A BIKE RIDE THROUGH SPAIN; MY FIRST DAYS

Travelling is to be enjoyed and not endured. I am now with my cycling friend, Dagmar, from Germany who I meet up each year for a 2 week journey to somewhere new. This year we are on a tour cycling from Perpignan on the Mediterranean Sea to Hendaye on the Atlantic. We always try to find quiet roads away from traffic and don't mind dirt roads. These are easy to find with Dagmar.

We are now in Figueres, a delightful ancient town in Catalonia and birthplace of Salvador Dali, the artist.
I have cycled just 97 miles and the rest was by ferry and train. Here is a quick guide for making an otherwise dull journey from England to Spain both interesting and cheap.
An overnight ferry from Plymouth sailed to Roscoff in Brittany arriving at 09.30. This allowed enough time for a mini cycling tour of Brittany to Morlaix where a TGV train whisked me to Paris on the same evening. A 3 mile bike ride along a segregated bus/bike lane took me from Gare Mont-parnasse to Gare d'Austerlitz where I boarded a night sleeper train to Perpignan. The cost was £110 including the sleeper birth on the train. My arrival found me invigorated and ready to go. When Dagmar joined me 6 hours later, I had made a mini tour of Perpignan.
Having devoured a delicious sandwich each, we made an afternoon trip along some of coastal scenery beside the Med.

It was easy to see why the Med is so popular. The beaches stretch for miles, it is warm and cafes abound.  Our first night was at Collioure, noted for its scenic qualities at the foot of Pyrenees, castles, artists and possibly because 39" of snow fell on 21 January 1870.

Today was our first full day and we made tourist's progress so went very slow stopping to take in the views and climb some hills. Dagmar's blog can be seen here.

These are more images from today

DAYBREAK IN PERPIGNAN

I have just arrived and this is from the train coming into Perpignan at 6am this morning

A LONG TRIP SOUTH

Tonight, I leave for a long trip south as on Monday I will be joining a friend in Perpignan.  We will be on a 2 week tour to cycle along the Pyrenees to Hendaye.  It will be coast to coast from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. I am not too sure of the route as my friend is planning it.

My journey south starts in Plymouth where I catch the overnight ferry to Roscoff in France.  I have time for a morning's tour in Brittany tomorrow as I am catching a train from Morlaix in late afternoon.  There will be plenty of time for a 30km bike ride alongside the Rade Morlaix (estuary) to the train station.  The overnight train arrives in Perpignan at 6am.

EXPERIENCING IRELAND

I am just returned from Mayo in Ireland. I have been there before and wanted to go again. It has everything for the touring cyclist from amazing scenery, excellent roads and welcoming people.  Like Donegal, Mayo is on Eurovelo 1.  These are some views in Mayo and neighbouring Connemara all on cycle routes.

This is how the routes are signed

I also like that motorists are told to give cyclists space such as with this sign

Mayo's scenery offers splendid isolation but also you are never far from a town or bar for refreshments.  Westport is successfully creating itself into a smart town with cycling encouraged as this image

My plan is to return sometime soon and find more exciting bike rides and stunning scenery

A BICYCLE TREAT IN DONEGAL

Ireland is now a favourite destination and I am here for the third time in 12 months. The weather is unpredictable but the scenery is wonderful and the people disarmingly charming. Last year, the North West Cycle Trail between Sligo and Donegal charmed me with its wild scenery, little lanes all to myself and mysterious mountains looking down over me.
This time it was a day ride and I discovered a new trail.  

I followed a section of Eurovelo 1, between Donegal Town and Ardara.  The journey was 47 miles and took me along more tiny lanes into the hills. To the south, the scenery was easy on the eye with the distant mountains in Sligo behind Donegal Bay. Looking north, Loughros More Bay with its wide expanse of sand could be seen. The landscape was peatlands and local people are still collecting peat for fuel.  The turfs were stored in triangular shaped mounds often covered in thatch to protect them from the weather. There were occasional thatched buildings and many remains of former dwellings long since abandoned. 

The route had a few challenging moments with some lumpy hills so reasonable fitness is needed.  It was a day much to my liking.

PLANNING TO VISIT DONEGAL

Last year, I twice went to Ireland with my bike. It is such a cool place to visit. In 2 weeks time, I will be in Donegal.

In 2015, I just touched the south east corner when I cycled the North West Trail. To reach Donegal from the south, the bike route meandered through a landscape of wild flowers, trees, rocky crags, tiny rivers and across a beach.  This time, I hope to get into the Glenveagh National Park and experience its mountains and lakes. Cycling is always a mini-adventure.

A SPRING BIKE RIDE FROM THE JURASSIC COAST TO THE NEW FOREST

You know it is going to be tough when the first day's forecast is for 60mph gusts from the north west and the route ahead includes some of Devon lumpy hills. This was a 4 day ride with my buddy, Andy, who I last cycled with along the Welsh borders nearly a year ago. We planned a route following the Jurassic coast, Isle of Purbeck and the New Forest. We wanted to find new scenery and hoped to see some stunning wildlife.
Sometimes there are magical moments to be found on a bike and with winter coming to its end I needed some of these. Our journey would be mostly on National Cycle Network Route 2 starting in Exeter and finishing in Salisbury.

Our arrival at Exeter was greeted with the ominously dark clouds and we felt close to the eye of a storm. This proved to be true because all along our journey people were telling us of a big hail storm at about 10am. We pedalled alongside the Exe estuary, a popular cycle route out of Exeter known for its stunning views, easy riding and many fabulous cafes. The Jurassic coast starts at Sidmouth. It is here that we find the hills and we are into true Devon cycling. As we look down over Sidmouth, we see a watery sun.
NCN2 is adventurous now as we continue east towards Branscombe, Beer and Seaton. We climb up passing wildlife rich hedgerows with a mixture of pasture and woodland behind only to tumble down the other side to find another of many river valleys. We wanted to stay overnight in Seaton only to find all B+B's saying "vacancies" were in fact full but, when asking at one that said "full" found that it had vacancies.
Andy's daughter joined us at the start in full wet weather gear

We cross the border into Dorset, pass Bridport, climb up to Hardy's Monument that overlooks Weymouth and Portland and carry on to Dorchester.  Andy discovers an interesting ford.

He sensibly takes the bridge

The hills are left behind as NCN2 meanders east towards the Isle of Purbeck.  As Corfe Castle comes into view, NCN2 turns sharply left and we are now cycling on tracks and unmade roads across heathlands and through woods.  Purbeck is not an island but a peninsula and is home to numerous wild flowers with a complex geology .  Some of tracks are very muddy and in places it is difficult riding but this is some of the best type of cycling. I am not into fast rides and my bike is suited to these types of trails where its wide softer tyres ride over terrain where other bikes get stuck.
Such is the variety of this ride that we board a ferry that takes us into the huge urban complex that spreads from Sandbanks to Bournemouth and Christchurch.  The easiest of easy rides follows along the promenade which is so flat it makes the Netherlands look mountainous.  We pass 100's, maybe 1,000's of beach huts, a pier, seaside bars, cafes and shops.  It is obviously very popular but quiet at this time of year. 
Much more to my liking is the New Forest on the final day of our journey.  We cycle along forest trails, through small villages, see endless numbers of ponies and I have my amazing wildlife moment.  A bird swoops over my right shoulder and flies ahead high up into the canopy of a tree 150 metres away.  It chortles loudly.  Its body colour is bright yellow with black wings and I see it a second time.  It is Golden Oriole, a species exceptionally rare in the UK.  It seems likely that this was a migrating bird and according to the RSPB there are only 2 - 5 breeding pairs in the country.
We left NCN2 and cycled on to Salisbury along smaller roads where we had good views of the Hampshire River Avon.  The distance was 158 miles.