The Cycling Europe Podcast continues to follow Andrew Sykes as he cycles on his โGrand Tourโ of Europe. In this third part of the โGrand Tourโ series, Andrew sets off along the Veloscenie cycle route from the historic city of Chartres to its fellow UNESCO World Heritage site at Mont-Saint-Michel. Itโs a journey of four days with overnight stops at a dystopian municipal campsite at Nogent-le-Rotrou, Alenรงon and Domfront-en-Poiraie before his arrival on the north coast. He also takes time to pay a visit to the Musรฉe du Vรฉlo at Villeneuve-en-Perseigne. The music is by Rob Ainsley.
If cycling along disused railways for fun (and why else would you do it?), then the Veloscenie is for you. Prior to embarking upon my Chartres to Mont-Saint -Michel section of the route (which is about 80%) Iโd read that the Veloscenie connected the capital with the north coast by linking up defunct railway lines but I wasnโt expecting them to be such a dominant part of the route. It must be at least two-thirds of the total length and, in temperatures such as those provoked by this current heatwave, you couldnโt wish for a better place to cycle, the sun been screened for much of the time by the surrounding vegetation.
If yesterday was a spinning class of a ride, today was a spinning class with that knob below the handlebars cranked up several notches. If your route passes the โhighest point in north-west Franceโ you can probably guess youโre in for an up and down day and, at gradients that a train could cope with when they plodded up and down these valleys many decades ago, thatโs what happened. More disused railways – the area must once have been a maze of lines – with a handful of pencil-straight-Roman roads. More satisfying that yesterday and a much more welcoming end at a municipal campsite that breaks records. Keep readingโฆ
Today was the equivalent of a cycle touring spinning class. Well, mostly. Almost the entire route from Nogent-le-Rotrou to Alenรงon was off road and along a very long disused railway line. I almost felt guilty for having made all of those men work so hard 100? 200? years ago in building the railway line in the first. Now itโs โjustโ being used by cyclists and walkers. But hey! At least itโs still in useโฆ
To answer Joe Staffordโs question (that he posted to YouTube a few moments ago) immediately; yes, itโs hot but if you take the necessary measures to protect yourself then I think youโll be fine. Joe is coming to France soon but as long as he does what we are told to do; cover up (Iโm on my second hat of the tripโฆ), plaster yourself in factor 50 (Iโm still looking very pale compared to the French), drink lots of water (my two Cycle Touring Festival bottles are drained at least three times a day) and keep eating (no problem there if you are burning lots of calories), youโll be fine.
The Cycling Europe Podcast continues to follow Andrew Sykes as he cycles on his โGrand Tourโ of Europe. In the previous episode, he had travelled through his first country, The Netherlands. In this episode he continues his journey south along the coasts of Belgium and France following the […]
Back to the writing. Iโm currently on a busy train thatโs about to set off for Le Mans. Iโll be getting off at Chartres, one step along the Veloscenie cycle route from Paris. Busy in terms of people, busy in terms of bicycles; the current count is six of which three are laden touring bikes. Itโs a sight that would leave your average Trans Pennine Express train guard seeking counselling. There are people clambering over the bikes as they make their way down the carriages to find their seat. Now far be for me to say but if people actually worked out which carriage to get on when they are on the platform, like would be somewhat easier. Anyway, I digressโฆ and we are off. Six bicycles it is.
CURRENT LOCATION: La Tartine, Rue de Rivoli, Paris Today the words are in the videoโฆ LATEST CYCLING EUROPE POSTS: Subscribe to the Cycling Europe YouTube Channel Since 2009, CyclingEurope.org has established itself as a valued, FREE cycle touring resource. There’s now even a podcast, The Cycling Europe Podcast. […]
