Tag: Belgium

Le Grand Tour Advent Calendar: Day 13 – Ostend, Belgium

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The coastline was more built up than it had been after crossing over the border from the Netherlands. Not that this made for unpleasant cycling; far from it. In most seaside towns the motorised traffic had been shunted inland by at least one block of flats worth of land. What I assumed to have once been the coastal road had been transformed into a wide active travel paradise with plenty of space for pedestrians, cyclists, café terraces and the forecourts of shops that hired out vibrantly painted four-wheeled pedal-powered karts. These contraptions could seat an entire family and there seemed to be an unwritten rule that the member of the family who possessed the lowest level of driving skill should be in charge of the steering wheel. For anyone on a cycling mission to get to the French border in one piece – that would be me – they made for potentially treacherous adversaries but, mercifully, I survived.

The Cycling Europe Podcast: Episode 078 – Le Grand Tour On A Bike Called Wanda / Andrew P. Sykes

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In this episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast, guest presenter Andrew Edwards chats to Andrew P. Sykes about his 2022 cycle around Europe and his new book – Le Grand Tour on a Bike Called Wanda – that is published on May 1st 2024.
“Secondary school teacher and inveterate would-be adventurer Andrew P. Sykes is back in the saddle. This time, however, it doesn’t belong to his long-term sidekick Reggie. There’s a fresh-faced kid on the block and she’s a bike called Wanda. (Nothing fishy about that!) The new double act set off on a grand tour of Europe to explore some of the continent’s most iconic cycling routes and locations: the Vélomaritime, the Avenue Verte to Paris, the Véloscénie to Mont-Saint-Michel, the Vélodyssée, the Canal de la Garonne, the Canal du Midi, the ViaRhôna, the Furka Pass and the Rhine are all on the itinerary of this light-hearted loop from the Hook of Holland… to the Hook of Holland. Join Andrew and Wanda as they put their best foot and only front wheel forward in a hot, dusty but at times very damp quest to delve into the lives, landscapes, history and culture of some of our nearest continental cousins and the countries they call home.”

Cycle Magazine: Le Grand Tour – Now Available Online

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If you are a member of Cycling UK and pay your £4 every month, you will hopefully have had the opportunity to read my account of last year’s Grand Tour that appeared in the June / July 2023 issue of Cycle Magazine. (If you are not a member, why not?? It’s a bargain and the magazine is one of the best cycling reads that you can get your hands on; real people, real cycling, real stories…)

Cycle Magazine June / July 2023… And Le Grand Tour

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Welcome to June… and to the summer of 2023. Well, if the first is your definition of summer. There are several from which to choose. My focus over the next few months will be continue to write the first draft of my new book about last year’s ‘Grand Tour’ of Europe. I’m now heading south along the Vélodyssée in the west of France (day 25 of around 60) so I should have that draft ready by the end of the summer. However, earlier this year I was approached by Dan Joyce, the editor of Cycling UK’s Cycle magazine, asking if would be able to contribute an article about last year’s cycle. That article has now been published and if you are a member of Cycling UK, you should have received your copy of the magazine in the last few days. It’s the June / July issue.

“One Of My All-Time Favourite YouTube Videos… Epic Stuff!”

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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, L’Avenue Verte to Paris, La Véloscénie to Mont St Michel before rejoining the EuroVelo 4 to Morlaix, the EuroVelo 1 / Vélodyssée to Royan, the Canal de la Garonne to Toulouse, the Canal du Midi to Sète, the EuroVelo 17 beside the Rhône 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.

Le Grand Tour: The Film – Coming Soon…

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Although during the trip I posted short daily videos recounting the tale of my cycle around Europe this summer, the main reason for filming what I did was to make a film about the cycle from the Hook of Holland to the Hook of Holland. It’s quite a daunting task editing 2,500 videos into one film of about an hour but over the next few weeks that’s the plan. To whet your appetite, I have started by creating an into. You can watch it below.

Le Grand Tour: The View From On High

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It’s now two weeks since I arrived back in the UK after the summer’s jaunt around Europe with Wanda (the bike…). It’s been an interesting couple of weeks to say the least. On a personal level, I finally feel as though I’ve caught up with things. It was a rather sudden turnaround from being long-distance cyclist to secondary school teacher – about 18 hours to be precise – but after two weekends I’m finally in a position to say everything is ‘sorted’. Well, apart from that cupboard crammed full of my camping equipment but at least I can’t see it unless I make the effort to open the door.

Le Grand Tour: Day 63 – Rotterdam To The Hook Of Holland (39km)

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So there it is. Finished. After 63 days, 55 cycling days, around 4,700km, 7 countries, 10 train journeys, lots of ferries (small and large), 45 nights in the tent, 11 nights in hotels, 4 with WarmShowers hosts, 1 with a friend and a night with a Vriendren op de Fiets host, 8 episodes of The Cycling Europe Podcast (the final part 8 episode should be published tomorrow morning upon arrival back in the UK), over 60 (almost) daily videos… and zero punctures, I arrived back at The Hook of Holland earlier today after the relatively short cycle from central Rotterdam and in doing so completed the ‘Grand Tour’ loop. It’s been fun.

Le Grand Tour: Day 62 – Arnhem To Rotterdam (161km)

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The longest day of the trip but it needed to be.it’s now Saturday morning and I still have around 60km of cycling today: 30km from central Rotterdam to the Hook of Holland and then, back up and down the Rhine to the end of one of the other fingers of land to the ferry. Check-in closes at 7pm tonight so I have plenty of time to complete those 60km but if I had stopped yesterday east of Rotterdam that might not have been the case. 

Le Grand Tour: Day 61 – Hürth/Cologne To Arnhem (16km + Train + 70km)

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Today has been a real joy. Everything came together in a celestial meeting of cycle touring, travelling, people, places, weather… I loved it. Even the trains joined the party after an initial reluctance to play ball at Cologne station this morning. With only 48 hours of this continental odyssey remaining, I couldn’t wish to have spent a more enjoyable day in the saddle. Even that pesky wind which, for much of the past week, has been annoying me in a manner that usually only a tiresome Year 9 student can achieve came to the party and blew me along the banks of the Rhine willing me to get to Rotterdam on time. Fabulous. I only wish you could have been here.

Le Grand Tour: Day 60 – Braubach To Hürth / Cologne (121km)

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It’s now day 61 and it’s turning out to be a ‘fun’ morning. I’m booked onto a train to Xanten from Cologne but in chaotic scenes very reminiscent of taking a train in the UK, there is some confusion regarding the train that arrived on platform 4 a few minutes ago, wouldn’t let passengers on and then scarpered. I need to change at Duisburg… I’m forcing myself into ‘zen’ mode. It might have been easier to keep cycling and take the train from a quieter station. The plan was to arrive in Xanten – famed for its Roman ruins I Iearnt last night – then cycle over the border into The Netherlands. Come back later today to find out if that ever happens or whether I’m still here in Germany. Or indeed Cologne…

Le Grand Tour: Day 59 – Gernsheim To Braubach (135km)

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Such a contrast after three tedious days of cycling. The Rhine has come back to me! It was an epic day in terms of length – 130km – but also in terms of the environment. Finally the steep-sided Rhine valley has materialised and those cliff-top castles have appeared. Today was up there with some of the best cycles of the entire summer 2022 ‘Grand Tour’ journey. Enjoy the pictures and the videos as I have little energy to add much to what you can see…

Le Grand Tour: Day 58 – Philippsburg To Gernsheim (110km)

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In the context of a two-month cycle around Europe I can put up with a few days here and there of uninspiring or troublesome cycling but I do feel for all those people who set their heart of cycling the Canal du Midi or, more pertinently to this week, from Basel to where I am now (about 20km south-west of Frankfurt). It really is keep-your-receipt stuff but unlike a pair of jeans from Marks & Spencers, you can’t take a cycling holiday back to the shop and ask for a refund.

Le Grand Tour: Day 57 – Kehl To Phlippsburg (123km)

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The best thing about day 57 is that it wasn’t day 56. That’s not to say that day 57 will go down in history as being a great day of cycling but it wasn’t anywhere near as monotonous as yesterday’s cycle. And in contrast (because it’s not all about the cycling…), yesterday evening was fun chatting with Dave from Seattle, the German chap and the French family with their very funny two boys. Tonight here in Phillipsburg it’s just me and the chap in the next tent who I saw for the first time about 30 seconds ago. He’s wearing a dressing gown and a head torch. It’s not a look that I have ever coveted on a campsite but who knows? It’s only 9pm. The evening could yet turn out to be an entertaining one…

Le Grand Tour: Day 56 – Kembs To Kehl (120km)

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About 80% of today was deathly dull. Why did I end up cycling the Rhine-Rhône Canal again after having cycled it north to south in 2010 and been bored just as rigid back then? I suppose it was because I ended up on the French side of the Rhine last night. Tonight’s short video is a boring one reflecting the day quite well… 

Le Grand Tour: Day 55 – Konstanz To Kembs (59km + Train + 19km)

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Basel… You almost ruined my day. More later on that score. Basel aside, today was up there with one of the best days of cycling and I’m so delighted that I’ve been able to sample at least some of the delights of the shore of the Bodensee. It was the stuff of cycling dreams; beautiful scenery, nice weather, great cycle paths, fascinating places to visit and a satisfying distance covered. It’s one of those days when you are better off not reading this drivel and just watching the video.

Le Grand Tour: Day 53 – Valendas To Buchs (83km)

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Life is getting complicated, for good reasons. I’m now in the Swiss town of Buchs and trying to plan tomorrow which will hopefully see me meet two people at either ends of the day; Ken, who is cycling 12 countries in 12 days (see his Twitter feed @highfielder80 for updates and the details of his trip) and my friend Claus (remember him from ‘Crossing Europe…’?) who I haven’t seen for many years, in Breganz, Austria in the late afternoon. I need a social secretary! I’m also hatching an interesting plan for Friday but more of that in due course…

Le Grand Tour: Day 52 – Andermatt To Valendas (62km)

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And so this pan-European odyssey enters its final phase: the Rhine Cycle Route or EuroVelo 15. But before I could crack on with that this morning, I had some sorting out of loose ends from the penultimate phase: the Rhône Cycle Route or EuroVelo 17. I completed that route yesterday upon arrival in Andermatt but this morning finished putting together the podcast about cycling the Rhône. This included inserting a chat that I had with my neighbours on the campsite at Andermatt; a couple – Rich and Becca – from West Yorkshire of all places (my neck of the woods) who had cycled some of the route as well. The podcast was published this morning from café at the train station in Andermatt but you don’t have to go that far to find it: all the links are at CyclingEurope.org/Podcast.

Le Grand Tour: Day 51 – Ritzingen To Andermatt Via The Furka Pass (54km)

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I did it! I arrived in my spiritual cycling home, Andermatt, a little earlier this afternoon after a lengthy, strenuous, exhilarating and ultimately beautifully satisfying climb to the Furka Pass. I’m now celebrating with the best CHF5 bottle of wine that the local Coop could sell me accompanied with some good old bread and cheese. This is what cycle-camping is all about!

Le Grand Tour: Day 50 – Sierre To Ritzingen (74km)

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I’m running out of energy today. Not me personally but my electrical gear. In sorting out my gear last week at the €35 campsite when the heavens opened and the tent ended up hosting the 2022 Lac Léman swimming championships at the end where my feet are currently positioned, my battery pack stopped working and I inadvertently left the two cables I need to attach my phone to the front wheel dynamo hub somewhere. Although I replaced the battery pack in Aigle, I won’t be able to replace the cables. Added to this, my WarmShowers host Jean-Daniel has some very curious Swiss sockets in his house and I wasn’t able to charge anything overnight. I have 30% of charge left on this phone and my battery pack is currently being charged in the reception. That should see me through tomorrow to Andermatt. I have made today’s video but a combination of this lack of power and the Swiss love of 3G as opposed to 4G you are going to have to wait to see it until at least Monday.

Le Grand Tour: Day 49 – Aigle To Sierre (81km)

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On one level – the cycling level – it has been a pretty standard day. Dare I say boring? A flat ride, 90% off road on a good quality path beside the Rhône following the route of the EuroVelo 17 or, as it is known locally, national route 1. Sticking to just the cycling for a moment, I say ‘flat ride’… I knew I was heading uphill but couldn’t help feel that I was heading downhill. After the turn to cycle east following my brief pause in Martigny, the wind was behind me so this may have added to the sensation of cycling down a very gentle gradient but I think of more significance is the valley itself. I’ve experienced this before (although not that dubious ‘Electric Bray’ place on the west coast of Scotland where I was singularly unimpressed…) in northern Spain in 2019. There too I was cycling through a valley, knew I was cycling uphill beside a river heading in the opposite direction, but had a distinct feeling of going downhill all day. It’s the brain seeing something – the narrow valley with steep slopes on either side – and convincing the body that it is indeed what the brain sees, despite conclusive evidence to the contrary.

Le Grand Tour: Day 48 – Aigle

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As I thought I would, I have spent the day in Aigle. It rained heavily overnight, continued raining this morning and this afternoon and only decided to stop at around 3pm. It remains very overcast with the clouds hanging around the mountains that surround the town on three sides and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if we are in for more rain later today. Tomorrow morning there is a chance of rain but things are looking much brighter for the afternoon and continuing into the weekend and next week. Back to you Huw…

Le Grand Tour: Day 45 – Sault-Brénaz To Seyssel (112km)

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Running a bit late tonight. It was a long day of cycling (although not the longest) but thoroughly enjoyable. I hesitate before I say this (as I would need to think more carefully about all the others) but today was up there with one of the best days so far; not just on the Via Rhôna but on the entire cycle so far. Another celebration of bridges as you will discover if you choose to watch the video. I hold back on the Hans Zimmer score but today’s video merited it…

Le Grand Tour: Day 44 – Lyon To Sault-Brénaz (81km)

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I don’t like Mondays… Someone has beaten me to the song. I really don’t like Mondays in France as most places are closed. There is a special corner in hell for bank holidays that happen to be on a Monday in France. Today was one of the latter. Nothing open whatsoever this morning. We are celebrating the ‘Assumption of Mary’. Not being a man of religion I don’t know what Mary was assuming but perhaps it was that there might be something, somewhere that was open to buy lunch on a Monday bank holiday in France. There isn’t. Even the French are exasperated; one couple who were cycling in the opposite direction stopped me in desperation at around midday asking if I’d passed an épicerie that was open. I hadn’t. They broke down and sobbed beside the cycle path in desperation. I told them my plan was to survive on my box of peanuts until I could cook something in the evening. I scarpered as quickly as I could lest they use force in getting hold of the cacahuètes. When I did I turn to look, I could see them chasing after me using surprisingly fluent Chaucerian language vowing to prise the peanuts from my hands. The entente cordiale only goes so far… They were my peanuts. I digress.

Le Grand Tour: Day 43 – Tain L’Hermitage To Lyon (By Train)

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Caught the train to Lyon this morning. After all the heat it’s perhaps not surprising that when the rain decided to fall it put on quite an impressive thunder and lightening show. The downpour was, at times, torrential but as I stand here looking over the Rhône in the centre of Lyon, the rain has stopped, the clouds are breaking and perhaps we are in for a better afternoon.

Le Grand Tour: Day 41 – Chateauneuf-Du-Pape To Montélimar (93km)

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Today has seen some of the best cycling of the trip so far. I had, in my mind, relegated the Via Rhôna to a fill-the-gap route that I would have to endure in order to get me from the Mediterranean to the Alps. If today’s cycling is anything to go by, it’s no fill-the-gap route. Far from it… There is real geographical drama in the Rhône valley and I can only see that increasing. I (almost) feel sorry for the hoards of touring cyclists passing me heading south to that roundabout in Sète which has about as much geographical drama as your granny’s pond. I’m heading to the Alps and the drama can only intensify the further north and east I travel. After the relative disappointment of the Canal du Midi, I have embraced – and am loving – the Via Rhôna after just two days. Montélimar? Mmm… Keep reading.

Le Grand Tour: Day 40 – Montagnac To Chateauneuf-du-Pape Via Sète (77km + Train + 24km)

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Day 39 existed. I didn’t just time-warp myself from day 38 to day 40 but having met up with friends Basil and Liz in Pézenas yesterday lunchtime after having done my pit-stop tasks (washing, post office, podcast editing…) we had a very enjoyable afternoon and early evening of drinking, eating, wandering, drinking, eating and drinking. I took one picture…

Le Grand Tour: Day 38 – Pouzols Minervois To Montagnac Via Sète (134km)

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I’’m glad to have finished the Canal du Midi section of the Canal des Deux Mers cycle route. Now in Pézenas – I’ll explain in a moment – the highlight of yesterday was cycling along the excellent voies vertes that brought me inland from Sète yesterday evening. Cycling at the end of the day is something that doesn’t often happen (the way I tend to organise my days) but the advantages of cycling at that end of the day are similar to those of early morning cycling; quieter roads, cooler temperatures and the ‘golden hour’ sunlight that washes a beautiful soft tint over the landscape. It’s also worth noting (and remembering) that the winds tend to die down in the evening. Mmm… Perhaps I should do night shifts on the bike.

Le Grand Tour: Day 37 – Alzonne To Pouzols-Minervois (71km)

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I’m on one bar of 3G tonight so getting anything uploaded aside from some good old text is very doubtful. No, more than doubtful; it won’t happen as I’m not even going to try. I’ll update this post tomorrow morning with the pictures and the video (which is ready to go!) and for anyone thinking of cycling the Canal du Midi, it really is a video you need to watch…

Le Grand Tour: Day 36 – Toulouse To Alzonne (92km)

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I’ve seen the Pyrenees for the first time this evening. After so much relatively flat or tame topography over the past five weeks, it’s good to finally have a little drama added to the landscape. They are only in silhouette, shrouded in haze and only just perceptible from the sky but they are definitely there. (Or my glasses need cleaning.) I’m in a place called Alzonne by the way, about 90km along the canal from Toulouse. Carcassonne is a further 20km to the south east.

Le Grand Tour: Day 35 – Grisolles To Toulouse (31km)

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I’m still suffering g from the mosquito bites inflicted upon me in Marick’s basement on Thursday night. I really wish I had got out of the bed and killed each one of the little f*****s. Not only would I have gained great pleasure from doing so, I would not now be scratching my way through the day. Last night on the campsite near Grisolles was particularly uncomfortable. On the positive side of things, the bites are receding, slowly… I need to buy some Autan. I’m already taking antihistamine tablets but the former was recommended way back in 2010 when I was the victim of a mosquito attack in Italy. I wrote a whole section in ‘Crossing Europe…’ about mosquitoes and their bites; I should go back and re-read it. I seem to remember there being three factors that increased your susceptibility; being pregnant, having blood group O and beer. I need to drink more wine…

Le Grand Tour: Day 34 – Agen To Grisolles (94km)

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I judge my WarmShowers hosts on how I provide for WarmShowers guests when I host back at home. Alas in recent years this has been less frequent. When I lived in that beautiful tourist hotspot that is, err… Reading, I hosted quite regularly in the summer. Since moving back to rural Yorkshire I’ve hosted just three times. In Reading I was half-way between London and Oxford or en route to the West Country. In Yorkshire, despite it being far nicer, I’m not really on anyone’s cycle route (although not very far from the Pennine Cycleway – take note!). Anyway, aside from a warm shower, I provide food, drink, Wi-Fi, clothes washing, advice, deep-tissue massage… Well, most of those.

Le Grand Tour: Day 33 – La Réole To Agen (89km)

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There were times this morning when I thought this particular day – the whole trip perhaps – were being derailed… It all started by me heading over the bridge back in the direction of La Réole. Oops! Wrong direction. No big problem; I’d only cycled perhaps 50 metres across the bridge and by doing so made a nice video clip (yep, you guessed it – watch the video…).

Le Grand Tour: Day 32 – Bordeaux To La Réole (80km)

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There’s no mistaking that I have now arrived in the south of France. Not only has it been hot (in fairness, it’s not been in the least but cold since Brittany) but there have been a long list of things that tick the Southern Europe boxes; lavender, a lizard, terracotta roofs, parched fields of crops, hilltop villages, towns that shut down in the heat of the day… No cicadas yet but they will come in the next week I imagine.

Le Grand Tour: Day 31 – Bordeaux

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A short one today… and no video. It’s often tempting on a non-cycling day to plunge into full tourist mode and spend an exhausting day visiting the sites. Today I haven’t done that. I’ve spent much of the day wandering aimlessly around – flâner in French – and sorted out a few bits and pieces along the way. I’ve had the most expensive haircut of my life (I daren’t admit how much but next time I will check the prices before I sit down…) with my developing beard shaved off (which perhaps doubled the cost), bought some replacement sandals, done my washing, sorted out my car tax and the customs issues with the GoPro (ongoing saga…) and even checked on my plants back home (via a phone call with my mother). But no video. One thing I haven’t yet done is edit the podcast and that is my job for the next couple of hours. It should be available by the end of the day. Still a while for you to catch up on the previous four ‘Grand Tour’ episodes (numbers 052 to 055). Tomorrow: the Canal de la Garonne…

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 today’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! 

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 wouldn’t normally trust Google distances when it comes to cycling but when I compared the Google route on Google Maps and the EuroVelo 1 / Vélodyssée route on Open Street Map they looked the same so I gave the Google distance a bit more credence than I normally would. How naïve am I? I tell the story in today’s video in which I’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 à Vélo is, I suspect, what the majority of cyclists on last night’s site are there to ride. Perhaps a few for the Velodyssée but as it’s so close to the mouth of the river – about 25km – it’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. It’s also, of course, the start of the EuroVelo 6. I suspect (there’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 digress…

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? I’ve said this many times before but for me it’s not a case of ‘waking up’ when I’m camping it’s a case of when to stop trying to make an effort to get back to sleep…) and was packed by 8am. My official campsite advisor Tim Sanders (who until only a few minutes ago was my ‘unofficial’ campsite advisor but as nobody else has offered their services, I’ve upgraded him to the honorary post; it’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 point…) …My official campsite advisor Tim Sanders messaged at 8:05 asking “Have you met Geoff?”

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.

Le Grand Tour: Day 22 – Morlaix – “If They Bite You, Bite Them Back”

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According to the bird’s eye view of Morlaix in the image below, that’s the motto of the town. Original, no? It’s been a hot day so far, despite Brittany being the cold corner of the map of France on last night’s TV forecast. I’ve returned to the hotel for a siesta… I’ll head back out soon for anothercwander. There’s a festival of all things Breton taking place in Place Allende this afternoon so I’ll perhaps update this later. In the meantime, note that episode 055 of The Cycling Europe Podcast was published this morning – part 4 of my ’Grand Tour’ series – so if you have 55 minutes to space… All the links can be found by navigating over to the podcast page of the website.

Le Grand Tour: Day 21 – Louannec To Morlaix (36km + Train)

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Finally writing this up… Not many will read this (as the post was published last night without any text) but it will, at least, be an aide-memoire when I later use these notes to write a book. In a way the ‘Mercedes afternoon’ I had experienced on the previous day continued until the following morning. Yes, it was a cheap, municipal campsite but it was packed to the rafters with screaming children. One particular specimen gets his / her starring role in episode 055 of The Cycling Europe Podcast which has now been published.

Le Grand Tour: Day 20 – Saint-Quay To Louannec (72km)

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The omens were not good at 8am. The campsite at Saint-Quay certainly lived up to its name by having a ‘belle vue’. Indeed my pitch – as with many others – was facing north-east and if there were no clouds, we were in for a cracking sunrise. I happened to be awake at 5am so I clamped the GoPro to its tripod and set in motion a time lapse video. Alas it was cloudy and the resulting video merely showed black clouds become grey ones. Nothing too spectacular there. However, by 8am the sun had risen and was beginning to poke through the clouds. Perhaps an opportunity to get the drone in action to capture the magic. And it did. You can see that shot at the start of today’s video.

Le Grand Tour: Day 19 – Hillion To Saint-Quay (50km)

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A shorter day – just 50km – but it helps me out when it comes to getting to Morlaix by the end of Saturday. Where I am now – a place called Saint-Quay – is about half way between Mont-Saint-Michel and Morlaix and this makes the two planned long days of cycling to Morlaix a bit shorter and hence more manageable. My average has now dipped below 80km per day but I’m sure that will be rectified as I speed along the flat(ish) lands of the Velodyssée next week.

Le Grand Tour: Day 18 – Saint-Briac-Sur-Mer To Hillion (80km)

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You are not reading this on Wednesday 20th as, yesterday evening, my 25GB of data ran out. I was expecting this to happen at some point and also expected to be able to easily purchase more data. But that’s when it got problematic. A phone call to Vodafone is on the cards when their call centre opens on Thursday morning. I suppose if all else fails I can buy a French SIM card. There’s also the matter of me having had to change my mobile number (could that be complicating things?) but that sorry tale is for another day (and probably another website…)

Le Grand Tour: Day 16 – Roz-Sur-Couesnon / Forward Planning

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Last night on the campsite there were at least seven cyclists and another four walkers in the cycling-walking section. All except me have now left and I have been joined, so far, by just two cyclists. It will be interesting to see if people are, like me, staying put for the day and not travelling in light of the extreme temperature. That said, it clearly didn’t dissuade any of my fellow campers last night. Perhaps it was something I said…

Le Grand Tour: Day 15 – Domfront To Mont-Saint-Michel (83km)

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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%) I’d read that the Veloscenie connected the capital with the north coast by linking up defunct railway lines but I wasn’t 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 couldn’t wish for a better place to cycle, the sun been screened for much of the time by the surrounding vegetation.

Le Grand Tour: Day 14 – Alençon To Domfront (73km)

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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 ‘highest point in north-west France’ you can probably guess you’re 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, that’s 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 reading…

Le Grand Tour: Day 13 – Nogent-Le-Rotrou To Alençon (93km)

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Today was the equivalent of a cycle touring spinning class. Well, mostly. Almost the entire route from Nogent-le-Rotrou to Alençon 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 it’s ‘just’ being used by cyclists and walkers. But hey! At least it’s still in use…

Le Grand Tour: Day 12 – Chartres To Nogent-Le-Rotrou (79km)

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To answer Joe Stafford’s question (that he posted to YouTube a few moments ago) immediately; yes, it’s hot but if you take the necessary measures to protect yourself then I think you’ll be fine. Joe is coming to France soon but as long as he does what we are told to do; cover up (I’m on my second hat of the trip…), plaster yourself in factor 50 (I’m 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), you’ll be fine.

Le Grand Tour: Day 11 – Paris To Chartres

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Back to the writing. I’m currently on a busy train that’s about to set off for Le Mans. I’ll 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. It’s 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 digress… and we are off. Six bicycles it is.

Le Grand Tour: Day 10 – Dangu To Paris (101km)

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CURRENT LOCATION: La Tartine, Rue de Rivoli, Paris Today the words are in the video… 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. […]

Le Grand Tour: Day 8 – Dieppe To Forges-Les-Eaux (57km)

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Tick, tick, tick… Basically that’s what I’ve spent today doing. Ticking off all the things that you might, in an ideal world, want a disused railway line, converted into a walking-cycling greenway – voie verte here in France – to have. If the département of Seine-Maritime set out to build what I consider to be an unbeatable bit of cycle-touring infrastructure, they succeeded.

Le Grand Tour: Week 1

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CURRENT LOCATION: Dieppe If you missed anything, here’s the first week in video. Enjoy! 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. If […]

Le Grand Tour: Day 7 – Dieppe

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Let’s start with some good news. Upon arrival in Dieppe yesterday after a long cycle in the heat, I sat down for a beer by the harbour and was, imho… fleeced €9 for a 50cl Leffe Blond on draft. (That’s a price Copenhagen’s harbour cafés would be proud of.) The evidence in my favour was a menu that said the price was €4.50 and that the drinks were served as 50cl or 75cl, giving the impression that it wasn’t an option for the premium Leffe to be a modest ‘demie pression’ (25cl). The drink was delivered and €9 demanded. I immediately complained and walked out in digust. Well, OK, being British, I smiled and tossed a cherry ‘merci’ in the waiter’s direction handing over my cash while seething internally. So where’s the good news? Well, having visited the local tabac-café this morning and paid the princely sum of €1.50 for a coffee (all in the name of price research), I’m back here now enjoying a 25cl draft Kronenbourg for €2.80. Success!

Le Grand Tour: Day 6 – Saint-Quentin-En-Tourmon To Dieppe (96km)

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Phew! What a scorcher… And it’s apparently going to get hotter. I daubed myself three times today with factor 50 but I’ll be investing in a cap of some description tomorrow (as well of more supplies of the sun cream). Yet I’m staying well hydrated and fed by the French. Today’s food has all come courtesy of the toil of French labour; pastries from the boulangerie in Le Crotoy, fruit from a market in the same town and now a three-course meal in Dieppe at a restaurant called Le Sully. So far – a starter of smoked salmon and herring on a bed of new potatoes – so good, but I’ll update you as the meal progresses… I feel like Rick Stein without a film crew (and a bicycle).

Le Grand Tour: Day 5 – Oye-Plage To Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont (91km)

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A day to remember… Some of you may think that politics has no place on a website such as this. Yet I disagree. A head of government represents the country. He or she is not seen by those in other countries as a Tory or a socialist or a liberal or whatever. They are simply an embodiment of what the ‘majority’ are thinking. (Majority! Well, not in our archaic first-past-the-post system but that’s another argument.) So when I meet people and ask them what they think of our prime minister, it’s embarrassing to be told that he is thought of as an ‘idiot’ or ‘joker’ because in a small way they are saying that about me and you. We, collectively, gave him the power. I never voted for him but I am part of the system that did. I am glad that he will soon be gone. I watched him speak live on my phone this lunchtime. Just as he finished, I passed in front of a magnificent hotel in Le Touquet called… Le Westminster. Everyone, irrespective of the politics, should be glad that he will soon be replaced.

Le Grand Tour: Day 4 – Ostend To Oye-Plage (94km)

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Is he still there? By the time you read this (posting is going to be delayed until Thursday morning due to the lack of a good mobile signal) he may well have been dragged out of Downing Street, kicking and screaming. Last night I had the pleasure of staying with a WarmShowers host in the outskirts of Ostend. He has lead the development of a co-housing project and he now lives on a large plot of land not far from the airport along with 17 other families – around 70 people in total – with separate homes but shared facilities. It’s a real village and it was wonderful to spend a few hours last night in their company talking about the development, the motivation for creating such a place and the practical advantages of doing so. (There are many – I’ll list them in the book!) I spent much of the evening chatting to a retired firefighter called Michel and the subject moved on to politics. I asked him what people in general thought of Boris Johnson in Belgium. “A joke” was his response… 

Le Grand Tour: Day 3 – Vlissingen To Ostend (63km)

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This trip is turning out to have more ferries than a cycle up the west coast of Norway. Another two today; at the start from Vlissingen to Breskens and a short one at the end across the harbour in Ostend. I think, however, that may be it for the time being. Sandwiched between the two boats was a 69km cycle along the coast to Ostend and it was somewhat different to what I had expected…

A Wanda Around Europe, Explained

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Earlier today some of you must have been scratching your heads just a little upon seeing the Twitter post or the Facebook post or the Instagram post relating to my decision to ‘tweak’ the route of my upcoming cycle around the Baltic Sea. It is, admittedly, one hell of a tweak. So much of a tweak in fact that the only remaining part of that planned Baltic Sea Cycle that remains in the new planned cycle is the rather short journey from the ferry port in Rotterdam to the Hook of Holland. And yes, even that section is nowhere near the Baltic Sea. The new route will see me not turn left upon arrival in The Netherlands but turn right in the direction of Belgium, then France, then (after quite a while) through Switzerland, then Germany before finally returning to the Hook of Holland and my return journey across the North Sea to Hull. Mmm… Perhaps ‘tweak’ might not have been the most appropriate of words. So why the change?

The Cycling Europe Podcast: Episode 048 – A Mountaineer’s Guide To Cycling From Spain To Norway

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The Cycling Europe Podcast mainly features, well, cyclists. The interviewee in this episode, however, is first and foremost a mountaineer. But he’s not just any mountaineer. His name is Tim Ralph and he’s a seven summiteer; a man who has climbed the seven highest mountains on each of the continents. In the last few years, he’s also taken up cycle touring and has just published a book called ‘A Life Accomplished: From Spain to Norway on a Bike’. So what can mountaineering teach us about cycle touring? What can cycle touring teach mountaineers about climbing mountains? And what happens when an experienced mountaineer sets off to cycle from Europe’s geographical southernmost point at Tarifa in Spain to its northernmost point at Nordkapp in Norway?

EuroVelo 19: The Meuse Cycle Route

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I cycled a bit of this way back in 2010. It was an impressive, if rather damp, section of the route to southern Italy, my version of the EuroVelo 5. The EuroVelo 19, coming in at around 1,000 km is a manageable length and takes in cycling through three countries; Belgium, Luxembourg and France. Here’s a new video from the European Cyclists’ Federation to promote the route.

Eroica 2021

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I’ve never entered a cycling sportive in my life… but I’m a sucker for a good poster and these posters from the people who organise the Eroica events have featured several times in the past on CyclingEurope.org. They’ve just sent through the complete set for 2021 – yes, it appears that they are starting again… – and the first of their cycles is actually today in South Africa.

L’Enfer Du Nord / The Hell Of The North

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The Paris-Roubaix cycle race has been postponed until later in the year. No surprise there bearing in mind the new lockdown just announced in France. Cobbles are an (almost) every day part of cycling here in the Calder Valley of Yorkshire. My bones have been shaken on a regular basis in recent years since my return to God’s Own County. Perhaps they should have just moved it to the north of England rather than waiting until the autumn of 2021… I wrote about the Paris-Roubaix in Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie.

BBC World Service: Cycling Across Europe In The Pandemic

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The countries of continental Europe and the European Union itself have been much criticised in the (right-wing) British media in recent weeks on matters relating to the distribution of the COVID vaccines. In those criticisms there is, of course, a non-too-subtle dollop of British smugness. To at least 48% of the British population (of which I am part), these are sentiments that make us squirm. They are predictable and fail to take into account the ‘bigger picture’ of a continent which, in terms of the quality of people’s lives, is light years ahead of most parts of backward, squalid Britain.

Cycling Flanders: Limburg, Knooppunts And The UCI World Championships 2021

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In the summer of 2015 as I cycled from Tarifa to Nordkapp (and as subsequently recounted in the book Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie) there is one evening that stands out as being almost perfect. It was the day I cycled through the fruit orchards of Limburg in Belgium. The sun was out, the terrain not too challenging and the countryside around me a delight. Such was my mood that I treated myself to a rather nice B&B that evening in the town of Borgloon.

Cycling Europe: ‘A Time Of Birds’ By Helen Moat

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Spring 2020 will forever go down in the annals of history as the time of the Coronavirus. We don’t yet know how the story will end – this is history in the making – but we do know that the pandemic has had a significant impact upon the lives of most people. Schools closed, festivals cancelled, sporting events postponed, film premieres rescheduled… Yet with the majority of the population at home, what better time to pick up a book and start reading. And what better time to head off on a vicarious cycle across Europe. But fear not! This is not some shameless plug for my own books. (Although they are rather good…) It is about a new book that is being published on April 9th called A Time For Birds by Helen Moat.

EuroVelo And Cycle Tourism Conference 2018

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I’m tempted to register… From the European Cyclists’ Federation website: “The registration for the EuroVelo and Cycle Tourism Conference 2018 that will take place in Belgian Limburg on September 26th – 28th is open! You can now register here. Do not miss the leading cycle tourism conference in Europe, a unique occasion to share knowledge, highlight […]

A Short Trip To… Brussels

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I’ve spent much of the past three years thinking about cycling from southern Spain to northern Norway; planning the journey, completing the journey, recovering from the journey, writing the book about the journey and, more recently, marketing the book about the journey. (What? You hadn’t noticed?) The next […]

Cycling Five Countries In One Day?

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Is it possible? I cycled eight countries in nearly four months back in 2015 but five in one day? According to Karsten Koehler, yes it was and in April 2016 he set about proving his suspicion by heading to Belgium with his bike… Here he explains his motivation: I […]