Here follows a description and photographs (lots!) of our summer holiday in 1999, featuring:
In the leading roles, Wendy and Paul Beard, an Orbit tandem and a two-man tent.
First of all, a short introduction:How did it all begin?
I don't remember the exact date, some time in January, but I was busy minding my own business, messing about on the computer in the attic at home. Suddenly, a very excited Paul shouted urgently up the stairs that I had to turn the TV on - immediately! Curious to know what all the fuss was about, I did just that, just in time to catch the last 30 seconds of a feature on the BBC's holiday programme about cycling holidays. "Hmm, very nice." I said and went back to what I was doing.A week or so later, I was doing a spot of web surfing. I was actually looking for a supplier of a short-reach stem and narrow drop handlebars for my new racing bike (STI is all well and good, but it extends the reach to the hoods). Anyway, on one of the sites I found, there happened to be a link to Breton Bikes. My curiosity was awakened once more as I remembered Paul's enthusiasm from the previous week and vaguely remembered that this was the company responsible, so I followed the link....
Much e-mail correspondence followed. Finally a date was decided, along with the mode of transport - a tandem!! (In for a penny....) All that remained was to send in the deposit cheque, and tell Paul that he was going for a week cycle-camping in France.... on a tandem............
His first reaction (or should I say second, because his first was "a tandem??!!") was "Where am I going to put all my clothes?". He then spent the remaining weeks up to our holiday telling everyone who asked that we were totally mad and that I'd talked him into it (even though he'd given me the idea in the first place!).The arrival
Mid-July arrived, sunny and warm. We made the 10 1/2 hour drive from Beuningen without event. The roads were quiet, and we even avoided the traffic jams on the peripherique round Paris. We arrived in Gouarec just before 7pm - just in time to partake of the crepes which the lady running the camp site makes every Saturday evening. Tip: a bottle of Breton Cider is a must as accompaniment to the crepes, (of which it is compulsory to have at least two).Time to get acquainted with our equipment. A loud, almost bomb-proof, mustard coloured tandem beckoned. Neither of us had ridden on a tandem before, so I had a quick go on the back with Geoff on the front. Paul then leapt on and we gingerly cycled a couple of circuits of the sanitary block. So far, so good! Actually, the tandem was suprisingly easy to ride and felt very, very stable. (Good job, as it was to carry us and our belongings around for the next week!). We were then shown our tent, which was already pitched (and was a subtler shade of mustard) and given our sleeping bags, panniers and cooking equipment. In response to Paul's earlier worries about his luggage capacity, I had reserved a trailer specially to placate him. "No, you don't need that", says Geoff "One pannier each is enough for a week." A short clothes inspection by Kate followed ("you don't need that, you don't need that, you definitely won't need that...")
What do we need with more than three t-shirts and a pair of shorts anyway?So, was one pannier enough for the week? Would I regret ditching the extra clothes in order to have room for the 3 paperback novels? Would Paul regret ditching his sandals in order to allow us to carry a jar of instant coffee and powdered creamer?