Chief navigator Bingo cheerfully states 100% paved roads to today as we both struggle through a bowl of breakfast cereal doing its best to impersonate Alpen (other cereals are available just not where we shop). I just need to own up missed the football last night, fell asleep just as it started, woke up and it was all over, good result, so that maybe the pattern from now on. Downed the last orange juice and off we go, just after 7 in the morning with a clear sky and a nice chill to the air, that will not last, enjoy it while we can.

Right on the seaside this morning, heading towards the Surfers paradise of Labenne, let’s see if they can handle two dudes from Aylesham, with their swept back surfer curls, or more like sweaty mat of grey hair, in my mind it’s the surfer curls all day long.

We have not gone half a mile straight into a sand dune, not the biggest one in living memory, but still unmanageable on a Surly touring bike! with a snigger and a laugh we push the bikes around it, me muttering 100% paved roads your having a laugh, made sure Bingo could not hear me though.

After that we hit the sweet cycle paths meandering around the Atlantic coast, basically just following the VW Campervans with their surf boards shining in the morning sun, they all give us a wave, they can see the toned sleek bodies of highly tuned athletes or just weary of the frail looking old gits trying to keep their bikes upright in a tired manner. Easy peasy churning out the miles in the early morning, most of the way on clearly defined cycle paths, with very little traffic bar the occasional tourist, skipping through the beach resorts, we know where the surf is.

Stop in a little village Bias for the normal coffee and soft drink, nice little banter with the owner, said my Spanish was perfect, but shame we are still in France, all good though gave us the coffee for free, always worth a smile. Roads not great from here, no cycle path or so we thought, just as we started to battle through the busy road, I noticed a grass snaking lurking on the edge of the road, not sure if grass snakes do much lurking but it was a beautiful spot. Then hit the busy road for twenty miles unaware there was a cycle path hidden in the woods adjacent to the road, hey ho we got on it as soon as we realised!

Pushing on to the coastal town Leon, bit of a busy intersection, Bingo goes up a one way road the wrong way, French guy makes a big deal of it, then in perfect English he politely apologies, much to the annoyance of the French guy, but raises a few giggles form the bystanders, that’s worth a hydration stop if ever. Nice little stop in a bar frequented by the local rugby team always a good place to spread the Snowdown Colliery Welfare Rugby Club gospel, the badge proudly displayed on the shirts.

Last little 20 odd miles, spent a lot of time chatting with a father and son touring the area, good people, had a lovely chat as we wound down to the coast from the forest, through the typical surfer dudes hide out, we are staying in one of the coolest ones, everyone talking about the big wave. The place is run by a laid back Belgium guy from Bruges, with another couple of guys from Gent and Holland joining in the affray. Nice little touch as we had a beer in the spa pool and exchanged all the touring stories.

Time for some dinner, little pasta place down the road, good thing about not having Rylan with us, we do not walk far, nice simple pasta dish then bed, ready to go to Spain in the morning