Cycling Day 32 of Rode to the Rock.

Raising money for Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) : (UNSPONSORED)

The temperature is definitely rising!

The decision to sleep without the fly sheet – was the right one. Basically we are sleeping inside a mosquito net framed by the poles of the tent frame. Wearing little to nothing – is the best way to camp in Southern France.

The mosquitos come out early morning ,during the day and evening. Basically they’re out all of the time. I’ve been really upset with myself with my mozzy bites – I am sore from itching and I don’t get any rest from them.

They’re on my legs, back, feet, face!!

So we’ve bought the hard stuff – recommend by the locals. To read more about the tiger mosquito : Pasteur research department in France have placed a Red Alert strategy to prevent the spread of tiger mosquitos. They carry diseases.

https://www.pasteur.fr/en/research-journal/news/tiger-mosquito-france-58-departements-red-alert

This is no hardship compared to others struggling without healthcare around the world. We could never really understand because most of us are privileged to have a good health care service. Mine being the NHS. The first chance I get – I’m at the pharmacy asking for gold standard mosquito repellent. I don’t want any nasty diseases.

We had an interview with Gilly at Radio Newcastle – this afternoon. This went well. We discussed – the Ride to the Rock Challenge – the challenges such as the high temperatures and wild camping but mostly about how this will change the lives of the most vulnerable people in our world.

This is a fundraising challenge for Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders. 70 countries around the world helping people who would otherwise have no access to care. We always say there is no such thing as a small donation . See the photos of what your kindness does.

With the heat being ” mind blowing’ hot – we took regular stops to cool down. It would be very easy to get heatstroke and become dehydrated. Sweating can be heavy and I mentioned to Andy my clothes feel difficult to pull up or down – like taking off a bathing suit or wetsuit.

On a ” cool off stop ” – we met Phillip the young gull. Isn’t he adorable. He’s a regular at the seafront bars and no one frightens him away. They put cold drinks out for him.

The Violet ice cream was Yum! I’m calling this medicine because it cools me down.

We can now see the Pyrenees and are heading and will be seeing more of these mountains on the coastline.

Today was beautiful passing through small towns and cycling on the coastline. Southern France has beautiful beaches – these are usually groomed. With tractors pulling some kind of rake to flatten the sand. Personally I prefer beaches a little more rugged – with sand dunes, shells and grasses scattered with flowers poking through.

We started to climb the closer we got to Collioure. This was late afternoon. The heat was increasing and the climbing became harder.

We continue to look at our route from Barcelona the current plan is shown below. The cut in-land after Barca is to try to avoid the very busy costal roads in the south which everyone says are miserable / dangerous. This however pushes us onto a very hot route. The weather in Ubeda – a randomly chosen town on our route is shown below – 41c at 1600hrs. If we go with this route we will start cycling ultra early – it’s 34c by 1200hrs do a 0600 start would seem sensible.

We cycled downhill into Collioure after climbing for an hour or so, pleased with ourselves. Personally I was looking forward to a shower, a cold drink and clean clothes. Simple things are very pleasing on the road. Thank you Annabelle for doing our washing – we appreciate your kindness and Andre thank you for our rest in your dads flat.

Collioure is a lovely harbour town. I am sure you would agree. It was idyllic to see the peace and tranquility of young children, teenagers and older people harmoniously enjoying the coolness of the evening sun – swimming in the harbour, picnicking on the beach or sitting on benches.

The sea was calm and the sun was setting. A perfect evening.

We are resting tomorrow (Saturday). We are extremely fortunate to have been given access to our friends Andre and Isabelle’s flat in Collioure. We are both incredibly grateful to them for this kindness and trust.

If you can please consider donating to my fundraising page: link below.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/TraceyHill2016

Cycling Day 31.

We packed the tent, ate and got back on the road.

The route was pleasant, beautiful and with it being a nature reserve I fell in love with the nature. Butterflies fluttered from the grasses at the sides of the cycle route. The Estuary Estang de La Seche was stunning. The waterway offered such a beautiful and natural ( untouched ) lush green environment. If I could imagine such beauty – I would call it a dream.

I will enjoy reminiscing on this scenery.

Here’s a video.

This however soon changed. Kamoot took us on a route through sand. The temperature was baking hot.

I started to feel uncomfortable and there wasn’t any shade to hide under.

Here are a few videos of the ride. Can you hear the cicadas?

Shortly after this we left roads and hit gravel paths with patches of sand add to this some big gusts of headwind. Tricky and slow to cycle.

Then we arrived at the campsite at laucate. The tent, beds and some of the panniers were off loaded and we headed to the beach. This is where we met a lovely young man called Titouan.

The beach is beautiful. It’s time to test the water.

Thank you for a beautiful day.

Cycling Day 30.

(UNSPONSORED) Ride to the Rock for Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

We packed the tent up – along with the sand from the dunes ( sand gets into everything – we know this, yes!) and hopefully the aunts didn’t want a ride out and stayed in the dunes!!?

I felt a little dirty this morning because it’s been really hot with temps 35 plus and this rarely drops! Because we didn’t have access to a shower- I mentally accepted that brushing my teeth and washing my face in the public toilets would be enough.

So today I’ve likely got sand, sweat and hopefully no tears.

What I did have was the love of a llama. He did scare me at one point – I was thinking “he’s going to spit’. As you can see I was a little concerned!? His horse friends brought a smile to my face – such beautiful animals!!

The cycling took us through some nice scenery with cicadas making a drumlike loud song in the trees. I heard cicadas for the first time in America on the trans America San Francisco to New York cycle ride – they sang day and night – as they do here.

We also cycled through a small settlement near St Pierre. Narbonne-Plage had a beautiful cycle view of docked sailing boats. We enjoyed a coffee and cold drinks at a cafe – 5 minutes away from here. The cycleway had pleasant views with good cycle paths.

Eventually we arrived at the municipal campsite at Saint Pierre La Mer.

It had been a hot day and after the tent was up and sorted – I enjoyed a wonderful shower.

When you don’t have something – in my case (yesterday I didn’t manage to shower because there wasn’t one ) – but today I really did appreciate this luxury. I felt fresh. We shouldn’t forget some people aren’t privileged like we are – let’s start appreciating what we have.

I’m sleeping comfortably and I’m clean, and I’ve eaten good food ( tonight I’ve eaten pizza at the beach front at Saint Pierre La Mer ) and I’m grateful for the life I have. I am in good health and I am taken care of because I was born into a system that looks after me. The NHS is also a privilege – this system looks after my loved ones. I am blessed and I am grateful.

We arrived at Saint La Mer around 16:00hrs.

Goodnight from me and the mosquitos.

Cycling Day 29.

Ride to the Rock for Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) (UNSPONSORED)

Cycling Day 29.

We said our goodbye to Andre and Isabelle , and Andres mum around 0900 am. Thank you for being so caring towards us. My mum Rita says thank you.

A good early start. Our mission today was to reach the Mediterranean coast in around 1 hour and we achieved this.

I touched the sand with my hand and it was warm. Lots of shells littered the ground and the beach was tidy and clean. It was an amazing feeling of satisfaction to see the sea and realise what we had accomplished. The journey will continue to be coastal most of the way to Barcelona.

We did it!!!

We pushed the bikes in to the Mediterranean Sea. The bikes have been christened in San Francisco Bay and the Hudson River in New York and now – the south of France Med coast! Lots more adventure still to come!

One day – I will pass my bike onto any family member. They will need to want to travel this world by bike. You will meet people with adventure in their hearts and discover kindness from strangers – who become your friends.

We cycled along the coast weaving through people and then traffic. Pulling away from this we decided to visit Cathedrale de Maguelone – as reccommended by Isabelle. Here peacocks walked around or sat high in trees – stunning colours and elegant creatures. The cathedral is currently being restored after having a history of being neglected.

We moved on towards a campsite further up the coast.

We stopped momentarily for a short rest and a drink of water and a familiar face came towards us. Stephane – who we’d met around 5 days ago. The chance of seeing him again was a nice treat. We stopped for a chat and decided to cycle together towards Sete. Sete was Stephanes stop. We hope to see him again in Barcelona – where he’s finishing his tour and meeting his wife before heading back to northern Germany.

Our 3 cycling convoy soon became 4 when we met Erik. He stopped to say hello. Cycle touring can be a great way to meet other cyclists. We’ve got stories to share. Erik is from Sweden and is cycling to Portugal for the Boom festival. If you want to know more about this – look here https://boomfestival.org/boom2022/

We continued to cycle with Erik as far as our campsite. He planned to cycle till 2100 hrs ish but we were calling it a day at 1800 hrs.

Unfortunately we couldn’t get into the campsite as they were full . So we decided to pitch on some sand dunes nearby about 50 metres from the sea but hidden from passers by. The bushes kept us hidden.

Because we couldn’t peg the tent fly in the sand this was left off but that’s fine, we will enjoy the fresh Mediterranean air and watch the clouds through the top of the inner. This is beautiful.

We continue west tomorrow. It’s hard work in the heat but worth every bead of sweat for the experience and more importantly every penny donated to Médecins Sans Frontières.

Cycling Day 28.

(UNSPONSORED) Ride To The Rock for Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

I’ve had a couple of issues blogging. Mostly because my phone storage has reached it’s limit ( I’ve been taking too many videos) and I’ve had difficulty uploading pictures because of the poor internet connection. Maybe??!

All sorted now. Fingers crossed. ( Edit * failed to upload again and again and again for 48 hours!!).

Having a rest day in Nimes was wonderful. Simply sleeping in a bed without mosquitos bothering me – bliss.

Taking in some attractions in Nimes, eating some lovely food and visiting a couple of local attractions – how could this fail to prepare me for the getting back on the saddle!?

Recharged and refreshed!!

A little about Nimes.

Nimes is known as the most Roman city outside Italy. As you can imagine the city is beautiful with many famous monuments such as the Arena of Nimes ( sadly some people still enjoy bull fighting) and the Maison Carree. Nimes has a rich history dating back to the Roman Empire. Because of this, Nîmes is often referred to as the French Rome.

Leaving Nime was inevitable but I would enjoy visiting again – with more time to spare. Rest days are brief, rest is the best way to recharge and I we needed to do some housekeeping and visit the laundrette.

Heading to Mauguio was hot 33 plus!! The heat felt too much at times and this was making me feel nauseous.

Cycling in the countryside should be bliss with beautiful scenery. Though the ride was far from blissful. It was sad to see the land was scorched and because of the lack of rain and there was minimal vegetation. With exception of seeing the gentle white horses from time to time – the ride was flat and the cycling surfaces were a mix of compacted mud, roads with some good cycleways.

Like I mentioned the land was parched. A little rain would replenish the fields – though farmers resort to using sprinklers and water distribution systems to compensate.

They also use slurry. This doesn’t smell great!

Imagine cycling along and you feel some water on your face – this can be nice. Especially on a hot day. This can feel like a gift – the field sprinkler and some welcomed breeze. Nice! Today this didn’t smell like water! Unbelievable but true! You are covered in it!

I stopped ( screamed a little in my head ) and washed with my limited supply of water – especially paying attention to my face!!

I told myself – let’s move on. I can’t take back whats just happened.

We reached Lunel before pushing on into Mauguio on a mostly flat cycle route and beside a canal. The scenery started looking green with trees and fruits growing – grapes and melons. We saw some people picking the melons.

Lunel town looked nice with lush trees and flowers with local people enjoying the sunshine – drinking cool beverages outside restaurants. We enjoyed a cold lemon and Perrier whilst sat in the square near the Hotel de Ville – Town Hall.

This evening Andre and Isabelle here in Mauguio have generously offered to host us. Apologies for our light fragrance of organic perfume – slurry. Our friends in La Rousses ( Michel and Sylvie ) arranged for us to stay with their lifelong friends. How very kind. Thank you!

We enjoyed our evening meeting our new friends Andre and Isabelle. Isabelle made a delicious supper and they kindly took us to an estuary. The Etange de I’Or Estuary – translated The Pond of Gold. Beautiful pink flamingo graced the estuary, along with a stunning sunset, small wooden houses and small fishing boats.

I slept comfortably with no mosquitos. Bliss!

Cycling Day 27.

3 words. Hot, hot, hot!!! 36 Centigrade.

It’s been too hot to walk, talk or cycle.

Todays heat offered little to no comfort.

The remedy for this was ice cubes, Coca-Cola and ice cream. I had drank 2 litres of water in the first hour of cycling and my throat was hoarse! I was also loading on the suncream.

I was dripping with perspiration and my cycling top and shorts stool to my body, and the hills kept coming. The slower I cycled the more uncomfortable I felt !

Moving on from this – I enjoyed the scenery, the friendly waves and toots from cars when they saw the Union Jack Flag, and ice cream. Yum yum!! Oh and I enjoyed the lemon tart!

This was my view from the tent this morning. I unzipped the door and I was treated to this. Paradise.

The birds were cheeping and the sun came to say – an early hello. Beautiful.

I saw lots of ants and earwigs, and before going to sleep I even saw a frog. Frogs make loud noises and talk to each other for most of the late evening and early morning.

These little blighters will climb into your shoes, clothes, tent and possibly your drink.

After climbing out of the tent I took a sip from my bottle. I bought some tomato juice for breakfast and I would have normally just swallowed but I felt something on my tongue and it wriggled.

You guessed. Awful!!!!!!!

We headed towards Nimes and took the direct route because of the heat. The roads were busy with cars but the drivers were considerate. The road surfaces – at times potholed or uneven, and some country side roads thick with sand and difficult to cycle on.

We climbed a fair amount and slowly gained progress passing through a town called Marguerittes.

Eventually we made it to Nimes around 1600hrs. Here we are taking a rest day.

My legs are sore.

Goodnight from me and hopefully no one else.

Cycling Day 26.

Exceptionally windy day.

This was a positive windy day and it pushed me along most of the cycle route. I was laughing with absolute pleasure!! Though my bike fell over several times – even though I propped it up against something.

We had a live radio broadcast around 10:30 with Jonathan from Radio York. At the time we went live – Andy and I were cycling along a cycleway beside the river Rhone with the birds singing and the high winds blowing.

I was standing here by the river Rhone whilst going live on the radio interview. Jonathan commented on the birds singing.

Around 10 minutes before I was cycling over a bridge and my top blew up ( around my neck ) and I nearly got blown over onto the road. I had 2 choices. 1 being do I protect my dignity or 2 do I hold right onto my handlebars. Well it would be telling what my priority was!? I laughed a lot!!!

Not a cloud in the sky – ALL DAY.

The fields full of barley danced along with their friend the barley.

We passed through a couple of towns. Most of the day was cycling on the flat and the cycleway was good, and this only changed to some hill climbing much later in the day.

A little tired and dust dirty – we arrived safely at the campsite. The ground was hard but with the help of a rock the tent pegs stayed in the ground.

However, this didn’t happen immediately, as the wind blew – the tent blew several foot away!!

Goodnight from me , the frogs , the grass hoppers and the mosquitos.

Ride To The Rock for Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) (Unsponsored Stage).

Day 24.

Today started overcast. It looked like rain was on its way. This was welcomed and was a good change from the baking sun.

We met a friendly old dog called Knox sit with us whilst the tent and everything else was being packed up. He hung around for an hour or so!! Likely wanting our breakfast??!

The rain arrived around 10:30 and it didn’t stop following us around all morning – until around 12:30. This cooled the air and cycling with a wet top was quite refreshing!!

The cycle route took us along the Rhone riverside and we stopped for coffee. The ladies in the coffee shop made us feel welcome and I even hugged one of them and we laughed together because both of us struggled with the language barrier.

She got a famous Tracey hug!

After leaving here we cycled along cycleways – through fruit trees on either side of the path.

Apricots, cherry and nectarine trees looked very inviting – ok, we took a couple but only a couple. Promise!! Ripe and delicious.

Even though it was raining and the farmers kept the water sprinklers running. These were spraying the fruit trees and we got a soaking each time we cycled past them.

The cycle route was beautiful. Here’s a video taken of the river L’lsere from the cycle path on the way into Romans Sur Isere – what do you think?!

Eventually we arrived into the town Romans Sur Isere and enjoyed a tasty pizza.

The architecture on some building was beautiful in Romans Sur Isere. So I took a peep inside their church.

We met some beautiful donkeys on the cycle route and I got a kiss and cuddle. However, I almost had a hair trim but managed to save my ponytail from his teeth!!

After saying our goodbyes to the donkeys we came across these 3 lovely people. This is me giving them a fist pump.

My aunt Susan and I would fist pump each time something went well with our day – to celebrate the positives. Even though she was very poorly – WE found a way to celebrate the small positives.

Continuing on route we came across the powerful smell of lavender. The field was colourful and such a treat to see. Here I want to share this with you.

Eventually we cycled into Valence. Here we enjoyed a Lebanese meal, fed some hungry pigeons with some bread we had saved from the meal and I will certainly sleep well.

I’m ready for a rest. Goodnight from the beautiful the Knox, donkeys and pigeons and me.

We are heading to Montpellier.

Cycling day 25.

(UNSPONSORED) Ride To The Rock for Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

Windy day. The wind was on our backs and this made the cycling easier than usual. Back in 2016, on our USA cycle ride for MSF – I remember being told Kansas would be an easy state to cycle because the wind would push us all the way. I can say this was untrue! Tough days. Though Jean Marie – we will keep you safe in our good memory box.

The sun was shining – as we followed the river Rhone and the wind was refreshing and welcomed. This also moved us along the cycle path. We could only noticed how hot the day was – when we stopped for a drink or snack. So we decided to go for a swim in the river Rhone.

Yes the sun was shining but this didn’t warm the water. The Rhone river was icy cold. Oo la la. So Andy swam and I just paddled. As I stood in the water there was a beautiful iridescent dragonfly that hovered just above the surface of the water, and occasionally came close enough to say hello.

The cycle route signage was clearly marked along the route and the paths were good.

Today we met some lovely fellow cycling tourers.

Unusual to meet a Brit on the road but today we met Don from London who works for NHS England. Then Stephan from Germany, Danielle and Andreas from Switzerland and a young lad from Germany came along. All in the matter of 10 minutes – 7 Adventure cyclists.

We brought Europe back together for half an hour. Though we remain friends.

We cycled over several bridges and one of these stood out. I am scared of heights – specially if the bridge or whatever I am stood on moves, or you can clearly see the ground below.

Here Andy took a short film. I’m not sure if you can hear me saying quietly – “Oh my goodness’.

This one slightly swayed.

On route to Châteauneuf-du-Rhône we came across grapevines still maturing, apricots almost ready to be eaten and corn.

We arrived into Châteauneuf-du-Rhône around 1730. Here we paid €10 for a municipal campsite pitch. This included toilets and showers.

Tonight we enjoyed pizza in the local town. Just 5 minutes walk from the campsite. The wind is furious and the tent is getting a battering but this is exhilarating – as this reduces the feel of the heat from the sun. I expect a comfortable nights sleep.

As ever, thank you for all of your kind messages on social media. Your support is absolutely invaluable to us .

Day 22 and 23 cycling.

Ride To The Rock for Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) (Unsponsored Stage).

I woke up feeling really itchy!

The grassy area looked like a good pitch but it housed millions of pesky mosquitos. I’ll be happy to leave them behind.

Adieu les moustiques!! Here’s hoping I won’t see you again.

Today, I was to meet Sophie and Jean – Baptiste for the first time. Andy had already met them in France 11 years ago but only 1 time.

The reunion went amazingly! They are both lovely, beautiful people and have very big hearts, this was very clear for the first instant.

Todays ride was to be fairly short one.

The 26 miles Рwas a mix of several ups and downs Рmanageable climbs and fairly decent roads and cycle paths. We followed the river into Grenoble with beautiful mountains along the way. Plus lots of sunshine and a p̢tisserie who kindly sold me a walnut pastry with a toffee coating. Yum!!

We arrived in Grenoble at 1400.

Sophie and Jean Baptiste stood waiting for our arrival – in the street as we arrived. Such lovely people!! Tonight we were to stay with them. After some conversation – 1 night became 2.

The same evening Sophie and Jean – Baptise took us to Fort de la Bastille. I am not great with heights and sitting in the back seat of JBs car climbing 264 metres from the valley floor – was terrifying. Though the view was amazing. I could see for miles – with a radius covering approx 20 miles of Grenoble and surrounding areas.

We enjoyed a delicious Indian meal. This was far better than I’ve ever had. Even better than the traditional Indian food I’ve eaten with friends – in Bradford ( UK West Yorkshire ).

Before bed Sophia and JB toasted our new friendship and Andy toasted to their reunion. Chartreuse at 60 abv!!

The next morning JB went to work and Sophia, Andy and I enjoyed our time spent together making new memories.

Grenoble to Campsite St Marcellin

Day 23 cycling.

A sad but typical silly goodbye from me. Silly because I put a high factor suncream on my face and I looked like a ghost, and a sad goodbye because I fell in love with Sophie and JB ” A tout à l’heure‘ – goodbye is just for now.

We have more memories to make together and more cake to eat. Out story has just begun.

The cycling today was perfect. The weather was warm and kind with a gentle breeze. The route took us along the river Isere South of Grenoble, and through a town called Vinay.

Here we stopped at a salon de coiffure. I laughed as Andy tried to understand what the hairdresser was saying – nodding with agreement as she briskly took the shaver to his head.

This was a close shave!!

My hair is turning more blond with the sun and I also had a trim, and some hair perfume. Ooolala!!

From here we cycled through a harvest of walnut trees and farms with beautiful animals like woolly pigs.

Eventually we arrived at the campsite Saint Marcellin. Here they have a small lake and I was surprised to feel the water warm enough to take a bath in.

I didn’t but surprisingly hot from todays sun!!

Goodnight from a tired Tracey xx