Val De Loire A Velo 2009

The hottest weekend of the year and there we were, cycling along the Loire Valley in France raising money for the Who Cares? Trust.  Do you know that at any one time there are at least 74,000 children separated from their families living in residential or foster care?  The Who Cares? Trust was established in 1992 to help address the needs of these children.
 Last year Biking for Children in Care raised over £40,000 to help foster carers and residential care workers to better support the children in their care and help them make informed decisions about education that will improve their life outcomes.  This year we hope to raise at least £30,000 which will support a project helping to improve the literacy skills of children in care and help them to express themselves through creative writing.  My sponsorship totalled £890 – thank you all so much!

The four support vehicles provided generously by Citroen, Mercedes-Benz and Peugeot included one enormous lorry in which we loaded the 50 bikes, crossed to Calais on Wednesday morning, a day in advance of the bikers’ departure from St Pancras.  The vehicles and crew stopped off in Chartres where we enjoyed soupe de poissons under the flying buttresses of the Cathedral.  Thursday morning we set off to meet the bikers at Muides sur Loire after their journey by coach from Paris.

There were almost 50 of us setting out on the ride with ages ranging from 22 to 60+, we included lawyers, judges, social workers, teachers and gardeners!  Reunited with our bikes, the team set off to Blois 23 miles away a bit later than planned due to the coach being delayed.  We stopped off very briefly at Chambord to see our first chateau which was very grand if a little touristy!  Accommodation that night at the Balladins Express hotel was fairly basic but an excellent meal was provided by La Boucherie nearby. They were however rather overwhelmed by the size of the group. 

Friday morning we were ready to go at 8.00, too worried about what we had taken on to be late.  We were given a briefing and set off for Tours some 60 miles away.  The route was shortened so the planned morning break at Chaumont was moved to Amboise.  Amboise was a lovely little town on the Loire with a large street market providing delicious if expensive strawberries. We could have done a little sight-seeing although most of us gravitated to a nearby bar for refreshments and ice-creams.  At least one person had a nap!

We had to back-track a little before heading to the lunch stop in the grounds of Chateau de Chenonceau, it was still very hot!  It cost €10 to get in, the rose gardens were impressive but we didn’t have time to go inside the Chateau.  Some very pretty countryside that afternoon and we stopped for tea under a bridge.  The support team produced birthday cakes for Becky who turned 23 that day.  As we were leaving George got a fly in her ear, causing much hysteria.  Someone suggested drowning it by pouring water into her ear until it stopped moving – it worked!  The poor girl was in some discomfort for the rest of the afternoon but survived to tell the tale.  We finally stopped in Tours around 6.00 at an Ibis hotel where most people ate, being too hot and exhausted to contemplate anything else.  We were to set off for Angers early the next day.

We knew Saturday, Day 3 was going to be a long way!  No-one knew or was telling how far we would have to pedal.  (Only the route planners know the distances and sometimes even they don’t know.)  We started at 8.15 and somehow managed to cover 50 miles before stopping for lunch.  The support team met up with the cyclists several times to fill water bottles and to offer snacks but the lunch stop didn’t happen until most of us were quite exhausted.  It was near Saumur on an island with a marvellous view of another Chateau across the river.  Astonishingly a couple of expat supporters turned up to cheer us on.  There was a party going on but we had 40 more miles to cover so couldn’t hang around to join in the fun. 

The scenery was beautiful; we saw a number of chateaux and passed numerous caves used by troglodytes and wine merchants! The river bed seemed rather dry but we found out that they extract the river water for irrigation.  We passed many fields of maize, the staple diet for the cattle. The wild flowers were notable and the route included quite a few miles on the road as well as off-road paths and tracks.

As we neared our destination there were problems with the map reading but we finally arrived hot, tired and absolutely shattered at a sort of residential activity centre with more ineffective showers. We had half an hour to wash, change and present ourselves for supper as the staff were threatening to go home.  The bar closed at 10.00 so the party retired to the Dog and Duck (campervan) where there was an impromptu singsong which went on until the early hours.  Some of us had to retire much earlier having cycled 90+ miles, in order to cope the next day and 60 more miles!

Sunday, Day 4 was the last day in the saddle!  We cycled from Anger to Nantes starting and finishing on woodland paths.  The lunch break was at a camping site in Ancenis,   there was lots of stretching and groaning and then we heard the word, “hills”!  They were several - long and steep – the excuse was that it was a shortcut but the views were spectacular and made up for a lot!

We were almost there when we had to stop and wait for a replacement bike so we could all cycle into Nantes together.  (The bike to be replaced had lost a few spokes and was deemed to be dangerous.)  We entered Nantes, dodged the traffic, crossed over a few tramlines and rail tracks, and negotiated a pedestrian subway where someone had set fire to an old settee!  We ended up next to a rather impressive fountain which signalled the end of the ride so we celebrated with locally produced sparkling wine.  There was lots of hugging and kissing, and a few people jumped into the fountain for good measure.

By the time we arrived at the Ibis, got the bikes into the lorry we had notched up at least 237 miles which wasn’t a bad weekend’s work in temperatures between 90° and 100°F or up to 38°C.  We had an excellent meal in Taverne du Chateau before retiring to bed, ready to set off home the following day.