Planes, Trains and Automobiles and home....

Late Sunday afternoon and after the Monaco tour.... er... not this one.....

it was time to get the real train to Nice.

Ever wondered how to get 10 people, 5 large pieces of luggage, 5 handbags & 5 Road bikes onto a train from Monaco to Nice? Easy - cram them all in!

I would have to say this is the poshest railway station in the world.... and it was cheap... I think only about 6 Euros each but I'm not sure.... but it seemed cheap nonetheless.

We camped for the next 2 days at the Campanile Acropolis in Nice before the 5 of us were back on our bikes to cycle to the Neway bicycle shop (which was further than we thought on the other side of Nice and up another bloomin hill).

However, they were expecting us and had boxes left over from new bikes that had been delivered. Phil, for some reason was needing help with his pedals again...

However, I was rocking and rolling and ready to catch the bus back into Nice.... thankfully one of the staff kindly dropped the bikes off at our hotel later on for us. We duly tipped him. Again.

Next logistical challenge was to get the 10 people, 5 large pieces of luggage, 5 handbags & 5 Road bikes and numerous souvenirs to the airport. 

Word of warning - don't try to book two spacewagon vehicles 1 hour before you need to depart. Book them the day before!!!

More by sheer chance and fluke we managed to get to super sized vehicles to take all of us with our extended luggage.... I think it worked out about £30 per couple.

Ever wondered what 5 packaged Road Bikes looks like with 5 Suitcases next to it....

The easyJet staff had made a fuss of us blokes and checked us and our bikes in ahead of everyone else which was a bonus... however, the girls were put to the back of queue and a wait ensued before we could finally go through to departures.

By this point the whole journey had taken its toll of Phil and Frank and they snoozed off...

It wasn't long before our bikes were moving one by one onto the aircraft and we were on our way home....

Day 17 - Frejus to Monte Carlo

All up early at the Kyriad for our last day on a bike on the road to Monte Carlo.

A wee look at the telemetory told us a hill at 13, 43, 50, 52, 55 and 57 miles. Mostly spikes which indicate steep hills to get over. After a few tuts about the hills, a quick photoshoot in the car park of the hotel and we were off on our 60 miler date to meet the ladies.

Another beautiful sunny day lay ahead as we left Frejus and cycled along the coast. Today’s route still had some hills in it and one of them in particular looked like a needle on our hill chart which only meant one thing – incredibly steep and the ‘granny gear’ would have to be applied.

Our initial route took us along the D559 through St Raphael and onto the D6098 to Cannes through magnificent coastline and some amazing orange hills.

I couldn't believe it - my right knee was giving me excruciating pain on this last day - just as well it was the last day! I had to say to the team just go at your own pace and I will eventually catch up with them. However, when I did it seemed more prudent just to carry on because there seemed to be less pain if I just kept cycling (it didn’t take long before the rest of them caught up and overtook again!).

This was more due to me seeing and stopping for a picture of the beautiful bay in the distance.

As I was on my own at this point I asked a group of tourists to take a photo of me and then they asked where I was cycling to - I said from Edinburgh to Monte Carlo. Their reply was 'Sorry.... say that again?', 'Edinburgh to Monte Carlo' I replied. There was a slight delay before they said 'You have got to be joking?' and I replied, 'No, but I must dash, got to catch up with the rest of the team, nice to meet you, cheerio!'  and off I went.....

However during this time a few Ibruprofen had been taken but I would have to wait a few hours before this would ‘kick in’ so to speak.

Further on we stopped for a morning coffee and a juice for the bairn (me).

We were now approaching Cannes and there was no doubt in the increase in traffic for sure...

As we reached the centre we were expecting the ‘Red Carpet’ and sure enough it was there but to be honest I don’t think any of us were impressed with the concrete stair leading up to an uninspiring building. Phil commented that it reminded him of the 'Jack Kane Centre' in Edinburgh. However, I do believe there were stairs around the side of the building which may have been the official entrance but who knows. Took a picture anyway just for the record.

We carried on regardless and headed towards Antibes where we stopped for lunch...

Baguettes all round washed down with juice for all the bairns and a chance to re-apply the Factor 50.

The cycleways were once again excellent and the route took us along a promenade on the coast for many miles and it wasnt long before we were passing the Airport and had a full view of the City of Nice.

Along the front there was effectively lanes for walking, cycling, driving and skating. Mostly folk kept to their respective lane but with the speed we were doing, we had to keep a close eye out for lane strayers.

Just before leaving Nice, we stopped off for a pit stop. We knew the end was near but 3 or 4 hills remaining in our way.

The first hill on the outskirts of Nice was relatively straight forward. 300 feet in the saddle. The follow up hills were peaks and although not high, they were steep. 5 blokes out of their saddles in the lowest gear, cycling 5 a breast for all they were worth up a steep hill. Lots of puffing panting and a few swearies later and we were there.he

Next up a gentle stroll through rocky tunnels hugging the coast....

Nearly there as we enter the outskirts of MC....

Determination to finish had got us and as we entered Monte Carlo we entered the labyrinth of tunnels that run underneath it/around it. We came out on the other side but as the gps doesn't play in tunnels, we had missed the opening we were looking for. Here it is....

(this where we should have exited.. but we kept going....)

A bit of a detour and we were back on track for the finish. Before doing the last quarter mile, those of us who had clean MC tops put them on and with a bit of deodorant you wouldn't have known we had just cycled 65 miles.

To be honest it was a bit of a nightmare trying to find the finish line where we ended up through that famous tunnel where the F1 cars go by the sea shouting neeeeyooow! In future I would definitely recommend doing a lot of prep before entering this place for bikes.

To get to the finish in Casino Square, there was one final hill. We all heaved our way up and immediately started looking for our wives and partners.

We were 5 a breast at the finish and there they were. All 5 finishing together.Great feelings of success.

Much hugging, hilarity amd photos followed. A fantastic way to bring the 17 day event to a close.

The ladies had already got a days start on us. They had checked the place out, visited some of the bars and eateries and found the very spot for our celebrations to begin in earnest.

We headed off to the Ambassador Hotel,  where we were staying for a clean up.

The evening celebration was in a local pizza eatery. A fantastic meal of pizzas and lots of red wine followed. The girls also got us a cake and at the end of the evening, there was not a lot left.

Despite being pretty tired, all the team stayed up late and did the Monte Carlo tour. It was good to be able to walk off the meal and take in the sights at night.

In bed by 1am. A first for this tour.

Got another day in Monte Carlo and then we will all take the train to Nice for 2 days to see out the remainder of the tour.

No cycling just R & R.

No doubt we will look back on this charity cycle and think – did we actually do this? Yes we did… there was NO doubt about it.

But most importantly we had just cycled over 1,300 miles/ 2000km and raised a huge amount for Prostate Cancer.

(Saturday 13th September 2014)

Day 16 - La Seyne sur Mer to Frejus

All feeling good after a night in the Premier Classe Inn in La Seyne Sur Mer. Some slept better than others.

The term 'Premier' would give you a whole different description of this place, although the staff were very friendly and it was not an expensive stop off. The toilet area is so small you can sit on the pan, wash your hands and have a shower at the same time. Bizarre! Taking account of cost though, it wasn't too bad.

Off and running at 8.15 this morning, 6 or 7 peaks according to the telemetory and nothing over 400 feet. All good in my ears but 400 feet from sea level can still get you pecking if it's straight up.

Today was the day we thought we were going to have yesterday. Cycling along the fronts of the coastal ports and bays, watching how the other half do it.

The first few miles took us through Toulon. They look after cyclists there and the route was again well navigated by Alan, who hardly took a wrong turn all day.

As we cycled through the town we saw their rugby ground as we filled up our water bottles at a BP garage.

Once out of the big City, we were back heading towards the coast. We bumped into a local who cycles daily in the area. Spends all morning on his bike chatting with cyclists passing through and spends the afternoon at the shops with his lady. A good trade off I would say.

He took us along for quite a few miles and chatted away at the front. Im sure it was a very interesting conversation but as i was never at the front, it never involved me.

Our first coffee of the day was at 30 miles. Double Expressos all round and an Orangina for the bairn (me).

8 miles later we were on the coast and looking at a very posh Greggs for lunch in Cavalierre. Bagettes all round and we were off to picnic on the beach.

After lunch, the road layout became very much a winding one round the bays and cliffs of the coast. Very up and down and without realising it we were knocking the miles off, as it never gave you much time to get into a groove with the constant changing landscape.

So big hills today at 7, 32 and 52 miles were the ones that got you down to the lowest gears but the views again were well worth it and at a top height of 400 feet, they were well less than we have being doing recently.

It wasn't long before we saw the signs to turn right for St Tropez but as we were in line for reasonable time to finish for the day we went straight on (an excuse to come back again to this region).

We passed Port Grimaud and zipped along the coast stopping for a wee photo op with St Tropez in the background across the water.

We cycled on to the town of Saint Maxine on another roasting toasting day which could only mean we would have our traditional beer stop by the beach this time!

With 20 miles to go, the landscape flattened out and we hugged the coast line to our final destination in Frejus.

A very staight forward last few miles, saw today as being pretty non eventful but with the sights, food, photos and banter, it was undoubtedly one of the best.

A Kyriad Hotel to finish with before our arrival in MC and a great hotel it is too. Food was beef stew (can't spell bourgingion) and the helpings were excessive, as they have been for much of the tour.

The big news of the day was that the girls had flown into Nice and had made their way to MC. From the photos it would appear that the girls have wasted no time in getting out and about suss out the surroundings. Some brilliant photos appearing on the media sites this evening.

So, needless to say we are all looking forward to meeting up with our ladies again tomorrow. Folk are generally smelling a bit better than they have been in the last 2 weeks. Phil sent a text to Jenifer earlier re the beard saying 'to shave or not to shave, that is the question?' Her reply was 'to kiss or not to kiss, now that is the question?' The beards gone.

75 miles done and in hotel before 5pm - a record!

Looking forward to getting into the last leg of the tour, meeting the girls and having a photoshoot in Cannes tomorrow (not necessarily in that order).

Day 15 - Martigues to La Seyne Sur Mer

We thought this was a cycle to the coast and a meander along the various promenades around the coast with us getting to our digs with minimum burn out. Not even close.

Off we went at 8.30. Me with a clean box chocolate free. Hate to think what the cleaner will think when they see the towels I used to clean it. Will probably resemble the Monte Carlo Rally on a towel.

Into rush hour traffic in Martigues and in and out of the streets there. A few minor difficulties with the gps but fair play to Alan again for working through it and using the old I.T. trick of 'switching it off and switching it back on again' works every time. 

I would come back here again...  Martigues is such a beautiful place.

We climbed out of Martigues on another hot stifling day with very little wind and it wasn't long before we needed a water stop. We found a road side cafe who were delighted to offer us water while a watching rotweiller gave us the evils but couldn’t be arsed to chase us because of the heat.

We hit the coast again but thinking it was plain sailing along there then think again... more hills...  more sweat dripping....

Popped around the outside of a tunnel and voila we were back at the side of the Med for a quick photo or two or three of a bridge.

We arrived in Marseille a couple of hours later via a climb of some 900 feet. It felt a bit more than that with it being the first real climb in 2 days. I was a wee bit concerned that it had gone unnoticed earlier in the day when we studied the paperwork with the others when it was compared with what was to follow.

Marseiĺlle was initially like a scene out of the French Connection with masses of concrete and spiralling roads above our heads. It looked industrial initially but as we got to the centre,  it was clear that it has a lot to offer. We stopped for a quick coffee and drink refuel.

Again, Alan came to the rescue navigating us between the winding streets. A few people spoke to us whilst passing through. One was a chef from Stockbridge, another had done the same tour as ourselves from London last year.

I thought we had overshot MC and gone into Italy with the bus behind saying Rome... see pic below...

....but a quick check of the number plate confirmed we were still in France and I wasn't hallucinating.

They like to promote the bicycle here but not sure about the abundance of bike lanes though...

As soon as we were out of Marseille, the big climb of the day arrived at 32 miles. 1000 feet straight up and at a serious gradiant had us puffing. The wind in the back was nice but when you turned the corner and it was in your face it was quite pleasant too. 

Various drops back to sea level, followed by big climbs kept us busy for some hours. Very tiring but broke up the day and the views over the Med were so worth it. Phil managed to get the speedo to record 60 kph today on one of the descents.

Into the last 5 miles and we stopped on the coast for a beer. Lovely Port of Sanary Sur Mer, lots of boats and a great photo opperchancity.

#LETMETAKEASELFIE

We got back on the bikes and finished the cycle heading in land to the outskirts of Toulon. Another Premier Inn means functional but limited in what they offer but thankfully the last type of this hotel on the journey. 

Food was a 400 gm steak and chips. All good and ready for bed.

So 80 miles, 5 big climbs, 2 over 1000 feet, 35 degrees recorded and a top speed of 60 kmh. Everyone tired tonight after unexpected hills today but the beaches were lovely.

80 miler tomorrow, with an option if we fancy of taking in St Tropez as an extra. But unlikely to fit it in.

Partners all arrive in Nice tomorrow and head down to Monte Carlo. Looking forward to seeing them all.