SEDAN TO CHAMPAGNOLE

From Sedan, we rode on to Chalons en Champagne, a relatively easy ride of 126km. The weather still held good and we rode through beautiful country side.

stopping for a picnic lunch.

From Chalons en Champagne, where we stayed the night we rode 143km to Troyes, a lovely mediaeval city, where we enjoyed a rest day that gave us a chance to get to the launderette and wash our gear.

We had two great dinners in Troyes, the first one at a well renowned restaurant in Troyes and the second in the town square, where I sampled one of the local specialties, a large sausage made from offal and herbs, definitely an acquired taste!

Staying the two nights in Troyes, our bags were packed up the next morning, to be transported to our next destination, Saulieu, a mere 166km away.

We got to our picnic lunch at the Abbey Fontenay, an old Cistercian abbey.

After lunch we headed to Bibracte, a Gallic oppidum or fortified city, which was the capital of the Aedui and where Vercingetorix was made commander of the Gauls. It was also however the site where Caesar, heavily outnumbered, defeated him.

The next day brought low temperatures of about 9d C and pouring rain. After 33km at our first coffee stop, I had became so cold that with nine others, I had to pull out. The organisation which involved transporting us and our bikes to Mersault was absolutely flawless. Frederica, our Italian guide, Bruno, our French one and and Ritchie, our English one all worked their buts off. That night, I had one of the best meals ever, eggs served in a red wine sauce and chicken with a sauce made from the local cheese. We stayed at a nice old hotel, where the staff welcomed some very cold and weary cyclists.

That brings us up to today, Tuesday. The weather was still poor with fairly constant rain, but not so heavy and it was also not so cold. I had taken some precautions against getting cold; in particular riding with a full rain jacket with two layers under it. We had a steady climb to get to lunch. 

and then rode on to Champagnole, making a total of 138km for the day. An idea of the amount of rain this area has received can be judged by this photo of one of the rivers.

Our hotel for tonight has a spa and which was great for aching muscles and a boiler room to dry our clothes, so after a good evening meal, I'm off to bed!

ARTRES TO SEDAN

Arriving at Artres, we got to stay in a beautiful old house, now a small hotel, with a wonderful garden. The only downside to this marvellous old place was having to lug luggage up three floors of stairs!

Leaving Artres after a magnificent breakfast, we had beautiful weather and cycled through magnificent countryside.

Lunch saw us stop in this lovely old town.

and then pass by this rather larger than life bicycle

to arrive at Sedan and stay in the largest castle in Europe.

LONDON TO ROUBAIX

I will just try to give an account of my travels to date as I have a bit of catching up to do! I caught a 6.00am flight from Kingsford Smith and on Friday May 20 and arrived Heathrow at 8.30pm the same day. I caught the Heathrow Paddington Express and after 30 minutes found myself standing on the concourse of Paddington station.  Some things just don't change. On the concourse were a couple of London bobbies. I asked one of them directions to the hotel I had been booked into (You've guessed it; "The Caesar"). He wasn't certain, but with a smile pulled out his phone and looking it up then gave me step by step directions. I hate to say it, but that just doesn't happen in Sydney.

On Saturday, we had a leisurely ride through Hyde Park to sort out any problems with bikes etc and then had a late lunch in the Park itself.

The following day, we rode from the hotel to Buckingham Palace and then started the long 160 km ride to Dover.

We rode by the Houses of Parliament and then crossed the Thames on Lambeth Bridge with my old hospital, St Thomas's, lying on the south side. After a coffee stop and lunch we were in the Kent countryside. Part of our ride took us along the old Pilgrim's Way.

The term the "Kent Downs" are to my mind a bit of a misnomer, some of those hills for an old fella are a bit steep. Rain was forecast, but we were lucky and although the country lanes were wet and at times a bit treacherous, we made it ok to our hotel just outside Dover. The next day we rode into Dover passing close to Dover Castle and caught the ferry to Dunkirk.

Leaving England and those white cliffs of Dover brought back memories of my early childhood  and Vera Lynn's song.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAaxkAgVkHQ

 Dunkirk, famous for the evacuation of the BEF is a far cry from what it was in 1939 and is mostly industrialised.

Getting off the ferry we rode 70km to Ypres, where we stayed the night. The Menin Gate was just a short walk from our hotel. It is a monument to all those who fell in the Ypres salient in WW1 and for whom there is no known grave. At 8.00pm every night the "Last Post" is played floral tributes are placed, followed by "Reveille" The arch contains the names of 54,395 servicemen. There is another memorial at Tyne Cot for 34,984, who fell after August 17 and there are other memorials to New Zealand and Newfoundland servicemen.

The Cloth Hall was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages, where it served as the main market and warehouse for the Flemish city's prosperous cloth industry. Completed in 1304, it lay in ruins after artillery fire devastated Ypres in WW1, but was meticulously reconstructed between 1933 and 1967.

Departing Ypres the next day, we rode the 119km to Artres. We rode via the old velodrome at Roubaix, which is still the finish for  the Paris Roubaix classic. A good portion of this race is along cobbles.

RIDERS FOR BRETTO - THE START

Hi, for those that don't know me, I live in Nowra on the South Cost of NSW and work there as an ENT surgeon.

I have never attempted to write a blog before, but there are two events that have led me to trying to do so. The first relates to a bit of trouble I had doing a Time Trial run by the local Nowra Velo Club in June of last year. As a consequence of this, I had myself checked out at the ED of the local hospital and then quickly found myself being transported by ambulance the next morning to St George Private Hospital. After cardiac catheterisation to determine the extent of the problem, I then underwent open heart surgery with four coronary artery bypass grafts. I had booked in to do the "Hannibal" (a ride from Barcelona to Rome), but obviously had to pull out. The fact that I am here attempting this ride form London to Rome (the "Caesar") is in itself testament to the consummate skill and attention I received from all those involved in my care. If I may pun, I would say to all at St George Private "Thank you all from the bottom of my heart".

The second event was a shark attack on Bombo Beach at Kiama on Wednesday March 30, involving a young surfer named Brett Connellan, who was surfing with a friend, Joel Trist. A fairly accurate account of the attack is in this  Sydney Morning Herald article.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/its-not-good-surfer-brett-connellans-first-words-after-shark-attack-at-bombo-beach-20160330-gnurrw.html

I didn't give this fresh attack much attention other than noting that this one was much closer to home. What changed my rather dispassionate attitude was listening to a young anaesthetic nurse, who works in the same OT as myself. She had intimate knowledge of what had happened and the horrific injuries Brett had sustained, as she is his best friend's partner and went to school with both of them. I learnt more details from her. Joel Trist's girlfriend, who is a trained nurse, was on the beach and was able to apply a tourniquet to the leg. Brett was then helicoptered to St. George Hospital where he underwent immediate surgery to assess the nature of his injuries and wash the sand out of the defect in his thigh. Initially, a decision had to be made as to whether to amputate or try and save the leg as a considerable portion of the femur lay exposed. In order to try and save the leg, he underwent three more operations that week, one of them lasting eight hours and involving taking the latissimus dorsi from his back and transplanting it into the defect in his thigh. After five weeks, he was able to be fitted with a leg brace and was allowed home. Listening to her, it was immediately apparent how emotionally involved she and her friends were and this together with seeing the photograph of Brett in hospital surrounded by his friends got me to thinking as to whether I could help in some way. The nature and extent of his injuries mean that he has a long road ahead of him with expenses that one can only guess at. A fundraising event is being held for him at the Shellharbour club on June 25th. Other than my having a rather indulgent holiday with the blessing and unselfishness of my own partner, I got to wondering whether I could offer my support in some way and it seemed that trying to collect money for him for the road ahead was the most practical thing to do and dedicating a blog "Riders for Bretto" linked to a Go Fund Me account on Facebook was the best way to do it. The link to this account is:

https://www.gofundme.com/24zpbnhd

My apologies that this has taken so long to get up. Over six days, we have ridden 800km, but today is a rest day, so I have had some time to sit down (on a rather sore backside) and write this.
I will write some more and post more photos later today.