Season 5. Episode 10. To take off the edge.

Season 5. Episode 10. To take off the edge. 

August 29, 2025. Royan to Lege-cap-Ferret. 68 miles. 

We had a short ride of less than a mile to the ferry that would take us from Royan across the Gironde Esturay to Le Verdon. 

The day was off to an awful start. It poured on us as we sprinted by bike to the ferry.

On top of the rain, the weather forecast showed wind gusts up to 29 mph that made the 65° feel like 57°. We could hear the wind howling throughout the night, that made me anxious for today’s ride.

While waiting for the ferry, we befriended a local couple and took solace that we were not the only cyclists braving the elements.

Standing on the pier we all felt the wind blowing us and could see the ferry rocking back and forth aggressively. As George Costanza would say, the sea was angry that day, my friends.

It seemed fair that after over 2 weeks of great riding weather, we were due to get some rain. I also took some comfort thinking that maybe it was also raining in northern Spain that of late had extremely dry conditions and forest fires that had closed a section of the Camino that we were planning to ride. We’d contacted our hotels to check they were okay and still open and all was indeed ok. But we had one more thing to be concerned about. (Really just me as Heather doesn’t worry about things like this.) Especially after last year’s ride where a fire forced us to ride over 200 extra miles. 

As the 20 minute ferry ride ended, somehow it seemed by a miracle we were in a different climate - it wasn’t raining and the sun was breaking through in a few spots. The other couple told us there’s a dry window of some hours and they beseeched us to “allez, allez” (go, go) which is what the French shout to cheer on racing cyclists. It felt nice to be cheered on. 

The sky after the miracle.

As so often happens, worrying about today’s ride was needless. (And of course there are many wise sayings about all worrying being useless.)  We could deal with the wind gusts and were just happy for no more rain. While we rode generally to the south, whenever we turned west which was into the wind, we could barely go 8 mph even with an all-out effort. However, when we turned east and had the wind at our back, we could ride effortlessly at 20 mph.   

The bike paths strewn with pine needles gave us vibes of Hilton Head, NC which is one of our favorite vacation spots.

Typically when we ride on long paths like this (instead of roads), we bemoan that it feels like we could be anywhere as we feel like we are not seeing the region. However, today we were so grateful for the protection of the trees that sheltered us from the wind. 

I used the lengthy flat stretches to play a riding game with myself. I’d ride full exertion, all out for 4 minutes, then at recovery pace for 4 minutes. And repeated this multiple times. It’s from an article I read on building V02 max (lung capacity).

The only thing is I just started doing this without telling Heather. So she wondered why the hell was I so far ahead. Then she started doing it too. 

Despite riding on paths that could be almost anywhere, the towns that punctuated the path offered distinctly local and European scenes that differ from small town USA.

August 30, 2025. Lege-cap-Ferret to Parentis-en-Born. 58 miles.

As more people here walk or bike to commute rather than have cars, it’s very common to see people walk to the supermarket with their cart, and then at the checkout counter stuff their purchases into these carts. One model even attaches to tow from your bike. 

Just as we rode over a climb , suddenly we saw sand towering in the distance. It was our first glimpse of the Dunes of Pilat, the tallest dunes in Europe.

Yesterday was forecast to rain all day, and then it did not rain after our initial downpour to the ferry. Today was forecast to be dry all day, so figures it rained most of our ride. 

With the wet weather, we were craving a quiet evening “at home” and a break from restaurants so we went to the local supermarket just a few blocks away from our Airbnb. 

They say it’s a bad idea to go to the supermarket hungry.  As we walked in, Heather immediately went to the bakery and bought a pain au chocolate that she devoured to, as she says, take off the edge.

One food item I’ve craved is chicken. We just don’t see chicken on the restaurant menus very much. Lots of fish and steak but seldomly chicken, in fact we’ve seen duck on the menu probably more than we’ve seen chicken. Is it because they don’t kill chickens as they need the eggs so badly for all those French soufflés they’re baking?

Interesting supermarket images:

 Buy as few eggs as you like from as little as one. Is it culture or practicality that with smaller homes than USA and Canda they have smaller fridges.

You squeeze your own juice and bottle it. Could this catch on at home?  Sounds like a scheme for Kramer and Poppy.

Slice your own bread. I can see USA personal injury attorneys feasting on the inevitable injuries.

Bike culture! Bikes for sale in the supermarket.

Then after getting all we needed for dinner and breakfast in the morning plus some snacks, Heather bought a four pack of pain au chocolate. I guess to take off tomorrow’s edge.

August 31, 2025. Parentis-en-Born to Capbreton. 69 miles.

We’ve seen lots of pétanque being played. And don’t call it bocce ball though there are similarities. Here we came upon a tournament.

We didn’t think it was so serious to have uniforms. Who knew?

Heather eating a bag of leftover lettuce from last night as she tries to balance her diet with pain au chocolate. Completely unappetizing to me.

We got in 44 dry miles before lunch and then the skies opened up on us with a vengeance. We couldn’t be any wetter. It was very challenging navigating when I couldn’t press my phone screen because I had waterlogged fingers. 

We sought a reprieve from the torrential rains under rooftops and inside a restaurant as needed to check our navigation.

This was now our third day in a row of being soaked at a point and this was the worst. Yet at no time were we miserable. From our ride down the Pacific coast in 2023, when we were hammered by cold rains, we knew we could prevail. And we know we ride for others who can only wish to do what we are doing! 

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© Copyright Mark Segal 2025.