Bike Bus Day

I had to send a photo of Boozers car park in Calais at 6.30am this morning! I'm not sure why it's called that, there is only a florists and a boat shop.

So I was up at 5am (4am UK time), had a fabulous shower to wake up and breakfast number 1, my wonder bowl of muesli, before cycling as the sun was starting to come up to the meeting place. It was quite chilly so early so I'd brought my fluffy bed socks to keep my feet warm!! I was so grateful it wasn't chucking it down or gales as it had been the previous 2 days, there was no shelter there.

At 7.20am, the bike bus let me know they wouldn't be arriving until 9.15am. Oh.

I knew they'd been a couple of hours delayed on their outbound journey from the UK to Spain having been caught in the appalling weather for their Channel crossing at the weekend. They said they'd send further updates and I could phone the coach emergency number in the morning. This I did at 5am, 5.15am, twice at 5.40am and again at 6am leaving 2 voicemails. I also sent a text and an email. The hotel I was staying at also called them (I can highly recommend the Ibis Calais Car Ferry, the staff are superb). No response at all. So I had to get to the meeting point on time in the absence of any other information.

I was glad I finally received a response from the bus at 7.20am (I'd called again at 7am). This meant I could return to the hotel for a feast of a breakfast!

So I put my handlebars back into position (you have to turn them 90 degrees for the bus), reloaded the bike with all my panniers, etc., and pedalled back to the hotel. They welcomed me with open arms for breakfast, bless them! I ate so much - cereals, fruit, yogurt, compote, bread & jam, croissants, juice, 2 mugs of tea - fabulous! They also had pancakes and cake - some children were going wild with excitement! So this was breakfast number 2.

And then I cycled back to my meeting point! A nice, morning fresh 6 mile cycle altogether. And it was such a gorgeous morning. I was really happy, the delay had added to the day really!

I've met some lovely people on the bus. I was sat next to a guy originally from Durban, South Africa for a short while. He lives in Maidstone now so wasn't on the bus long. He'd decided to cycle tour the Pyrenees on a friend's bicycle with borrowed everything and is now so converted to cycle touring that he plans to build his own touring bike before next year's tour. Although he was taking his friend's bike to a bike shop as soon as he got off the bus to mend a puncture...

Breakfast number 3 was considerably more modest on the ferry - a summer berry muffin and a large tea (obviously). And I ate macaroni cheese for lunch on the bus, which I love. I can highly recommend lots of food and drink for motion sickness.

Everyone I've met on the bike bus so far has travelled on it a number of times. It does seem very easy for cyclists. My bike and luggage were whipped on in less than a minute. There are so many destinations to choose from although predominantly in France rather than other European countries. Other than the communication difficulties experienced this morning, I've really enjoyed the service. I can have endless cups of tea and I was sold when I saw the macaroni cheese on the menu!

But, by gum, it feels cold back in the UK! We recently had a stop at Newport Pagnell and everyone was laughing at my golf ball sized goosebumps! And I'm camping tonight! At least my pint of milk will stay cool for another wonder bowl of muesli tomorrow morning which generally wasn't the case in France.

And I'm looking forward to 11s with the Tuesday cycling crew tomorrow and my escort home. What a way to finish such an amazing tour!

Until tomorrow!

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on O2