Our Shakedown Ride

Enough eating -- time to Ride. Our goals was to Ride to Roscoff and back but we never made it!

After a leisurely breakfast we got underway by 10:30 and followed the river backs from Morlaix to Carantec.  It was a beautiful and easy ride mostly down hill.  
 
Once we got to Carantec we experiened a navigation malfunction and spent some time trying to find the correct route.  Lesson learned -- trust your first instincts and don't take 'Propriété Privée signs to seriously!  

Realizing we had no chance to reach Roscoff, we aimed for Saint Pol-sur-Leon around 1:30 which was way passed lunchtime.  Given that it was the last summer weekend before  La Rentrée, all restaurants were full.  Fortunately we found a bar that was still serving lunch.

Our route back was equally beautiful but this time much hillier and included some 10+% grades.  Upon completing the 34 mile circuit we were tired!

We earned a delightful crepe dinner at L'Oceané.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Packing Light? It appears that packing for this trip will be a much bigger challenge than riding the 600 miles.  We have not even embarked on the epic ride yet but already I am finding the need to use Lauran's handy "elation-trepidation" scale.     I am elated that everything I chose to bring fits into our allotted two panniers and a small daypack.  The panniers are weighing in at 10 lbs and 10.2 lbs (ELATION!).  I am worried that 23.9 lbs (pack with iPad, empty water bottle, passport, and deck of cards added 3.9 lbs) of extra weight on the bike will cause some huffing, puffing and slogging along the way AND that the contents will not be sufficient to last 5 weeks of varied temperatures, dress codes, activities, and other fashionista crises  (TREPIDATION 😬). Two Jumbo Ziplocks of clothing for 5 weeks! Someone in the group suggested we could purchase anything we didn't bring (😲 more weight?) and a friend suggested we pull a bike ...
Read more

Day 25 - 35 mi: Bayonne to Hendaye

Image
Perhaps my procrastination in posting the last riding day was an attempt to extend the trip...not wanting it to end.  But if it was going to end, this last day was a great way to do it!   The views were spectacular.  But also this segment was the only segment rated "expert".  That was due in part to the amount of road riding through busy Biarritz and the last 4km into Hendaye as well as the numerous steep hills.  The trepidation meter was peaking! As we left Bayonne the route quickly turned south along the coast unveiling gorgeous views. The views were so distracting that they led Lauran, John and Lance down the wrong path to the watersedge which meant a big climb back to EV#1. We agreed to stay close and ride together on the last day...then promptly got lost again as we cycled through glitzy Biarritz. Lauran and Steph got off track but quickly found a steep hill to rejoin the route.  The rout...
Read more

Day 24 - 28 mi: Vieux Boucau to Bayonne

Image
Today tested the rain dodger theory and so far all went well.   The forecast was for rain and despite the gloomy sky, we set off at our usual 9am start.   To be honest, we were somewhat relieved to have cloudy skies as it kept the temperature in check.   We left Vieux Boucau and followed the coast to other seaside towns like Hossegor and Capbreton. Nic kept a mini baguette in reserve just in case. As expected the marinas were filled with boats many of which were sailboats. As we got closer to Bayonne we dreaded the impending hill which never appeared.  It turned out there was not one on the EV#1 route -- it was on the shortcut we opted not to take! For the first time on this trip we got to our destination with plenty of time to enjoy a full course meal, shop and visit the town.  The hotel recommended an excellent basque restaurant a few minutes away.  You can ...
Read more