Bicycle Jack's

Day 9: Last Day, from Rennes to St Malo, a very short ride at 44 miles through some really picturesque countryside and canal tow paths.

I was actually wishing for the ride to be longer, until it started raining 😂

Legs felt really strong after a day of rest, and in the evening I cycled from my hotel which was at the edge of town into the old town without all the kit on my bike, it felt SO fast!

I’ve had a few people asking about my set up and kit, bike and route planning so I’ll do a separate post about this.

Feeling really grateful for the adventure, and the feeling or personal achievement is huge.

Life is short, do things you want to do!

Day 7 and 8: combined!

Day 7 saw me leaving La Roche Sur Yon in heavy rain, which didn’t let up the whole way to Nantes. I just got my head down and got on with it without stopping, and without taking and photos during the ride. Can confirm I am a fair weather cyclist.

Nantes is a really nice city, with amazing cycling infrastructure and lots of people using bikes instead of cars + the best steak I’ve ever had!

Day 8 - Forecast wasn’t looking good for the ride from Nantes to Rennes so I took the executive decision to sit on a train for a couple of hours and skip the cycle before treating myself to yet another steak. My friend Matt describes riding in terrible weather as type 2 fun 😂

The other change of plan is that I am going to ride from Rennes to St Malo to hop on the ferry from there instead of Cherbourg, last ride of the trip!

Day 6- Leaving La Rochelle, in a bit of a rush being Sunday with the shops closing at lunch time and I wanted to make Luçon for a re stock.

On the outskirts of La Rochelle I picked up a puncture whilst trying to avoid a snail crossing the path. The tubeless sealant was doing its best to fix it but I was ultimately left having to use a plug.

I made it to Lucon with plenty of time to spare so grabbed some lunch and found some nice gardens to sit and eat in.

The second half of the ride consisted of sitting on the same long, straight, undulating road for 30km, with a blustery wind on the side. Thankfully barely any traffic so was quite peaceful!

Day 5 - early start to get the ferry to Royan and a shorter day for mileage which I wanted to give myself a bit more recovery time in La Rochelle - really starting to feel fatigued now.

Somehow it felt like I was cycling up hill and into the wind for the whole ride.

Made it to La Rochelle ready for 2pm check in at the hotel which gave me some much needed rest followed by a lovely meal with family that live locally.

Day 4 - The best day yet, started in Arcachon and got the ferry to Le Canon, the first hour or so I was thinking I’d made a mistake as the cycle paths were so bumpy. They soon smoothened out and I was flying through the pine forests and made great time to Soulac Sur Mer.

I had a dip in the Sea (bloody freezing) cooked up a nice big bowl of pasta as had good facilities in my apartment.

I ended up chatting to 3 English guys while watching the sunset who had cycled from London but had been covering 300km a day!

Day 3- a much much much flatter ride today, the bikes goes along really nicely when it’s up to speed on the flat, towards the end I was able to sit at 20mph for long sections.

Not much in the way of scenery due to adverse weather (I was caught in what seemed to be a never ending thunderstorm for over 3 hours) I have never been so wet on a bike, I was emptying my shoes of water regularly.

Bit of chain maintenance needed, there is sand everywhere!

Another flat day today and slightly shorter with a ferry crossing to start.

Day 2- done!

Another long tough day in the saddle today. 7.5 hours moving time, 9 hours elapsed. I’m using Komoot for the route planning which it is absolutely exceptional for, but did lie about the elevation gain, ended the day doing twice as much as it said I would.

A side note that both the Spanish and French make excellent cycle paths!

Day 1 - Bilbao to Tolosa

Very tough day with 8.5 hours moving time and nearly 10 hours elapsed. Hot day, with some big climbs which with a loaded bike became quite a drag. Time for a good night sleep and see how the legs do tomorrow!

This year I realised just how short life can be and that if you want to do something, now is the time.

I’ve talked about a bike touring trip across France for years and I’m now finally making it happen!

Yesterday I set off to Bilbao and over the next two weeks will cycle from there to Cherbourg.

Fingers crossed for minimal pain and maximum pain au chocolats! 🇫🇷 🚲

Lymington & Pennington Cycling Charter Getting more people to cycle can make a significant contribution towards tackling many of the problems faced in the modern world – congestion, air pollution, obesity, mental health issues, poor quality of life – whilst also providing an economic stimulus that can revitalise Lymington & Penningto...

Heads up, we'll be closed from 17th September to 25th September to catch some final sun in Mallorca.

We're currently booking servicing slots into the 2nd week of October, so if you're planning some autumnal rides, drop us a message to get booked in asap.

Thanks in advance for everyones patience!

Becoming an authorised service partner has meant we’ve seen a a massive range of Canyon bikes flying through the door recently, including this complete rebuild Canyon Aeroad CF SLX!

Nothing will stop Ryan from bringing bikes back to new and despite being back in his chair for a bit, he’s still smashing it and even co-ordinating outfits to rides!

We’re working with around a 2-3 week wait time on service slots at the moment but if your bike is in need of some TLC, give us a call and we can get you booked in.

Sunrise cycling in the mountains of Mallorca- it really doesn’t get much better than this.

Thanks so much to all of our lovely customers for bearing with us whilst we work through the busiest time of the year, with a roughly 3 week wait time on servicing slots.

Some time off amongst the madness has been very much appreciated!

One of my favourite jobs to date!

This Peugeot Tandem was a dream to work on and has been given all of the Bicycle Jacks love!

Featuring new Sturmey archer 3 speed wheels with a 10 speed cassette on halo retro rims, disc brake mount welded on by Tom Marchant Custom Creations and 3 new brakes to make it stop!

A few shots from a recent trip to Windhill Bikepark with Ryan. 🤟

If we’re not fixing bikes, we’re riding them!

A very special Cervélo off to the world champs shortly with our lovely long time customer, Camille.

There’s aero… and then there’s this! 👌

Best of luck with the race Camille! 🏅

Beat the rush and get organised with your bike maintenance before the spring sunshine finally arrives! ☀

We've got limited servicing slots still available ahead of easter and are fully stocked on parts and accessories for all your needs.

To book in, drop us a message or give us a call on 07531 081702.

Building something a little different today…

We’re really excited to be working on this polished silver, heavy duty wheel set for a classic tandem, using a Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub gear with 11 speed free hub body.

If you’re looking for a custom set of wheels, whatever bike and terrain, drop us a DM with your needs and we’ll be more than happy to spec for you.

Looking forward to seeing them in the bike and on the road soon!

Want to spread the love this valentines? 💖

If you have had a positive experience at Bicycle Jacks recently, we would be so grateful if you could leave us a review on our google maps page using the link below-

https://g.co/kgs/FGu8iv

We pride ourselves on excellent, personal service and would love to hear your feedback!

The Bicycle Jacks Team 🚲

For Sale!

Whyte E-150S, 2021 E-Bike with Bosch motor and 625 WH battery. Size large.

As new condition - only 15 miles from new. Full original spec.

Was £5100 new, available now for £4250.

Advertising on behalf of a friend, DM for more info.

Finally a sunny, dry (albeit cold) spell ahead of us!

Where will you be riding this weekend?

Wishing all of our wonderful customers, old and new, a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thank you for all of your support during another crazy year!

With love from all of the Bicycle Jacks team.

It’s Christmas! 🌲

We’re putting our feet up and will be closing from today for a Christmas break. We’ll be back on January 3rd for all your cycling needs.

Have a good one and see you in 2023!

We’re super proud to announce that Bicycle Jacks is now an official service partner for Canyon 🚲

With access to specific training, documentation and spare parts for Canyon bikes, we can offer the fastest and most convenient way to get your Canyon fixed.

We're able to support you with the handling of Canyon warranty cases, major and minor repairs, bike maintenance and the supply of Canyon engineered parts.

Say hello to The South Coast’s newest MIAS Instructors! 👊

A few weeks ago, Ryan and I had the pleasure of completing our MIAS level two, MTB instructor course with the help of our instructor Tom at Ethical Activities CIC

Our training covered risk assessments, ride safety, on and off road riding, group control, navigation and coaching and means we’re now fully qualified to lead groups or individuals on rides across a variety of terrains. 🌲

Drop us a message, give us a call or pop into the workshop if you’re interested in our guided rides or skill sessions coming soon. 👀

Give the gift of cycling safety this Christmas with our Bicycle Jacks gift vouchers. For use on servicing, parts and accessories, your loved ones will be spoilt for choice!

Pop by the workshop to purchase and we’ll throw in some free Muc-Off mini’s to get you started.

Join us on Thursday 1st December, 5pm-8pm for our Christmas open workshop event.

Come along to shop accessories and parts whilst enjoying some drinks and baked goods on us!

Feeling brave? We’ll also be running some bike repair competitions for the chance to win a Muc-Off bundle.

RSVP - https://www.facebook.com/events/833419791358445/?ref=newsfeed

We recently had the pleasure of doing the race prep and wheel builds for Matthew and his Cannondale Slice, before he tackled the Barcelona Ironman.

Completing the challenge in just over 11 hours, Matthew and his team at Lymington Triathlon Club came out second overall in the club standings - what an achievement!

Fresh Ultra build on its first ride in the forest last weekend.

We were given the freedom to spec the bike to fit the customers needs and budget using SRAM GX AXS Eagle wireless drive train, Rock Shox SID forks, Shimano XT brake set and DT Swiss X1900 wheels wrapped in Maxxis Recon+ tyres.

New custom carbon wheels that we recently built up for Joes BMC... he opted for 60mm depth with a gloss finish and 20/24 hole on the super bitex ultra light hubs.

In case you didn’t know, we offer a range of custom wheels built up to your chosen spec.

Interested? Drop us an email or give us a call for more info - https://bicyclejacks.co.uk/pages/contact