A hypermarche picture: I am pretty much in love with the old ladies on bicycles here – they are the primary bicycle culture that I’ve found. This one is getting out the hypermarche. She has an old lady bike and I want you to note the set of panniers and the basket on top of Continue reading…
I awoke today, underneath two large apple trees, near a field of clovers, between two farms. I also slept next to a million pricker bushes, but we paint the pictures we paint to create a certain mood and what you paint with is as varied as the life around you. I had the oppourtunity to Continue reading…
Bloomer-like pants seem to be in style here. The Rastafarian look is also in for, “the teenagers”. And they put them together – so especially into-this-style people look like brightly colored skateboarders from like, 1993. The pants are what are really crazy – extremely billowy and then tight tight tight at the ankles, with elastics. Continue reading…
I’m in the St Brieuc area (Plerin), right now, left the Mont St. Michel area around 10:00am. Pretty long haul and very trying. Lots of getting lost, but it’s not so bad. The worst has been attempting to enter St Brieuc – the larger highways really take over and I had a very hard time Continue reading…
Just a quick note of a lot of thank yous for your help so far in keeping me fed. It’s a HUGE impact. I’ll try to keep updating things during downtime (every 5 days or so?) and write little things en route in the many McDUHs I find. If you want to see more photos, Continue reading…
This is my eee PC. I thought at the beginning of the trip that it would be a little silly to bring along, but it’s proved itself most useful during downtime (like now). I can now touch type with it – which is amazing and along with a mouse it’s very useful. The desktop linux Continue reading…
The reason I’m able to do this trip at all is that the majority of my stays are in camping sites around the country, ala, camping sauvage. In the states, you’d call this bushwhacking, I suppose. This is just before leaving one campsite. Not the worst place to spend the night, eh?
The French country side looks much like this: fields of wheat for however long you can see. In the distance, you’ll see a church steeple or a water tower and you’ll know you’re close to town. Towns start abruptly and end just as abruptly – sometimes only lasting a block – and then, more fields Continue reading…
This is a very small, sad skatepark in a small town. And also very dangerous. The ramps are steel, with no paint covering, meaning, when it gets hot, these gets very hot – hot enough to burn your skin. No one skating today. If I do get to Marsilles, I may have to find a Continue reading…
I haven’t translated these signs myself, but a town I went by had some, I think anti-nuclear powered signs up. Nuclear power is used primarily in France for electricity. I couldn’t understand, a I thought nuclear plants need a major source of water to run and I wasn’t near one of those, but maybe I’m Continue reading…
Also at the hypermarche is the cycling section, which was better stocked then some cycling-specific stores I’ve been to. Amongst other things are pairs of sew up tires, a rear derailer in a plastic package and some nice blinky lights. I managed to pick up a few things I still needed.
Coming out of a hypermarche, which could use a entry all in itself, with a few baguettes in tow. I thought this was a cutesy thing to do, but in town, if you ride a bike, this is how you get baguettes home.
This is in the middle of nowhere, but shows some of the graf art you see around here. In this one, you have your ordinary “Wild Style”, which seems always mixed in with cartoon characters. In this case, Disney’s, “Aladdin”. I’ve also seen strange purple smurfs and things like that. This piece looks like it Continue reading…
I managed to barely catch this couple on their bicycle today, while at the cafe studying. The cafe seats all point outward and the cafe itself is situated in the center of town, expressly for people watching.
Bonjour tout le monde! Sorry if I mix hacked up French with my English postings, I know it’s somewhat cutesy, but it’s also a way to keep using French while traveling. I’m traveling with a, “French for Travelers” book, a French Verb book, a French Grammar book, a french/English dictionary, a, “Teach Yourself French” book Continue reading…
Alright, I’m about to wolf down my second McDUH meal in a row – I’m that hungry and I don’t have a clue about the next time I’m going to eat and I’m probably going to try to do about 50km more on the machine (Say it with me, in the style of Kraftwerk: Machine, Continue reading…
So. What do people think of when they think France, *and* when they think of people who ride a lot of miles on le machine – the bicycle? Food! Lots of food. Lots of good food. Yum yum yum. If anyone knows me, I can put it down and Mezcal back home has a special Continue reading…
The battery in the eee pc is about to die, or I’d post more. Anyways, I’m safe and sound at the McDUH in L’Aigle, heading for St. Michel? Well. See. Wish me luck and I’ll keep posting.
There’s a bastardized quote, filtered through a few generations of people that says something like, “You only own what you carry on your back at a good pace”. It was first attributed (the idea at least) basically to Hobbes. I think. I wonder what Hobbes would say, if you took those possessions with you on Continue reading…
I hope you gals/guys like silly ride stories accompanied with GIGANTIC pictures about going in a really big circle, because this is one of those really silly ride stories, about how I managed to get up Mt. Evans on a Fixed Geared Bicycle.
Originally posted on BikePirates:
