Bordeaux to Channel coast.

[Brandane]

After much faffing about, I have now booked a one way flight to Bordeaux and plan to take my Tricross with me and cycle back to the channel coast. Once I get to the channel, I will concern myself with getting back to Ayrshire by boat/train/bus.
I suspect that the cost of getting home will be substantially more than the cost of getting to Bordeaux. £99 Glasgow to Bordeaux via Gatwick, with British Airways (so as long as I can keep the bike within the 23kg baggage allowance it goes free). Scotrail wanted £160 for a return to Portsmouth!
I have about 17 days to get myself home. La Rochelle is a must, other than that my route is flexible and open to suggestions. Somewhere between 50 and 80 miles per day, as I will be carrying a tent and sleeping bag (whether or not it gets used is another matter, I like my showers and a comfy bed!).

 

[Dave Davenport]

Bear in mind that you only get one piece of checked baggage, so all your other gear will have to go as hand baggage.
We flew to Spain BA last year and used CTC plastic bags for the bikes and strapped the panniers together to make one other checked bag, think it was about £40 for the extra checked bag. Last time (about 4 years ago) we got the ferry across the narrow bit of the channel we went DFDS Dunkirk - Dover for £10 each.

 

[22camels]

You can stick some luggage into your bike bag/box as long as the total is under 23kg or thereabouts. Maybe this is not strictly allowed (and when I have spoken to BA over the phone to check their cycle policy they suggested it should be the bike only) but in practice my guess is you will get away with it more often than not - it helps if your bike bag is opaque. When I did this I thought I'd be asked to repack and pay for the extra checked bag but they didn't seem to care though the package was suspiciously heavy for just a bicycle.

 

[Brains]

Bike express may be an answer

 

[srw]

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/the-fridays-tour-2014.139838/

Somewhere in there I think there's a route map going in the opposite direction - or follow the link in my sig for a different route in the opposite direction. La Rochelle is (nearly) on both routes.

To get home, why not get a train back down to Bordeaux and fly from there? French trains are reasonably bike-friendly, as long as you avoid some TGVs.

 

[mmmmartin]

Fly to ayrshire or edinburgh or glasgow from southampton? Then train?
Or fly from Tours? Train from st malo or caen would be doable.

 

[Brandane]

To get home, why not get a train back down to Bordeaux and fly from there? French trains are reasonably bike-friendly, as long as you avoid some TGVs.

Fly to ayrshire or edinburgh or glasgow from southampton? Then train?
Or fly from Tours? Train from st malo or caen would be doable.

My problem, as ever, is that I don't like to over-organise and therefore don't want to pre-book my return journey, as that would mean I definitely have to be at point "A" to get a flight/ferry/train on date "B" at time "C". Just turning up and trying to get on a flight is going to be an expensive way of doing things. What I will probably do is head for Caen or Cherbourg and take a ferry across to Portsmouth. From there the train will probably be the best option, although buying a single ticket on the spot costs as much as a return, i.e. about £160 to get back up north . FlyBe do a service Southampton/Glasgow, but as with all the "budget" airlines, by the time you add on the cost of taking the bike it becomes stupid. The sensible option is to get someone from this end to book something for me a couple of days in advance, once I know my plans! Or figure out how to work the internet on my not-so-smartphone which I dislike with a vengeance .

 

[jay clock]

I have done that route heading south.Similar mileage. Have a look at here https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=11271&v=NG -

Re Flybe bikes are bit of a no- no as they require the front wheel removed. Better option is to pack it up in a box from a shop and post it to Scotland, then fly or take the train. Royal Mail should be max £25-30, I have used them several times for posting

 

[Dave Davenport]

Brittany ferries from Caen and Cherbourg are quite pricy (I should know, I've spent £1000's on them) but they're now operating a 'budget' service from Le Havre which might be worth checking out, I think LD also operate from there.
Unless you book well in advance Flybe are pretty pricey and won't guarantee to take your bike even if you've booked and paid for it (how's that for service!). I think you have to book trains at least a few weeks in advance to make any significant savings.
Municipal campsites are cheap and numerous in France, you'd easily offset the travel costs if you used them instead of hotels a few times.
We passed near Bordeaux on this trip to Caen https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=11266&v=7O which might be of interest.
We've also done the coast route to St.Malo (starting in Bilbao), I didn't do a blog but I wrote a report for the cycling club newsletter I can dig out if that's of any use.

 

[Brandane]

Have decided to be sensible about this, rather than pay top dollar for my return journey. Now booked Brittany ferries overnight Caen/Portsmouth for £44, and train to home for £69 single.
I know it flies in the face of not wanting to have rigid plans, but sometimes a compromise is the best solution.
Thanks for your CGOAB links @jay clock and @Dave Davenport , I might steal parts of your routes. There seems to be a sustrans type cycle route running from Bordeaux up to Cherbourg (Atlantic coast cycle route up to the Loire, then the north/south cycle route to Cherbourg). Options to cut off towards Caen further south. I will see how I am doing for time by then.

 

[jay clock]

The sustrans style route is the Velodysee see here http://www.velodyssey.com/

 

[Brandane]

2 more sleeps!
The practice sessions for the Le Mans 24 hour car race are on the week before I come back (bad timing; I need to come home the weekend of the actual race ), so might fit some of that in. Also the 70th anniversary of D-Day on 6th June, but I suspect Normandy will still be a long way off then (can't be bothered with rushing things anyway, I'm on holiday!).

 

[Dave Davenport]

2 more sleeps!
The practice sessions for the Le Mans 24 hour car race are on the week before I come back (bad timing; I need to come home the weekend of the actual race ), so might fit some of that in. Also the 70th anniversary of D-Day on 6th June, but I suspect Normandy will still be a long way off then (can't be bothered with rushing things anyway, I'm on holiday!).

If you come through Le Mans when the tracks not in use you get to ride on a bit of it, I think it's a section of the D60(?) most of the time.

 

[Brandane]

If you come through Le Mans when the tracks not in use you get to ride on a bit of it, I think it's a section of the D60(?) most of the time.

Been there, done that . On a previous outing to Normandy in 2010. Took the bike in the train down to Le Mans from my base in Caen, and went round the full circuit (apart from the inaccessible bit running by the grandstand).