Maxine Dodd’s pictures are beautiful. It’s well worth exploring her website to see some of her pictures from this year’s Tour de France. If you happen to be in Northampton, you can see them at the jgallery as well.
In recent weeks, indeed since returning from my ‘Grand Tour’ of the continent early in September, I haven’t posted much to CyclingEurope.org. But I have been busy. Busy film editing… It was always my plan to make use of the significant amount of video footage – over 3,000 clips – in a film that retold the story of the epic cycle from The Hook of Holland to The Hook of Holland via much of France, Switzerland and the Rhinelands.
In June 2022, Tim Boden – an experienced group cyclist – set off on his first solo cycle tour, to Brittany in north-west France. His route took him from the port of Roscoff along the Vรฉlodyssรฉe / EuroVelo 1 to Redon. He then joined French regional route number 42 to follow the coast to Saint-Nazaire beforeย returning to the Vรฉlodyssรฉe for a cycle beside the Loire to Nantes and back to Redon. Here he rejoined the eastern portion of route 42 to cycle north to Saint-Malo. Tim talks about the routes but also the history and culture of this distinctive French region. We also revisit two encounters from episodes 55ย & 56 with three French cyclists –ย Fabian, Julian and Guillaume – and, from Breton Bikes and Camping de Gouarec, Geoff Husband.
In June 2022, Tim Boden – an experienced group cyclist – set off on his first solo cycle tour, to Brittany in north-west France. His route took him from the port of Roscoff along the Vรฉlodyssรฉe / EuroVelo 1 to Redon. He then joined French regional route number 42 to follow the coast to Saint-Nazaire beforeย returning to the Vรฉlodyssรฉe for a cycle beside the Loire to Nantes and back to Redon. Here he rejoined the eastern portion of route 42 to cycle north to Saint-Malo. Tim talks about the routes but also the history and culture of this distinctive French region. We also revisit two encounters from episodes 55ย & 56 with three French cyclists –ย Fabian, Julian and Guillaume – and, from Breton Bikes and Camping de Gouarec, Geoff Husband.
On July 3rd 2022 I set off from The Hook of Holland in The Netherlands, turned right and pedalled off in the direction of France. It was an anti-clockwise tour of the continent; the EuroVelo 12 along the Belgian coast, the EuroVelo 4 to Dieppe, LโAvenue Verte to Paris, La Vรฉloscรฉnie to Mont St Michel before rejoining the EuroVelo 4 to Morlaix, the EuroVelo 1 / Vรฉlodyssรฉe to Royan, the Canal de la Garonne to Toulouse, the Canal du Midi to Sรจte, the EuroVelo 17 beside the Rhรดne to Andermatt in Switzerland and finally the EuroVelo 15 / Rhine Cycle Route back to The Hook of Holland and the return ferry to Hull on September 3rd.
There’s an interesting, if somewhat depressing, article in today’s Observer: How millennials have put a spoke in the wheels of Britain’s bicycle shops. The sub-heading reads ‘Youngsters say cycling is ‘too scary’, bike sales are static and stores are closing, as highlighted by James Corden [in a tweet] […]
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
Cycling the Yorkshire Dales Cycleway (eastern loop) from Malham to Settle and back, travelling in Japan and an interview with Mike Webb ofย PulpedTravel.comย and cycling to the summit of one of the Tour de France’s most iconic climbs: Mont Ventoux.
