Dockpacking overnighter between Bordeaux and Blaye

On May 8th and 9th, 2025, I went bikepacking with my 3-year-old Border Collie, Leia. This is a chilled out/zen video about this two-day ride.

For this trip, I used my trusty Omnium Mini-Max with a mix of Ortlieb packs, a DIY framebag, and a random drybag.

This was my first time vlogging such a trip, and I think I learned a few things along the way that will help make a better video next time.

[Music] The cush. [Music] Hey, what you got? Okay. We sit down. All right, this is our first short break uh after topping the small climb that we had. Just took off my jacket because it’s starting to feel bit warmer now. But yeah, it’s been good. We haven’t really done much distance, but we were in the city a lot, which makes progress slow. I didn’t film much because I just wanted to get out of the city as quickly as possible. Um, we’re still not completely out into the countryside, but getting closer. [Music] [Music] I suppose this one. First break of the day. Um we’ve done about 25k from total of 60. And right now we are just before crossing the Eiffel Bridge. Um that’s the same Eiffel from the Eiffel Tower that he designed. Um we stopped at a lake that’s just before the bridge that you might be able to see in the background. And um Leia’s enjoying her treat. Just doing a yeah, short rest. I’m going to drink a bit, eat a snack as well, and then we’ll keep on going. Um 35k left. I think in about 10k we’re reaching a city where I can get some water. Uh there’s a public fountain. Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Applause] Should this one? Yeah. [Music] Yeah. Small setback. The water fountain that I had chosen for the lunch break was out of order. So, we’ll just continue. There’s a few more villages on the on the way to BL. Hopefully, there’ll be water fountain or like don kebab open. I saw a few open here, but I didn’t want to stop. Um maybe I’ll have to just to refill drinks and obviously eat something as well. Well, I guess we’ll see. But yeah, uh it’s getting quite hot, so hopefully we’ll find some water. I still have I think a leader, so we’re far from in being in danger, but it’s a bit annoying. Short break right in the middle of nowhere. Pretty nice area. Earlier I saw the um nuclear power plant of BL which is good indication that at least we’re moving in the right direction. 700 again. Oh, we just got completely lost. Um, I don’t know what Kimoot had in mind, but yeah, path that it rooted us through just did not exist. And to get out of this, I had to ride through some freshly cut grass, quite thick, super hard to get through. Um, we are finally back on a something that looks kind of like a road. And um, now we’ll just find another way to to get back on the planned path. Um, an easier path maybe. So, we’ll see. Awesome. This is what everything looks like after we went through that. I have to clean this up without having the camera in the in my hand. It’s just too messy. Now that looks better. Much much better. Okay, we’ll keep going. She’s a bit tired as well. [Music] [Applause] We just went through a horrible climb. Take the next flight. Yeah, super calm area. Now turn right onto Route Den. So, I guess we’re getting quite close to BL. You can now start to see the Garon again in the background. And my GPS says there’s seven kilometers remaining. So, we should still we should soon be there, which is nice. I hope there’ll be a place open to get a beer cuz that will be the ultimate pleasure after a day in the saddle. [Applause] [Music] Looks like I’m an idiot and I forgot my uh external USB battery, so I can’t charge my phone in camp. So, right now it’s right [Music] there on top of that side plugged into the restaurant’s outlet. Um, but yeah, uh, that probably means I’ll start the day tomorrow with less battery than I’d like. Um, but I should be able to do navigation without my phone and just keep it for emergencies. So, a bit annoying, but should be able to get through things. I hope next time I won’t forget the battery. [Music] [Music] Yes. So, I didn’t really film during dinner because um some guy called Lauron um in the camping area invited me to eat dinner with him. So, that was quite cool. Um had a table and a chair uh which obviously I couldn’t take on the bike. So, we ate and talked a lot. Leia got to clean the dishes, so she was very happy and um yeah, I didn’t feel comfortable filming him and um and sharing that moment, but it was really nice. And um and now I think it’s around 9,4. So I’m going to clean the dishes, brush my teeth, get ready to sleep basically, and Um, tomorrow we have the um ferry that crosses the river at 9:00. So, I would like to catch that because I think the next one is at 11:00. So, that’s quite a bit later and 9 seems like the good time. So, I’ll try to catch that. Um, probably wake up around 8 at the latest. I don’t really have any breakfast, but yeah, some apples and cookies. So, um yeah, awesome first day. Um the trip was nice. We did have some issues with some very difficult trails um that weren’t passable where we had to basically not turn back but like turn to get back to a road as quickly as possible instead of continuing on the trail. Um, and then at the end around 15k from from the arrival, I went back into Kimoot and just rebuilt a route um that was more focused on roads rather than paths and trails um because I just I just wanted to arrive um and I think it was a good idea. So, um, for tomorrow, I’ll probably do the same, um, an easier route. Um, instead of doing 60k through lots of forest, I’ll probably do around 45 with mainly small backcountry roads. Um, but again, on a very easy tempo, I’ll try to film a bit more. Let Leia take her time to do what she wants. Um, Yeah, just enjoy enjoy the trip, enjoy the day, basically. And um we’ll see you then. [Music] So, as you see, I am almost done. Um, packing up. Put up the tent just to dry the ground sheet a bit. Just went to do the dishes. Leia is waiting patiently. And yeah, and um yeah, now I’ll just finish packing up the tent and my dirty clothes. And um I guess then we’ll go. We still have plenty of time until the ferry goes, but we’ll just take a quick walk around the medieval city center. really You want the death [Applause] [Music] Keep going. Just 1.7 kilometers left and then we are home. I can’t wait for that shower. But yeah, it was an awesome ride. Um, I shared almost the entire way back with a couple, Pierre and Julie, who were from Northern France and were doing some bike travel together. So, that was really awesome to share the road with someone. Uh, but obviously it changes the way you ride quite a lot. Changes your tempo. Uh, but yeah, it was really fun. Obviously, I filmed a bit less while I was with them. I didn’t want to uh intrude on their privacy. Um but yeah, awesome day. The weather is great. Although I am happy to be arriving soon because it’s getting quite hot. And uh yeah, I’d rather not ride under this quite strong sun uh for myself and for Leia. So um yeah, happy to soon be home.