Again, I was supposed to be riding with Le Loop in 2021, riding the opening stages of the Tour de France route which that year started in Brittany. Instead, I rode around mid-Wales with a group of friends in July and then headed to Brittany with Pete in September. Well, I was determined to ride some of Tour roads that year! Again, the text is as originally posted on Facebook.
July 2021: Tour of Mid-Wales
Stage 1: Abergavenny to Newtown
The start of a bike-packing tour around mid-Wales. And a great pleasure and surprise to bump into my friend Hugh on the way too. Hugh was doing some challenge that was even more mad, sleeping out in the open rather than with friends and relatives!
Stage2: Newtown to Aberystwyth
Bike-packing going well so far, though the hills are much harder when carrying an extra 3kg on the back. Oh, and some of the climbs are VERY steep.
Stage 3: Aberystwyth to Aberaeron
Went the long way round up some wonderful climbs, past lakes and reservoirs, kites flying low overhead and many cattle grids to negotiate. Finished off with a pint at the end, just as the heavens opened. Jackets on and off all day but overall ok. Weather looks good for the long ride back to Abergavenny tomorrow. Saved a lot of money by staying with John’s family, so I’ll be contributing that to the William Wates Memorial Trust instead.
Fans of Little Britain will enjoy the road sign!
Stage 4: Aberaeron to Abergavenny
So, back to where we started to complete a challenging four days. Felt stronger today than the last two days and it was also helpful that most of the climbing was front loaded rather than lying in wait for us at the end of another punishing stage. Road surfaces are by and large good, though the constantly rolling nature is energy sapping. Mind you, the main climb today was the Devil’s Staircase – a long section at 25% gradient, so I was especially pleased to get up that in one go what with the extra weight and all. Great trip with a great bunch. And to cap it all, a meet up with Ian who provides such excellent support when we ride Le Loop. Here’s hoping for next year. This bike packing lark opens up a whole new world of cycling opportunities – much like the purpose of the William Wates Memorial Trust for which we ride, providing a whole new world of opportunities for those who don’t otherwise have such access.
Route maps
September 2021: Brittany
Tour de Bretagne Day 1.
Arrived in Caen overnight and headed straight for Lannion to ride the opening km of stage 2 of this year’s Tour de France with Pete. We will ride the rest of that stage over the next two days. I’d normally ride a whole stage in one day with Le Loop of course, but sadly not possible this year. Enjoying the Cornish and Welsh sounding (or even actual!) names – Tregastel and Caerphilly! So far three out of four cafes etc have asked for proof of double vaccination status and people are complying without fuss and just getting on with it. Best way to be. Bizarrely, my French App (Tousanticovid) worked in one place but not another, which was however able to accept my NHS App. In those same establishments Pete’s experience was the opposite! Staff as bemused as us, but no matter as they were still able to serve us cider and galettes so it’s all good!
TDB Day 2
Great ride today, maybe 20km too long but we did add in a few detours to make sure we saw the sea. Although it was broadly a coast road second half, we were inland enough not to see that much, though views improve dramatically towards the end. Mind you, at one point I thought we’d never get started because, what with market day and all, we struggled to get out of town despite the gps. Oh for a few yellow arrows on lampposts to guide the way! Obligatory cider at the end at our new favourite place before getting cleaned up and going for steak. We earned it today!
TDB Day 3
It’s taken 3 days (for logistical reasons you understand 
), but we’ve now completed Stage 2 of this year’s Tour de France, making it to Mur be Bretagne and back from our base in Saint Brieuc. Glorious day today and it was great to see some places still decked out, celebrating the passage of the Tour in the area. You could say that I got by with a little help from old friends (see photo!). Cycle shop in Saint Brieuc is owned by former pro rider Seb Hinault (no relation to the more famous Bernard). Apparently the photo taken outside the shop means that I’m a sad man, says Pete who was wearing a disgusting yellow jersey today (by his own admission!) Do I care? Frankly, too great a photo opportunity to miss
TDB Day 4
Well, some days just don’t go according to plan. Started well enough, driving to Baud to visit friends of Pete whom he had not seen in over 30 years. One of their sons, who is about our age, rode with us to Hennebont along better roads than I had plotted – benefit of local knowledge. Pete and I then road along the coast to Carnac, broadly following the Tour route that I had plotted. At Carnac we detoured to the coast to see the sea – that’s north and south Brittany coast lines visited now. We also picked up more water as it was blisteringly hot – hitting 34C. Then it all started to fall apart. We decided to go off the route I plotted at Auray, just north of Carnac, to take a direct route back to Baud. Some navigational issues meant a lot of messing around before finding the right road out with the result that we got back to Baud at 6pm, an hour later than my worst estimate. We were having dinner and staying with other friends of Pete back up north, which would have been fine save for more navigational issues. Will spare the details, save to say that a convivial evening finally followed. I’ve doubled my lifetime consumption of oysters (now on 12) and might even try moules marinières properly for first the first time tomorrow. Might. All’s well that ends well. I’m sure I’ve learned something today, but it was a bit frazzling.
TDB Day 5
We have now completed our version of Stage 3 of this year’s Tour de France. Whereas our route on the opening days was more Tour-directed (we covered all but 30km of the route of Stage 2), this has been more Tour-inspired in that we were only on the route for about 30km. But we visited some of the key places (Carnac, Josselin and the finish at Pontivy) and certainly rode the right number of km. We are up to 480km or so now (300 miles). Great lunch stop in Josselin near the impressive chateau (that’s 10p, for those in the know 
) which fuelled us to Pontivy where I had my first ever moules marinières – to my great surprise, I enjoyed them and there was no need to order an emergency pork chop!
Tip for thirsty cyclists in France: I have never noticed BioCoop before (see photo), but there are lots of these eco-friendly food shops around. They don’t sell water in bottles, but instead you can take your own to the dispenser and fill up with some nice cold water. There seems to be no charge, though I suppose they might have expected us to buy something …
TDB Day 6
Rest day. Well, rest, test and travel to be more precise, with no riding. Leisurely start, then a look around the town of Saint Brieuc before going for our PCR tests so that we can come home. Should get the results by text in the morning. Arrived in a somewhat eclectic place in the middle of nowhere, where our Breton host clearly relishes his many years in Ireland given that he has a bar selling Irish beer to appropriate musical accompaniment at all times. Monsieur also speaks very good English in a strong Irish accent. He seems a bit of a character. Actually we are staying in the middle of the loop formed by Stage 1 of this year’s Tour de France and we hope to ride a big chunk of the middle section tomorrow. Big storm last night and could be a soggy ride. If so, it will be the first of the trip so not bad, all things considered.
TDB Day 7
Yesterday’s storm cleared the air and today was a near-perfect day for cycling. Much lower temperatures and just a couple of rain showers that didn’t bother us much. Started off from our weird and wonderful abode (and even more weird and possibly less wonderful host) and headed for Locranon which the Tour riders would have skirted on Stage 1. Shame really, as it is one of France’s prettiest villages, with no traffic or need for road signs. Then carried on with a few more hours in the wooded countryside before heading back to Saint Brieuc for our last night (after staging another raid on the shop in Pleyben that we found last night to pick up some more souvenirs and the like). A few more ciders of course under our favourite tree. We seem to be popular there now as we were given one of the ciders for free!
TDB Day 8
Could have ridden a few km of Stage 4 into Fougères, but time was against us do to COVID admin. But we have nevertheless managed a week of great cycling and can be grateful for that. Also really grateful for the answers to prayer which I’m sure helped us get all our admin together. Stopped off at Dol de Bretagne (menhir, anyone?) and Mont St Michel on the way to Caen. Home tomorrow, with a bike and car to clean!
Overall, this has been a great trip and a reasonable substitute for not having been able to ride the route of the Tour de France with Le Loop. A big challenge was route planning, so even more respect to Sarah and the team for putting together the routes for the three week events. Hopefully next year we’ll be back.
Surely only in France would you find a baguette vending machine!
Postscript
I did not write this at the time, but it feels safe to do so now, 18 months on. The “COVID admin” referred to on Day 8 was a reference to the fact that Pete’s PCR test came back clear while I somehow had a positive result, despite the two of us having been together at all times and were outside for most of it! I also kept getting negative lateral flow test results. So on the day of our return home I took another PCR test and was promised that it would be fast-tracked so that I would be able to get the ferry that evening. In the end, the result did not come back until the next morning by which time I was already back in the UK, the ferry operative having been happy to accept my negative lateral flow tests. The PCR test result was negative, as if there was ever any doubt. Oh well, it made for an interesting end to a good trip!
johnstourdeforce 