what's new?
*London to NZ by bike and boat
*Spain/Portugal by bike
*Music: my Buzz days
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Inspired?
No? then why not email me and complain?
what's new?
*London to NZ by bike and boat
*Spain/Portugal by bike
*Music: my Buzz days
jump to:
N.B.: The plan has changed quite significantly as there seems to now be only one ferry operator doing the Portsmouth-Cherbourg route, and it seems their pricing is somewhat more expensive than when I initially researched this ride (joys of monopoly!).
Take a look at this site for some pictures and a quick write-up of a nice route which might just be perfect for us to try - it took the authors 2 1/2 days (section starting at 7/27/2001) to get from Le Havre to Mt. St. Michel.
If we decide en route (see how I used a little French expression there?) that the pace is too high or we want more relaxation time, we can detour and visit some of the many other places of interest in the area. So think of the below as a worthy target, but also just a suggestion and not set in stone; we'll do whatever the group consents to do.
Two ways of doing this:
i. Leave the day before and cycle it (possibly taking a train to the edge of London for approx £6), camp the night in Portsmouth and be at the ferry terminal before 8 am.
ii. On the day of departure, take an early morning train to Portsmouth (£17.50 return), leaving around 6:30 am and greedily taking all the bicycle spaces.
Then we'll rush aboard the Portsmouth-Cherbourg Portsmouth-Le Havre ferry and settle in on the upper deck for an open-air picnic as we chug our way across the Channel.
Option 1 (preferred so as not to clash with Big Green Gathering, however only 2 days after Dunwich Dynamo)
| depart Portsmouth | arrive LeHavre | ship | |
|---|---|---|---|
| outbound | Tuesday 26 July 2005 08:30 | Tuesday 26 July 2005 15:00 | Pride of Le Havre |
| depart LeHavre | arrive Portsmouth | ship | |
| return | Sunday 31 July 2005 09:30 | Sunday 31 July 2005 14:00 | Pride of Portsmouth |
| sub total | £25.75 | ||
Option 2 (returns the day before Big Green Gathering)
| depart Portsmouth | arrive LeHavre | ship | |
|---|---|---|---|
| outbound | Thursday 28 July 2005 08:30 | Thursday 28 July 2005 15:00 | Pride of Le Havre |
| depart LeHavre | arrive Portsmouth | ship | |
| return | Tuesday 02 August 2005 09:30 | Tuesday 02 August 2005 14:00 | Pride of Portsmouth |
| sub total | £23.00 | ||
Next we'll make landing in Cherbourg Le Havre and decide if we want to follow a coastal or inland route as we head West. We'll cross the spectacular 'Pont-de-Normandie' (2 kilometre suspension bridge over the river Seine), and lilt South West toward Dives-sur-Mer, where we'll find somewhere to pitch and eat.
Awaking and eating, we'll roll out of town (on the D513 perhaps?) and cycle the morning away on the road to Caen. Once arriving we might stop for lunch and then pick up the D675 and follow it until we reach Villers-Bocage - by which point we should all be ready to pitch the tents and chill out for the day. Alternatively, after Caen we could take the D9 and, later, the D13 and aim for Domjean, which would put Mt. St. Michel in easy striking distance for the next day.
Today will probably be a fairly solid day of riding, but waking early we should be able to reach Mt. St. Michel by mid-afternoon and have the rest of the day to relax and recuperate.
By this point we should each know how far we're capable of riding in a day, and possibly have a preferred route back toward Le Havre. I think the prevailing winds might give us a bit of a push Eastwards too.
Roll back to somewhere pretty near Le Havre so we can be up bright and early and let's not miss the 09:00 check-in for our 09:30 departure!
From this point on it's pretty much plain sailing! If any of the crew cycles the journey back to London I will personally give them £20!!