Saturday, 29 December 2012
The Route
In 2009 Bob and I set off on a 60 day bike ride covering 2,700km from Boscombe, England to Barcelona, Spain. This is our story.
The route would take us from by ferry from Poole to the northern tip of the Cherbourg peninsula, across to Paris & Dijon, down to Lyon & Grenoble, back cross to Carcassone via Montpellier, up over the mountain pass of Andora and finally out to the Mediterranean coast somewhere near Barcelona, Spain.
I am writing this in 2013 mostly from memory, and with the help of emails sent to friends and family on the trip.
The route would take us from by ferry from Poole to the northern tip of the Cherbourg peninsula, across to Paris & Dijon, down to Lyon & Grenoble, back cross to Carcassone via Montpellier, up over the mountain pass of Andora and finally out to the Mediterranean coast somewhere near Barcelona, Spain.
I am writing this in 2013 mostly from memory, and with the help of emails sent to friends and family on the trip.
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Day 3 - Carentan to Bayeux
Day 3 took us from Carentan to Bayeux, via various locations of historic interest.
We saw a few WWII battery locations (Maisey, Longues & Pointe du Hoc) as well as the remnants of the floating harbour at Grandcamp-Maisey.
The high point and low point of the day was visiting the American cemetery and memorial. For no apparent reason, we followed the footpath, rather than the road, to the site. The footpath involved gradually narrower footpaths than ended up with us pushing our bikes along the beach for hours. Given the location and reason for us being there, it seemed unfitting to complain about a minor hardship on those of all beaches.
We made it in to Bayeux eventually. A much shorter bike ride than the previous day, but with several stops along the route it was certainly getting late when we arrived. I seem to remember meeting a very friendly Dutch man with a caravan in the pitch next to us. He was happy to offer us food and drink, and even the use of his hammer when we discovered how hard the ground was!
We wanted to visit the infamous tapestry the next day, and had a fair ride ahead of us, so we knew it was time to be disciplined about getting up in the morning. We didn't leave Carentan on time that morning as I was knackered after the first day of cycling, so I was determined to get an early night.
We saw a few WWII battery locations (Maisey, Longues & Pointe du Hoc) as well as the remnants of the floating harbour at Grandcamp-Maisey.
The high point and low point of the day was visiting the American cemetery and memorial. For no apparent reason, we followed the footpath, rather than the road, to the site. The footpath involved gradually narrower footpaths than ended up with us pushing our bikes along the beach for hours. Given the location and reason for us being there, it seemed unfitting to complain about a minor hardship on those of all beaches.
We made it in to Bayeux eventually. A much shorter bike ride than the previous day, but with several stops along the route it was certainly getting late when we arrived. I seem to remember meeting a very friendly Dutch man with a caravan in the pitch next to us. He was happy to offer us food and drink, and even the use of his hammer when we discovered how hard the ground was!
We wanted to visit the infamous tapestry the next day, and had a fair ride ahead of us, so we knew it was time to be disciplined about getting up in the morning. We didn't leave Carentan on time that morning as I was knackered after the first day of cycling, so I was determined to get an early night.
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Day 2 - Cherbourg to Carentan
Day 2 took us off the the ferry and on to French soil at Cherbourg. From there we cycled the length of the Cherbourg Peninsula to Carentan.
The area is steeped in WWII history. Capturing the peninsula was critical to the success of the Allied invasion of Europe in the summer of 1944.
We took a slightly roundabout route to take in the historic sights, including towns, villages and châteaus recently made famous in Band of Brothers, a TV show based very closely on the activities of the 101st Airborne during WWII.
That day was a wake up call to me. We started the day with a cup of coffee in a small cafe in Cherbourg and stopped for lunch in Valognes (I think, just guessing looking at the map). We did the maths later on that day, and there was no chance our budget was going to stretch to frivolous coffee and croissants from cafes each day! We would be living on a budget, and that meant eating from supermarkets whenever we could.
The second, more pressing, revelation, was that I definitely wasn't ready for the ride! that ride, at 80km, was the farthest I'd ever cycled in my life and it ruined me! When we eventually found a camp site (after a long and confusing conversation with a local guy in Carentan), we set up the tent and tried to make up for a diabolical evening sleeping in chairs on the ferry.
The area is steeped in WWII history. Capturing the peninsula was critical to the success of the Allied invasion of Europe in the summer of 1944.
We took a slightly roundabout route to take in the historic sights, including towns, villages and châteaus recently made famous in Band of Brothers, a TV show based very closely on the activities of the 101st Airborne during WWII.
That day was a wake up call to me. We started the day with a cup of coffee in a small cafe in Cherbourg and stopped for lunch in Valognes (I think, just guessing looking at the map). We did the maths later on that day, and there was no chance our budget was going to stretch to frivolous coffee and croissants from cafes each day! We would be living on a budget, and that meant eating from supermarkets whenever we could.
The second, more pressing, revelation, was that I definitely wasn't ready for the ride! that ride, at 80km, was the farthest I'd ever cycled in my life and it ruined me! When we eventually found a camp site (after a long and confusing conversation with a local guy in Carentan), we set up the tent and tried to make up for a diabolical evening sleeping in chairs on the ferry.
Monday, 29 June 2009
Day 1 - Boscombe to Poole Harbour
Day 1 saw us packing and planning. We had all the stuff we thought we'd need, but really we had no clue what we were getting ourselves in to.
The first ride was fairly simple - just 10 easy miles down the coast. I very quickly realised my total utter disregard for training would not go unnoticed as I struggled to keep pace with Bob. Our ferry was late in the evening and we set off with plenty of time to get there. We didn't want to cycle in the dark, so decided to not carry bike lights. This meant we wouldn't be tempted to do it. It also meant we had to set off fairly early for the ferry, and ended up sat around outside in the cold for a number of hours at the ferry port.
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