Articles

Going the distance!

A visit to Aylesbury's twin town

Published: October 2010

Last month, ACC stalwarts David Matthews, Neil Briggs and Malcolm Ash packed their panniers, pumped up their tyres and headed off for Boug-en-Bresse, in France. Why?

Well, Bourg is Aylesbury’s twin town – and last year the Cycling Club from Bourg rode all the way through France and over to Aylesbury so we felt that it would be appropriate to make the return trip. Anyway, it was a good excuse for a real old fashioned cycle touring trip, enjoying the quiet roads, cuisine and wine (of course) that France is famous for.

David planned the route and made the necessary transport arrangements. The plan was to ride to Bourg over 12 days and then return by rail (TGV and then Eurostar).
We rode down to Portsmouth on 13 September, with Jeremy Mulkern keeping us company in the morning as far as Pangbourne. We took the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo, arriving early the next morning.

The next 10 days through France followed a most enjoyable routine. An ‘all you can eat’ buffet breakfast. A couple of hours riding. A ‘menu de jour’ lunch. A few more hours riding. And then overnight in a budget ‘Etaphotel’, or similar. Our route took us through Brittany and then along the Loire valley via Laval, Tours and the beautiful town of Amboise. We pressed on in a south easterly direction and on to Vierzon and then Vichy as the roads got lumpy (but very scenic and beautiful) in the Auvergne.

We made contact with cyclists from Bourg and arranged to meet them on our final day, so that we could enjoy the final ‘run-in’ to the town together. After a great night staying in Cluny (highly recommended) we met up with the Bourg group for lunch. It was really good to see the people we had met last year and we were forced to make the required toasts over wine and a great lunch.

Arriving at Bourg felt like a real achievement. We were rather pleased to be getting off our bikes. (Our backsides were getting a little worse for wear after 11 days in the saddle!!) We stayed with the locals- and had a couple of days sightseeing and eating and drinking our way round Aylesbury’s twin town. True friendship and hospitality!! A great trip!

Final stats:
Total distance 709 miles
Average per day 64 miles

David Matthews.