The Kindness of Friends

With the latest whirlwinds upsetting geopolitics, this seems like a very appropriate time to remind myself that the overwhelming majority of people we meet are good and kind. I thought I'd do that by singling out a few people who have made a real difference to my project here when they didn't have to lift a finger.

And only because it's the most visible on-line symbol, where better to start than Peter Bradshaw of Focal Strategy Ltd. I didn't even know Peter when a mutual friend offered his services to build a website for free for the Pyrenees Cycling Centre. Being a long-time adherent to the idea that there is no such thing as a free lunch, I was at first a little sceptical. Wrongly as it turns out. Anyone reading this is doing so via the website that Peter very kindly created for me. Thank you so much Peter. As you can probably tell, I've been mucking around with it a bit and it's now almost as nice as when you handed it over to me :-(

Next off I'm going to say thank you Pete McGee. Pete can do almost anything (although he's a bit shit with computers unlike the other Peter, above). Almost no matter what you do at the Pyrenees Cycling Centre, Pete was somehow involved in its creation, often as a result of Covid lockdown work swaps that he and I imposed on each other as a way of staying sane in that awful period. The thing that most often springs to my mind however was the long drive here from Exeter, Devon, with a kind of homemade trailer loaded with the beds and mattresses for guests. (see Google maps review on how immensely comfortable they are!) In a spectacularly bad bit of timing, I bought the beds two weeks before the first lockdown so I also need to mention Andy Sinclair of Exeter Mobile Cycle Service, my brother Bernard Dugdale of Chain Gang Cycle Tours and Chris Johns of The Bike Bus who all collaborated in storing the beds for me until lockdown finished and I was able to collect them with Pete. Here he is, with beds, just after we arrived in July 2020. It was hours out of his way at both ends of the thousand kilometre journey, towing a massive and possibly legal trailer. Thank you Pete.

Pete McGee and the massively extended trailer full of beds.

And (probably wrongly) almost lastly, I'd like to thank a good friend and neighbour, Joel Soucaze, digger driver extraordinaire and all round good bloke. I met Joel via the Mairie (townhall) when I was trying to find someone to install a new septic tank for the Pyrenees Cycling Centre. Little did I suspect at the time just how crucial it would be to work locally. As well as having a perfectly functioning, ultra modern and entirely non-polluting sewage system serving all six en-suite bathrooms and all eight (ridiculous, I know) toilets in the house, I have Joel to thank for most of my social life here, a huge percentage of my firewood and if any of you come to stay (please do) and like the idea of locally caught boar or venison, you will also have Joel to thank for that as well.

Joel on the right, enjoying un petit Ricard at the cabane.

Finally, a huge thank you to all those of you who have trusted me with your hard-earned cash to provide you with a warm welcome, a comfortable home and some delicious meals during your visits. Thank you very much indeed!