mary ann coupland and sally howell:

mary ann coupland and sally howell:

1. leaving calais

2. necessary lunchtime beer

3. french canal

4. changing tyres

5. cycling down the magnificent meuse

6. path leading to British war cemetary where I saw a solitary poppy. poignant moment.

7. rob and sals 29th wedding anniversary on the 15th may.

So sorry folks. i'm struggling to get photos on blog!

I've sent an SOS to daughter Charlie and nephew Didee in the hope they can help!
We have had another rest day (I know i know, 2 in one week) but we needed to do some serious route planning. Yesterday was a funny and as it turned out a VERY long day. We cycled easily to Sedan (Is this where Sedan chairs came from ?) where we had our lunch time beer and whilst looking at a map were 'picked up' by a fellow french cyclist called Christian, who told us to follow him to avoid hills. He took us on a 3 hour detour and for sure at that time we did avoid major hills. It was a different story after he left us though as there were hills going UP (of course) in every direction. There was only one that defeated me  and i promise you it was almost vertical! Anyway it turned out to be 7 hrs and 21 minutes in the saddle and about 87 kms. That brings our total up to 530.88 kms (330 miles) and we are now back in belgium in the delightful town of Tintigny. Neither of us have serious aches and pains and our bikes continue to behave beautifully. Tomorrow is a short hop (34 miles) to Luxembourg.
If anyone is able to pull a caravan over the Alps....it looks like Bruce wont be able to do it. We would need you for about 3 days, maybe four, from Luzerne in Switzerland on about the 27th May .

Yesterday and today....Days 8 and 9

Yesterday was wonderful! We left Rob clearing up our camp at Chimay and made our way across to Recroy, a wonderful little Garrison town where we had our much longed for (and only) beer of the day in its centre. The town is surrounded by an unfilled moat and has bridges at its entrance and exit. From there we headed for Revin which was to be our start of the River Meuse all the way down to Charlville Meziere some 4 hours away. However we had the Valley Misere to get through first...Yikes. We missed it ! and instead hurtled down a six mile hill .Yes DOWN all the way and screaming with laughter all the way down to the little mining town of St Nicholas. Not far from there was Revin which we weaved through. We are getting pretty good at this weaving lark! and the start of the Magnificent Meuse. It was truly wonderful. Passing through little villages on the way, Lock after lock. We met Rob at some point reading his book very peacefully on the bank of the river having driven there. After a total of 54 miles we treated ourselves to a meal in the very pretty centre of Charlville Meziere only a 15 min walk from the camp site.
We knew that after all the down hills and flat riding we were in for a shock today. More of that tomorrow

Mary Ann Coupland is fundraising for Cancer Research UK

Mary Ann Coupland is fundraising for Cancer Research UK


The end of that link should read Mary-Ann-Coupland0

Day off in Chimay for MA while Sal cycles yesterdays route

I did a  hilly but pretty ride from Landrecie to Chimay (about 52 km) yesterday whilst Sal got our caravan (Now called Robert the Bruce or Arby for short !) safely settled in a camp in the centre of Chimay where we are staying for 2 nights. This morning i drove her to yesterdays camp site and shes cycling back as i write this. I drove her cycle route and its even hillier than mine was so i hope she turns up today !!!! She will of course, especially as we are expecting Rob sometime this afternoon. He'll stay with us for a week and support us down the River Meuse and then the hills really begin !! Internet continues to be a problem so yet again i can't post any pictures as stuck in my apple mac.One day!
We are passing a few British war cemeteries and i popped into one yesterday to say 'hallo'. On the long grey gravelly path leading down to the graves was a tiny, solitary, single red poppy. It was very poignant and i burst into tears!
The bikes are behaving beautifully. We don't have any aches and pains that can't be sorted with Voltarel Gel, the weather is lovely and the flora and fauna is glorious on these sunny May days. Don't forget to look in the Blog Archive at the bottom of the page if you want to catch up with previous posts.
bye for now!

HURRAH...someone has lent us a computer!

We have been going for 5 days now and have cycled about 160 miles; Charlie and Dan, our first crew headed back to the Uk yesterday. They were fantastic to have on board and had the caravan ready and waiting when we  arrived back each night. The weather has been hot and sunny and we have developed the habit of a mid cycle beer....rocket fuel !!!! Our route so far has taken us from Calais, down to Licques across to Aire sur la Lys, then to Violaines near La Basse, Marchienne and now a really lovely, friendly village called Semeries. For the last two days, Sal has taken the caravan to the next site and then cycled back to meet me. Its working well but I look forward to Rob arriving so we can cycle together again.
Not too many near misses but one or two. We have both started off on the wrong side of the road, and today I cycled down the slip road to the A2 autoroute thinking the exit I wanted was on the way. I had a very red face on the way back up!!! Im going to try and put some photos up but am on a french computer and everything is upside down and the wrong way round. Internet is def at the next camp in Chimay tomorrow night. Don:t give up on us !!!!