Resurrecting one of several cycling projects started in 2017 (and not progressed for 8 years) found me back on the VD06/VD02 Voie Verte between Ploërmel to Messac on Monday.
The surface of this Voie Verte, like so many in Brittany, is sand and grit. Traffic-free with gentle gradients (following an old railway line) and meandering through quiet countryside, it’s perfectly suited for MTBs and gravel bikes – but not really practical on a road bike. I think it’s that aspect that caused me to leave this incomplete project on the shelf for so many years.
I’d used part of this route on Friday 25th July to get SE of Ploërmel and to explore chapelles, crosses and an
allée couverte on a loopy circuit. Discovered to my surprise that it had a new tarmac surface … so Monday’s ride was, amongst other things, an attempt to discover how much of the Voie Verte had been re-surfaced.
Opted to use Katie-Mae (my KTM gravel bike) and to start from the old railway station at Bois-de-la-Roche ... on the V3 Voie Verte and about 15km north of the start of the VD06 in Ploërmel.
Shot through Ploërmel and over the N24 voie-express (with a very short stretch of ‘shared road’) and out to le Nolf/St-Jean de Villenard where I’d quit the VD06 a few days earlier. Less than 3km later the tarmac stopped and the surface reverted to sand and grit … damn – but at least it was OK on the gravel bike (it turned out to be a very sensible choice of bike for this ride).
Through Augan and a couple of old bits of railway ‘furniture’ and on to Guer with a brief diversion to visit an old water-mill (Moulin du Cul Blanc) on the bank of l’Oyon river. The tarmac surface re-appeared near Prieure St-Etienne (to be visited on my next trip through here) and the approach to Guer was pleasant and easy. I didn’t like the centre of Guer much – too many people about perhaps – but only two busy road-crossings to negotiate and then down to a bridge over l’Aff river … where the tarmac stopped again at the département boundary – I left la Morbihan (56) and entered Ile-et-Vilaine (35). The Voie Verte also changed numbers to become the VD02 (which continues in various guises for another 120km to Moutiers in the east of Brittany). One of the very few distance markers on the Voie Verte indicated it was a further 8km to Maure-de-Bretagne – and, as I’d never been there before, I thought it was a worthwhile target for the day’s ride.
Gentle ascents and descents through fairly remote countryside brought me eventually into Maure-de-Bretagne … not that there was anything to tell me that: I stopped a father and son out on their bikes and asked them where I was. I hadn’t brought a map for this section of the Voie Verte and I’d left my new GPS device behind as there was a problem with it (resolved yesterday, thanks to Tony at the LBS).
Dropped down a bit south of the centre of Maure-de-Bretagne to the old railway station which looked pretty desolate and neglected. Continued for another 2km in the direction of Messac. Pondered continuing – I thought it was about 8km further (
wrong: it was more like 14km further) – but having 53km on the clock at that point decided it was enough and the rest of the route into Messac (and the crossing of the Vilaine river) could wait for another day (but hopefully not for another 8 years).
The return to Ploërmel via Guer was uneventful – once again grateful that I’d opted for the gravel bike as the surface was quite slippery in places. Back up the V3 Voie Verte to the van where I discovered it was nearly 8pm ... I’d been out on the bike for nearly 8 hours – which explained why I was feeling so tired. It would have been a much quicker ride if the whole route had been on a tarmac surface – but perhaps not as much fun or quite so rewarding.
105.6km for the day in a smidge under 7 hours of actual cycling.
Where the tarmac section of the VD06 from Ploërmel finishes (near le Chêne)
One of several old railway buildings in Augan
Into the
département of Ile-et-Vilaine at la Perche/la Métarie des Vaux, heading towards Maure-de-Bretagne
What’s left of the old railway station at Maure-de-Bretagne
Re-entering the
département of Morbihan on the return leg and the eastern approach to Guer
