Saint Malo to Roscoff.

[ajb]

Has anyone ridden from Saint Malo to Roscoff ??

A few of us are thinking of doing it next year as part of a charity ride.
What roads did you use ??
Are the roads safe ??
Approx 125mls, more or less ??

 

[andy_spacey]

one word. easy.
i did the whole length of France this year for my first tour,
roads are great, land is 95% flat cause camp-sites, supermarkets are every where, which ever way you go
your have no problems.

 

[jay clock]

+1.... nice and easy cycling in France/ http://www.viamichelin.com/web/Itin...1.5&autoConso=6.8&villeConso=6&routeConso=5.6

 

[wintonbina]

+1 also, we do a regular ride in France and the roads are brilliant, the drivers are great to us, as well as the French people themselves.

 

[Redvers]

The direct trunk route: Lamballe, St Brieuc, Guingamp, Morlaix can be a bit of a trucker’s rat run depending on the season and the time of day, so it would be worth plotting a D road route if time permits.
If you can, make a slight detour from Morlaix south across the Parc Regional D’Armorique to Huelgoat, a great road and a nice town.
The Bretons are considerate to cyclists and a pretty friendly bunch.
Should be a nice ride. Bon route!

 

[oldleggs]

one word. easy.
i did the whole length of France this year for my first tour,
roads are great, land is 95% flat cause camp-sites, supermarkets are every where, which ever way you go
your have no problems.

lf l remember andy you were going to Faro did you make it

 

[andy_spacey]

i did not get to faro. i got stick a few days in to spain, i dont know if it was the water ( had to drink out of the river, i did filler it,) or just the four days of excessive heat exhaustion, They had a heat wave 37c plus, even the Spanish where moaning about it. lol
i could ont keep any thing down for four days, so got weak,

if i had more money i could have rested up for a bit long and carried on,
but spain was not cheap camping 20 euro a night, and staying near the coast there was no where to wild camp. i did rest for 3 days at a site that was 7.5 euro,

i only had £800 to do the whole trip and was worried i may not have enough to finish as by the time i got to faro it would have been super high session,

i rode to santander and got a ferry back, the ferry cost £195 with a room, there was no seat left, but with the ferry i spent just under £500 for the whole trip,

I did 1154 miles in just under 5 weeks, i was only doing 50-60 a day,
i did learn a lot on the trip about touring, what i don't need to take with me. lol which i think every one dose on there first tour, hahaha

The 814 miles of France was easy, the pyrenees are great and the best part.

I am all ready to go away again, i got back to the uk and work my socks of and saved all my money.

So i am ready to go again,
I am going to cycle up to a mates in king lynn for new year, Then I think I will try again and cycle from Coventry to faro.
i look at the map every day and cycle touring blogs, Its just a case of getting on the bike and go, even in the winter,

Oldleggs thanks for asking
Andy

 

[oldleggs]

i did not get to faro. i got stick a few days in to spain, i dont know if it was the water ( had to drink out of the river, i did filler it,) or just the four days of excessive heat exhaustion, They had a heat wave 37c plus, even the Spanish where moaning about it. lol
i could ont keep any thing down for four days, so got weak,

if i had more money i could have rested up for a bit long and carried on,
but spain was not cheap camping 20 euro a night, and staying near the coast there was no where to wild camp. i did rest for 3 days at a site that was 7.5 euro,

i only had £800 to do the whole trip and was worried i may not have enough to finish as by the time i got to faro it would have been super high session,

i rode to santander and got a ferry back, the ferry cost £195 with a room, there was no seat left, but with the ferry i spent just under £500 for the whole trip,

I did 1154 miles in just under 5 weeks, i was only doing 50-60 a day,
i did learn a lot on the trip about touring, what i don't need to take with me. lol which i think every one dose on there first tour, hahaha

The 814 miles of France was easy, the pyrenees are great and the best part.

I am all ready to go away again, i got back to the uk and work my socks of and saved all my money.

So i am ready to go again,
I am going to cycle up to a mates in king lynn for new year, Then I think I will try again and cycle from Coventry to faro.
i look at the map every day and cycle touring blogs, Its just a case of getting on the bike and go, even in the winter,

Oldleggs thanks for asking
Andy

Andy.....sorry to hear of the sickness that you suffered, that's something you can do without.
l did my first tour in France this year 5 weeks covered about 1000 miles. l also suffered in a heatwave in France 40 deg the temperature, or so l was told in a bar in Royan (I did 60 miles on the hottest day of the year.... l was half dead by late afternoon!) So l decided that it was too hot to carry on further down into Spain, so l came back up through Cognac across the Loire region into Normandy and home via Cherbourg/Poole. Looking back I regret that l didn't push on further south!
But I enjoyed the touring so much that next year l'd like to go for longer and further, l'm planning a tour down the Rhine/Danube rivers to the Black Sea,then back through the Mediterranean island hopping to Spain and then home. I'd like to start in the middle of April, but not only is more time needed....more money's needed as well, also l'll have to get used the heat!!

Best of luck Andy with any future tours you do.
PS... had one puncture in Royan on that very hot day!

 

[andy_spacey]

@oldleggs
Its all about learning,
After the rain the temp came down back to normal. it was just a mad hot 4 days, looking back on it and what i have read, i just pushed to hard in the heat on the hill,

What i should have done was chill and drop the miles down per day so i could have layed up in the midday heat, as they as Mad dogs and English mad ride out in the midday sun. lol

your planed tour for next year sounds good, i have looked at that route myself after reading a thread.

Going a cross Europe then down in to Greece.
There is so many places that we could go.

how long you plaining on touring and how much you hopping to have saved?

 

[oldleggs]

@oldleggs
Its all about learning,
After the rain the temp came down back to normal. it was just a mad hot 4 days, looking back on it and what i have read, i just pushed to hard in the heat on the hill,

What i should have done was chill and drop the miles down per day so i could have layed up in the midday heat, as they as Mad dogs and English mad ride out in the midday sun. lol

your planed tour for next year sounds good, i have looked at that route myself after reading a thread.

Going a cross Europe then down in to Greece.
There is so many places that we could go.

how long you plaining on touring and how much you hopping to have saved?

@oldleggs
Its all about learning,
After the rain the temp came down back to normal. it was just a mad hot 4 days, looking back on it and what i have read, i just pushed to hard in the heat on the hill,

What i should have done was chill and drop the miles down per day so i could have layed up in the midday heat, as they as Mad dogs and English mad ride out in the midday sun. lol

your planed tour for next year sounds good, i have looked at that route myself after reading a thread.

Going a cross Europe then down in to Greece.
There is so many places that we could go.

how long you plaining on touring and how much you hopping to have saved?

I stayed in Royan for three day when it was so hot,and only started cycling again when the temperature dropped that's why l regret not heading south to Spain!
Cost and time for2012.....
Well l allowed 600/700quid a month in France which l kept within that budget. My biggest waste of money was phone/ipad it worked out at £20 a week nearly. I'd like to go for 3-4 months next year.The good thing now is that l bought all my kit last year, camping gear and racks/panniers etc its an expense that this year l don't have to find.
Island hopping back through the Med may well prove expensive (ferry tickets) so l'd want to allow £4k or more. Plus l tend to stopover a lot if l like the places l travel through. The thought of riding down through Europe following the Rhine/Daube to the Black Sea would be quite an achievement.
Already a few of my friends have said in around about way that l need my head examined as l'm the wrong side of 60.

 

[andy_spacey]

you may be on the other side of 60 but your on the right side of the earth, you need you head examined if you dont do what you dream off.
Its always better to have more money than you need than not enough and you can keep travelling if you have money

I think my plan for my tour is, to ride from Coventry to St Jean pied de port and then ride the Camino de Santiago, after that i will trun left and head down to the algarve Portugal. This way a would be able to do the north Spain on a small budget as a pilgrim.