by Philip

Miles : 37. Ascent : 965’. Tyre inflations : 5.

We thoroughly enjoyed staying in the wooden cabin – it had been beautifully designed and equipped and had everything we needed which made a pleasant change. In the hours of darkness, it’s a very quiet and peaceful location and we slept very well. Today promises 30 miles so we didn’t need to rush out. Shortly after 9, the daytime sounds began – there’s a military airbase close by, and fighter jets screamed overhead, obscured by the low cloud we have this morning. We knew about the base when we booked, but they only operate between 9 and 5 so we had reckoned we’d be OK. 

We loaded up as usual, enjoying a heron flying overhead, and pedalled off at 9:30 glad of the cloud cover and promise of somewhat lower temperatures. We made it 100m up the road before my back tyre gave up. Again. The same one as yesterday but with a new tube. We had inspected the tyre very carefully when I replaced the tube, so it was a puzzle. The valve on the new tube was slightly bent, which I suspect I did when attaching a pump, and we decided it could be worth trying re-inflating and tightening the valve as much as possible. 5 miles later, it’s holding which is a good sign – that tyre carries all the weight of me and my panniers. Having thrown out one of the two punctured tubes I’ve had so far this trip, I retrieved it from for dustbin and cut out the valve … if I have the same problem again I might try replacing the bent part of the valve. I continue to be grateful for my electric pump which makes light, if noisy, work of inflating my fat tyres. 

The first five miles went north to rejoin EV1 – we had needed to make the detour to find somewhere nice to stay – so retraced yesterdays steps. The cycle path ran parallel to a dual carriageway and was dead straight, smooth, and with little wind so we made good progress. At one point we heard an unusual squawking from the other side of the road, and noticed a massive aviary containing large, colourful parrots – part of a zoo we hadn’t spotted before. 

The sports store Decathlon is close to our route today (it’s where I bought new tubes yesterday – a bargain at €3 each!) so we took the opportunity to drop by and get Liz’s bike looked at – she has an annoying, occasional, clunking noise from her pedals and while we can’t see anything obvious we thought it worth getting it checked out. 

The mechanic was friendly but could do little without an appointment – he did have a quick look and reckoned Liz’s bike was probably OK but will need a new chain soon. After use of the facilities (the nicest we’ve ever seen in a shop) we headed off. The system of bike paths was quite complex, and we continued to be next to busy roads and even on a path between the two carriageways at one point. Komoot generously offered us a route along a sandy path through the woods instead of staying on the EV1 with its smooth tarmac, so we declined. Coming up a hill, we were presented with a large dune on the horizon, and a few hundred yards later we saw the Dune du Pilat, huge, high, and with quite a lot of people on its ridge. Turns out it’s the tallest sand dune in Europe, 100-115m high. Neither of us have seen dunes like this before – they dominate the landscape. There have been forest fires here in the past (not recently by the look of it) so we had the stark image of dead trees in the foreground and the majestic dunes behind. 

I was typing the paragraphs above so Liz went on. When I came to leave I found that my tyre had deflated again, so out came the pump. I found Liz a mile further on, admiring the hang-gliders soaring over the dunes, presumably enjoying thermals from the sand heated by the sun. Having stopped to look at them, the pump had to come out again. I was feeling an amount of stress now, and a new kind of range anxiety … not “how many miles left” but “how many times can I pump a tyre up”. Fortunately I have a large power bank which reduced that particular angst. We stopped shortly after at “Plage de la Lagune” and sat in the shade of the lifeguards’ hut for lunch. As we ate, I watched my tyre go down again, so implemented plan A, cannibalising the valve of the tube I’d replaced yesterday and replacing the one on the bike. That all worked well, and I pumped up the tyre … luggage back on … tyre soft. Humph. Time for plan B and a full replacement. Again. I’m getting used to these, but couldn’t quite believe that I would have another real puncture a matter of 5 miles after the last tube replacement. It turns out that a 2cm x 1cm piece of bark between an inner tube and the tyre is not conducive to the maintenance of air pressure. We reckoned that as I reseated the tyre yesterday (a tricky job) the bark had somehow found its way in … then rubbed a hole in the tube. After a total of two hours at our lunch site we finally headed off. 

We rode through an area which had been affected by fire in the recent past and was now regrowing. We could see the stumps where burned trees had been felled, and there were 8’ high bushes of gorse and broom which were flourishing, some pine saplings and the odd stand of pampas. It was good to see the environment recovering. 

The path took us through forest which was delightful, and into the outskirts of Biscarosse where there were holiday homes and campsites, advertising surf and paddle board tuition. After a while Komoot wanted us to take a sensible and direct route to our accommodation, but we chose to follow EV1 which added a number of miles but was completely worth it, taking us through a hilly forest to Biscarosse lake, a pretty place with water sports centres, with people enjoying the beach and with wading birds in the shallows. A stretch along a canal, at one point having little chalets on the bank, each with a landing stage for the resident’s boat, took us into Biscarosse itself where we found LeClerc to buy dinner. 

The last couple of miles took us mostly along a canal, which was very peaceful and gentle. We disturbed a pair of collared doves – always a favourite – apart from them, all we saw was a blackbird with a berry so big it almost didn’t fit in its beak, and a solitary magpie. We were glad to find our home for the next two nights – tomorrow is a rest day. Hooray!