The Last Leg - Morocco, Spain and France
By Catherine Dixon (Cat) and Rachael Marsden (Raz)
It’s been just over a week since we returned to the UK after completing our world record attempt to be the fastest women to ride around the world on a tandem. We rode about 18,263 miles in just over 263 days. This is the fastest ever ride around the world on a tandem. It establishes the women’s record and is faster than the men’s current record by over 2 weeks.
All that said, it is certainly a strange and worrying time to return to the UK. Over the last few weeks it did feel as if the Coronavirus was pursuing us though Europe. As it turned out, we only just left France in time, catching the second to last passenger ferry back to the UK.
We arrived in Casablanca on 24 February. We finally made it to a hotel after an anxious hour when we were separated from Alice (the tandem) who got fed up of waiting and caught an earlier bus. We would have joined her but we were usurped by a group of scouts who jumped the queue and got into the bus first.
It was great to be back on the bike riding through villages and towns where people walked (as opposed to drove) and which were full of cafes and markets.
On the third night we managed to arrive (having traveled down a long rocky road) at the wrong accommodation - it had the same name but was in the wrong village. We had another 13 miles to go and it transpired that the Riad was at the end of sandy road, which was unridable. We pushed Alice one and a half miles, arriving in the dark with no food. Fortunately, after much discussion, we managed to persuade the house keeper to feed us – so at least we had some energy to push Alice back down the one and a half miles of sandy track in the morning.
Our journey through Morocco and into Africa was way too short. We arrived in Tangier and caught the ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar into Spain. We cycled to Gibraltar which is an odd experience for those of you who have never visited it - red buses, pubs, British police and potholes! Gibraltar was one of our antipodean points, (as part of the world record we had to be at opposite sides of the world – Gibraltar and Auckland in New Zealand).
The next day we set off across Spain. It felt amazing to be in Europe with its cafes and good coffee. The scenery was beautiful as we started the long climb up to Ronda, past nesting storks and as we climbed higher, spotting vultures on thermals over the mountains.
We were heading north on route to Madrid which felt like a bit of a milestone. We passed through Toledo, which is a beautiful walled city with UNESCO status. Leaving the city, I was stopped by the police and breathalysed - I’m not sure what this says about my piloting skills!
We were loving Spain with its steep climbs into the mountains, its olive and wine groves and the spring blossom on the trees. However, it was here that we started to really pay attention to the reports about Coronavirus which was arriving in Europe and starting to spread. That said, it still felt very remote and not a direct threat to us or to the ride.
We kept crossing parts of the famous Camino du Santiago as we headed across the Spanish plain and towards the Pyrenees. We both loved the Pyrenees staying in an old ski lodge where there is no longer snow before descending to the coast into San Sebastián, which was the European city of culture a few years ago.
We traveled through forests mainly following cycle tracks as we headed north back to the UK. Our spirits were lifted, as we got increasingly concerned about the virus, by a tweet from Laura Kenny the 4 times Olympic champion sending her support.
We changed our route to avoid Bordeaux and continued heading north. We arrived at Rochefort and heard that all cafes and restaurants were closing and restrictions were starting to be imposed on travel. It was a relief to know that we had already cycled more than the 18,000 miles required by Guinness to break the world record. We carried on but it was difficult to get food. Our accommodation bookings also started to be cancelled as France started to go into lockdown. It felt like a race against time to get back to the UK – and it was.
We reached Angers and that evening heard the announcement confirming that France was going into lockdown from the lunchtime of the next day. The measures where draconian and to be enforced by massive extra police presence. They included a travel ban and only allowed solo exercise - which is pretty tricky on a tandem. We also had to carry a piece of paper explaining why we were outside.
We made the difficult decision to catch a train to the coast for what would have been the last day of riding in France. We were keeping our fingers crossed that we would be able to get a ferry. Our booking was for later in the week and we couldn’t get through to the ferry company to bring it forward.
We set off early to the train station. Part of our train journey had been cancelled overnight but we managed to get Alice and ourselves onto a train underneath a sign banning tandems.
We arrived in Le Mans and saw that all the trains to the coast had been cancelled. Finally an incredibly helpful man directed us to a coach and Alice, doing an excellent impersonation of Houdini, managed to crush herself into the small space under the coach reserved for suitcases.
We arrived in Caen and cycled fast to get to the ferry. The ferry was full but because we didn’t have a vehicle (other than Alice) we managed to squeeze on. We were immediately sent to a cabin and told not to leave for the duration of the voyage. There was no food or drink available. It felt surreal and certainly a taste of things to come. We discovered that there would be one sailing after our ferry - then all passenger ferries would be cancelled. It was cutting it fine to say the least!
Returning to the UK felt unreal given the restrictions we had seen in France over the last few days. Everyone was carrying on as normal. It felt a bit ominous given what we had just experienced in France. The last day’s ride was full of mixed emotions. There was the excitement of seeing family and friends and the relief of just getting back to the UK in time. However, we felt sad that the ride was over and our amazing adventure was finally coming to an end.
We received fantastic support along the route. People came out to cheer us on and ride with us. We were even joined by a couple of tandems at one stage. Andy Gorman from Stolen Goat which supplied our cycling gear joined us on route. It was fantastic to see him – he was excited to see that Nik our Stolen Goat mascot given to us on day one by Andy’s girls was still hanging on to Alice – although looking a bit grubby.
We were also joined by members of our cycle club – the Cowley Road Condors, who rode the last bit of the route with us. We live streamed the end of our ride so people isolating at home could see it. We were joined by people not just in the UK but around the world. It was simply amazing.
Just as we arrived in Oxford it started to rain. We crossed over the finish line and were amazed that people had come along to welcome us back. It was wonderful to be greeted by family and friends who we hadn’t seen for nearly nine months. I’m just sorry that we couldn’t speak to everyone individually and thank them for coming.
We are now both at home. Raz in Oxford and I’m in York. Raz has gone back to work early and is working with patients with MND during this worrying time. I’m starting a new job soon (which I was interviewed for in Tombstone Arizona with the enactment of the gun fight from the OK Coral going on in the background).
We both miss riding together and the freedom of being out on the open road. Everyday was an adventure – we never knew who we would meet or who we would see. We received so many lovely messages about our adventure and we are so grateful for all the support. We will have a celebration when it’s safe. We hope that many of you can join us.
In the meantime, thank you all so much for following us and for your generous donations. We’ve been asked what our adventure has taught us and I’d say - always follow your dreams - don’t live with regrets. Be kind to yourself and others. We are all fundamentally the same and, for the most part, kind, generous, interested in others and supportive - I’ll always try to remember this when things feel hard. Live in the moment and enjoy every minute – life really can be too short.