Day 19

Beziers - the mayors office laid a lovely breakfast banquet on for me - made me feel very special - they were really nice people. The official photographer took lots of photos which they said they would send to Stockport council.
One of the councillors is a keen cyclist and was asking me all questions about the no of teeth on my cogs and how often do I change them - he looked a bit bemused when I said I have no idea - I just pedal the thing!
Anyway, tomorrow I'm off to Argeles where the campsite is we've booked in readiness for Carolyn and the two boys to fly out on Monday.
It's been an interesting journey and an eventful one and I hope to be able to share some of it at a supporters night in the near future. We are going to continue fundraising until we have reached our target of £5k so I guess I will use this blog as a vehicle for keeping people uptodate with the progress.
God bless for now.

Day 18

Carcassonne to Beziers. Well the last leg of the journey has been done and I have arrived safely in Beziers. It was another very hot cycle and it made me quite glad that the first 2 weeks were done in the rain rather than the burning sun. The last leg along the canal du midi was quite tricky as its not really a cycle path, more a footpath and there were lots of tree roots and stuff to avoid - ended up losing a spoke and breaking my speedo but I was almost there by then.
Spent the evening wandering around Beziers taking in the sites - its quite a big city - its got a magnificent cathedral with views down to the Mediterranean coast - its also got its salubrious areas - bit like Stockport then 😉
I've got a 9am meeting with the Mayor of Beziers at the Hotel de Ville tomorrow (see pic).
I just wanted to thank all those friends and family who have been supporting me and praying for me - i have really felt like I have been lifted up on the wings of the prayers by everyone - thank you I couldn't have done it without you!
As I'm sure you know, we are hoping to raise £5,000 for a wonderful childrens charity 'ShinelikeStars' -please give generously at www.charitygiving.co.uk/stevesstarcycle
I will blog the details of my meeting with the mayor tomorrow.

Day 17

Belflou to carcassonne. Hottest day of the ride so far. Cycled 40+ miles on the canal du midi and arrived very hot and sweaty and jumped straight into the campsite pool - heaven!
Beginning to get a bit bored with my own company now - gets a bit tedious when the most conversation you have in a day is 'bonjour, une baguette s'ils vous plait'.
The secretary for the mayor of Beziers has just phoned to say that she is going to try and fix up a reception for me on Friday - watch this space.
Have agreed with Andrew Phillips that we should set a £5,000 target for the bike ride - I know we are a long way short of that currently but we believe God is telling us to be bold. So the fundraising will continue until we reach the target.
Another event we have been discussing is a shine like stars supporters summer gala ball. We could use the mobile bar from Huffys and a large marquee - just need to think of somewhere to put it - anyone got a large back garden ? We could put some entertainment on, maybe have a hog roast, show some slides from the bike ride, etc. We would aim to sell 200 tickets - if we charged £25 a ticket that would raise the £5k.
My sister is organising a coffee & cakes event in aid of SLS which I will get along to - any other ideas out there?

Day 16

Verdun to Belflou. Followed the canal all morning until I reached Toulouse which is a very big city - no 3 or 4 in France. I used to work there many years ago and recognised some of the places. The canal brought me to a dead end in the city do I had to make my way through the city centre. I noticed C&A are still going strong in France.
After a quick stop at McDonald's (yes I know but they do a nice cup of tea and a decent chicken Caesar salad topped off with a lovely vanilla frappe - and they've got free wifi!) - I made my way to Belflou.
Turned out to be a strange sort of campsite - advertised as by a lake and offering all kinds of water sports as well as a bar/restaurant and a takeaway service. Well the Madame who runs it is stretching the truth a bit. It does have a lake but there is no real access apart from wading through mud. When I tried to book a table she said she only opens the restaurant for groups of 10 or more! She said I could have a takeaway as long as it was confit de canard which came with a pile of green beans and nothing else but it was enjoyable all the same.
I must admit the views over the lake are amazing but I think I will move on - I've never been to Carcasonne - supposed to be well worth a visit.
Btw I've just looked at my speedo and I've clocked up 1000 miles exactly.

Day 15

Agen to Verdun-sur-Garonne (Toulouse)
The new pillow was an absolute winner - I've ditched 12inch rubber forever!
Picked up the 'canal du Midi' today and it's amazing - completely flat - no hills - traffic free - I love it already.
Verdun is a bit of a ghost town as its Sunday - no restaurants/cafes open, no shops open, there's a rumour that the pizza takeaway may open its doors later - hope so otherwise what did I do with bit of baguette from yesterday!

Day 14

Rest day - spent most of the day by the pool resting up. Today is Bastille day which is a bit like our guy fawkes night only bigger. Just read the local paper and can't believe that some Indian guy has stolen my thunder. He's pictured with the Mayor of Agen as he is cycling round the world from India - its going to take him 3 years which puts my 3 weeks into perspective but I bet he hasn't got a replacement knee!
I'm excited about going to bed tonight as I have gone mad and treated myself to a proper pillow. The one I've been using is a 12inch plastic blowup job which is very uncomfortable - this is a proper pillow - not sure how I'll carry it but if I get a good nights sleep, I don't care.
The picture of Agen station will bring back horrible memories to those people who came on the church holiday a few years ago and had to catch the train from Bordeaux to Agen (doug).

Day 13

Bergerac to Agen. Woke up to clouds again so said goodbye to my American friend, John, and set off for Agen. On the way the skies turned blue and the sun came out - could this be the start of the hot weather ?
Went through villeneuve-sur-lot and then onto Agen - the road was up and down, up and down with very few level bits - and the downs do not make up for the ups! I was very tired (70 miles) when I reached Agen but thankfully the campsite had a pool which I wasted no time in testing.
That evening I cycled into Agen where there was some kind of big military parade taking place (not sure what the French army is celebrating - maybe Bastille day?).
Had an indian curry where they ask you if you want any spices - apparently it normally comes spice free - my mate birdsy would love that.
Cycled back just as a big black cloud heralded a rainstorm.