The Fridays Tour de Normandie 2015

[velovoice]

Slowly getting there with the ride report(s)....
Day 0: Blighty to Brix
Day 1: Brix to Bayeux
Day 2: Bayeux to Honfleur
Day 3 coming soon, in which @Flying Dodo and I go off-piste and grapple with the mysteries of the French railway system on a bank holiday Monday. Hmmm.

ETA: Am I writing these up in between spells of revision? Or revising in between spells of blogging? Sometimes I cannot tell.

 

[velovoice]

Slowly getting there with the ride report(s)....
Day 0: Blighty to Brix
Day 1: Brix to Bayeux
Day 2: Bayeux to Honfleur
Day 3 coming soon, in which @Flying Dodo and I go off-piste and grapple with the mysteries of the French railway system on a bank holiday Monday. Hmmm.

ETA: Am I writing these up in between spells of revision? Or revising in between spells of blogging? Sometimes I cannot tell.

Day 3: Honfleur to Dieppe via Harfleur (getting lost and not finding a train), Le Havre (finding a train), Rouen (bagging not one but three Gothic churches) and Dieppe.
Hope they're okay.

 

[fimm]

I have enjoyed your blog, @velovoice. You have a delightful missing decimal point on the last day: "we didn't need showers because we'd only cycled 405km"...

 

[velovoice]

I have enjoyed your blog, @velovoice. You have a delightful missing decimal point on the last day: "we didn't need showers because we'd only cycled 405km"...

Oh fantastic! Tempted to leave it like that!

 

[dellzeqq]

Now....cast your minds back to the high point (both metaphorical and literal) of this escapade - attained on the preamble out of Cherbourg the afternoon or the evening before our first morning's rendezvous at Brix.

There was a hill. A sweet little number snaking up to La Glacerie, overshadowed in the most picturesque fashion by greenery. I can't recall your exact words, but I recollect exhalations of undiluted pleasure at the top. 'What a wonderful little warmer!'. 'Simon, please can we do that one again?' 'My, I had no idea that Normandy was so breathtaking!'

Well, I know that you'd all like to go back in person, but there's really no need! All you have to do is to switch on to ITV4 next Sunday and watch the finale of the second stage of the Tour de France! Yes, indeedy, Messrs Froome, Nibali, Contador and Quintana will be riding up that self-same road, doubtless enjoying it every bit as much as you did.

Here's a little reminder

They'll be going through Barneville and up the west coast of the Contentin peninsular in the opposite direction to our round trip on (I think) the Thursday of the Chateau trip the previous year. Saturday's stage will end at Utah Beach, going down a stretch of road we travelled while staying at the Chateau. Enjoy!

 

[StuAff]

Now....cast your minds back to the high point (both metaphorical and literal) of this escapade - attained on the preamble out of Cherbourg the afternoon or the evening before our first morning's rendezvous at Brix.

There was a hill. A sweet little number snaking up to La Glacerie, overshadowed in the most picturesque fashion by greenery. I can't recall your exact words, but I recollect exhalations of undiluted pleasure at the top. 'What a wonderful little warmer!'. 'Simon, please can we do that one again?' 'My, I had no idea that Normandy was so breathtaking!'

Well, I know that you'd all like to go back in person, but there's really no need! All you have to do is to switch on to ITV4 next Sunday and watch the finale of the second stage of the Tour de France! Yes, indeedy, Messrs Froome, Nibali, Contador and Quintana will be riding up that self-same road, doubtless enjoying it every bit as much as you did.

Here's a little reminder

They'll be going through Barneville and up the west coast of the Contentin peninsular in the opposite direction to our round trip on (I think) the Thursday of the Chateau trip the previous year. Saturday's stage will end at Utah Beach, going down a stretch of road we travelled while staying at the Chateau. Enjoy!

We also went up, and down, the hill in 2013...

 

[Flying Dodo]

That's just reminded me. Three weeks ago, heading through a mountain pass on the way to Gordes, there was several km of lovely brand new tarmac and I wondered at the time if the TdF was going along there. Looking at Stage 12, it does!

Spoiler: Don't read if you don't like Paul Sherwen

Just past Gordes, the road drops down into a lovely valley and goes past the Abbey de Sénanque which is very historic and picturesque. When the TdF helicopter spots that, it will have Paul Sherwen quoting reams of facts to you from his Ladybird book of France.