BIKE
RIDE FROM THE ALPS TO DIEPPE:
Posted by Graham Read
January 9, 2008
On the
morning of Sunday 22nd (July) I left Chappell en Vercors
in the French Alps at about 5am. The temperature was in
the 30’s F. Fortunately I had winter cycling clothing
with me which included tights, jacket and proper gloves
with fingers. My destination was Valence a hilly ride of
about 60 miles.
I arrived
in Valence at about 4 pm and checked into a Novhotel next
to the freeway. It was nice to have a bath and get and some
nice food after roughing it on a campsite for 10 day’s.
The next
morning (Monday) I set out early for my destination - St
Agreve. After taking the wrong road I set off in the right
direction - east to St. Agreve. I could have headed north
to St. Etienne, but the roads looked busy and I wanted to
stay away from big towns. This proved to be a mistake.
I was
soon riding uphill into the Central Massive. It was warm,
but the wind was blowing hard. After several hours I was
soon struggling up hill into a strong headwind weighted
down by my panniers.
I was
riding at 4-5 mph and after passing through a small town
it began to rain. Taking frequent stops I rode on for about
8 miles, which took 2 hours. Eventually I could go no further
and turned around and descended in the rain to the town
I’d passed.
I entered
a ‘Hotel de France’ dripping water and with
my bike helmet on and in my best French said to the proprietor
“en chamber silvu plait”. He didn’t understand
me. Anyway I was pleased to be somewhere dry and stayed
the night. I was the only guest although he had lots of
rooms. I wondered if people were staying away because of
the high exchange rate. After arriving, there was a violent
thunderstorm, which turned the narrow roads into rivers.
The next
day was a struggle because I hadn’t fully recovered
from the previous day and still had a lot of climbing to
do. The following night I again stayed at a Hotel de France
(65 euros) prices are more than they advertise. With dinner
the bill was well over 100 euros.
On Wednesday
I started to descend from the 2-3000 foot elevation I’d
been at for nearly 2 weeks, it made a nice change from riding
uphill. I was now planning my daily route on flat roads
and avoiding the hills as much as possible.
I arrived
in Ysingeaugh and stayed in a cheap hotel (35 euros) next
to the train station. I found a bike shop and bought a shorter
stem as all the climbing had made my back and neck hurt.
This enabled me to obtain an even more upright position
than the geometry of my bike already gives me.
Thursday
I set off for Vichy, which was a long ride in hot weather
(90*f). Vichy was probably the nicest town/city I stayed
in. It is a Spa town with healing waters that date back
to the Romans and later Napoleon. Entering the city I crossed
a river on a beautiful bridge decorated with flower baskets.
At Vichy
I stayed at a Hotel Etap, which was away from the main city.
At the Etap you check yourself in by inserting a credit
card in a machine similar to an ATM. A menu pops-up and
you pick what you want i.e. one person, one night and breakfast.
It is a fixed rate of 34 euros and 5 for breakfast. Not
being able to read the language I didn’t order Breakfast
till I showed up in the morning. One guy was responsible
for the buffet and he wasn’t pleased that I had to
pay in cash.
Eventually
I bought a map that actually showed the coast. I was just
south of Paris and I suddenly realized that reaching the
coast on a bike would be difficult as there were mostly
freeways and not many routes for a bicycle.
I decided
to go around the west side of Paris that would bypass Rouen.
I headed to Gisos, which is 105 kilometers from Dieppe.
Staying in Gisos would give me a straight road (D915) into
Dieppe. The woman at the Tourist Information Office had
looked up the times of the Channel Ferries for me and there
was one leaving at 1:30 pm.
I was
up early and left the hotel at 7am. It was slow going though,
the weather was cold and the road surface was chip seal.
To make matters worse there were lots of short steep hills.
I was dragging along at 13 mph and started to wonder if
I would get to the ferry on time.
On the
way I was surprised to see the first (only) 2, Gite de Etap
hostels that people at the camp had said were a good economical
place to stay. They were situated right on the main road.
I eventually
arrived in Dieppe and to my disappointment found it was
another 12 kilometers to the car ferry, which included a
2-mile climb.
I eventually
arrived and got in line behind the cars. When I reached
the ticket office they informed me I should already have
a ticket. Fortunately they were able to sell me one. I entered
the waiting area to board the ferry and saw a bar so headed
over to it. I was 2nd in line. I won’t go into details
but after waiting about 5 minutes I left.
I got
in line behind the cars but the ferry employees called me
forward and made a joke of me crossing the line as if I’d
won a race. They let me on the ferry ahead of the motor
vehicles. This is a rare time I’ve experienced preferential
treatment on my bicycle.
The other
time I’d used this ferry was almost exactly 40 years
ago in 1967 with two fellow Gleneden members, Dave Baxter
and Colin M. In those days the ferry was in poor condition
and everyone got seasick. Fortunately it is now a very modern
comfy ferry with nice restaurants and seats. No one got
sick. Also I met English people and had my first conversation
for 10 days. When I told them where I’d ridden from
the people at the next table applauded, which was nice.
Although
the ferry is modern, the landing on the English side has
never been improved. As we came in, a ferry employee threw
a huge rope to men on shore, but it fell short into the
water. He was successful on his second try and everyone
on deck cheered and applauded him. It also caused a lot
of laughter.
To pull
the rope in the men on shore started a generator that a
guy next to me joked had been left over from WWll. When
it eventually started a huge thick cloud of black smoke
went up into the air.
The ferry
crossing took three hours and so it was rush hour when we
landed. After getting off the ferry I headed to Hastings
to stay with my mother-in-law. This would be another 40-mile
ride and would take me over Beachy Head.
This
was to be one of the most dangerous rides I’ve ever
done. Traffic was backed up on the opposite side of the
road coming down a steep hill from Beachy Head. As I started
going up the hill with no shoulder traffic started coming
by - including those huge coaches/buses.
I could
hear traffic on the opposite side of the road sounding their
horns at drivers moving into their lane to pass me. There
was nothing for me to do but keep pedaling. I shouldn’t
have been there, but couldn’t get out of the way.
After descending from Beachy Head I got onto the A27 into
Hasting’s where I arrived at about 8 pm.
After
two days in Hastings I headed north to Billericay, Essex
for a 40th wedding anniversary party of our friends Chris
and Mary Long. I can’t believe I’ve known Chris
for about 50 years.
Of course
I got lost and instead of riding about 70 miles did 100.5
and arrived late. This was my 5th 100+ mile ride of the
week. I eventually covered about 1600 miles between July
11th and August 12th.
During
this time I had no flat tires (MAXXI 700x25c) or other mechanical
problems even though I had heavy panniers and rode on some
very bad roads and tracks.
I was
surprised to discover how much wilderness there is in France
and often found myself going long distances with no support
services. Of course, everything in France is closed between
noon and 2:30 anyway. Fortunately, I have three water bottle
cages on my bike and always kept food in my panniers.
We
eventually arrived home on the 25th of August after attending
the wedding of Margaret’s sister’s daughter
at Hatfield Heath. It was nice to be home with the convenience
and space that we have living here in Washington.
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