When you rent a house, always check the cellar

As far as I was concerned I had it all planned out. I was going to rent a fancy road bike and cycle up and down the West coast of France.

Shortly after arriving, I discovered that Royan, near Bordeaux, is flat. Very flat. I then failed miserably trying to find a place to hire a decent bike from and then to cap it all, family commitments took over. Great start to this trip. So I’ll skip forward to the last day, the last hour of the last day to be precise.

I’d already finished packing (nothing sadder than packing away a clean and unused cycling kit) and was sitting around the house waiting to leave for the airport. I was in that awkward last hour of a holiday phase. There wasn’t really enough time to go anywhere and I didn’t want to spend longer at Bordeaux airport than I absolutely had to. So I decided to make charging my phone and laptop my priority, as you do. And then, out of nowhere, it happened. I stumbled across this beauty in the cellar.

It was rusty, dirty and the brakes barely functioned, but I didn’t care. Spiders had built their perfect webs between the spokes on the wheels, creating a pattern made out of spiders silk and metal which I found strangely mystical. That didn’t last long. Once I’d swept away the spiders’ hard work away, I dragged it to the nearest bike shop where they cautiously pumped the tyres up and giggled as I cycled away. Again, I didn’t care.

I cycled for 30 minutes South. Constantly looking down at the stunning (and broken) speedometer. I took a risk and tried the gears. Nothing. Just as well really, that could have been one step too far. I ended up on a hill overlooking Royan and took 2 photos. Then, as the tyres began to deflate I cycled straight back. I’d had my fix.