The Fridays Tour de Normandie 2015

[srw]

Brix to Bayeux, via Valognes, Utah Beach and Carentan. I've been bumped from the Hotel Le Bayeux and am slumming it in the annexe of the Domains de Bayeux - an 18th century post-revolutionary château with a mere hectare of garden.

The fates have been kind to us - one mechanical which was bodgeable until lunchtime and the bike shop, a tailwind by the coast and a fine afternoon.

And a spot of friendly rivalry with the velo club de Bayeux-St Lo enabling a few of us to stretch our legs on a brand new stretch of tarmac. They were nonplussed by @CharlieB overtaking then uphill on his Brompton, surprised by big Michael doing the same with two large panniers and a saddlebag, and merely sanguine when I outpaced them as well.

 

[User482]

I believe that they were hanging back to look at Susie. A wink was mentioned. ..

 

[rvw]

I've been bumped from the Hotel Le Bayeux.

Why? Did they manage to lose the booking?

Still, at least you have a bed somewhere...

 

[Aperitif]

Chain's not slack. Pavé was laid properly, hence not rough. Not going anywhere near Dunkirk....

Ok - it's not slack, it's lellow.

 

[srw]

Bayeux to Honfleur. Lots of hill. Lots of traffic. Lots of time. Ug.

 

[srw]

Just the right amount of beer, food, calvados and company. The rabbit is content.

 

[User10571]

Hah!

 

[Flying Dodo]

A quick summary.

Great company, lovely quiet windy country roads, mainly nice smooth tarmac, only 2 bits of broken glass spotted on the road, nice & sunny, generally very courteous drivers, delicious food.

Here's a question for you to ponder on. Why haven't the French thought of pedestrianising or at least restricting car access to their town centres? For example Bayeaux is an incredibly stunning medieval town with narrow street (like the Shambles in York) yet cars are going through. All the seaside towns we've passed through are jammed solid with cars. Madness.

Anyway, enough ranting, time for a bike ride!

 

[Aperitif]

The answer to your question about traffic is easy, Adam. The French would like their medieval towns and resorts to feel a little Tati.

Allez cats!

 

[srw]

Mmm. A delightful day, apart from the steep downhill. A floating teatray, a perfect downhill avenue verte, a speed radar that flashed an angry red at me, a Calva and coffee in the sun after rice pudding cake. Oh, and crowds of French people cheering us* on.

All our mechanicals seemed to come at once, but none really detained us. A broken chain (quick linked), a bulging tyre (replaced), a Brompton rear puncture (mended impressively quickly), a split tyre (booted), a stuck chain (freed) and a puncture. The statto in me wants to observe that clustering is a feature of Poisson processes, but that would be dull so I won't.

*they might not have been waiting for us : one of the local clubs was organising a race which partly coincided with our route.

 

[Aperitif]

Bonjour.
Slightly off topic, but in the best interests of keeping a Brest of things, is this you @frank9755 ? The AUK jersey wearer looks potentially as debonair...as in 'get an Eiffel of that guy!'

A pic from a thread I glanced at on YACF earlier today...

 

[StuartG]

Oh Aperitif, how prescient. Yesterday on the final leg of the tour a significant section of the Normandy population lined the D2 between Saane St-Just and Brachy and marshalls were assigned to every junction to cheer and speed us on our way. Much appreciated.

As probably were the participants in some road race who failed miserably to catch and take us. The spirit of Crecy lives on!

 

[frank9755]

^^ That is indeed me, clapping in Ray Kelly and @swarm_catcher at the finish last time. It's a picture that crops up quite a bit.

There's also this one, taken about 10 minutes later by one of Els' friends, when we were back in the hall, which was used in the official magazine and which I've also spotted from time to time in other places.

I'm a bit sleepy today, so not read the long posts above yet - only looked at the pictures! We got the ferry back overnight and, thanks to the Leffe in Dieppe, I slept very well, but they woke us up at about 3:30, a good hour before the sun came up.

 

[User482]

I love cycling in France.

 

[Andrew Br]

We're home.
It was rather tighter than we liked getting the connection at Euston but we just made it.
We love cycling in France.