Day 8 – Tuesday 31st May 2011
Today was a rest day. A time for me and Ol’ Betsy to have some “alone time,” a bit of much needed TLC. She’s coped with me riding her pretty rough over the last few days, but now I feel I’ve given her the attention she’s needed: I’ve given her a wash (even scrubbing her undersides), got her parts moving freely and even worked some oil into her cracks and crevices. And if that wasn’t enough, we went out for a stroll around this lovely town of Beaune.
And it is indeed lovely. By car, there doesn’t seem much to it, but that’s because the main road circumnavigates the old town itself. Once you get into the “inner circle” there’s lots of nice architecture, vast amounts of cobbled road (like many of the towns in France – a fully-loaded bike with no suspension isn’t the best way to travel through them!) and it’s a great place to spend an afternoon.
I must admit, I really did feel like a proper tourist: it rained a lot this morning, but it wasn’t particularly cold, so I decided to wear shorts (I figured my legs would dry faster than a pair of trousers). So there I was, in shorts, trainers and a jumper, with a town map in a transparent plastic case, taking photos of nice buildings. The only difference was – and it’s a nice difference – that I wasn’t with a group. Maybe I could get away with being an “odd” local... let’s face it, every town has one!
I managed to find a couple of postcards and get them sent off – my parents wanted me to keep in touch but I wasn’t taking a mobile phone with me. Many people thought the idea was ridiculous: what if something happens? Aside from the fact that I wouldn’t have any real way of charging it, part of the point of this trip is to try to avoid technology. Well, certainly not to be carrying it with me. By “technology,” I basically mean electrical items, including music players. Now, some things are a must: lights, in case I have to cycle in the dark (which have been used to cycle onto the ferry in Portsmouth, and also when cycling back to the campsite in Paris); and a speedometer, because I want to know how far I’ve gone... and I like seeing what speeds I can get up to when going down hills!
But then came some issues: would I take a camera? Well, it’d be nice... I figured I could get away with one that takes standard batteries, then I could always buy more en route. Unfortunately, dad’s camera had its own type of battery... and instantly the amount of stuff I needed just to have a camera went up: I needed a charger because the battery probably wouldn’t last 2 weeks, let alone 6 or 8; and then I needed an adapter because the charger has an English plug and I’ll be in Europe. Such hassle... and that’s what technology brings with it. It’s great when it works, but then we become reliant on it and get frustrated when it goes wrong... plus we feel the need to update it as soon as a newer model comes out and so we spend even more money, getting more aggravated because “newer” should mean “doesn’t go wrong”... anyway, enough ranting about that!
This trip is about not being reliant on technology. If the camera’s battery dies and I can’t recharge it – I’ll live. What would have happened 100 years ago? You go on a journey and people may not hear from you for a long time... and that’s okay. It doesn’t have to mean that something bad has happened. Just because I’ve decided not to take a mobile phone, it doesn’t mean I’ll get stuck in the middle of nowhere, left to die. All it means is that I have to find another way... who would I call anyway? “Mummy, I’m stuck in the Alps, come and get me!” I don’t think so. Plus, my French isn’t really good enough to communicate on the phone, and my Italian, Greek and German is even worse! But it’s not like I’m going cross-country, or trying to kayak the Atlantic... I’m on roads, and you know what? Roads have cars travelling on them quite frequently!
Three years ago, on one of our motorbike trips, we’d just crossed the French border and into Spain when I came off. I wasn’t going particularly fast, only about 40-45 mph, but it was too fast for the bend I didn’t know. I figured my best option was a patch of grass: steady the bike, feel like an idiot, make my way back onto the road and take it steady. Simple. Except the “grass” was actually mud. The front wheel sank in, I was catapulted off and the next thing I know, I’m on my feet wondering why the front wheel of the bike is 5 feet away from the rest of it. Not good. But the point of it is this: before my dad – or any of the others who were with us on the trip – came back, a 4x4 had already pulled over, partly to see what was going on (come on, we all slow down and have a look at accidents when we drive past them!) and partly to help out. Now, there were 3 Spanish people in that 4x4 and I didn’t speak a word of Spanish (their English wasn’t much better!), and yet they gave us help to get me and my luggage to the next little town where we’d be able to get better help.
And that’s my point: people are far more likely to help than we give them credit for. You see, in the UK we tell our youngsters not to trust strangers (because there are nasty, nasty people out there!) and when they are older they feel like the whole world is against them and they have to battle it through on their own – have you ever felt like that? But there’s a choice to make. Yes, there are some horrible people out there, but you’ve got to decide whether you’re going to play the statistics game or play it safe.
You see, if you trust no one and accept no help, then you can be certain (well, pretty much) to have no one doing anything “undesirable” to you. That’s playing it safe. Or you can see that actually those “undesirables” make up less than 1% of the population (they just hit the news big-time when they rear their ugly head) and that you therefore have over 99% chance of surviving if you choose to ask someone you don’t know for help. Personally, I’d rather play the statistics game because I think it’s good to have a bit of faith in humanity. I don’t want those “undesirables” to dictate how my life is run, forcing me not to trust others. But I also see it as my responsibility to make sure I don’t ever become one of those undesirables. Maybe that’s just me.
But that is the point of this trip. If I’m trying to prove something (which I usually am, I just don’t always know it!), then it’s to show that the world is a safer place than we are led to believe. It’s to show that actually, we can accomplish great things if we try, and to show that adventures are awesome things to have. In fact, I would go so far as to say that adventures are essential for a healthy life. For some, a “holiday” is enough of an adventure, but others need a challenge. I am certainly one of the latter!
Stats
Mileage = 7.48 miles
Riding time = 46 minutes
Average speed = 9.6 mph
Top speed = 24.4 mph
Total mileage since start = 444.9
Today was a rest day. A time for me and Ol’ Betsy to have some “alone time,” a bit of much needed TLC. She’s coped with me riding her pretty rough over the last few days, but now I feel I’ve given her the attention she’s needed: I’ve given her a wash (even scrubbing her undersides), got her parts moving freely and even worked some oil into her cracks and crevices. And if that wasn’t enough, we went out for a stroll around this lovely town of Beaune.
And it is indeed lovely. By car, there doesn’t seem much to it, but that’s because the main road circumnavigates the old town itself. Once you get into the “inner circle” there’s lots of nice architecture, vast amounts of cobbled road (like many of the towns in France – a fully-loaded bike with no suspension isn’t the best way to travel through them!) and it’s a great place to spend an afternoon.I must admit, I really did feel like a proper tourist: it rained a lot this morning, but it wasn’t particularly cold, so I decided to wear shorts (I figured my legs would dry faster than a pair of trousers). So there I was, in shorts, trainers and a jumper, with a town map in a transparent plastic case, taking photos of nice buildings. The only difference was – and it’s a nice difference – that I wasn’t with a group. Maybe I could get away with being an “odd” local... let’s face it, every town has one!
I managed to find a couple of postcards and get them sent off – my parents wanted me to keep in touch but I wasn’t taking a mobile phone with me. Many people thought the idea was ridiculous: what if something happens? Aside from the fact that I wouldn’t have any real way of charging it, part of the point of this trip is to try to avoid technology. Well, certainly not to be carrying it with me. By “technology,” I basically mean electrical items, including music players. Now, some things are a must: lights, in case I have to cycle in the dark (which have been used to cycle onto the ferry in Portsmouth, and also when cycling back to the campsite in Paris); and a speedometer, because I want to know how far I’ve gone... and I like seeing what speeds I can get up to when going down hills!
But then came some issues: would I take a camera? Well, it’d be nice... I figured I could get away with one that takes standard batteries, then I could always buy more en route. Unfortunately, dad’s camera had its own type of battery... and instantly the amount of stuff I needed just to have a camera went up: I needed a charger because the battery probably wouldn’t last 2 weeks, let alone 6 or 8; and then I needed an adapter because the charger has an English plug and I’ll be in Europe. Such hassle... and that’s what technology brings with it. It’s great when it works, but then we become reliant on it and get frustrated when it goes wrong... plus we feel the need to update it as soon as a newer model comes out and so we spend even more money, getting more aggravated because “newer” should mean “doesn’t go wrong”... anyway, enough ranting about that!
This trip is about not being reliant on technology. If the camera’s battery dies and I can’t recharge it – I’ll live. What would have happened 100 years ago? You go on a journey and people may not hear from you for a long time... and that’s okay. It doesn’t have to mean that something bad has happened. Just because I’ve decided not to take a mobile phone, it doesn’t mean I’ll get stuck in the middle of nowhere, left to die. All it means is that I have to find another way... who would I call anyway? “Mummy, I’m stuck in the Alps, come and get me!” I don’t think so. Plus, my French isn’t really good enough to communicate on the phone, and my Italian, Greek and German is even worse! But it’s not like I’m going cross-country, or trying to kayak the Atlantic... I’m on roads, and you know what? Roads have cars travelling on them quite frequently!Three years ago, on one of our motorbike trips, we’d just crossed the French border and into Spain when I came off. I wasn’t going particularly fast, only about 40-45 mph, but it was too fast for the bend I didn’t know. I figured my best option was a patch of grass: steady the bike, feel like an idiot, make my way back onto the road and take it steady. Simple. Except the “grass” was actually mud. The front wheel sank in, I was catapulted off and the next thing I know, I’m on my feet wondering why the front wheel of the bike is 5 feet away from the rest of it. Not good. But the point of it is this: before my dad – or any of the others who were with us on the trip – came back, a 4x4 had already pulled over, partly to see what was going on (come on, we all slow down and have a look at accidents when we drive past them!) and partly to help out. Now, there were 3 Spanish people in that 4x4 and I didn’t speak a word of Spanish (their English wasn’t much better!), and yet they gave us help to get me and my luggage to the next little town where we’d be able to get better help.
And that’s my point: people are far more likely to help than we give them credit for. You see, in the UK we tell our youngsters not to trust strangers (because there are nasty, nasty people out there!) and when they are older they feel like the whole world is against them and they have to battle it through on their own – have you ever felt like that? But there’s a choice to make. Yes, there are some horrible people out there, but you’ve got to decide whether you’re going to play the statistics game or play it safe.
You see, if you trust no one and accept no help, then you can be certain (well, pretty much) to have no one doing anything “undesirable” to you. That’s playing it safe. Or you can see that actually those “undesirables” make up less than 1% of the population (they just hit the news big-time when they rear their ugly head) and that you therefore have over 99% chance of surviving if you choose to ask someone you don’t know for help. Personally, I’d rather play the statistics game because I think it’s good to have a bit of faith in humanity. I don’t want those “undesirables” to dictate how my life is run, forcing me not to trust others. But I also see it as my responsibility to make sure I don’t ever become one of those undesirables. Maybe that’s just me.
But that is the point of this trip. If I’m trying to prove something (which I usually am, I just don’t always know it!), then it’s to show that the world is a safer place than we are led to believe. It’s to show that actually, we can accomplish great things if we try, and to show that adventures are awesome things to have. In fact, I would go so far as to say that adventures are essential for a healthy life. For some, a “holiday” is enough of an adventure, but others need a challenge. I am certainly one of the latter!Stats
Mileage = 7.48 miles
Riding time = 46 minutes
Average speed = 9.6 mph
Top speed = 24.4 mph
Total mileage since start = 444.9
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