get underway.
 
Introducing Dad's bike: 'Black Stealth'
Age: 14 yrs
Personality: Trusty Stead - Wolf in Lamb's clothing
Frame: Black Dawes Synthesis Hybrid Frame
Gears: XT Group set
Saddle: Selle Italia Gel Flow
Wheels: Mavick A719's
Tyres: Continental Ultra Gatorskin


Introducing Jon's bike: 'Yellow Ban-naaaa-na'
Age: 7yrs
Personality: Spirited Adventurer - Unkown quantity, headstrong
Frame: Yellow, Gaint Rincon Mountain bike frame
Saddle: Standard Giant Rincon Saddle
Gears: Front Shimano Dual SIS chainset
           Rear Shimano 9 speed XT cassette
           Shimano Shadow SLX rear mech
Wheels: Mavixk X221's
Tyres: Panaracer high road tyres

Here's hoping they hold together and ride swift and true

The Plans are in place

With 11 days left before we set out on our adventure I please to report we have the final plans in place. Dad is going to travel up from Devon next Tuesday (22nd June) and stay over night so the next day he can put the finishing touches to my bike upgrade whilst I'm at work.

What started out as a small maintenance job on my bike to ready it for the journey has turned into a complete overhaul project. Dad is more eager than a 5yr old with free reign of a sweet shop. The list of upgrades he has planned include:
1. Replace both front and rear brake systems including new cables
2. Replasce gear shifters with rapid fire shift leavers
3. Replace rear chain cassette - upgrading from 21 to 28 gears
4. Replace rear Derailleur - Dad read an excellent review of the new Shimano Shadow Derailleur so I now have one!
5. New chain
6. Brand new wheels - twice as light as my previous set
7. Panaracer high Road tyres - reputedly one of the best road rolling tyres for a mountain bike
8. SPD pedals upgrade to replace my toe clips - Few test rides needed to get used to this

So there you have it, when the upgrades are complete the bike will be self propelled and I'll be able to put my feet up and enjoy the view.

The final addition will be the pannier rack and then late Wednesday (23rd June) afternoon Dad and I will head out on a bike ride, a perfect opportunity to test the alterations, ensure everything is running smoothly and trial the bike with a light load in the panniers.

The build up for Half Baked in France

This is it, the first of many posts which will track my cycling holiday in France. The holiday is going to be a 6 day journey through some of the beautiful countryside in France. It's going to be just me (Jon)  and my dad (Keith) on the journey so it's going to be some quality father and son time.

Our tip will start from my home in Hampshire - near Hedge End - and take us across the English Channel to St Malo. We'll wind our way through villages and towns and our final destination will be the port of Ouistreham just outside Caen. In a later blog I'll summarise our planned route with distances and planned stop points.
On our trip we will be wearing some of the unique cycling shirts supplied by Half Baked Brand (HBB) company to promote the new business. HBB provides, unique innovative cycling shirts which will make you the envy of the road without compromise to performance. "Cycling is more than a hobby it's a passion so make a statement" Visit the website: http://www.halfbb.com/ to view the range of shirts and prices.

To prepare for our trip I'm going to need a few more rides under my belt to prepare my delicate backside for it's daily date with the bike saddle. Dad has also planned a few additional upgrades for my bike which, will keep him out of trouble - boys toys - and then we'll be ready to depart on 1st July.

This blog with track our progress and adentures along the way and will keep you up to date on how many stones I have had to sneak into dads panniers to even things up. He's pushing 65 and he's still fitter than me - Next update will be about how the final training rides and last preparations are going. Stay tuned.