John Bosley

John is retired and thoroughly enjoying life. With his wife, Kate, he is a member of San Fairy Ann Cycling Club based in Kent and The Tandem Club.

Retirement allowed us the time and space to plan and ride, unsupported, round the whole of France, just over 7,000 kilometres. The challenge started in May 2023 near Dunkerque, France, travelled anti-clockwise round France and eventually returned back in the middle of August, about 80 days later (a few people expected us to be back home after a few weeks, having failed). Kate, has some disabilities including visual impairments following a traumatic brain injury due to a cycling accident in February 2013, consequently this was to be on a tandem. “That’s amazing, do you take it in turns on the front”, blank stare from me!

I have written this as a record of our amazing cycle and providing insights into how we managed this challenge. However, the story also describes some of the places of interest that we passed and visited on the journey and some of the character of France. For example did you know that Carnac, a seaside resort in Brittany, has literally thousands of prehistoric standing stones? Unfortunately they appeared to have been stolen so we didn’t actually see them, though there was a really nice rockery in someone’s garden. The first 30 days of cycling took us along the North and West coasts of France down to the border with Spain where we took a left turn into the Pyrenees. Our pace slowed a little as the roads went sharply up and the weather came sharply down until our next left turn at the Mediterranean. It wasn’t a great year for nice weather, even a snail escaped the rain by hitching a 40km lift in my helmet! We then hit this years heatwave as we sped along the Mediterranean coastline to the border with Italy. Time. For another left turn into and over the Alps to Lake Geneva and then continuing North over the Jura mountains and back West again to complete the circumnavigation.

Above all this is an enjoyable and humorous read that attempts to not to take itself too seriously.