Up at dawn, Martin pedalled furiously to reach Newbury at 8.45 and then set off for Portsmouth and the ferry booked for 2.30pm. However, nothing goes according to plan and those nice people at Brittany Ferries texted him to say his ferry had been cancelled so he needed to catch an alternative ferry going to Caen, which leaves at 1.45pm. As we all know, Martin is world class in arriving late for things but catching the ferry was pretty key to the success of the trip. He had a brief “tired and emotional” moment in Winchester, then swore loudly and fluently before getting on a train to Portsmouth so he caught the boat.
While on the boat he suddenly remembered he needed to set up a way of telling all his friends, family and other assorted followers about his progress so telephoned his trusty reporting team who were busy shopping in Nottingham. He casually requested a full on, Sky News type operation, but was firmly told this blog was his only option…
On arrival in France he found his French road atlas was out of date, despite being the AA 2011 edition. He says the road he wanted didn’t exist so he cycled along the motorway before arriving in Caen. Although the ferry is billed as going to Caen, it seems Caen itself is 10 miles from the sea. Martin checked into the Hotel Bristol, grateful for the familiar name. He arrived on French soil at 9.30pm and was in the hotel for 10.00pm – not bad going.
There is some dull story about insurance and the pre-booked hotel in Cherbourg, his intended destination, but life is too short to bother typing it in.
Tomorrow he had planned a 100 mile ride to Mayenne from Cherbourg but as he is now in a completely different place he has to start planning again. He will be travelling through France, the Pyrenees, then down through Spain to meet with Mick playing golf in Malaga – does this mean he has got his golf clubs strapped to the bike? We await the first photos with anticipation, once they come through on the wire we will stick them in here.
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