Author: Garry

Garry McGivern’s Spanish bike ride Friday 29th-April-2011 Rouen to Le Havre, then Le Havre to Portsmouth by ferry. 81 miles. This morning, I had a fast ride and cycled the seventy miles to Le Havre in record time (for me!), and I was in Le Havre by one o’clock.

I went straight to the ferry terminal in Le Havre and booked the ferry, which didn’t leave for another four hours. There is a faster ferry between Le Havre and Portsmouth, but that doesn’t start until May. With time to kill, I found a bar to sit in. It may have been a little early in the season, as there weren’t many places open.

After a couple of hours, I made my way back to the ferry terminal. And while waiting to board, it started to rain again, and the temperature dropped. Even though I wasn’t out in the rain, the Le Havre terminal has a polytunnel that bikes wait in before boarding. Something Portsmouth doesn’t have. You get wet if it rains in Portsmouth when you’re waiting to board! Anyway, the staff were brilliant and quickly got me on the ferry.

Off The Ferry

The crossing was smooth, and we arrived in Portsmouth just after ten o’clock. I’m not bothering to cycle back to Bognor tonight. It’s hardly worth it as I’m off to the Isle of Wight tomorrow. So I’m staying with Liz, one of my friends. See, I do have friends! I was just about to disembark from the ferry when I received a text from Liz. “I see the bad weather has followed you.” So I asked one of the stevedores if it was raining outside. I’d put my waterproofs on if it was. “non, monsieur, it is not.” So off I cycled.

Two seconds off the ferry, the heavens opened. It was like a monsoon. I got drowned. Luckily I didn’t have too far to go, and I was soon at Liz’s and able to have a nice warming shower.

Subscribe to Garry’s blog and follow Garry’s ride in Spain. Plus, you’ll receive news and updates on future tours.

Garry McGivern’s Spanish bike ride Thursday 28th-April-2011 Chatou to Rouen. 85 miles. It was a cold and wet start to the day. But after an hour or two, the rain stopped, although you could still feel it in the air.

Every time I cycle out of Paris, I get lost and go a different way. Okay, I know that I’d cycled the bulk of it yesterday, but Chatou is still considered a suburb of Paris. So last night, I spent a bit of time working out my route for today. And as I cycled on this morning, I began to recognise different places, a sure sign that I was heading in the right direction. I even recognised a bench in a bus shelter. I remembered sheltering there from the rain last year.

Do Concentrate

As I cycled on, not paying any attention, I suddenly realised I was heading in the completely wrong direction! Don’t ask me how it happened. I was just in my, own little world! It took me a while before I could work out where I was. But once I had, I found my way to the main D14 to Rouen. So at least I was now going the right way. I thought I’d stay on the D14 for a few miles, then drop down to the Seine and find the route I usually take. The D14 isn’t exactly a pleasant road to cycle on. It’s a single carriageway full of lorries that thunder past with inches to spare.

It started to rain again, so I decided to stay on the main road. That way, I wouldn’t have to worry about looking at road signs and checking to ensure I was going the right way. I could just keep my head down and peddle. I didn’t even stop for a break! All I wanted to do was get to Rouen so I could stop.

Subscribe to Garry’s blog and follow Garry’s ride in Spain. Plus, you’ll receive news and updates on future tours.

Garry McGivern’s Spanish bike ride Saturday 16th-April-2011 Cambrils to Premia de Mar. 98 miles. It rained in the night, but I didn’t think it was for long. Or rather, I don’t think it did, as I soon fell asleep.

It’s been a pleasant ride today. The scenery has gone from orange groves to vineyards. Even going over some Col at 487 metres was okay. Although that may have been because I took the wrong road and ended up a bit further inland than I intended, which was fine. It made a nice change.

Everything was going well right up to the point of Barcelona. Every road seemed to turn into a motorway. It was all becoming a nightmare, one I’d had before, back in 2009. Then I had just arrived on the ferry from Ibiza and had the same problem trying to find a way out. In the end, I cycled down the motorway. But that was at two o’clock in the morning. It was mid-afternoon today, and I certainly wasn’t going to go on the motorway now!

Eventually, I found a way in. I even recognised some of the buildings from 2009. Now I was in Barcelona I thought I’d find a nice hotel, stay for two nights and do the tourist thing. Not a chance, every hotel I tried was either full or ridiculously expensive. In the end, I gave up and decided that I wouldn’t be very good at playing the tourist anyway! And finding my way out of Barcelona was surprisingly easy.

Subscribe to Garry’s blog and follow Garry’s ride in Spain. Plus, you’ll receive news and updates on future tours.