This book is an account of a two-month cycle ride through France with my partner in 2012 – possibly the slowest cycle tour undertaken since the first Victorian strapped a bag to his back and pedalled off into the misty yonder with his flask and his handlebar moustache. Though we had been on plenty of cycle tours before and have been on others since, I really wanted to write about this one because it was a challenge for us – not just physically but because we had to work out how to spend two months in a tent with often very different opinions on how fast and far we should be cycling and where. (We’re still together, by the way!) Also, I totally fell in love with France and even more in love with my stoic, steady bike.
Here’s the blurb:
‘When Marie Madigan and her partner spent two months cycling around France with a tent, they weren’t trying to break any records; they just wanted a bit of sunshine for a change.
France enchanted, but the weather had other ideas. During nearly 2,000 slow miles they struggled with hailstones, hills, bad knees, and the scarcity of tea pots – only to find, as if they didn’t know it already, that no matter what the weather and the road throw at you, life is still better on the back of a bike.‘
You can read extracts from Chapter Two and Chapter Six here.
Here’s what readers have said:
“A really enjoyable read, a great follow up to Cycle Touring For Beginners. Makes it sound so simple and was good to read that you don’t need to cover 100’s of kilometers in a day! Very well written.” — Amazon Customer Review
You can buy A Slow Tour Through France ebook directly from me via my Payhip store, or from your favourite online store: Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes and Noble and other online stores. Print edition available from Amazon.
