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In July 2016, days after the Brexit vote, I packed the bike and headed to France. Fourteen days, roughly three thousand kilometres — Normandy, the Loire, the Pyrenees, a night in Girona, then back through Montpellier and Grenoble.
Starting at Bayeux, the trip looped south through the French interior — past Limoges, down to Toulouse, then up through Andorra and over the Pyrenees before dropping to the Spanish coast. It felt like exactly the right moment to actually ride the continent rather than just argue about it.
The trip didn’t go entirely to plan. On the way back north the chain broke, leaving me stranded in Burgundy for a few nights while I waited for a KTM dealer to open. Insurance covered the hotel and taxi fares, so it became an unexpected rest stop rather than a disaster — but it was a reminder that fourteen days of hard riding takes its toll on the bike as well as the rider.
The trip coincided with the Tour de France passing through the area. On Saturday 2 July I watched the race pass through a village, then hacked across the French countryside on back roads to catch it again further along the route. A few days later on Tuesday 5 July I caught the stage finish, standing right at the barriers as the peloton thundered past. The next morning, Wednesday 6 July, I was at the start village watching the teams warm up — the Astana and Movistar buses parked up, a marching band playing, and someone carrying a bicycle made entirely from wicker.
On Sunday 10 July I rode up Mont Ventoux. The approach through Provence took me past lavender fields and vineyards with Ventoux visible in the distance. The final stretch above the tree line is like riding on the moon — bare white limestone with the observatory tower at the summit. The views from the top stretched for miles in every direction.
Passes:
- Port d'Envalira, Andorra (2,408m — highest paved pass in the Pyrenees)
- Col de Puymorens, France (1,920m)
- Collada de Toses, Spain (1,800m)
Places Visited
- Bayeux, Normandy — 3 nights
- Loire Valley, France — 1 night
- Limoges, France — 1 night
- Toulouse, France — 2 nights
- Girona, Spain — 1 night
- Montpellier, France — 1 night
- Grenoble, France — 1 night
- Chalon-sur-Saône, Burgundy — 2 nights
Stats
| Dates | 1–13 July 2016 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 13 days |
| With | Solo |
| Distance | ~3,500 km |
| Route | London → Bayeux → Loire Valley → Limoges → Toulouse → Girona → Montpellier → Grenoble → Chalon-sur-Saône → home |
| Transport | KTM 1190 Adventure (2014) |
| Temperature | 13–33°C |
Photos
