Day One - wed 10th April 2013

Start -St Brevin les Pins (on the Loire Estuary, near St Nazaire).
End - Ancenis.
Distance - 105km
Time - 7 hours

It was a dry morning whilst we drove to the start point and as soon as we began to ride it started to rain! It continued to rain all day and is still raining as I write this entry.

Anyway, we dipped the back wheels into the Atlantic (see the photo below) and set off. The wind was generally from the south, the route was flat and the signs were pretty good. We managed to loose the route a couple of times but we will take full responsibility and we will not blame the rain on our goggles. It was great to actually get started on the journey I have been thinking of for several years. Our plan was to cover a good distance on the first day. I was told that it is much better to book accommodation a day ahead rather than turning up on spec so we had already booked a chambre d'hote at Ancenis called Loire Sejours.

We stopped for a 3 course lunch at a restaurant in a small town called Le Pellerin. You will soon find out that I will talk about the food as much as I talk about the cycling. The main course was a fish called a Lot with a Provençal sauce. Now my French isn't great but I didn't choose it because I thought I would get a 'lot'.

Don't ask me what Nantes was like as we were very wet and decided we wouldn't stop and get cold. The journey involved two dramatic incidents. David had a fall whilst he cycled over a wooden bridge. Thankfully he didn't injure anything and sadly he was behind me so I didn't get the benefit of seeing the fall (not a very nice brother am I). Later I tried my best to fall off on a narrow trck but ended up using my second finger of my right hand as a brake against a stone wall. On the plus side my hand was numb before the collision but on the negative I still can't feel it and the nail has gone black.

We arrived at our accommodation about 5.30pm and the English owner has been very kind and he has washed an dried our gear. What a star. The place is a large terraced house with lots of French character. I think it was a good selection. We have now booked our next nights accommodation at Angers. It is a small hotel but since I've booked it I have noticed its in a business area so might not be great, we shall see.

This entry is getting rather long. I did want to mention that it has been 32 years since I went on a holiday with David. On that occasion we toured the UK with the CAMRA good beer guide as our route finder. There's not much I can tell you about the holiday on the grounds that I can't remember much and what I remember can't be printed here!

Lastly, who is the person who is making anonymous comments, come on reveal yourself!!