Published by Lyn on 12 May 2015
John and Marjorie are two Aussies cycling northern France on a tandem. Here's a bit more about them.
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I stumbled across John and Marjorie on my way back to the hotel in Saumur. They were standing on a corner chatting to two German cyclist friends they'd met the previous day.
Like most Aussies, they were open and happy to chat about their trip. We said our goodbyes and Nicky and I headed off towards Angers on our La Velo Francette trip.
A day later, I got an email from John – they were headed to Angers: were we still there and did we want to catch up?
So last night we had a meal with the guys and swapped bike talk.
John and Marjorie are from Melbourne, and they arrived in France two weeks ago, via Paris. They'd boxed their tandem up (it took four hours, says Marjorie) and brought it on their Emirates flight with them. It wasn't a seemless process (and it's possible a little damage to the bike was sustained en route) but they got here in the end.
We met them in the Loire; they were headed west along the river, and plan to ride north through Brittany and then back around the coast to Calais. From there they will take a ferry to the UK and plan to visit Cornwall (where Marjorie has family history), London (where they have a friend) and Cambridge (where John lived for a year when he was 10 years old).
Other than that, their itinerary is fairly fluid and they tend to plan routes and book accommodation as they go.
So far they've found French hotels and B&Bs very accommodating with the tandem, usually storing it in a locked courtyard or bike garage. They are a little more worried about London in particular and, to a lesser extent, Cambridge, where they are keen to ensure the bike stays safe. (If you can help, email me at lyn@freewheelingfrance.com and I'll put you in touch).
From the UK it'll be back across on the ferry to Holland and on to Germany and wherever else the road takes them.
This isn't their first long-distance tandem tour: they bought their first tandem back in the 1970s and have since ridden together across various routes back in Australia as well as in the US (where they lived for a time). However this six-month adventure through France and northern Europe will be their longest and (hopefully!) the most memorable.
Here's their tandem info:
Built by: www.rad-und-tour.de
Frame: Juchem, www.juchem-bike.de
Weight: about 25kg unloaded; about 40kg loaded.
Total length: about 230cm
Gears: Rohloff hub SH 500/14 (i.e. 14 speeds)
"I understand that the original German owners had it built in 2012," says John. "We bought it from them in 2014 when they stayed with us in Melbourne (through Warm Showers)."
Say hi to them if you see them on the road.
