We had a few fairly quiet days, going out for one nice ride to Droitwich. We took what was supposed to be a back road that turned out to be quite a bit busier than expected due to roadworks on another route.

We ended up at a nice coffee shop in one of the main squares, sitting and visiting at an outside table with a friend of Colin’s. When I went inside to order our cappuccinos I was shocked by the cost – they were very large, but we’re not used to paying nearly so much.

Riding back I split off to ride the canal while Colin and Mo continued along the roads.

We had planned to leave on Tuesday morning to go up to Yorkshire in time for Wednesday’s men’s ITT at the world championships in Harrogate, but Colin started to feel poorly – he must have picked up a stomach bug or something.

We’ve contented ourselves with watching most of the races on tv, and I haven’t been for any more bike rides because of the intermittent rain. Mo’s feet seem to be almost all better – she no longer minces her steps when she walks, thanks again to Nova Scotia Fisherman’s Rescue Balm.

We got up fairly early on Friday and packed up, but at the last minute decided not to bring the bikes. There’s nothing but rain forecast for Yorkshire so we likely won’t be riding anyway.

I had a very good map of the race route for Sunday – all of the road races are using the same finishing circuit that ends in Harrogate, they just do it a different number of times. We followed part of the circuit, saw a couple of likely places to park, then went to find a store – which wasn’t easy.

Harrogate looks like a lovely town, but there was no where for us to park and half of the roads were closed for the races. We ended up going to the nearby town of Knaresborough where I spotted a Lidl’s out of the corner of my eye so we were able to stock up on supplies. We also took the time to have lunch in their parking lot before heading the few miles back to Harrogate.

Getting back the the area we’d chosen wasn’t easy as the gps kept trying to take us right through the town centre with all of its closed roads, so we eventually just headed south a bit towards Leeds before making our way back to the circuit.

We arrived to find the road still closed – we even saw the last few Under-23 racers pass. The course marshall wasn’t able to open the road for almost 45 minutes, and by then there was quite a lineup of increasingly impatient drivers behind us.

Finally we were let through and went straight to the cricket club that was right around the next bend. They were letting campervans park in their field but when we heard the price they were asking we turned around and went further down the road.

The was a small pullout area next to an old stone wall in front of a farmer’s field and with only one VW van there we had lots of room.

After a very refreshing sleep and a lovely hot shower we headed to Droitwich so I could see Colin’s dentist about my ‘fang’. Luckily the root was intact and nothing had abscessed so she was able to just go ahead and repair it. It took about half an hour and she didn’t even have to use any freezing.

Originally Colin was going to give me a gyrocopter ride in France for my birthday but I chose instead to get my tooth fixed. It looks beautiful and I no longer need to be self conscious about the gap.

Leaving Droitwich we drove up to Solihull to meet Colin’s friend Kay for lunch. I’d met her last year in Italy so it was nice to see her again. We had a bit of a time finding parking for the campervan so ended up using the Morrison’s parking lot.

We went to a lovely Italian restaurant, Carluccio’s, and it was a good choice, and because the dentist hadn’t used any freezing I could do more than just eat soup with a droopy lip. I started with the tomato bruschetta and it was delicious – piles of red and yellow cherry tomatoes on crispy garlic toast topped with a piquant vinaigrette. For my main course I got the Chicken Milanese, which was very lightly breaded and fried to a crisp golden brown. Both dishes were excellent, and were washed down with a lovely Sicilian red.

After lunch Kay showed us where the Apple store was, then took her leave. The place was super crowded, and there was a lineup down the mall of people waiting to get a new iphone 11. Luckily we didn’t have to wait in that line, and there were lots of young geeks to assist us.

Colin already kind of knew what he wanted, so came away with an iphone – not the new 11 – and an ipad. The ipad is small, but not quite a mini. I was looking for a new keyboard case but had no such luck.

We stopped on the way home at a large ‘pc world’ but they didn’t have keyboard cases at all, and the fellow wasn’t really very helpful.

The next morning I rode my new bike for the first time and was it ever great! A friend’s little boy had a soccer game and we rode over – with Mo in tow – to watch. There were only a couple of small hills on the way but I tested the motor out and when it kicks in – wow – what a difference.

I can see myself in the Alps just racing up the Stelvio or the Galibier….well, maybe not, but at least I’ll be able to keep up with Colin and Mo now.

The soccer game was fun – they were playing a team that was one year ahead of them so Colin’s friend’s son, being his team’s goalie, got lots of action.

I got quite a few shots of him jumping, diving and lunging for the ball – he’s pretty good and directs his defencemen with confidence.

When we left the field I chose to get onto the canal path that is accessible right by the fields, while Colin took Mo back along a different route.

Oh! – the canal – how I’ve missed riding along it! There weren’t that many people to dodge, although I do wish we’d taken the time to put my bell on. I used the motor again at each lock, even though I could have done without it – it’s so easy to engage, or change the power. You can ride without using the motor, of course, but if you do use it there are four different levels of power.

In the afternoon we went out in the mini, leaving Mo at home watching a car race. First we went to another computer place in Worcester, that once again didn’t have any keyboard cases for either of us, although the fellow was quite helpful and checked with the closest other branch they had and told us they had some that would fit Colin’s new ipad but not mine.

We drove to the other store and Colin was successful, but as now expected I went away empty handed. Returning home Colin dropped me off while he went on to get some groceries and I went in to check on Mo as she’d been alone for awhile. She hadn’t been a happy little girl, and we’re a bit concerned that her tummy might be upset again.

We had a delicious salmon dinner with new potatoes and salad. No good movies or anything on so another fairly early night.

Another nice breakfast with Tony and Helen, with more fresh croissants from town, then we were on our way again just after 10:00.

Heading northeast we once again took our time, stopping for a bite to eat along the way and passing through the town that William the Conqueror was from.

We arrived in Dieppe around 3:30 and walked along the promenade to a nice looking cafe where we stopped for a drink in the sun.

After lunch we parked along the seashore and I took a little walk to look at some of the memorials.

They love Canada here and the memorials are very moving – once again I cried like a baby before drying my tears and and taking some photos.

We left for the ferry just as the sun was setting.

Our ship left right on time at ten minutes to midnight, and was half empty. The food in the cafe actually looked quite good, but we each only got a small salad and a few fries. After eating we settled into the lounge chairs to try to get a bit of sleep but I knew it would be fruitless.

The chairs only reclined about two inches, and they didn’t ever turn off the lights. There also was a group of people sitting in some other chairs in the next section and they talked very loudly and excitedly the entire voyage.

We docked right on time – 4:00 UK time, which meant it was a five hour journey. As we were waiting for the door to open to the car decks I noticed a stack of forms that non-EU residents need to fill out so I quickly grabbed one so I’d be ready, and it was a good thing. The border fellow asked me a few questions, such as how long would I be in england and where did I fly into and when, but then said ok, handed my passport back and let us go.

We decided to get going right away to our next destination of Farnham, rather than get a bit of sleep first. It was a good decision as they were doing roadworks everywhere and it took us longer than expected.

We still arrived a couple of hours before our appointment so I tried to get a little sleep – I feel a bit zombie-ish. The bike shop opened at 9 but our appointment wasn’t until 10 so we still had to wait.

Right at ten we buzzed the door and Martin showed us in and took us upstairs. Colin had done research and had already picked the bike so we asked a bunch of questions and Martin made sure they had one in stock. It’s a beautiful Cube electric bike with a Bosch motor – so I can keep up with Colin and the Mobile, ha ha! We joke that it’s my christmas present for the next ten years, but seriously it’s incredibly kind and generous of Colin and I love it already even though I haven’t ridden it yet. It looks a lot like my Cannondale in size, shape and colour, and has fenders, a rat-trap and back panier holders.

It was going to take an hour ot two to put the bike together for me so Martin gave us a map of the area and we headed out to find a place to have lunch. Mo was still being carried most of the time, although the Rescue Balm seems to be doing wonders healing her foot pads.

Just after we finished eating the bike shop called – my new bike was ready! We hustled back to the shop and I got a little lesson on the workings of it from another young fellow, then we packed it into the campervan. We also took an empty bike box so I can pack up my beautiful Cannondale and take it home when I go back.

When we got to Worcester we were both quite tired, but we unloaded the campervan and plugged my new bike in to complete charging. Colin took a quick drive to the Bull and brought back some fish and chips for dinner. I was hungry and did enjoy the food, but was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open – early night.

We woke in time for a nice cup of tea in the campervan before Colin walked with Mo into the town to get fresh croissants for breakfast. We took the croissants into the house and had a lovely breakfast with Tony and Helen, complete with yogurt, homemade jams and homemade bread.

Shortly after breakfast we all got into our riding and gear and prepared to go for a ride. Just as we were getting on our bikes the rain started – very fine, more like a heavy mist than rain.

We ended up on the trail, that actually runs all the way from Caen in the north to Mont St Michele in the west, then down south to La Rochelle, all along an old rail bed. The trail is very nice to ride on – smooth and wide, unlike the bear trail in Spain. And as long as you watch out for the odd pile of horse shit it’s great.

Poor little Mo had a mishap along the way – she somehow got under the front cover of her chariot and ended up on the trail trying to run along behind the bike. She was still tethered in so couldn’t just stop running and it was a few minutes before Tony noticed and shouted at Colin to stop. Helen and I were quite a ways behind and hadn’t seen anything until we caught up and Mo was back in her chariot with her poor feet torn and bleeding a bit.

We kept riding on our way, generally slightly uphill, to the town of Neufbourg where we had lunch. We chose an outside table and it was a bit chilly but at least we were dry. We all got one of the daily specials – I had eggs mayonnaise as my starter, followed by a main course of roast pork with fries. It was tender and very delicious.

The rain had stopped and the ride back was mostly downhill. Mo didn’t seem too bothered by her torn feet, although she did walk very gingerly. I put some of my Nova Scotia Fisherman’s Rescue Balm on them and it didn’t bother her at all.

Since it was still pretty early Colin and I took a walk into the town, with Mo being carried to spare her hurt feet. There was a big boules (petanque) tournament going on – it had started in the morning and was getting down to the last few teams.

We walked around the town a bit then sat down at an outside table at a nice little bar where we had a refreshing beverage – or two.

Since we’d had such a large lunch we had a simple dinner back at Tony and Helen’s – carrot slices, cheese, more of Helen’s delicious homemade bread and a couple of other small things.

We didn’t stay quite so long as last evening and had a pretty early night.

We got going at a really good time – it was just after 9:30 when we hit the road. Since we weren’t in any great rush we avoided the main roads and had a nice relaxed drive, arriving at Tony and Helen’s house in Sourdeval well before dinner.

Since we had time Colin, Helen and I took Mo for a nice walk along the trail behind their house and into the town.

There are lovely flower baskets and arrangements everywhere – the town is very pretty.

There’s an exhibit on in front of the city hall with photos from the war – the town was liberated by the Americans a couple of months after D-Day, and had suffered great damage, as did all of the towns in the area.

Dinner was excellent – roast chicken legs with home made fries, and we stayed afterwards for hours visiting. Mo was not happy, however, because since Tony and Helen have a cat Mo had to stay in the campervan by herself – we could hear her barking as soon as we left the house.

The mornings have been beautiful – sunny but not terribly hot. Colin and Neil went for a couple of bike rides while Mo and I stayed home and did yoga and several loads of laundry. We also got to work cleaning out the campervan – stripping beds, rearranging the Mobile so it’s now underneath, sweeping, etc.

Over the days we visited both bars for coffee, etc, and enjoyed Friday night meal at the Penalty bar. The portions of steak were huge so I’m glad I had the help of three dogs or I never would have finished mine.

We watched the Vuelta each afternoon – it looks like young Roglic from Slovenia might actually pull it off.

The local campground, run now by Cassandra’s brother Laurent, is staying open an extra two weeks since the weather is so nice and they’re still busy, both in the campground and in the restaurant/bar. We chatted for a bit with Laurent’s girlfriend, who is british, and she told us that after the campground closes they go to the Alps where she manages three chalets and Laurent runs a nightclub.

One night we had another one of Neil’s excellent bbq’s featuring burgers with cheese, mushrooms and onions, and a nice side salad – all washed down with some of our last rioja.

One day I went in the morning to request a rotisserie chicken from the new shop on the main street but was told ‘no – they are all reserved’. Apparently if you want one on the weekend you have to ask for it at least a few days ahead of time. The place always seems to be busy and I’m very happy for them – next time we’ll plan ahead better.

We got up and going very early after a very rainy night. Little Mo, after seeming to have recovered from her tummy upset, is now scratching fleas that she picked up in the farmer’s field. The first evening here Colin got over 10 off of her, and now the count is up to about 40!

We headed north towards the coast, most of the way in pouring rain, then east, noticing we’d crossed into France only because the road signs were different. We didn’t go very far after that, stopping at the lovely little campground just outside Souraide that we’ve stayed at a couple of times now.

I had a very nice hot shower while the wind started to pick up, making it back to the campervan before the rain started.

We had a really good dinner of salad with fried chicken strips, then turned in early after the long drive.

It rained off and on during the night but we weren’t in such a hurry to get on the road as yesterday, leaving around 9:30.

We took the motorway up to Bordeaux, managing to skirt the city right around noon without much slowing down.

We arrived back to Mansle in the early afternoon, and it turns out that Neil Sr. had also returned from his trip. We started a couple loads of laundry and relaxed a bit, then ended up going to Tony and Joyce’s (Neil’s ex-inlaws) for bbq dinner.

I’ve met them several times already, and we’d brought back a couple of cases of Rioja for them from Spain. They’re always nice to visit with, and dinner was lovely – pork chops, sausages, fries and salad, all washed down with an excellent beaujolais. And the best part was dessert – rather than sorbet I opted for the fresh figs in amaretto – a bit sweet but totally delicious.

Even with the duvet on top of my sleeping bag I was a bit chilly in the early morning. It hadn’t rained but everything needed a bit of drying out. Luckily we weren’t in a hurry to leave, and even watched the day’s stage on tv at the campground’s bar. There was actually a bit of a crowd watching with us – the owner was kept busy.

Once the race on tv was over we headed out, going east a bit, then north to get on a side road. Traffic marshalls were already out controlling who could go where up the one road – we were directed to parking area 8, which is a farmer’s field several km up the mountain.

We were happy to pull in and pay the small fee, and after getting settled we walked back down the road a few hundred meters to the cafe/bar we’d passed. They had an excellent Rioja that went down very smoothly.

Scrambled eggs with bacon and onion for dinner, then an early night.

The morning was a bit grey, but it hadn’t rained. After our morning tea and a bit of breakfast we walked down to the little village again, and someone hailed us. It was a fellow that had been at the same lovely campground we’d been at near Foz last week! It really is a small world – he and his wife live in a house right up the hill from the bar.

We sat down at an outside table at the Casa Angel bar/restaurant and soaked in the sun and the atmosphere. As the afternoon progressed it became more and more busy, and cyclists by the dozens were going by us up the mountain.

At some point we decided to just stay put for the race – it was so nice where we were, and the gathering crowd was great. They had the race on tv in the bar so we knew the exact progress and when they were getting near.

There was no caravan today, as I don’t think there’s any room for them to park at the top, which is about 23 km of brutal climbing above us.

The small breakaway reached us at 4:48, followed by another small group, then the peloton. A few stragglers passed just after 5:00.

Once the riders had all passed the crowd moved indoors to watch the last bit on tv . The bar was extremely crowded so we checked out the restaurant, which had much more room – we even got a table.

I must say that the bar staff was just excellent – I’m not sure they realized quite how busy they would get, but they and the kitchen staff hustled their butts off and it was great. I think that several of the locals also pitched in from time to time when things were especially hectic so it was really nice to see.

We didn’t stay too long afterwards, but went back to the now deserted farmer’s field and had hamburgers for dinner. Not wanting to drive down the narrow road at night we were the only ones left in the field until morning.

Upon waking early I had to take Mo out to do some business, which was unusual since she normally just waits, but at 6:30 she indicated very strongly that she needed to go out.

I quickly got dressed and put on my shoes – no socks – and took her for a little walk. There are no lights around here so the stars were spectacular, even without my glasses on. Back at the campervan Mo settled down and we got another couple of hours of sleep.

We had been hearing one of the cows in the field next door – it was making more than the usual mooing sounds, and just after 10:00 we saw why. One of the mama cows was being led across our parking lot and we assume she’d been separated from her calf or something and wasn’t terribly happy about it.

We got going north shortly after, and had dialed our destination into Miss GPS. However, it seems there are several little towns with very similar names and we were taken to the wrong one.

After we picked a slightly different destination on Miss Wayz we drove about 30 km to the top of the final small climb of the day’s race, near La Madera. Upon arriving we found that Mo had been sick – discreetly on the floor beside her sometime during the drive.

We found a great place to park several hundred meters from the top, and had a nice lunch of salmon, fried potatoes and salad.

About an hour before the race arrived the caravan/cavalcade passed. As usual it was nothing like the Tour’s is, but I still got a few things, including a Movistar bag and a packet of olives that I love. And for the first time in a long time we were able to put our flags up.

Several team cars pulled up and had guys available to hand out bidons if needed. One of the fellows from Education First – Cdn Michael Woods’s team – stopped almost right in front of me and I promptly asked him, very politely of course, if he would please move to the other side of me so he wouldn’t get in the way of my shots and he happily complied. I then pointed out the Cdn flag flying proudly from the campervan and told him where I’m from and asked if he might have a bidon left after the race had passed and he said that if he did he would give me one.

The race itself arrived at 5:05 with a breakaway of 5 or 6 riders, and the peloton only 1 minute behind, including current world champion Alejandro Valverde right near the front.

I got one very interesting shot of a tv moto interviewing the Bora Directeur Sportif as they drove past. The peloton took only about four minutes to pass us and then they were gone. True to his word the EF fellow gave me a bidon as he went back down to his team car.

When we got back to the campervan, which wasn’t very far, we discovered that Mo had had another accident – this time a very bloody poop inside on the floor, and she never poops inside the campervan. We are both very concerned but are hopeful that it’s a stomach thing from her hoovering anything she can find on the ground, rather than something serious.

Once we had gotten the flags down and were on our way it was clear sailing back south to the little campground that we loved at Rio Luna.

I woke up to another wet morning, but at least after the rain in the night I wasn’t surfing in my sleeping bag.

I started taking my tent apart nice and early so I could hang the fly and groundsheet to dry before packing it up. I also must confess to a slightly embarrassing, painful, yet funny incident from yesterday. Colin had gone for a shower after our nice bike ride to Foz, and I thought it would be a good idea to open a nice cold bottle of red to sip on while I sat in the sun.

Well – there has been more than one problem with the cork in a few of the last bottles, and this proved to be no exception. I got the cork almost out and it broke, so I reinserted the corkscrew but instead of catching the cork it just pushed it down to the bottom of the neck. So I thought ok – I’ll just push it right in and it’ll be alright, so I grabbed the wooden spoon and used the handle to push the cork down. Except perhaps I pushed harder than needed, or it was almost free, because the cork shot quickly down while the wine shot quickly up.

Not only did it splash all over my favourite turquoise shirt it also got in my eyes, especially the right one. It stung so bad I couldn’t believe it – I cried and cried and I guess my tears flushed it out as I didn’t go blind and the pain did subside.

By the time Colin returned from his shower I had changed my shirt and cleaned up the counter, as well as the cutlery drawer that had been open. As I recounted to him what I had happened I was laughing so hard I cried again, but laughing tears are so much nicer than pain tears!

Anyway, I was able to pack up my tent stuff that was pretty dry and we were on our way by about 10:30. I’m sad to be leaving San Rafael campground as it’s been really lovely here.

We stopped in Ribadeo for some groceries, then continued on east before turning south to go past Oviedo, then onwards to the ‘Valley of the Bears’. This is the valley we came down last week that has the beautiful walking/cycling trail that we’d both thought would be wonderful to ride on.

We stopped at a cafe near the bottom of the trail to ask about having our bikes and Mo’s chariot hauled up so we could ride down but we were told no, unless we also rented the equipment from them.

We then drove to near the top of the trail to the town of Entrago and were told the same thing at a different company – we think it’s an insurance issue. We walked down to a small cafe/bar and had a drink and decided to drive back down and find a nice place to stop for the night, then ride up as far as we felt the next day.

At the bar there was a female boxer dog that was quite friendly, although she had tumours or growths of some kind on her back and legs. Mo didn’t mind her, however, which is a bit unusual as she normally doesn’t care for other female dogs.

We drove back down about 13 km to just past the town of Proaza, where we found a nice large parking area right next to a park, and more importantly there was access to the trail. After settling in we had a nice early night.

The next morning was a bit overcast and somewhat chilly, but there was no rain forecast so we headed out on the bikes before noon. After proceeding less than 1 km along the trail we came upon a very large group of walkers, mostly older folks. They were totally blocking the path, although when I rang my bell repeatedly they happily made way for us to pass.

As we made our way by we saw why they’d stopped – one of the bears the trail is now famous for was just on the other side of the fence right above the trail. A little further on I saw the second bear on the other side of the road, also behind a nice high fence.

Since I’d stopped more than once to take photos Colin had gotten ahead of me – I couldn’t believe how long it took me to catch up. The trail is in pretty good condition in parts, but some stretches are very rough and full of potholes and ruts, especially in the tunnels.

We passed tons of folks, both walkers and riders, mostly coming down towards us. Just after exiting one tunnel I saw a small crowd of people gathered – they were watching some mountain climbers going up the cliff.

A little further on I stopped and asked a lady and her daughter how far it was to Entrago, and while the lady didn’t speak english the girl did. She told me it was another 2 or 3 km, and she was right. The trail does go gradually up the whole way, and although I didn’t notice it so much Colin sure did, having to pull Mo in her chariot.

We sat down at the same cafe we’d been at the night before and had a really nice lunch. Colin had chips and egg while I went for the chicken breast with chips – both were excellent, and the boxer got a fair amount of my chicken as it was a huge portion.

The ride back down was considerably easier than the ride up had been – much of the way I hardly needed to pedal. As it had been a fairly tiring day we decided to stay another night in the nice parking area and head out in the morning.