St Malo to Santander by bicycle

Last May I cycled from St Malo to L'Isle Jourdain and thence to Mons La Trivalle eventually returning to the UK via Eurostar.
On that trip I took an aged (Nigel Dean) bicycle equipped with hub gears and laden with six bags. On tour weight was snot such an issue but it does slow you down. I was camping and cooking and carrying food.
This year the plan is different - to travel light (titanium frame, carbon forks, derailleurs, skinny tyres). Not only will the bike be lighter but I will carry far less no tent cooking or food and minimum clothing and I will sleep indoors.
Last year, I felt a need to clear my head and the ride felt something like a physical meditation interrupting the flow of my thoughts. This year I start from a better place psychologically but feel the need for the physical challenge.

Getting Started

A view of our wood before the housing development

Some years ago, in a discussion on the process of ageing I came across a chance remark that being in one's sixties was a transitional stage akin to adolescence.
In my early sixties and without work, I find myself in that interesting challenging state that I would equate in some ways with being young and unemployed. Looking around for something to do with my life but not bound by the same considerations as a younger person.
At sixty plus, time is also crystallising into a new shape. It is no longer reasonable to assume that good health, sanity or existence are spreading out endlessly ahead.
Part of my social context is fit active people, older than me, who work and are busy. I feel that my retired state can appear deviant, almost like dropping out. Why am I not seeking to be important or to earn more money or to hold onto some kind of power?
Yes those questions have some pull - and I don't know for certain what route I will take - but it seems to me that I have some freedom that I should honour. Principally the freedom to do something with my life that is more self-determined.
Employment offers a role, reasons and excuses for how we use our lives and of course work, in general, supports our societies and so on.
Absence of work requires that the justification of our existence (does existence need justification?) is based on our own values - and a lifetime of work can leave you a little unsure about what your value system is.