Alison and Alison and the art of re-tyrement

Cycling from London to Spain

Day 17 Poitiers to Condac

Distance 53.9 miles

A momentous day.

Woke refreshed after a sleep in a comfortable bed, clean clothes to wear and a delicious breakfast.

Our continuing search for a cycle shop was fruitless. They are all closed in France on a Monday. Undeterred we made our way to Decathlon where a very special event took place.

Alison has had her panniers for 32 years and the fixing clips have broken. They have been attached to her bike with bungees.

We agreed on a phased approach.

Step 1. Alison throwing away the out of date Elastoplast strip.

Step 2. Throwing away the broken old panniers and replacing them with some brand new ones.

All is well. Alison is doing fine and no sign of PTSD yet.

We think the vintage panniers might have been causing the puncture problem as they bounced up and down on the bike. 54 miles today with new panniers and no punctures.

Made our way to a campsite in the middle of nowhere. As usual the website is inaccurate. No restaurant or food available until mid-June. But we are up to it. Tonight we had microwavable Mediterranean rice with sweetcorn cooked on a gaz stove in a billy can. Anything is delicious after 54 miles.

Tomorrow we go in search of another bike shop. Our day wouldn’t be complete without it.

Or perhaps we should just go to the supermarket.

Good night.

alisonmiddleditch

2 responses to “Day 17 Poitiers to Condac”

  1. chrisincarshalton avatar
    chrisincarshalton

    We can’t tell you how relieved we are that a mystery appears to have been solved. But, we fear that consequences may well ensue. Al may SEEM fine, but throwing away an ancient unused elastoplast could in itself be enough to make her wake screaming at midnight. But, we fear that the disposal of prehistoric panniers is likely to necessitate medication in the not-too-distant future. However, we are sure Alison knows this and has taken relevant precautions by sleeping with one eye open until the danger period passes. As for the lack of open shops and refreshment opportunities, we think the French may just be recovering from losing the Eurovision Song Contest. So take heart! You WILL locate another croissant before Spain. Xxxx

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    1. alisonmiddleditch avatar
      alisonmiddleditch

      It’s not the croissants that are the problem. Have located only two ice creams since arriving here.

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