THIS week sees a group of keen cyclists from Crickhowell setting off on their marathon journey from Santander in northern Spain to start their road trip back to Scaer, and on to the ferryport at Roscoff - a trip of around 800 miles of, including a bit of the Pyrenees, in 12 days.

As promised the group will be updating their progress regularly our website:

Hi from the heart of the Bordeaux wine region, just down the road from St Emilion.

We started under heavy skies from our B&B in Onesses et Laharie (quickly renamed as Onesie and Larry) and were soon back on the long,dead straight roads through the pine forests. Great for knocking off the miles but not to much to see- although we did get a sight of a naked French backside poking out of a passing car window!

One road could have have been the prototype for all other French roads - flat,straight as a die and lined with plane trees with wide open fields on either side.

Being a Sunday we guessed it might be a bit difficult to find a suitable lunch place, but were a bit surprised to be turned away from a restaurant at 1pm because they had "finished serving"! Fortunately a few miles up the road we came across a cheese shop owner re-laying the decking outside his shop. A few pleading words in French and we were soon enjoying possibly the best cheese and ham sandwich I’ve ever tasted plus a bottle or two of the local ale. Well done to that man from Torgan! The other group, a little further behind, invaded football tournament for sausage and chips!

In the morning it was flat, straight roads in pine forests, in the afternoon it was hilly, windy roads through acres and acres of grape vines. We crossed the Gironde and Dordogne rivers, both well known to British holidaymakers. We knew we were in the wine district when the roundabout decorations looked like the attached photo!

We all know that France is a large country, but the huge gaps between villages, all looking a bit like ghost towns on this Sunday, is really driven home on a bike.

Today was our longest in terms of mileage at just under 90 miles but only around 1600 feet of climb. Flat doesn’t always mean easier as one is turning the pedals nearly all the time, with no chance for recovery on the downhills.SATURDAY: A very different day today. After all the hills and traffic, today saw us going through the flat forests of Les Landes mainly on beautifully surfaced cycle tracks.It was at times slightly boring but did allow for tired legs to recuperate before another long ride tomorrow. If you think that the South of France is always hot and sunny, then think again. Last night it sounded like a monsoon outside and it was very threatening as we left this morning. Thankfully apart from a couple of sharp showers it stayed dry but not at all warm.We are staying at a B&B that is in the middle of a forest so we'll have to get back on the bikes for our evening meal.