So, we're a day away from departure. 

I say 'we', because as those of you who've read my journals before will know, I don't travel solo. To non cyclists, it may appear that there's just me. But some of us have a closer affinity with our steeds. I'll shortly be heading off to France and Spain with Raven, my trusty Fairlight Strael, as we essay our first joint trip onto foreign shores. Raven doesn't have a passport of her own, so I'm going to have to distract the customs folk as we sidle into port. But she's proven good company in the past, and the journey would feel a lot longer without her. So she's coming along for the ride too. 

If you wanted to find out a bit more about setup for the tour, you can find it in last year's journal here. Nothing's changed, really, because I'm too tight to shell out for kit twice over, and it all seemed to work last time round. In the interest of transparency,  I should confess to a new cassette and chain, a refreshed rear tyre, and two new bottle cages. But as our gallic friends would say, plus ca change...

This year's tour will take us from the port of Roscoff, in northwest France, to Santander, on the northern Spanish coast. There's a sound reason for that. Each location has a ferry connection to Plymouth, about sixty miles from home. I've read the various accounts of people who take their bikes on planes and I'm not quite ready to entrust Raven to baggage handlers, so we're taking the easy option and cycling straight onto our transport, fully assembled. 

The itinerary looks like this. 

Day one - lift to Plymouth for an overnight sailing, arriving early morning

2 - Roscoff to Rohan, 90 miles, 5050 ft climbing

3 - Rohan to Nates - 97 miles, 2650ft

4 - Nantes to La Rochelle, 86 miles, 1825 ft

5 -  La Rochelle to Royan, via Ile de Re/ Ile D'Oleron and ferry, 50 miles, 925ft

6 - Royan to Bordeaux, 73 miles, 1975 ft

7 - Bordeaux to Dax - 92 miles, 1050 ft

8 - Dax to San Sebastian - 67 miles, 3175 ft

9 - San Sebastian to Vittoria Gasteiz - 72 miles, 4500 ft

10 - Vittoria Gasteiz to Bilbao - 45 miles, 1850 ft

11 - Bilboa to Santander - 73 miles, 4500 ft

12 - Afternoon ferry from Santander to Plymouth

13 - Arrive Plymouth mid morning, lift home

This does actually mean that we'll be arriving back on Friday the thirteenth. But it's bound to be fine. 

The route follows the Atlantic coast, and I was inspired to do it by the EV1 route, which I subsequently ignored entirely. I liked the idea of travelling down through France, but didn't want to encounter too many gravel paths or canals, so the alternative road route which Komoot has planned for me will be something of a surprise. That said, I've sense-checked it pretty extensively, and added a few detours where I think they'll make the trip more interesting.

As before, I've booked my accommodation in advance, and I'll need to end each day at the planned location. There's not really any flexibility here, unless I want to pay for things twice. I'm hopeful about being able to get over problems: I do speak French pretty well, having a relevant language degree under my belt, although I've had to remind myself of how to say 'inner tube' and 'bicycle chain'. I also speak passable Italian and I figure that if I do this with a lisp and a dubious accent, it'll get me through in Spain. Always worked in the past. 

In terms of preparation - I've not done anything like as much training as I did for my LEJOG last year, and not for any particularly valid reason. I've certainly been in the gym a fair bit, and I've covered about 550 miles over eight days of local bike touring since March. I have to say, the first of those trips was a challenge, because I think you probably do need to train long distance in order to cycle long distance. But subsequent bike excursions have been just 3-4 weeks apart and have been feeling easier. I've not been cramping up, so I'm hoping we'll be ok. Heck, we'll have to be. The days are a little longer than I'm used to in cycling terms, but it's also the case that most of them are a lot flatter than I'm used to. I think if I can get past the first three long days, everything should be fine. Notwithstanding the Fri 13 thing. 

Fuelling might be a bit of an issue. I've a good routine in the UK now - I know where to find reasonable food that'll be bike friendly and inexpensive. I can see that being more of a challenge this time. My accommodation does include breakfast, but Rome wasn't built on a croissant. And I'm uncertain that a lengthy pause for the lunchtime menu du jour, or even the Spanish equivalent with a carafe of wine thrown in, will help the afternoon mileage. I'm expecting a lot of places to be closed over lunch. So - we'll see how that goes. At present, I'm aiming to consume at least 25% of the requisite calories in the form of flan nature, which is the kind of continental custard tart that you probably could build an empire on. Or at least, use as the literal foundation for some sizeable parts of it. 

The weather forecast, from what I can see, looks ok. I'm guessing that I'll become accustomed to winds from the west constantly pushing me sideways, but nothing too challenging. So: 750 miles, flattish, fair weather, and heading steadily into warmer climes. Decent coffee, wine that costs less than beer, and a patisserie/ boulangerie in every village for at least the first week. 

I think I'm remembering now why I planned this in the first place. 

Hope you can come along for the ride.