Blog: Adventure Travellers in France

Blog #1: From Karl Woolcott, Adventure Travel

As I write this it’s 32 degrees outside and I can’t help wondering what weather my friends and family in Wellington are being punished with right now.

30 minutes ago we witnessed yet another Cavendish win at the beautiful river side town of Bourge-les Valence. Although the Renshaw – Dean head butt will certainly give us something to talk to the Australians about tonight.

We’re now travelling at 130km per hour (legal over here) to Montpellier. In the five days we’ve been in France we’ve ridden four times – including Mont Venoux and Alpe d'Huez. Both stunning climbs and feature very high on most cyclists' bucket list.

I’ve spent a fair bit of time on Mont Ventoux and the 22kms could never be described as easy... so you can imagine my shock when I came across one of our group texting while riding Europe’s hardest climb. It’s fair to say this was mentioned at dinner.

This year’s group consists of 35 clients and 6 staff. We have 26 riders and 9 non-riders. The cyclists range from 2 ex NZ road champions to the absolute weekend warrior. A great mix.

All are Kiwis except for three Aussies who managed to sneak in. Not surprisingly the Australians are giving as much as they’re getting. We have two vehicles – a luxury 49 seat bus and a nine seat support van.

In the two weeks we are in France we’ll see the Tour de France 6-7 times. They talk about the Melbourne Cup being the race that stops a nation however it’s got nothing on this bike race. Every day over 1million people line the streets.

Today our last 20km was actually on the race route and we had  thousands of people cheering us on as if we were actually in the race. At one stage we had 50kids doing a Mexican wave as we rode by... Oh what a perfect day.

The feeling amongst the group is that Andy Schleck will win this year’s Tour. You really have to see these guys in the flesh to see how tiny they are. Some labradors I’ve seen walking around Karori would weigh more than these guys.

Anyway, almost at Montpellier. Tomorrow we are offering the choice of three rides that can only be described as breathtaking. And tomorrow night we are actually staying at a hotel frequently used by one Mr L Armstrong.

Ride safe,

Cheers Karl

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