I just finished riding ten days in a row from Paris to London. There was one short day, used to explore Mont Saint-Michel. The other days averaged 90 miles; the longest 118 miles. After only 600 miles in the previous 68 days, I was able to ride 900+ miles, not because I'm strong (now, I'm one of the slowest), but because I was determined. Each night, I often signed in and went straight to dinner. After stuffing calories, I set up my 6ft high REI dome tent, opened my Thermarest LE, took a (rarely hot) shower where I had to push a button every ten seconds, and went to bed. I had neither time nor energy to keep up my journal entries so much of the last ten days is a blur of wheat fields, cows, morning mist, river riding, narrow country lanes, and coastal towns.
O.K., it wasn't all a blur. After an overnight sleepless flight, my sightseeing in Paris was limited to hiring an after dinner taxi to make a loop from the hotel to the most famous Paris attractions. I didn't see what most people would want to see, but it was enough. The next day's long ride allowed a very short side trip to take photographs (rather than snapshots) of the Eiffel Tower. Once out of Paris, France is incredibly remote with no place for food or water for MANY kilometers. I rode for 50km with empty water bottles, and I carry five.
The next two days were close to the flattest of the trip as we followed the Loire River west. We often rode on levee roads that looked more like bike paths than roads and even did a short "ride" on some old cobblestone. We rode by lots of chateaus (which I think is French for "country home with huge heating bill") including Chateau Chambord where the midday checkpoint was in a park near the ice cream stands.
Mont Saint-Michel, our short day destination, is the monastery built on a rock which used to become an island at high tide. A high tide proof causeway was built to get the tourists out to the attraction so they could spend money in the gift shops and restaurants. I hiked through the narrow town at the bottom and took the $10 tour of the monastery at the top. It was built by Benedictine monks from the year 1000 to the beginning of the 16th century. It became a fortress and spiritual refuge. The morning mist cleared so I was able to take many ... some ... o.k., a few (I hope) GOOD pictures of this famous French attraction.
The next day, part of our 118.15 miles with 5140ft of elevation gain, took us along Omaha Beach. I was there at low tide. I looked at the quarter mile flat terrain laid out below the 50ft berm on which the Nazis sat. I hoped D-Day was timed for high tide. The fact that the tide was only half-way up accounts for some of the thousands who lost their lives on that beach. Farther east, the coast became a series of white cliffs with towns at the bottom of ravines. We did a lot of climbing out of those coastal towns.
After a 58mph hovercraft "flight" across the English Channel, I had to keep from getting killed as I tried to remember how to ride on the left side of the road. It wasn't actually riding on the left that was difficult, it was GETTING to the left. Also, while the country lanes and fields of France and England look similar, the drivers are different. In France, drivers would slow up behind you and wait until they were SURE it was clear to pass. In England, they ASSUME it's clear even if they can't see more than 30ft around the bend.
Riding into London was a long, 85 mile, difficult day especially for those who had trouble interpreting the not always accurate route guide. But, the sky was clear and the temperature was in the seventies. Today, the weather is the same, but I'm letting my body recover before doing any tourist activities. I even took a NAP! I've got two more days to see London during my summer bicycling Europe! Jealous?
Happy Trails,
Bruce