Tag: cycle-touring

Le Petit Tour de France (Normandy, Brittany & Pays de la Loire) – Day 4

Le Petit Tour de France (Normandy, Brittany & Pays de la Loire) – Day 4

gavscyclingadventures

Etape 4 –Carteret to Granville (Monday 23rd June)

We woke to moody, grey skies & damp roads, evidence it had rained overnight. The breeze from the North-North-East had already blown it away & would be giving us a slight tailwind for much of the day! As if that wasn’t good enough news, breakfast was a delicious, locally sourced hot & cold buffet – it was all you could eat for €25, so I enjoyed bacon & scrambled egg, bread & jam, pain au chocolat, almond cake, quiche & a couple of small pain-aux-raisin washed down with fresh OJ & coffee.

Leaving Carteret, we quickly joined a white, gravel track, similar is style to Strade Bianche. The track ended after a couple of miles & we picked up a small back road that took us through the small communes of Les Rivieres and La Huellerie.

When we reached Portbail, we joined up with the Voie Vert, a series of old railway lines that have been converted into hard-packed cycle routes. For the next 7 miles we had the track to ourselves & we reminisced about the different trips & countries that had similar cycling infrastructure.

As we passed through Le Haye, I spotted a café next to a patisserie & we stopped briefly to watch the world go by as I tucked into a tartlette de fraises washed down with a café au lait. We rejoined the Voie Vert for another 5 miles or so, before joining a deserted country lane, which in turn directed us onto a mud trail.

We learned from yesterday’s fiasco & quickly turned back. I then had to find an alternate road to get us back on course after our detour. Luckily all worked out well & we soon joined up with the planned route again.

The skies had clouded over again by early afternoon & there was a field of cows who were expecting rain, as they were all laid down – unless of course it’s only British cows that lay down when it’s about to rain!

We were now in the hilly part of today’s ride & although our pace slowed as a result, the views across the valleys were worth the effort. After 1 long descent, we left the lanes & joined the larger D20 that connects Le Pont de la Roque with Montmartin-sur-Mer.

We stumbled upon the fact that Pont de la Roque was a key part of Operation Cobra during Worle War II, when the old bridge was destroyed by Allied bombers, with the aim of trapping the German troops on the peninsula. It was a sobering reminder of the consequences of war.

The route into Montmartin took us across a plateau of wheat & corn fields, before delivering us onto more deserted lanes. There was just enough time for 1 final surprise, as my Wahoo re-routed us onto a sandy lane that took us between a golf course & a gallop for horses. We had to get off & push our steel steeds for a few hundred yards.

The final part of our ride took us along the seafront, with big views of the Atlantic Ocean in all directions.

Carteret to Granville was 54 miles in length with 1,900 feet of climbing. We made good progress & made our way to our hotel by 4pm, so I had some time to relax before we head out for a beer & some dinner. A large number of restaurants close on a Monday evening in France & Granville was no exception. In the end we found something in between a fast food joint & a greasy spoon cafe where we had a burger & fries. On the way back to our hotel I watched parascenders making the most of the warm evening thermals, as they soared high above the town.

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!