22nd September (cloudy, windy,.cool) 79 km

With good wifi connection at this camp, first priority this morning was getting the wages done so I got stuck into that while Pete ran around getting the breakfast things ready and tidying up the tent.  The wifi connection seemed a lot slower this morning so that was a bit frustrating but eventually got the job done and were on the road about 9.30am.

The plan today was to ride for the city of La Rochelle and perhaps go to the island off the coast there called Ile de Re.  Elizabeth knew a bit about the area having been here before and was keen to get to the island, but it was 70 km to La Rochelle and knowing how adept we are at picking up extra kms, I was wary of committing to the island.

Stopping in the market of La Tranche Sur Mer

Started off with a leisurely walk with the bikes through the market of La Tranche Sur Mer, where we all picked up some treats from the patisserie before beginning the search for the cycle path out of town.  We instinctively headed for the beach and after a bit of searching, found the track and at last we were off.  Pete, Elizabeth and myself were all cruising and talking and shortly into the ride, we realised we’d lost Phil.  We didn’t know if he was ahead of us or behind us so I cycled further up the track to see if I could see him around the corner, but no.  Pete cruised up to me and said Elizabeth had gone back to look for him and seeing as we all had phones, we knew we would catch up eventually. 

So Pete and I cruised along the beachside towns, enjoying the relaxed vibe and stopping a couple of times to pick up fruit and bread.  At L’Aguillion-Sur-Mer we met up with Phil and Elizabeth at the Super U supermarket where we all stocked up and then went for lunch at some nearby picnic tables.

Bleak and windy 

The wind this morning had been a pleasant breeze, but from this point on it graduated through all the stages to eventually become a howling nightmare.  Our path took us over vast flatlands on the edge of the Atlantic with no protection from this building force and this afternoon’s ride was not pleasant at all.  To add to this, some of the paths were pretty bumpy and I felt for Phil and Liz on their skinnier tyres.

Pete and Elizabeth

Still managing to smile at this stage

A cool but very bleak looking old church from the 12th century where we stopped for afternoon tea

Phil and the fishermen do their best to avoid looking at the legless beggarwoman at the end of the bridge.....
(she was actually just another exhausted cyclist who had her legs ground down to nubs from battling the wind)

The only point of interest along this stretch was the mussel fishermen who were out in force, fishing from the murky depths with big nets on winches.  Otherwise, it was just a slog and we were grateful at last to pull into a town with a Super U supermarket and a campground, just north of La Rochelle at 5.30pm.  After stocking up, we pulled into the campground and I was so knackered I didn’t even check the tariff board outside.  Phil and Liz did though and said they were going on to the island. 

Pete with undies fluttering off handlebars.

So we said goodbye and I went into the office, where she told me to go pick a site and then come back and pay…..25 euros!!  The most we’ve paid the whole trip is 16 for just two of us.  I checked MapsMe and it said there was a municipal camp 2.3 km away, so we cycled to that.  However, it didn’t even exist anymore and was just an empty field.  Checked one other and that was closed and it was now 6.30pm. 

So decided to go back to the expensive camp but when we went to choose our 25 euro site, it was all rocks!  I kid you not – I should have taken a photograph but by now was so dispirited at having had the tantalising thought of finishing for the day, getting showered and enjoying the ice cold shandy in my panniers snatched away from me, that it was all I could do to climb back on my bike and get out of there.  Even wanting to stop so badly, I could not bring myself to pay such an exhorbitant amount of money for the worst site we’d seen.

Had to admit, it was a good idea!

So we messaged Phil and Liz who had just got to the island and were at an open campground and told them we were on our way.  We resolved to ourselves to check out any campgrounds on the way but there weren’t any.  We only had a short ride through town, enjoying the brief reprieve from the wind that the buildings gave us and all too soon we were back out in it again.  Not a tree or piece of greenery could be seen, just a vast empty wasteland stretching out before us and it was hard to believe there was a bridge and an island out there somewhere.  We rounded a small hill and there was the bridge rising up over the ocean in a 4km long arc.  We knew this would be a battle as the wind was right in our faces and now we had to climb up the hill of the bridge as well, totally exposed with no protection.  We were glad our bikes were as heavy as they were so we wouldn’t get blown off it.

We looked forward to reaching the top so we could enjoy the downhill, but it never seemed to come.  The wind was so strong, we just had to pedal hard the whole way.  Thankfully Phil and Liz had done the hard work of finding an open campsite and we knew this effort would be rewarded with a rest at the end.  Gratefully pulled into camp about 7.30pm where as soon as we got the tent up, I went for a shower but was really too tired to eat.  Managed to drink that longed-for shandy and had a bit of bread and cheese and then just gratefully fell into bed.  When we’d been at that first camp, I was utterly exhausted and we’d done 61km – by the time we got to the island, we’d done 79km. 

Pete here; The wind today really ruined the ride. Like Julia mentioned, it was blowing straight off the Atlantic which was fine with the morning breeze, but terrible with the gusting gale during the entire afternoon and evening. By the time we had to cross the bridge to the island (and it is some bridge… although we didn’t get a shot last night, as we were too scared to get the camera out in case it blew out of our hands)  Julia was very tired. I was concerned about her as she’d complained a couple of times earlier in the afternoon of diaphragm pain and couldn’t catch her breath. Anyone who knows Julia, also knows that she never complains, so it probably didn’t help with me telling her I didn’t think we should pay 25 euros for a rocky outcrop and should push on to the island. I have to admit, the ride to the bridge and then over it was horrific. It’s 3kms up the La Rochelle side and 1km down to the island. Part way up I’m yelling over my shoulder, as she’s tucked in behind me trying to get some protection…”Don’t worry hon, nearly there, soon at the top “ No reply from behind…..until this barrage of abuse comes hurtling from behind. I got that much of a shock, I nearly rammed into the side rails.

At the top I yelled back….”Yay, all cruisy now hon,“ not taking into account the force nine gale we were pedalling into, that was preventing any downhill movement without us pedalling as hard as we could. It was a huge relief to reach the campground and get out of that wind - I also fell into bed after a brief dinner.  It was probably only about 9pm.