I've just finished packing up my bike, and I'm looking forward to leaving in the morning :)
Weather doesn't look great once I get to France, but fingers crossed I get some sun or some dry patches at the least ..
Had to make a last minute alteration to my trip: I had planned to do the first leg of the trip by train from London to Newhaven. My ferry leaves at 9am on Tuesday, but I just learned that I am not allowed on a train towards Brighton with my bike before 10am (I always thought this was 7-10am, and I had hoped to get the train at 6am). So now instead I will cycle the official London to Brighton route (my first time doing the official route), get a train to Newhaven and hopefully find somewhere to camp before I go get the ferry in the morning.
I will find a spot to camp near Dieppe in the evening after I get into France, then start the official Avenue Verte route toward Paris - I think it's about 150 miles on the French side, and I plan to take it easy and just get 50 miles in a day, so I can enjoy myself on the way and take a look around the towns I will be passing, or just find a nice patch by a river to sit down at with my book. I have 3 nights booked at a campsite near Paris to do a bit of tourism and wash my underwear at a laundrette, then I'll be taking Donald Hirsch's shorter route back to Dieppe - only 120 miles or so, which I will do only 40 miles per day toward, hopefully leaving me rested enough to tackle the 100 mile segment of the official Avenue Verte route from Newhaven back to London on the British side. I have a friend who lives in Tunbridge Wells which is near the halfway point of this last leg, so if I'm lucky, he will be home, and give me an excuse to break that part of the trip into two days by way of a shower and a trip to a pub, but otherwise I might just try and finally finish my first one-day century (closest was return trip from Amsterdam, Harwich port to my place in London got to 97 miles, and I refuse to count it as having done one :P )
It's my first tour this year, with a much longer and more challenging one coming up in June! I'll be back with pictures soon :)
It didnt go well. Official london to brighton route is tough, especially with a loaded bike. I think I will stick with my trails route in the future it shaves off about 3 hours off the ride. Got a puncture at the bottom of ditchling beacon and aggrevated a lot of motorists pushing the bike up the hill before I could find a quiet spot to replace the tube. Trains were messed up and it was pretty late by the time I got to newhaven, but luckily I caught the warden at a campsite 15 minutes away from the port and got a cheap tent pitch there so I was close by for the early ferry. On the ferry now with damp socks, and looking forward to the disused train tracks through normandy after all roads and hills yesterday!
Enjoy your break today!
Aw man. But you made the ferry, so that's a win! Hope you get to keep dry today, forecast looks like not too much of rain in the afternoon.
My break was yesterday, today i am back to riding in solidarity :) Finally i found a bakery here that has acceptable pain-au-chocolate, the other ones were barely edible for me, way too sweet. You get that original french perfection now!!
I am coughing like a madman still though.
Aha ive tagged you in while I rest on the ferry then. Yeah glad I made It. The pain-au-chocolates on the boat look like they have been out too long, ill wait until im back on land, where lunches will be baguettes and pastries