nagden
Über Member
- Location
- Normandy, France
Excellent read. Thank You for sharing. Hats off to You both for dealing with the heat. I live in Normandy And find that prices increase the further South You go or the Closer You get to the coast.
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Zeffer
Senior Member
- Location
- Leamington Spa
I'm planning on this exact ride next summer with my wife. I don't think we'll be as fast, but hopefully we will make it! Looking forward to reading your article after work.
videoman
Guru
- Location
- Staffordshire
Great trip report and thanks for sharing. Looks like you had a fantastic time even with the heat.
Shut Up Legs
Down Under Member
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Simon_m
Guru
going to have a read through this a bit later too. In 2016 a group of friends did a c2c through France with a route I made up, worked really well. So well in fact, that we are doing it again in 2020 with a different route through the Alps 
Van supported so we can pick up lots of wine along the way
Van supported so we can pick up lots of wine along the way 
IaninSheffield
Veteran
- Location
- Sheffield, UK
Excellent account Mike, thanks.
You seemed to seek out campsites in a fairly relaxed manner i.e. not planning too far ahead. Just wondering whether you arrived in an area, then sought sites, or perhaps searched on t'Webs for possible targets the night before ... or maybe some other strategy?
Cheers.
You seemed to seek out campsites in a fairly relaxed manner i.e. not planning too far ahead. Just wondering whether you arrived in an area, then sought sites, or perhaps searched on t'Webs for possible targets the night before ... or maybe some other strategy?
Cheers.
Fiona R
Formerly known as Cranky Knee Girl
- Location
- N Somerset
Great write up, thanks for taking the time to do it. A France north to south in some way is probably our next tour, but I need to write up our last one on the Inner and Outer Hebrides first. i promised OH on one particularly freezing night huddled in tent we'd do a warmer one next time but honestly 5 layers to sleep in and wind and rain in Scotland is far far preferable to 30+ Great detail in your notes, OH is very dubious about flying with bikes, but as I said if you only do it on the return trip no worries about damage etc. all I have read about the big bags is that the bikes are treated with far more respect than boxes.
OP
OP
mikey951r
Veteran
- Location
- Newark on Trent
Generally, I looked on the internet in the area we were aiming for the night before just to make sure there were a few to choose from, then I’d refine that over lunch on the actual day when we knew exactly where we’d finish. When I did LEJOG I was surprised how few sites there actually are in the UK. The opposite is true in France. Any reasonable size town has a campsite run by the Marie. Our back up was always to wild camp, which we had to do one Sunday night.
OP
OP
mikey951r
Veteran
- Location
- Newark on Trent
I must admit it was the only aspect of the trip that worried me, but in the end it was stress free.
We used the £10 ones from Wiggle and took them with us. Both bikes were absolutely unscathed. They went through the oversize bag area right next to the bag drop. I saw mine on it’s own trolley going across the tarmac and being gently loaded. On return at Luton the bikes were hand delivered through a side door next to the baggage carousel. Three lads on our flight had a nightmare tale about trying to get bike boxes in Nice, which they ended up paying more for than the bike bags we had.
PaulSB
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chorley, Lancashire
@mikey951r thanks very much for posting this and your informative blog. I agree with all you say about the book and directions as I found it very good five years ago when I followed the route as far as the Dordogne before heading west to Bordeaux.
I will be returning next May with a friend to ride the whole route. I have some questions I hope you can help with.
In terms of difficulty how does the route after the Dordogne compare with to the Dordogne?
Five years ago the actual route directions in the book matched almost exactly what was on the ground. Is this still the case or have roads etc. changed significantly?
How tough is climbing the Massif Central?
I had one day on my trip when my body gave up. I slept until 10.00am. I usually wake around 6.00am. I took this as a sign I was very fatigued and only rode 40 miles that day. Other days I was riding +/- 80. Did you experience anything similar? If so do you understand why? I never got my head round it!
Thanks in advance.
I will be returning next May with a friend to ride the whole route. I have some questions I hope you can help with.
In terms of difficulty how does the route after the Dordogne compare with to the Dordogne?
Five years ago the actual route directions in the book matched almost exactly what was on the ground. Is this still the case or have roads etc. changed significantly?
How tough is climbing the Massif Central?
I had one day on my trip when my body gave up. I slept until 10.00am. I usually wake around 6.00am. I took this as a sign I was very fatigued and only rode 40 miles that day. Other days I was riding +/- 80. Did you experience anything similar? If so do you understand why? I never got my head round it!
Thanks in advance.
johnfev
New Member
Great read! That sounds really challenging! Thanks for sharing, I found this site as a result of researching the trip as I'm planning on doing it later this year or late spring next depending on what we can do.
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HobbesOnTour
Guru
- Location
- España
In case you haven't come across it, CGOAB is probably the GoTo touring site.
There is a fantastic search feature that allows you to really drill down for info.
I'd suggest avoiding the Forums there though.
Good luck!
Cathryn
Legendary Member
- Location
- Marlborough, Wiltshire
Tonight’s reading sorted!
jay clock
Massive member
- Location
- Hampshire UK
@johnfev i did a slightly different route a few years back https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=2sf&doc_id=17453&v=DG
johnfev
New Member
Thanks Jay. That looks like a good read... mind if I share it on the useful links page of my site?
