Brothers and sisters in law tandem around Brittany

[Dave 123]

Not the most catchy of titles!

On Sunday afternoon Jo and I, my brother Keith and his wife Joyce set off from Wembury toward the ferry port in Plymouth. Within 5 minutes Jo's dad had caught us in the car as we'd forgotten our water bottles!
A roll into Plymouth and an ice cream stop on the Hoe

To kill time we then went he mile or so to Royal William Yard to eat some food! Not much riding at all!

Then the short ride to the ferry

https://www.strava.com/activities/1064692598

 

[Dave 123]

Monday.

Croissants for breakfast in the boat after an excellent sleep.
It was shorts and short sleeves weather in Roscoff as we came off the boat. We headed for the quieter road overlooking the coast, small islands in the distance, artichokes and lettuce in the foreground.

We made our way to Carantec, there we had a second breakfast

It was spitting and spotting with rain.
We took the corniche road, along the estuary. It was beautiful, but overcast. Eventually we were outrun by a couple of showers. We took shelter.

In Morlaix we had a look around. The highlight was lunch, a delicious galette.

Here is Jo drinking cidre from what appears to be an ashtray

We finished our lunch and went to wake the slumbering bikes

A hilly navigational issue was soon to come, but then Jo had a look on google maps and took us to the voie verte.
Twelve traffic free miles followed at a steady up hill trudge before we got back on the road. Then the bigger hills came out to play! Long 15% jobs had us in first gear, the other side saw us free wheel to 35 mph!

It was along this stretch that we saw a possible Montagues Harrier.

We stopped in Huelgoat for a beer before finding our accommodation for the night

https://www.strava.com/activities/1065544142

 

[Welsh wheels]

I wish I lived close enough to Dover to be able to do that easily!

 

[Dave 123]

Tuesday Huelgoat to Le Faouet

After a great breakfast we went down a steep Old lane, brakes firmly on. The ride for the next few miles was down hill through beech woods on smooth roads. What could be nicer! It was chilly in the shade!

Then the hills started. Nothing to ever get you out of breath but they were long. I suppose the average gradient was six %.
We reached the town of Carhaix and stopped for a drink in a bar. The statue over the road is of 3 Breton a Capella folk singing sisters

They were tall!

We exited town via a steep hill down, then an up. As we started our decent 2 touring bikes were being pushed to the crest of the hill. It was a good 'un!
We rolled through pretty agricultural land

We reached the town of Motreff in search of lunch... no chance!

We went to the next town in 9km, Gourin. We were turned away from an empty restaurant, so we made do with chips and crepes from a van

By now it was over 30°, blooming lovely after yesterday's rain!

On to Le Faouet. The road we took was busy by French standards, but by British standards it was fine. More killer hills ensued, but on one of the downs we reached over 48mph. Not long after we were doing 33mph, this felt slow.

We reached town with its pretty covered market, found a bar, then watched Cav & G take a tumble

A slightly shorter ride today, hilly and warm.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1067009158

 

[Dave 123]

Wednesday
Just a short ride today to Quimperle, 14 miles down the road.
Before leaving we bought some cherries in the market to eat along the way.

We started with a nice healthy downhill before a series of smaller hills turned up.

We were bowling down one hill doing 30mph plus when we met some 'specialist dressing'. It was a bit disconcerting, but fortunately they'd brushed the excess away!

We stopped at an old abandoned church to eat cherries, they were good!

All too soon we were in Quimperle. It was roasting (still is!) Lunch was had, then we found our airb&b, it's a bit bohemian.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1068746082

 

[jefmcg]

Glad you are enjoying your holiday but

... every time I see this thread, I wonder what a "law tandem" is.

 

[Dave 123]

Glad you are enjoying your holiday but

... every time I see this thread, I wonder what a "law tandem" is.

Judge for yourself.....

 

[Dave 123]

Thursday
A late start after a wander around town.
More speed sapping long hills in our way until we reached Le Pouldu

Le French seaside!
We stopped for a drink before trying to hug the coast. It didn't work!

We rode past a multitude of houses to die for until we reached Doelan, a pretty estuary village

We managed to return luckily along a flat route! Bonus!
Beers all round!

https://www.strava.com/activities/1070684363

 

[Dave 123]

Friday

Straight from the off we had a 10% lung buster of a hill. Not long after we ended up on a motorway! On the verge Jo saw an adder. After a short stretch we were in undulating countryside which led us to Pont Aven, a pretty little town

After a drink we set off for more hills and pretty countryside until we descended into Concarneau. At first we went through the port, all tattoos and diesel fumes, then came the good bit, there as a market on. We bought cheese, bread, tomatoes, saucisson and strawberries for lunch

A spin along the coast, then a trip inland to avoid a 15% hill to end us in the stunning town of Benodet

After this paddle we went for a swim, it was bracing and lovely!


https://www.strava.com/activities/1071903260

 

[Dave 123]

Saturday
Alternative transport first thing with a ferry across the river Odet from Benodet

The next few miles were inland before heading to the coast. It was beautiful, hilly but beautiful. An old lady gave us some hydrangea flowers to decorate our bikes.

Then we had a snack stop

Then came a crepe stop

Then an ice cream stop

Then after 44 miles we'd reached our destination

https://www.strava.com/activities/1073497002

 

[Ming the Merciless]

We were on that ferry last year. Hope you are drinking plenty of the local cider

 

[Dave 123]

Sunday.

Well, what a day! Not a great deal of flat to be had. Just about the only horizontal was across the big bridge in Douranenez

After this the hills started and never stopped.
We stayed off main roads as much as possible, but this meant left right, left right. Never any rhythm! The views were good though

We rolled back down to the coast, and had a much needed drink stop at a bar.

Straight up from here, no messing! More ups and downs, then we stopped for lunch down by the beach. We shared fish and chips, they were delicious!
The up that came next was evil. 14% was the maximum, and at this point we had a car behind us. Tough tits matey, you can sit and wait!

The above pic doesn't really show what we'd come up, but it was a good one!

We had a roll down into Morgat. The circus is in town, here's one of the staff

https://www.strava.com/activities/1075232100

A cracking day!

 

[Dave 123]

No cycling on Monday.
Tuesday saw us ascend the 2 mile hill out of Morgat. It certainly woke us up!
We were off to catch the ferry from Ar Fred (in Breton) to Brest.
The down hill to Ar Fred was excellent. Not one pedal strike= 40mph!
We waited in the bar with other cyclists for the ferry under grey skies

Then we played bike jenga!

Mrs Dave isn't the biggest fan of boats, so her and Joyce sat with a grumpy French man to quell the urge to puke!

We made a fairly swift exit from Brest as the weather was due to get wet

The road along the coast out of town was bloody steep in bits, 13% in parts.

We stopped for food at a takeaway, and as we left it started to spit. Coats on.

The bike route signs were saying Locmaria Plouzane, the village twinned with Wembury, were Jo's parents live, and where our ride starts and ends.

Just after this it started to rain, we took shelter a bar and watched the tour.

The end of the ride was blowing a hoolie, but the rain didn't amount to much!

https://www.strava.com/activities/1078201211

 

[Dave 123]

Wednesday
The sun only made brief appearances today, but it warmed up nicely.
A ride to and from Plougenvelin. We followed the signs for Le Conquet. First we reached Pont St Matthieu, there is a monument to the mariners lost in world war 1

On to Le Conquet. First we had a trip over the little bridge across the estuary

Then up to the headland

We had a great thyme.....

Back to Le Conquet for a crepe and a cake before heading north along the coast. We found an interesting 18% hill to play on.
At Plouarzel there was a lovely meadow of corn marigold by the lifeboat HQ

On to the coast, where the Atlantic and the channel meet

We took an inland route back with a tail wind. It was still lumpy though!

https://www.strava.com/activities/1079898336

And a front puncture just at the end of the ride.....

 

[Dave 123]

Thursday
Plougonvelin to Le Conquet and back , slowly!

We walked down the coast path for some of this short ride, glad we did. I was taking a photo of this

When I noticed this

Then 15 choughs flew right over our heads, calling.

A bit further on we saw this

Our coast path walking section ended here

Which is where we saw this

We then rode to Le Conquet, bought a cake and ate it overlooking the harbour, then we wandered up the estuary

Before coming back