Beyond the Bike

Can a wine-tasting tour of Burgundy count as a warm up ride Stuart?

Yes, apparently it can! So, we decided to spend two nights with Tom Kevill Davies aka The Hungry Cyclist at his new lodge near Beaune - www.thehungrycyclist.com This turned out to be a great idea for several reasons; Tom is really lovely, interesting and knows lots about the local area, wine, food, cycling etc. The lodge is a lovely old mill house (which sleeps 10), with beautiful gardens, a swimming pool, and gorgeous views across the vineyards in Auxey-Duresses.  The food and wine are obviously amazing.  Possibly more importantly for us it turned out that Tom cycled up the Mekong River a few years ago and so he was able to give us lots of advice. He even found his old map of Laos which he kindly gave us and a great contact (a Canadian restauranteur!) in Luang Prabang!  His advice to get on a boat along the river in North Laos seems very sensible to me, especially when he told us how hilly and rough the roads are there.  Stu has said I am in charge of the Asia section...