Touring Across France
28 July 2024
Guy Etherton
On Saturday 6 July 2024 Nick, my old racing friend from the '90s, and I took the ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe with our bikes, starting what was to be our very own TdF. We were carrying tents and all the luggage we would need for a 2-week trip. Total fully-laden weight of my bike was 36kg!!! It wasn't the latest touring model but a GT Avalanche 26”-wheeled mountain bike from the mid-90s.
The plan was loose, other than intercepting a stage or two of Le Tour as it headed south, the exact route was not mapped out, no pre-loaded Garmin maps, I took a traditional paper map and we plotted the route as the days passed by. My rough plan was to get to the south coast and possibly head back up via Ventoux. There were a lot of unknowns: the daily mileage we wanted to cover balanced against what was realistic against the terrain we were to face, possible mechanicals, campsite locations, where we would get food and water.
We were putting in 12hr days on the road, generally leaving the campsites between 08.00-09.00 each day and bedding down as dusk fell. This became the norm for the duration of the trip.
3 days after departing Dieppe we arrived at the start of Stage 11 in Évaux-les-Bains just over 300 miles had now clicked by. Watching the start of Stage 11 the following morning was brilliant, and we were lucky enough to get some great pics as the riders assembled in the town prior to the start.
We rode part of the stage route before heading off towards the Massif Central encountering a few heavy storms as we entered the mountains. It got to 8pm and things were getting desperate in terms of finding a campsite, bus shelters or even pitching under a road bridge was starting to look like our only option until we crested the umpteenth mountain and there was a sign for a campsite nearby.
With a huge storm cloud coming our way being pushed by a strong wind we wasted no time to descend into the village and find the campsite. Pitching in record time the last peg went in and the heavens opened thunder and lightning, flooded campsite the lot! We retreated to the showers - never has a hot shower felt so welcome.
With the compass point fixed firmly south the next two days consisted of even more mountains, 12hr plus days on the road, frequent stops at supermarkets to stock up on baguettes, ham, tomatoes, grapefruit, bananas and water. There were many times during the trip where there were no shops for miles and miles and quite a few occasions where our bottles had been empty for too long so we had to resort to knocking on people’s doors for a refill - we never once got turned away, clearly taking pity on these two weary-looking Englishmen!!!
Pitching up at a campsite just north of Millau on 12 July we knew that the Mediterranean was now only a day away and thankfully almost out of the mountains, I was done with hauling that 36kg bike up those hills!! The following day, full of excitement to get to the sea we set out early, some quick photos in Millau we climbed out of the town and now it was in theory all downhill to the sea.
We rolled into Cap D’Agde at 8:30pm 13th July. 659 miles covered so far, 7 days after departing Dieppe, and luckily finding a campsite a few miles east.
The following day was decision time in terms of our onward journey. The mountains had taken their toll not only on us but the days we had left to get back to Dieppe. Realising Ventoux was no longer an option we decided to head west then north instead of east. Out came the map and it was destination Toulouse! With a nice tailwind and flat roads we ticked off Narbonne, Carcassone arriving at a campsite just north of Toulouse at 9:30pm having covered 140 miles, the biggest mileage day of the trip. We slept well that night!!
Heading north the following day we hit the mountains of the Dordogne covering only half the distance we had hoped. After 11hrs we arrived in a small village hoping to find somewhere to sleep. Randomly there was a fete going on with what looked like all the surrounding villagers in attendance.
We rolled into the fete and asked a man if we could fill our water bottles up. This man turns out to be the Maire of the village... we got chatting asking about campsites nearby. He very kindly let us camp behind the village hall. I cannot explain how happy we were, he got the biggest hug from both of us. Tents pitched as quick as possible we joined the celebrations (for what I don’t know) and enjoyed some cooked food and local wine!
Setting out the following morning soon we decided that it was no longer possible to get to Dieppe in time so the contingency plan had to come in … the train! We made a dash for Périgueux. We got lucky being able to book our tickets for the following day - some trains do not accept bikes.
Not so lucky with the campsite so treated ourselves to a motel-type place for the night - a proper bed was very welcome. On the train the following day the miles clicked by effortlessly, never have I ever been so appreciative of train travel! We ended up on an earlier ferry crossing then the final push from Newhaven to Southwater, clicking up 1000 miles exactly!
The stats:
Riders: 2 out, 2 back.
Distance: 1000 miles.
Duration: 10 1/2 days.
Avg speed: Slow.
Elevation: Lots and lots of mountains!
No punctures, 1x broken mechanical rear rack clamp.