Guten Morgen Deutschland

Tuesday 20th August

As the sun rose over the river Rhine I leisurely packed away my things as I knew I had all day to ride 40km to Freiburg. The change from France to Germany is literally a bridge over the river, no "Wilkommen to Deutschland!" sign I thought there might be for Nigel to pose under. The whole morning I didn't see a car. They have special cycle paths tucked away from the road that run parallel to the main roads so you can sing away till your hearts content without killing anyone. (This I surely did) I was halfway through belting out "this is the girl" by Craig David when a road cyclist flew past me. He didn't even give me a chance to hold my helmet out for a collection!

The road into Freiburg is again beautiful and they have fields of flowers that you can go pick and just leave a donation in the pot by the stand. I came across another blackberry bush similar to the one by the railway in St Omer but these berries were massive so I felt rude to leave it untouched. No donation box so I had breakfast and pushed on. About 3km away from the town centre I noticed some ladies football training going on. Naturally I cycled over and chatted to a guy that was watching. His girlfriend was a player and it was the professional Freiburg team so i was very interested to see how they work. (If you dont know the German ladies team are immense and European champions) They finished 5th in their premiership last season and they all get paid to play and train twice a day. They were only doing fitness in the morning which looked far too much hard work in the 30 degree heat but I was very impressed with their footwork. I wanted to have lunch so told Niels the guy that I will return at 6pm to see some actual football being played and spread the word of my trip.

Pushing the bike around Freiburg was nice, busy, but nice. Bumped into 3 lads, 2 from Bristol one from London who started in Budapest and were cycling around Europe doing a boozy one and ending in Amsterdam. Another very tempting proposition but even I try not to mix cycling with booze, ends in too many broken wing mirrors!

As I walk aimlessly around the centre looking for a wifi sign a man on a bike is trying to catch my eye. I recognise him but can't remember where from, then he approaches me. "You sing on fahrrad!" It was the guy I unknowingly seranaded coming back for an encore about 3 hours later. We both laughed and I walked on still out of pocket! Next time i get in the mood, I'm checking my shoulder before I feel like giving "Living on a prayer" my all.

After a bit more wandering and a lonely romantic lunch of two cheese, tomato and ham baguettes (one for me and the other for my shadow but he didn't eat his as he was having a lie down at the time so I had his) I returned back to the football ground for round two and to see if I could meet the coach. 

I waited for a while to be fair, about 4 hours. You see there isn't actually that much to do in Freiburg so I just sat in the sun doing a crossword and talked to myself. When the coach did arrive he was great! Dietmar was his name and he was more than happy for me to watch and take photos although the girls were off on a run for an hour while he stayed with the goalkeepers. I was ok with that, he's a Uefa A Licensed coach and I'm here to learn! Before the girls went for a run he sent two of his more able English representatives over to me to get more facts so they could properly explain to the rest of the group. Sylvia and another that I forget the name of unfortunately, were equally as lovely and I had a few group photos and it made the whole waiting around well worth it. 

The girls were put into groups of three with pace makers and were told to run for exactly an hour and I believe to stick to a certain heart rate. While this went on I picked up some good goalkeeping sessions and when all the girls returned they played on for a further 45 minutes or so.

All the players and staff were so hospitable not just Dietmar and they were clearly a very talented and close-knit group of players. The training was sharp and well organised as i would expect but still light hearted to ensure it wasn't all work an no play. I will look forward to monitoring their progress this season and wish them all the best.

By the time things had finished, it was getting pretty cold and pretty dark. I asked If they had security that checked around the fields and they said no, so I asked If I could camp by the pitch. "Don't see why not" seemed to be the general consensus but still with the uncertainty of possible security this would be my most stealthfull camp yet. Tucked in the shadows from nearby street lights, far enough into stinging nettles to cause a nuisance when pushing pegs in (pretty sure I'm immune to their attack now) I pitched my tent on the training ground of a women's bundesliga team. You could not do this in England! Fact!

I knew the next day I would have to be up at the crack of dawn so i didnt unpack everything but was again pleased with another days work. Amazingly after only scheduling one day for Germany, I managed to get my German football experience in and it was a professional one of a very very good standard. Big pat on the back. 

All the best in the future SC Freiburg I will hopefully see you again!

Rainy days and Mondays always get me....UP!

Monday 19th August

Well where do I start? Get yourself a cup of tea, this could take a while.

I woke up as usual around half 7 when the birds get too unbearable with their singing to roll over and ignore and besides, today I had a made breakfast to wake up too. I got packed up and was ready at 8:30am at Marie Claire's. I met her husband Bernard who did not speak so much English but that wasn't a problem and walked into the kitchen to find a lovely little French breakfast laid out just for me. The two of them had already had theirs and Marie Claire was busy on the phone talking to her cooker company, so she let me get stuck in to homemade black currant jam, fresh bread, tea and cornflakes. A great start to the day which continued with a little chat about the day plans and how far I had to cycle etc. After telling Marie Claire my plans she proposed I should stop at la Schlecht as cycling all the way to Colmar was too far and very hard going. This put me in a little doubt as I am already half a day behind my initial plans and thought if all the mountain ranges were this tough then I should add another week onto my time in Switzerland!

Anyway Marie Claire said the weather should be fine and sent me on my way towards Colmar and the mountains. Now don't get me wrong, Marie Claire is an absolute angel but she has as much weather forecasting talent as Michael Fish. In less than 5 minutes of leaving Marie Claire the heavens opened and the further I rode, the darker and wetter it got. The higher I cycled, the darker and wetter it got. At one point visibility must've been less than 100m and I found myself cycling up 1300m with a shear drop to my right, and cars and lorries flying past on my left, concentration and determination were definitely on the menu at this point. There were no time for breaks, I knew where I had to get to and that was la Schlecht, this would be my checkpoint however long it took. After just over 3 hours of torrential rain and an hour of that climbing, in which I played various games to keep me motivated I arrived at a restaurant in la Schlecht. Screw the budget I thought, im treating myself. Chicken nuggets and chips for me and multiple trips to the bathroom to dry myself off. During lunch I met three men from Brussels, a father, son and his friend who were motorcycling around the area. We had a good chat and after telling them about my trip one guy gave me some money for a "decent meal." This came completely out of the blue but was a great show of generosity and I am truly thankful for that. Amazingly by now the sun had come out which gave me more time to dry and I sat and talked to two hikers from Germany until I was ready to go again. One of the men from Brussels assured me it was all downhill to Colmar and even showed me on the map a more scenic and flatter way to get there. The next 45 minutes I don't think I touched the pedals! It was without a doubt the most beautiful ride I have done down the mountain through Munster and other villages I forget the name of. Cycling past vineyards through tiny villages with their winding roads and perfect gardens. The whole area was like an oasis for games, flowers and happy feelings.

Arriving in Colmar continued the good vibes with lots of people, nice parks and everywhere you looked seemed to be a photographers dream. Taking pictures of the intricate buildings and not knowing where to look or where to go next as everywhere looked like it had a hidden treasure around the corner. I was honestly gutted that I wasn't staying there the night and half contemplated looking for a hostel but its definitely on my list of places to go back too, maybe with someone else though instead of on my jack jones.

Anyway, just leaving Colmar after spending a bit of money on treats from Lidl I notice a couple of nice football pitches by the side of the road. There were a couple of kids and a coach so I thought I may take a detour and check it out, after all it was 4pm and the sun was still up!

The coach's name was Alain and the team was AS Andolsheim. The boys were U11 and there were only 5 of them with another assistant coach Vieux. I told them what I was doing and Alain was more than happy for me to get involved. The first hour I watched and then as they had odd numbers Alain got me playing in the game at the end. The kids were great,  Loic, Noir and Luca just like any kids stuck me in net straight away! I got a little bit disheartened but when I saw Alain had set up a 60x40yrd pitch for a 4v4 I was chuffed to stay in my area! Now with the story I have of being a coach and riding all this way, when you play in different countries you like to do your own country proud by not looking like an idiot. I failed in doing this right when I slipped up trying to out do an 11 year old with a Cruyff turn. To be honest though, that only added to the embarrassment of wearing cycling shorts whilst playing football! Not a good look! The game ended in a penalty shoot out and I made up for things by calmly smashing the ball passed a very frightened 11 year old, straight down the middle, worst penalty ever but I wasn't taking any chances.

Alain asked me to stay for 20 minutes after training for a drink and a chat, I had no plans so went along with it. It turns out that Alain is a reporter for the local newspaper and was very interested in my story. We did a quick interview, I spoke about Saints Foundation and Kick  4 Life and what I'm actually doing and he said he would email me the article!

So there you have it! Media time in France! I was so happy to get a bit I French football in before I reached Germany and it looked almost impossible but not only did I meet a couple of great guys and some great kids, but got in the local paper as well!

After our chat I just hopped back on Nigel and left, felt quite bizarre really but I still had to find a place to stay and by this time the sun was setting pretty quickly. Cycling on another massive high I flew past possible camping grounds riding ever closer to Germany. My body should be shattered as I've had no rest days in 9 days and today I'm pushing 80 miles and a bit of football but I'm buzzing on adrenaline. I eventually find my best spot to date, on the bank of the river Rhine overlooked by a castle. I knew it had been used to camp in before as there were alot of wet wipes in the area. Ive been meaning to buy wet wipes myself but with the packaging so similar and being in the same shelved vicinity in the shop,  I run the risk of spending money on sanitary towels instead so I've opted out completely. 

Today has been an amazing chain of events and I thank all those involved from when I woke up to when I finally went to sleep. It really has blown me away.

Lets hope for more days like this in the future.

The hounds of hell are calling!

Sunday 18th August

After the disappointing end of the day with my rice fiasco all I wanted was a decent night sleep, unfortunately this was not to be.

There are a few issues with forest camping compared to field camping, one being the lack of morning shower as I've touched upon previously but the other is the vast increase in creepy noises that you hear throughout the night. I would like to think now that I have experience with  what an approaching French police officer sounds like, along with beetles under leaves and the odd bird or too. Birds are initially very startling as they can come from anywhere at any point but if you remember this then you can sleep easily knowing its not a boogie monster as their noise would become gradually more terrifying. Last night I experienced a nutcase of a dog. I was sure the forest was vast and with towns at least 5 miles either side I would sleep easily with just the hum of the crickets. How wrong I was! This dog would charge to one area and bark then charge to another and bark like some sick game of Marco Polo. The whole night my body lay tensed with the thought of him popping up in my sleeping bag and barking! So leaving for another day on the bike I was quite sleep deprived.

However, before I left for another day I became officially at one with the earth. If you don't understand this then move onto the next paragraph. I don't know if I blame it on the rice or the shaken disposition caused by the dog but I was woken to an urge that I had been previously lucky to experience in public establishments. Unfortunately when I have previously entered supermarkets, juice and cheese have taken the main stage and toilet paper has been remembered just as I'm leaving to the next town. This put me in a situation today that I'm sure many people have been in before. This sort of situation tests the ingenuity of a person and really sorts the winners from losers. Leaves! I hear you say. Well small leaves are a no go and some bigger leaves maybe soft but also house bugs and can devastatingly break half way through wiping so I had to think of something better. Then I remembered, my medical kit contained a triangular bandage, Jackpot! Just ripped a bit off the corner as to not jeopardise its arm supporting potential and both parties are happy. Small successes like these are going to get me through this adventure I'm sure.

The headwind made an unwelcome return but my legs are getting stronger now and i made good ground towards Epinal today. The landscape is changing to steeper hills but more woodland areas so there is more shade on the road which I'm thankful for, as I'm becoming more aware of a white forehead developing where my helmet is.

Spirits were high during my apple and baguette stops and I treated the passing motorists to a rendition of "Angels" at the top of my voice. As the wind picked up I probably looked more like Michael Jackson in Earth song but I enjoyed myself at least.

As it started to rain I was glad that I could get behind a car and catch some of its spray to clean myself a little. The idea soon went bad as I cycled through country roads where the cars flicked up all the good hearty  earth that you expect to see on a country road!

Hitting 550 miles since I began a week ago I was adamant I was going to get proper permission from a farmer to stay somewhere and not risk another hounds from hell saga. Just off my main route to Colmar I saw a nice little house with a pristine garden surrounded by some empty fields, this is it, this is the one.

I hopped off Nigel and wheeled him upto the front door with high hopes. "Bonjour, etc etc" I tried to explain I would only be spending one night and to do this i say "un" and then the first day that comes into my head, in this case it was "jeudy" (excuse my spelling) The lovely little lady named Marie Claire said "no, tomorrow is Monday." Yes! get in, my instincts served me well again. She said I couldn't camp in her garden (she tried  to say something about the hard ground but I think it was because her lawn was perfect and she didn't want me ruining it) but she pointed me to a great spot opposite her house. With a bounce in my step and thought of a good night sleep I pitched up and began cooking some sweet and sour noodles.

Shortly after, Marie Claire approached offering me dinner. Absolutely gutted I had already began mine I painfully declined but then she offered me breakfast and who am I to say no to that!

So as it stands I'm watching the sunset after a good feed and looking forward to having breakfast with such a kind lady who is really the first person in 5 days of France that I've had half a conversation with. Maybe if my French was better this could've been the case throughout. Either way, even the hospitality that I have received by getting fresh water when only asking for refills has been a great blessing and in my experiences, the French have not been anything like the way most people assume.

A major thought that runs through my head now though is, what am I going to wear? Today was my one week anniversary so I changed my shirt earlier. Now both shirts stink and the black and white marbled affect from salt stains is never a good look not to mention adding crusted socks and shorts to that. Probably best make the most of this breakfast as it could be the last time I'm let into a house!

 

After my first visit with Marie Claire

Ricely does it

Saturday 17th August 

Today was 95% the best day but 5% tarnished it slightly, that comes later. It all started with a nice cool morning as I found myself a woodland spot between to two fields to camp in. Due to this, unfortunately no morning shower as there was no dew but I had a good 8 hours sleep so felt fresh.

The wind dropped and the roads smoother compared to yesterday all be it still rolling, meant I managed to get to my first town Bar le Duc in good time to get in touch with a few people via another McDonald's wifi.

This time I succumbed to the pressure of the burger but whether it was the quick snack or a quick catch up with loved ones i dont know but I felt absolutely brilliant for the rest of the day. The wind made my hair stand up on end as I coasted down hills and powered back up the otherside and this brought a feeling of change to my day. I have been quite reserved recently so this new lease of life convinced me to push the boat out today and do something crazy! 

I continued to reassure myself that what I was going to do later will be a great idea as I motored through town after town. The appearances of each town also growing in beauty further adding to my amazing day.

After 70 miles of good cycling I decided to camp up in another forest as the landscape is slowly changing to woodland. Right, this is it I thought, tonight I'm having rice! For the past 5 days I have been eating packet pasta and adding the odd frenchitie to it but today  I said no! Tonight I'm having rice!

Unfortunately this is where my day turned slightly as when it comes to cooking rice I'm more like Uncle Buck then Uncle Ben. I like a good thick sauce and I even bought a baguette to mop up the mess tin with. This in itself was a risk because carrying a metre long baguette Bungy corded to your bike is not only a major aerodynamic faux pas ( I should know, I'm an engineer) but also an open invitation for aerial attacks!

I was essentially a moving bird feeder or just a game to some of them. Knowing this i pedalled extra fast to find cover and a place to pitch up. Everything was coming together nicely and things just seemed to click. As it happened the water boiled before the rice was done and I didn't want to add more to risk a runny rice soup so just had to make do with hard pellets of rice getting stuck in my teeth. Then to top it off I've ran out of hobnobs! Tuc crackers have salvaged something back from the evening's meal though but if hard rice and no hobnobs is all I have to be disheartened about then let's hope everyday goes like today.

If you haven't already figured out then today was pretty faultless and not much happened...

At last a "town"

Friday 16th August

Without a shadow of a doubt the hardest day yet. An early start because the tent was like a sauna and this did not do any good to the unearthly smell that my sleeping bag continues to kick out. There are two major annoyances for cyclists in my eyes. Head wind and having to go back on yourself. Today I had this within the first hour and the head wind stayed for the whole day! Heading towards Reim from Laon i noticed that some joker had seemed to duct tape out the town Reim from all the signs. I was pretty sure that the place still existed so continued to push up and down countless hills into the wind with the heat now reaching 30. It just so happened that there was a roadblock and instead of blocking the road fully the French like to put a cone in the road that anyone can go around and just duct tape out the town. My diversion wasn't too bad and too be honest unless a bridge has collapsed or the town has literally been wiped off the earth, bikes can go anywhere!

   

Reim turned out to be a very lovely town which actually had people. Some of these people were amazingly under the age of 30 and weren't farmers! Today you would've spotted me being very French collapsed in front of the Notre dame cathedral eating a baguette with Brie. As I headed toward my next destination it came apparent that a whole baguette and 250g of Brie makes you unable to cycle or do pretty much anything so I had to have an extra stop before powering through the relentless headwind and coming dangerously close to no water for miles.

If you're wondering about the shower situation as it has been 5 days now, then here's the deal. Rivers where I've been have been not existent and the two that I have seen have had more green skin on than shrek. The truth is I have only had two ways to shower, once in the morning when you shake the top sheet off the tent you get a nice splattering of dew on your body. I have to be sure to do this topless as to not let my t-shirt steal all the moisture however. Secondly as I'm cycling along and it's been a couple of hours, I squeeze my helmet against my head and the protective cushioning in the helmet releases a fine dribble of salty water onto my legs. Got to keep your mouth closed and lean forward slightly for this one as not to not get in your eyes though, stings a little.

Hope this makes you feel better and if not, alot cleaner at least!

A insight to mainland France

Thursday 15th August

Not much to report today compared to my previous events. A horrible head wind made it tough going all day and the temperature is getting hotter the more in land I go. Found out today that cycle paths are not just for bicycles they are for most two wheelled vehicles! On a nice wide path digging into a hill with my head down I looked up to see a moped heading straight for me! Note to self, keep your head up! 

Took some time to take in mainland France today and have made these findings: For some reason everything is closed, my dreams of cycling through little villages in the morning through amazing smells of freshly baked bread and croissants has been systematically destroyed as all i get is farm smell and not even so much as a corner shop is open, there must be some holiday explanation for this.

If you like farming then mainland France is your Disneyland, with corn fields one side and haystacked fields the other. In the morning the smell can be quite fruity with the rising heat but in the evenings your senses will come alive as the sun sets, today it was strangely pumpkin and vast lavender fields. Incidentally the senses in your behind come alive aswell after the constant agony of what can only be described as sitting on a rusty clothes mangle for 6-7 hours, sometimes you'll get a nice pinching sensation which means its time to stop and find a place to camp up!

During lunchtime hours I've tried to stop in so called "towns" for a nap and some food. People tend to stare at me and for this I don't judge them. Today you would find me past out next to a McDonald's drive through fingering garlic cream cheese onto half a baguette, I didn't care though, had free wifi!

Managed to find another farm to camp up in. Eric was the guys name, looked like Phil Mitchell, again he didnt speak any English which I expected as I guess not many blokes from West Country speak French but slept well ready for another day...

Camping ground at the wind farm 

Allo Allo Allo!

Wednesday 14th August 

Last night i made an executive decision before it got too dark to camp up on some grass by a campervan and truck stop in St Omer. I had a bit of cover and the sun set pretty quickly so before I knew it I was cooking noodles with my head torch. During the night I was awoken to an almighty roar and the tent was shaking back and forth like an earthquake. My great spot for a nights kip turned out to be about 6 feet from a railway with just bushes between however for some reason not all the trains made as much noise as the first so I soon dropped back off.

Today was my first meeting with the French police, it turns out I can't camp at some truck stops. They approached with caution and kindly called out "POLICE, no camping" and I answered from inside my tent, "yeah sure no worries, 2 minutes." I forgot where I was at first as my tent is like a little time machine. I leave it in one country and wake up in it in another!

Things could've been a lot more eventful if they had charged in to wake me up though. As I heard the sound of branches cracking beneath their feet I was in a state of self repair, more specifically I was completely starkers nursing antiseptic cream into a rash/wound that I obtained in Portsmouth on day one! As it happened I got some shorts on quick smart and they were none the wiser.

When the police left and I had packed away it turned out that my barrier from the railway was a blackberry bush! So that was breakfast sorted although I didn't get too carried away. My friend Rocka will testify that when the stomach doesn't feel right, octopuses aren't the only species to shoot black ink when threatened!

Cycling into a headwind was tough today, after the slight disappointment of RC Lens (although the security guard did give me 4 bottles of water) i had to find a town called Arras. This is where I found out that the French can not do directions nor are they young. After one question to a man in the street, I found myself 10 minutes later with 3 old people and a man from over the road still with no clue where to go as they changed their minds constantly. As it happened I went with my instincts again and found my way only 100m from their house! Complete pain in the arras! Excuse my French!

Decided to pitch up early with the permission of a farmer so have a lovely little spot over looking a wind farm. No police, no trains, no problemos

RC Lens training ground visit