Tag: biking

Le Petit Tour de France (Normandy, Brittany & Pays de la Loire) – Day 3

Le Petit Tour de France (Normandy, Brittany & Pays de la Loire) – Day 3

gavscyclingadventures

Etape 3 – Poole to Carteret (Sunday 22nd June)

This morning was all about crossing La Manche to commence the French leg of this year’s cycling adventure. We were booked on the 8.30am crossing from Poole to Cherbourg, so we were on the road by 7.15am to ensure we were checked in on the Barfleur by 7.30am.

The early start gave us a great excuse to try out the buffet breakfast as we set off past Sandbanks & the Jurassic Coast – I would have no hesitation recommending it! We had blue skies & calm seas as we made our way to Cherbourg & the 5-hour crossing seemed to fly by.

We had disembarked & made our way through Passport control within 30 minutes of docking, so we were on our way by 2.30pm. Having navigated our way across town, we soon picked up some lovely lanes on our way through small communes.

The main roads were a joy to ride as we bounced up & down the rolling landscape on our way towards Breuville where we spotted a tribute to 100 years of the Tour de France, with a huge bike dedicated to Benoit Cosnefroy.

We took a right turn the immediately took us up to ancient woodlands that reminded me of Sleepy Hollow & as we summitted we were both surprised to encounter a loose gravel descent. For the next hour or so, we experienced a bit of wild exploring.

The RideWithGPS directed us down an even sketchier mud descent – I had to stop at the bottom, when we encountered a small stream!! We trusted the route, took of our shoes & socks & forded the stream, then walked up a rough gravel track until we were confronted by another even deeper stream with a field protected by a barbed wire fence.

Frustrated, we accepted our fate & retraced our way down the unrideable gravel trail, took off & shoes & socks & cussed as we spent 10 minutes walking back up the mud track!! The road we were trying to join was less than 100 yards from the barbed wire, but it remained the road less travelled, as we never found it!

I was certain that Surtainville was in the general direction of our destination, so we picked up the D66 as it took us up to a ridge where we occasionally saw glimpses of the Atlantic Ocean way off in the distance. Just before Surtainville we joined the D650 for the final 8-mile ride in Carteret, our base for this evening.

We celebrated with a double scoop ice cream (coconut & cherry for me, strawberry & mint choc chip for Sean), as we looked out over the beautiful estuary next to our hotel.

We found another historic railway station to add to our collection – Gare de Carteret has been converted into a food & drink paradise, where you can choose from 9 different food vans, plus a bar. We toasted our 1st day in France with a burger & fries, washed down with a pint.

Cherbourg to Carteret was 29 miles in length with 1,900 feet of climbing. The hiking & biking element of today’s ride added about an hour to our time in the saddle & it was 5.45pm before we made it to the hotel.

Le Petit Tour de France (Normandy, Brittany & Pays de la Loire) – Day 2

Le Petit Tour de France (Normandy, Brittany & Pays de la Loire) – Day 2

gavscyclingadventures

Etape 2 – Mere to Poole (Saturday 21st June)

Saturday 21st June is Medieval Mere Day. In May 2023, St Michael’s The Archangel Church in Mere received £250,000 of lottery funding to restore the church tower & today was a an opportunity to celebrate the completion of the work & also recreate some of the scenes from when the church was first built. This meant that that the local café wasn’t serving its standard Saturday morning full English fry-up, so we enjoyed a bacon bap & coffee, as we learned about the history of the town from the owner of the Angel Corner Cafe.

We re-traced the final mile of yesterday’s ride under a sky of bruised, grey clouds, with the likelihood of rain at some point on the ride. Within 5 minutes we picked up the B3092, before joining a series of lanes that took us through the small village of Milton-on-Stour & around Gillingham.

For much of today’s ride we followed the National Cycling Route 25 (NCR25) – at various times this involved riding small lanes, cycle paths, gravel trails & occasionally relatively quiet B roads. The section from Wyke to East Stour was all on deserted lanes with a few birds of prey monitoring our progress, before briefly rejoining the B3092 for about a mile.

Today’s route was flatter than yesterday, but when we climbed, it tended to be short, sharp ascents which left us short of breath on the heavy bikes! East Stour to Child Okeford was memorable for 2 such climbs & because the threatened shower finally arrived. After putting on our rain jackets, we joined the old Bristol, Temple Meads to Poole railway line (the same route as the Bristol to Bath & Two Tunnels cycle paths we were on yesterday) which had been turned into a gravel cycle track.

We stopped for coffee & cake at Shillingstone station, has been restored to its former glory after Dr Beeching’s decision to close the Somerset & Dorset Railway in 1966. It was a lovely look back in time to the days of steam engines. A bonus was that the rain shower had also stopped by the time we were ready to start riding again.

We followed the gravel trail all the way into Blandford Forum, before picking up a small lane that climbed 1 side of the Stour valley (another naughty, steep climb!). We bounced along the ridge of the valley, before eventually dropping down into Wimborne Minster.

Once we’d made our way across town, we rejoined the old railway line on a hardpacked gravel track that took us to the outskirts of Poole. From there, it was a 4-mile ride along segregated cycle paths into the centre of town, where we quickly found our accommodation for the evening.

The Antelope provided a delicious pint of Moretti to toast another glorious day in the saddle. Dinner was steak & ale pie, chips & broccoli, plus a 2nd pint of Moretti to wash it all down!

We’re on the 8.30am ferry to Cherbourg tomorrow, so we decided to stop after our 2nd pint. Mere to Poole was 42 miles in length with 1,500 feet of climbing. After a month off the bike, my body let me know what it thought of the steep climbs & doing back-to-back 4-hour days of riding. We have a short day of riding planned tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll have a chance to recover a bit!

Le Petit Tour de France (Normandy, Brittany & Pays de la Loire) – Day 1

Le Petit Tour de France (Normandy, Brittany & Pays de la Loire) – Day 1

gavscyclingadventures

Etape 1 – Mangotsfield to Mere (Friday 20th June 2025)

This year’s summer cycling adventure is on my touring bike, so I’m carrying everything I need for the next couple of weeks in front & rear panniers – I’ve packed quite light, so apologies for the lack of different on-bike & off-bike attire!!

As some of you may know, I was knocked off my bike a month ago by a jogger in Bath. The 1st week of my recovery was waiting for the cuts to heal, the bruising to come out & my ribs to stop hurting so I could lie down. I only add this context, as I haven’t been able to do any training since I came off.

I’ve had quite a bit of physio to get the mobility back in my elbows & wrists so I can change gear & brake safely, but I still experience some discomfort when cycling. I’ve been taped up to help reduce the pain & there was no way I was going to cancel an adventure that I’ve been looking forward to for 6 months!

I met my cycling buddy Sean at Bitton Railway station, where we had bacon baps & coffee before setting off towards Bath on the cycling path. The sun had its hat on, so we were in for a hot & humid day in the saddle.

In Bath, we picked up the two-tunnels cycle path out towards Midford. It’s a lovely route along an old train route, with the highlight being a cooling, 2-mile long tunnel that was a welcome break from the heat.

From Midford, we picked up a gravel track to Wellow, where we joined almost deserted country lanes as we climbed & descended the surrounding hills. We were following a National Cycling Route, so were a bit surprised when a couple of the climbs hit 15% plus – not what we needed on heavy, steel bikes weighed down with about 25 pounds of luggage!!!

We skirted round the edge of Radstock on more cycle paths, as we headed towards Frome. This section of cycle track was though ancient woodland, so we had some protection from the sun, before we rejoined the country lanes for some more hill training!

Just before Frome, we spotted our first wildlife. A kite was hovering above a field, clearly on the lookout for a snack. We crossed to A303 as we started a long, but gentle climb up to Maiden Bradley, where we stopped for some refreshments. After a classic magnum, washed down with a lemon San Pellegrino & a shot of powerful espresso, we were ready to hit the road again, for the last push into Mere.

We checked into The George Inn, dropped our panniers off in our rooms & spent a relaxing couple of hours enjoying a drink or 2 in the beer garden. Dinner consisted of fish & chips from the shop around the corner – they were delicious!

Mangotsfield to Mere was 43 miles in length, with 2,400 feet of climbing. It was the perfect introduction to this year’s cycling adventure. More UK riding tomorrow, but then the overseas element of our adventure begins!

Denia Cycling Adventure: Challenging Climbs & Scenic Descents – Day Three

Denia Cycling Adventure: Challenging Climbs & Scenic Descents – Day Three

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Oliva Loop via Puerto de Sorell

You may remember I mentioned that I had gearing issues yesterday. Once I got back to the hotel it was clear the cable was frayed & very close to snapping, so my immediate priority today was to get the cable replaced. This became more complicated than I hoped, as my preferred bike repair shop (5* rated for workmanship) won’t be able to fit a new cable until Wednesday afternoon. Although they hire bikes, they are all currently rented out.

I’m a project manager, so solving problems is my day job – I left the bike to be repaired & set off to find a rental bike – luckily, I found 1 in my size that was available for the next 3 days. It cost an additional €4 to increase the booking from 2 days to 3, so I now have some contingency if my bike repair is delayed.

By 11am I’d got the bike fitted with a saddle bag, pedals & Wahoo mount. We’d chatted last night & agreed that we should both do our own thing today, so Sean had set off at about 9am to do a gentle 40-mile ride along the coast.

I set off towards La Xara on deserted lanes that offered occasional views of the mountains in the distance, then carried on to outskirts of Pedreguer, where I picked up a small service road that ran next to the Autopista de la Mediterrania for a couple of miles. Huge reeds separated me from the traffic on the motorway – it felt as if I was in the middle of nowhere.

I was edging ever closer to the mountains but was happy in the knowledge that I wasn’t going to be tackling any big climbs today. I stopped briefly to capture a photo of the Scott Addict which will be my ride for the next 3 days. It has a bit of bling in the paintjob & it rides well – any issues are due to the rider’s limitations! I had a tailwind during this section & I flew along without needed to expend much energy. I had a small degree of sympathy for the peloton of riders that were battling the headwind as they headed towards me!

The only climb of any note today was to the Puerto de Sorell, a 500-foot ascent in a little over 2 miles, so nothing compared to some of yesterday’s beasts.

The view from the summit was glorious, with the Mediterranean Sea glistening in the far distance. The descent was over in the blink of an eye & I was back on flat lanes that headed towards the town of Oliva.

This was the turnaround point of my ride, which meant I turned into a headwind for the next 20 miles.

The reward was that I was cycling through the Parc Natural de la Marjal de Pego-Olive, which is an area where the natural wetland has been preserved.

The last 10 miles were on a slightly larger road that was slightly set back from the coast. This was by far the most populated part of today’s ride & while there wasn’t anything of note worth photographing, it was pleasant enough (except for the nagging headwind!).

Sean & I met up this afternoon over a café con leche & delicious slice of chocolate & caramel cake to chat about our different days.

After a very slow start to the day for me, I ended up getting out on a bike to explore a bit more of Denia’s beautiful countryside.