STAGE 10 (Day 12): Agde to Cerbère
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Spoiler alert - we made it. Together Paul and Richard cycled the entire length of France.
On a day that had everything, we rode up to the Spanish border at around 9:30 pm.
Jumping back 13 hours, it would've been difficult to predict the epic day ahead of us but, even first thing in the morning, there were some omens.
Retrieving his bike from the hotel laundry room, Richard once again had to balance rational fiddling with irrational language to get his electronic gear changing to wake up.
Paul then rolled into town from his campsite reporting he’d had very little sleep due to replanning the first half of the route to avoid a repeat of yesterday’s Rocky Road fiasco.
With our bikes now more Frenemies than modes of transport, we set off under the early morning sun of Agde. Commuter traffic and the compounded exertions of the previous 11 days’ riding made for slower than normal progress, although we were soon clanking our way through the countryside.
CRASH!
After nearly 1000 miles of riding we had our first fall. The combination of an old church, a corner, and two riders looking in different directions resulted in Paul T-boning Richard’s bike. As Paul himself has often remarked, it’s the rider behind that comes off worse in these situations.
Fortunately, Paul was able to dust off his juvenile tumbling skills of executing a perfect forward roll as he lost contact with the bike. After checking that bikes, Wahoo’s and phones were intact, Paul also confirmed that he was fine and emerged without a scratch.
On any other day that crash might have been the big news - but read on!
We also proved the cycling truism that if you’re looking for shade or a bench to rest on then it will usually appear a few hundred metres after you’ve given up hope and sat on the ground under a spindly olive tree.
With the sun now already high in the sky and temperatures soaring, we sought the shade of the entrance vestibule of a roadside nightclub called L’Hacienda. It looked shady in all senses of that word.
Then we dotted along the coast and inland between the sea and the wetlands that approach it. After days of essentially flat riding, our last stage included a decent amount of climbing. Nothing too terrible at this stage, but still more than enough to get a sweat on.
The French road numbering system, whilst effective, is also misleading. Roads labelled as "D" can either be tiny back lanes or, as on today’s reroute, significant highways with lorries and buses hammering past your elbow. Such circumstances are motivational when it comes to keeping your speed up.
We met the support crew for lunch in a not-unpleasant car park, although the decision of the local infrastructure maintenance team to drill next to our stop made for a rather noisy refuelling session.
So 60 miles in and another 45 to go, nearly at the end of our ride - what could possibly go wrong?
Well, initially nothing beyond the usual sore feet, depleted water bottles and increasingly recalcitrant chains and gears.
Riding on now along some magnificent beaches and recently renovated pathways, we spotted early summer sun bathers, kite flyers and windsurfers. Looking up from our handlebars, what initially appeared to be dark clouds on the horizon was in fact the outline of the impending Pyrenees.
We were getting closer. Closer also meant climbing up into the foothills. As Paul was keen to point out, it was only going to be about the same as a ride up from Farnham to Hindhead. Of course we very seldom ride Farnham to Hindhead after having done 1000 miles and in +30° temperatures.
But with the regulation coffee and fizzy pop onboard, we pressed on. Another first on the ride today: we lost each other! Exiting a bridge separated due to other human traffic, our navigational devices sent us in different directions. Luckily a quick phone call and we were soon reunited.
Riding up the first of the foothills the views were spectacular, and we could almost smell Spain.
Our support crew had negotiated the twisty ascent and already ensconced close to the border, and we were making solid progress. In this instance solid progress means Paul going uphill as if attached to a pulley sytem, and Richard going up the same hill as if he had a ton of bricks on his back.
SNAP!
As Paul pushed out of an uphill corner he experienced a catastrophic mechanical failure. The repeated pressure on his wonky cog and chain finally told as the mechanism seized, causing his rear derailleur (non-cyclists look it up) to shear completely off the bike.
Just 12 miles out from the border we were facing the real prospect of the ride coming to an end there and then on the hard shoulder.
Paul refused to accept defeat and tried manfully to convert his bike into a one-gear “fixie” by breaking and reconnecting his chain. Despite his best efforts and getting covered in grease, the chain simply wouldn’t play ball and ended up flung into a ditch.
What to do? Contact the support crew, ask them to come back down from the border (a challenging drive), collect Jacqui’s gravel bike from the campsite and bring it to Paul for him to ride the last 12 miles. That’s what to do!
So Jacqui and Teresa headed back down the mountain and, an hour later, Paul was setting off to complete the ride on Jacqui‘s bike and wearing Jacqui's cycling shoes (it’s a pedal/cleat thing).
Now Jacqui’s bike is very nice, it is a lovely colour, and has been very well maintained. It is not however Paul’s bike, but to see him shoot off up the hill you'd think it was custom-built.
With dusk falling rapidly, we continued our rollercoaster ride through the foothills of the Pyrenees. Long climbs rewarded with epic descents.
To the shouted encouragement of our support crew standing higher above at the border, we rounded our final corners. Fatigue subdued by euphoria, we made the last few pedal strokes to arrive at the border post.
What had begun as a nice idea had become a reality. France is a pretty big country, and we had just ridden our bikes down its whole length.
Fin!
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Now that’s what I call EPIC! Bravo you two. Isn’t it lucky Paul has the same size foot as Jacqui?! Looking forward to the full debrief from Richard while watching the cricket later in the year.
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