Planned tour in France

[lewis noble]

Getting WiFi at present, so able to post directly and more easily.

Things are looking up. Dental pain niggles but subsided, and weather getting warmer and drier - tail wind today!! I have cut my mileage / hours down, in deference to painful knees, but I am happy with my progress - now S E of Poitiers, en route to Dordogne. c 340 miles done. Enjoying photography as well as riding.

Problem with Sherpa yesterday!! Plodding into a drizzly headwind, clicking developed on r h B B area. In time to r h pedal downstroke. Intermittent, but 80% of time.

Bearings? Unlikely - I know what people say about Shim EBB bearings, poor life etc, but they seem reliable and were replaced by trusted LBS shortly before setting off. L H cranks bolts checked 100 k in. Pedals - secure, good quality and no play. Toe straps not chafing on crank.

Issue sorted. Clue no 1 - seemed to vary with wind direction relative to bike and speed. Clue no 2 - wearing v comfortable Kercher trainers with firm soles. -  suits me.

Will post answer before I log and sign off tonight.

Lewis

[silverdorking]

It's your knee clicking!

[DAntrim]

Should never put loose change in your socks

[Danneaux]

Could it have been the aglets on your shoe laces, Lewis?

If I forget to tuck in the laces on my old Detto racing cleats, the can catch -- and click -- on the crank arm on the downstroke, particularly if it is windy.

Glad you found the cause and got it sorted, Lewis.

Best,

Dan.

[lewis noble]

You got it, Dan . . . taped off and heat sealed lace ends.

So, I have learned

1) tuck laces in
2) on a well prepared bike, be alert to, but don't get preoccupied by, unusual noises
3) wet headwinds can lead to negative outlook - avoid both.

Lewis

[lewis noble]

Getting brief internet access in q Tourist Office, so here is updqte: sorry, not used to keyboqrd, here is update.

About 500 miles in, as I got to the Limousin / Mqssif Centrale, my knees became more and more of an issue - an old problem, treatment of which in the long term is difficult because of other conditions.  However carefully and gently I span, low geqrs etc, problem became worse.

So, I spent a few days at a friend's house E of Limoges, and did some lightly loaded day rides in the beautiful rolling countryside around there.  Really enjoyed that, so have decided to shorten ride and return to UK early, for a whole variety of reasons.

I'm disappointed to have 'only' done 500 loaded miles, but the hillsand Provence will still be there next year. And I plan to ride across the Cotentin Peninsula to get the ferry home. 500 miles is still further than I have done in 1 'session' for many years.

I'll have to get teeth, knees etc reviewed on return - will not be posting again about that.

Sherpa, of course, superb, on a mixture of surfaces from rutted farm tracks to (accidental!!) Autoroute slip road, fast and just so stable in all conditions. Only thing needed - rear gear cable tension.

Will not be posting until return home.

Lewis

[silverdorking]

I'm glad you got down to the Vienne Lewis. You know La Belle France far better than I, but that was my favourite few days of the tour! To me it was a pastoral idyll of narrow lanes, absolutely no traffic and those beautiful red cows. I said to my wife that if post- Brexit Britain goes pear shaped then I would look for the bucolic lifestyle deep down on a small holding, somewhere near Chirac!

Muscular/skeletal issues are such a lottery, looking back I think I was so lucky on my trip, always anxious that my right knee was going to give way! Will you be OK for the return ride for the ferry, I presume you are heading for St Malo, looks quite a long round trip!

[lewis noble]

Thanks, yes, I'll be fine. I got the train (long journey, 4 changes, but avoided Paris transfers), and am in Pontorson, a town I know. At Camping Halitosis. Sorry, Haliotis.

 V enjoyable 30 mile in the countryside this pm., tailwind out, headwind back, span legs away and thoroughly enjoyed it. Everything gearing up for the Tour de France Grand Depart on Saturday from Mont St Michel.

Getting WiFi in a bar so can post. Yes, the Vienne is beautiful. I stayed a couple of nights at Chabanais, down the hill from Rochechouart, waiting for my friend to be available, and trained/biked to some of the Resistance memorials around there.