Day 9 Royan to Bordeaux

Posted by: Rob on 10/06/2013
Cloud, rain and sun
Banner showing rows of vines in vinyard

Stats

65.76 mi
4.19 mi
10/06/2013 07:05 CEST
Elevation Gain
Elevation Gain:
Up
1079.13 ft
Down
1159.15 ft
Elevation Range
Elevation Range:
Max.
98.26 ft
Min.
1.64 ft
566.65 mi
201.49 mi
ShowMap
566.65 mi
201.49 mi

Day 9

Although not actually raining when I got up, it was pretty cold and damp. So I did the whole packing everything up thing without getting out of my tent!

I was ready to go by 8.30 which meant I had loads of time to get to the ferry terminal a couple of miles away.

On arrival I bought a ticket and proceeded to the boarding area to wait. A couple also on bikes came up and started chatting. They noticed my GB sticker on my rear mudguard, so  knew where I was from. They were from Flanders and we had a good old chat about touring in general. They'd done some pretty impressive stuff in the past, so it was interesting talking to them.

Once on the ferry, I went inside and bought some breakfast. It was a bit too miserable to sit outside!

On arrival I said goodbye to my new buddies and got underway. I passed a Swiss couple I saw about 4 days ago! The were pretty unmistakable as they were on one of those weird tandems where the pilot is in a recumbent position and the stoker as normal. They were also towing some sort of home made trailer that was really loaded up with stuff.

Anyway, I saw a sign that said Bordeaux was 100 km away, so I took my waterproof off (warmed up a bit) and hit it.

It started raining again almost immediately! Not very hard though so I just kept going. The road was more or less dead straigt for 20 miles. There were no towns or anything. Just vineyards as far as the eye could see. I don't think I've ever ridden so far in a straight line before!

I eventually got to a town so I stopped to get some water as I had been doing an impression of a camel up until then! Bizarrely, I felt like an ice cream, so bought one.

The road split at this point, so I took the scenic one that goes through all the famous vineyards of the area, rather than the slightly more direct main road to Bordeaux.

It rained on and off, so I just put my jacket on and left it on. It would only start again if I took it off!

I stopped for some food at Puaillac (I think that's what it was called) and got going again straight away. It was a bit of a dump which surprised me somewhat.

After that it was plain sailing all the way to Bordeaux. The sun came out and I was flying through the vineyards with a tailwind.

It really was quite remarkable. I rode for about 50 miles and there wasn't a single break in the fields of vines. That's an awful lot of booze!

I soon reached the outskirts of Bordeaux, so stopped to work out where I needed to go to get to the one and only campsite I had found. I found the site no problems - ok, I had a bit of help from my phone and a few satellites ;-)

It's a really good site with lots of facilities. The WiFi is super quick, so I've uploaded some pics including my dinner pics from yesterday!

The restaurant here looks amazing, so I shall be having my dinner there a bit later.

Tomorrow morning I will need to work out where I need to go to get on the cycle path, so I shall try and find a map...

The bottom half of the internet

Currently 13 comments

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Simon on 11/06/2013 12:34:59
You have inspired me, I have cycled to work the last three working days. That's 33 miles in total! I rock!
Rob on 11/06/2013 16:44:37
Nice one! I think you need to up your mileage a bit though ;-)
Mum on 11/06/2013 07:32:16
Sorry to hear its raining - think its going to rain here too. Its so cold that the central heating has come on!
mikej on 10/06/2013 22:26:06
Dinner looks good but where are the greens? Chris Froome favourite for Le Tour? Dad
Rob on 10/06/2013 20:02:31
Ferry took half an hour which I suppose is what I expected. @babbsy I only had one today, which is a low PAC count. I shall endeavor to increase that tomorrow!
Karen on 10/06/2013 20:01:21
Nice scenery and the food looks great...
Simon on 10/06/2013 20:00:13
Hmmm, was looking at the Website for the Canal du Midi and Voie Verte (http://www.canal-et-voie-verte.com/La-carte), it looks fantastic but as you have probably already found out the map is not that useful! Follow the river?!
Rob on 10/06/2013 20:04:31
As for my route - I'm going to smash it on the road to Toulouse, then pick up the canal there...
Aidan on 10/06/2013 20:00:11
Awesome, just a few more calories (at least 10000 a day!)
Gilbert finster on 10/06/2013 19:59:55
Breakfast looks nice but is to small
Mum on 10/06/2013 19:54:12
dinner looks good! How far was the ferry crossing? Hope you get more sun soon.
Babbsy on 10/06/2013 19:50:40
Good work mate. The mileage and weather data is good. Could we also have a pain-au-chocolat count?
Kirst on 10/06/2013 18:52:12
Possibly Pauillac. I'm pretty sure there's a wine called that. I made friends with a very tiny kitten today, he's only about 10 weeks old. He had a good gnaw on my hand.