So an update on our Tour De France!
A route was planned using cycle.travel from Exeter to Monaco via the Plymouth/Roscoff ferry. 10days of cycling (a rest day at halfway point) 1016 miles and 64,000ft of climbing in total. On the whole cycle.travel was a good tool to plan a long distance route though at times you were literally taken off a road taken around some houses and brought back onto the same road which was frustrating! We found a lot of the main roads in the north were pretty much deserted even in August so just stayed on the larger roads to eat up the miles. Cycle.travel was great for checking the route chosen using the street view link, though on some minor roads the google car hadn’t made the trip and so had to gamble on the condition of the surface which found us cycling over stony farm tracks on occasions. We were able to plan a route to take some in some stunning scenery including numerous bridges/dams, major rivers and chateaux. As a comparison one of the team felt that on the final day we could cut 10 miles and lots of climbing off our planned route by sticking the start and finish points into google maps and clicking on cycle route! Unfortunately a 20km section through the hills were for mtb exclusively and we found to our cost that road bikes on rock and loose dirt weren’t compatible. We found the days were longer then anticipated due to the up and down of the terrain meaning we couldn’t get a rhythm going for large parts. French drivers were with only a couple of exceptions patient and always indicated and gave loads of space when overtaking and then again as they returned back again such a contrast to this country. Would I recommend the trip? Absolutely it was an incredible achievement and the best way to see a country. Would I do it again? Nah...