Forum menu
Well that was utterly naff. 0.00001% enjoyment.
Having not been in the saddle seriously since September I began to think I had bitten off more than I could chew. Add to that, I decided to do it in 1 day plus a long afternoon rather than 3 days.
Thankfully (in hindsight) I did not take the off road route and stuck to the same route the roadies take and I took with the missus on the tandem last spring.
Caught Thursday morning ferry to Dieppe out of Newhaven, arrived in Dieppe at 3:30pm and hit the road hard to get to my first night stop 45 miles in. Freezing cold with a tearing Easterly wind. The first 20 miles of the 'official' route had been closed as they were digging it up to lay new internet cables so diverted off to some horrid up-down-up-down-up lanes.
Was tipped out of my overnight stay at 8.00am into 2 inches of snow and freezing cold easterly in my face, which by now was gathering strength over the acres of flat frozen farmland. 86 miles to Paris. Head down...
At one point I was seriously concerned about exposure while on the Vexin Plateau as the wind chill really started to bite and I had not seen another person for a few hours.
Worst bit was navigating Friday evening traffic in the center of Paris!
On the plus side, I must say how impressed I am with Smudge from MTB batteries - He helped me convert my Garmin GPS to his magic batteries which worked flawlessly the whole trip despite the low temperatures.
Repeatable - err, yes I think so
Nigel