Hi Carolyn, our trip beginning in August will have two parts. First we'll return to Ian's and then quickly make our way to Nantes. There we'll meet up with our son from Montreal and three grandchildren. We'll cycle on the Loire for two weeks before sending them back off to Montreal. After that, for part two, we'll head for Holland, then up the Meuse and finally down the Rhone to the Camargue. Then we'll follow the Med and on in to Spain, ending at Valencia. We have mapped this all out, and booked as far as Caen. We are looking forward to the first step, which is the return to Boubiers. We'll have one fun day there to play at bicycle maintenance with Ian. That is sure to be fun in itself!

Hey Steve & Dodie, how are the plans coming along for August? Ian mentioned he's getting bits and pieces for your bikes in readiness. Glad it worked out so well with him! He is gold!

Dodie

Sorry for mistyping your name. Auto correction does that sometimes. 🤔

Steve and Didi;

Thanks for your reply. I am interested in learning more about cycling Portugal and southern Spain. Also interested in your plans and thoughts on central Spain. I ride most mornings and pass Fol Epi on my route. So a get together there some morning or whenever is convenient for you would be great. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are best for me. Sometimes Fridays and Saturdays.

We are E-bike tourers ourselves. Here is a little article published about us.

https://www.r-m.de/en-ca/magazine/darlene-john-superdelite/

Also, if you would prefer to communicate with us by email rather than through CycleBlaze our email address is ebikestouring@gmail.com. You can also text me at 250 920 6666.

Looking forward to meeting you two.

John

Hi John, your comment piqued our interest, since you seem to be on the same "track" as us, with a Spring and a Fall trip. We have struggled with where and how to store the bikes at the end of one trip, so as to be ready for the next. We can also make some comments on southern Spain, and all of Portugal, but until next Spring will not have been in central Spain.

Do you feel like getting together in Victoria? The "usual" cycleblaze venue for this is the Fantastico deli beside Fol Epi, on the Galloping Goose.

I have followed with great interest both your tour through Spain and Portugal as well as tge Andersen’s through Spain. We are from Victoria BC and bike tour in Europe each Spring and Fall. We just completed the Pyrenees tour following Jacquie Gaudette’s route through France. Fantastic. Our bikes are now in San Sebastián awaiting our Fall trip.

I am trying to determine what would be the best, most scenic, interesting, least touristy route south for our Fall trip, through Spain or through Portugal. It seems many follow the Camino routes to Lisbon, more your route. The Anderson’s route was directly south through Spain. Can you comment on which you think would be better for us.

John

Thanks for the re-cap! Lively and lovely!

Common in CA. , but protea is native to South Africa..

Because of her holy water, I am now cancer free in the Netherlands 🇳🇱 on a 🚲 myself!

We will still need the small camera just to document the trip. The new camera weighs 2 1/2 pounds, so maybe we will need to jettison that weight ... in underwear?

Congrats on the new camera! That is a big difference! Good camera!

Glad you did the math as it does ( and did) add up! Worth every Grampies penny, in my opinion. ( note I did not add “humble”, before the word opinion ;)

How can an American Robin be in Canada? ( not a serious question, but meant as a pun)

The Nikon P950. It's big and will eat up the handlebar bag space. Plus with such a camera I will feel pressure to get some good shots. More fun to have a blurry point and shoot to blame?

The P950 though is still a bit of a gimmick - achieving long zoom by having a small sensor = poor in low light and less dynamic range. (I am already lining up my excuses for any poor shots!)

Can't wait to see what kind of camera you are getting!