Category: Le Grand Tour

Le Grand Tour: Day 30 – Saint-Fort-Sur-Gironde To Bordeaux (44km + Ferry + 42km)

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Today was a good day. A very good day. Well, apart from the first 10km, but that aside, I loved todayโ€™s cycling. It had everything that you might want from a good cycle touring day; beautiful scenery, variety, a favourable wind, vineyards, good signage, a few nice encounters along the way, quality surfaces, an exciting destination, a laundrette and beer at the end of the day and a day off in your favourite French city to look forward to. My day could only improve if Yorkshire Television* decide to revive 3-2-1 with Ted Rogers* and Dusty Bin. On the subject of which, happy Yorkshire Day!ย 

Le Grand Tour: Day 28 – Saint-Gilles-Croix-De-Vie To La Rochelle (140km)

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Google estimated the distance today at 121km. I wouldnโ€™t normally trust Google distances when it comes to cycling but when I compared the Google route on Google Maps and the EuroVelo 1 / Vรฉlodyssรฉe route on Open Street Map they looked the same so I gave the Google distance a bit more credence than I normally would. How naรฏve am I? I tell the story in todayโ€™s video in which Iโ€™ve included some commentary.

Le Grand Tour: Day 26 – Frossay To La Bernerie-En-Retz (93km – 18km)

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Up early again this morning and almost the first off the site. I was beaten to it by a French solo cyclist, about my age who I exchanged a few words with before he set off home at the end of his week long jaunt along the Loire. The Loire ร  Vรฉlo is, I suspect, what the majority of cyclists on last nightโ€™s site are there to ride. Perhaps a few for the Velodyssรฉe but as itโ€™s so close to the mouth of the river – about 25km – itโ€™s a good place to set up camp at the end of day 1 taking into account you will probably have travelled from elsewhere to get to the start of the route. Itโ€™s also, of course, the start of the EuroVelo 6. I suspect (thereโ€™s a lot of suspecting going on tonight – perhaps someone can confirm) that the EuroVelo 6 is one of the most cycled routes, if not the most cycled, vying for position with the Rhine Cycle Route or EuroVelo 15. I digressโ€ฆ

Le Grand Tour: Day 24 – Gouarec To Rohan (68km)

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I was up early this morning (when am I not up early in a tent? Iโ€™ve said this many times before but for me itโ€™s not a case of โ€˜waking upโ€™ when Iโ€™m camping itโ€™s a case of when to stop trying to make an effort to get back to sleepโ€ฆ) and was packed by 8am. My official campsite advisor Tim Sanders (who until only a few minutes ago was my โ€˜unofficialโ€™ campsite advisor but as nobody else has offered their services, Iโ€™ve upgraded him to the honorary post; itโ€™ll give him something to chat to Ed Pratt about the next time they meet at their local Park Run in Somerset. Anyway, back to the pointโ€ฆ) โ€ฆMy official campsite advisor Tim Sanders messaged at 8:05 asking โ€œHave you met Geoff?โ€

Le Grand Tour: Day 23 – Morlaix To Gouarec (98km)

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Today was planned to be a short cycle of 50km. In ended up being the second longest cycle yet at 98km. If nothing else, it will work wonders on the daily average which had dipped down to 75km. I need to get it back up to 80km+ to be in with a realistic chance of making it back to Rotterdam before the return ferry sets off on September 3rd.