In the summer of 2003 Europe was hit by a long and intense heatwave, which according to scientists was the hottest on records for the northern hemisphere. With this as a backdrop I set off from the Spanish port of Santurtzi (near Bilbao), and cycled over the Pyrenees through the strength sapping heat of Southern France to the little village of St Bonnet where I rested for a couple of days before heading north to catch the boat in Caen.
I make it sound easy, but I have to be honest and say that it was one of the toughest I had done so far. A number of times I was told by the Gendarme to stop cycling because (unknown to me at the time) many people lost their lives that summer. It didn't take long to form a plan that would help me get the miles in without having to do too many in the midday sun, it was simple I would leave the campsite at the crack of dawn and do most of the miles then, leaving midday to late afternoon for rest in the shade of a village square or in the cool air of a church. Each day I got through nearly 7 bottles of water and a liter of fruit juice - I was a thirsty man!
The end result was 2600Km in just over 20 days.
Here is a list of some of the places I visited along the way, those in bold are where I spent the night:
Santurtzi (nr Bilboa), Gernika-Lumo, Elgoibar, Azpeitia (nr St Ignacio de Loiola), Tolosa, Leitza, Doneztebe/Santesteban, St Etienne de Baigorry, St Jean-Pied-de-Port, Oloron Sainte Marie, Tardets-Sorholus, Arudy, Lourdes, Tarbes, Lubret St Luc (nr Trie), Castelnau, Bologne-s-Gesse, Boussens, Carbonne, Autrive, Mazeres, Castelnaudary, Alzonne, Moussoulens, Conques S - Orbiel (nr Carcassone), Peyriac - Minervois, Olonzac, Roujan, Gignac, St Martin de Londres, Pic St Loup, Quissac, Uzéz, Chateauneuf du Pape, Carpentras, Bourdeaux, Die, Romans, Chateauneuf-de-Galaure, Condrieu, Rive-de-Gier, Chazelles-s-Lyon, St Galmier, Les Aires (near Feur), Ebruil, Eguzon, Chisseaux (Chenonceaux), Brou (Yevres), St Pierre s-Dives (near Lisieux), and Caen.
Route map:
To view detailed slideshow, click here.
