La Sarthe à Vélo, we did it!

La Sarthe à Vélo

We are home from our week of following La Sarthe à Vélo and although my legs are glad of the rest today, I am missing being out on our adventure and as for having a relaxing day, it hasn’t happened yet. 

We were out this morning at 7.00am to take Ed to school, back before 8.00am to wave goodbye to Adrian’s parents who bravely held the fort while we were away and by lunchtime we had walked the dog, hung out the freshly washed cycle clothes and jet-washed the bikes.

Back home washing and cleaning

You can read my daily reports for Free Wheeling France by clicking here, but I thought I’d share a few facts and figures from our six days on the bikes.

We spent 24 hours in the saddle, which is rather appropriate as our cycling was centred around Le Mans, famous for it’s 24 Hour race.

We pedalled a total distance of 455km.

We travelled east, south, north and west and whenever there was wind, it was blowing against us.

We climbed a total of 2,768m, which is twice the height of Ben Nevis.

We burned an additional 16,611 calories, which we had to make up by eating well along the way.

We had 7 croissant-heavy breakfasts, 3 afternoon patisserie stops, 4 picnics and 3 cooked lunches, as well as generous evening meals.

We carried 18kg of luggage, split 3kg for me and 15kg for Adrian, but the additional information and gifts from the tourist board along the way added an extra 2.5kg to Adrian’s panniers!

We visited 1 cathedral, 1 abbey, 1 vineyard, 1 Plus Beaux Village de France, 2 gardens and 4 museums.

We followed 4 rivers, the Sarthe, the Loir, the Huisne and the Vègre.

I completed the week with no punctures, but I did wear through my rear brakes.

At the finish line

It was tiring at times, but exhilarating too and I’m pleased to report I did it all without Big E (my photosensitive epilepsy) getting in the way. It was all great training for Adrian and his Ride London Surrey 100 that he will be doing this July, but even our longest days were only half of the distance he will be covering in one day. I know that would be too much for me, but if you have enjoyed reading about our adventure and would like to donate a small amount to our Just Giving page for Epilepsy Action, it would make us both very happy, thank you.

Adrian's Just Giving Page for Epilepsy Action

I will be writing more this week, especially about some of places we visited and the sights we have seen.