France 2023 bike tour summary (blackberry tour) :)
Fun ride! Here is a rough sketch of my blackberry tour.
Totals?
- 1,269km (longest ever)
- ~68 hours of riding
- 8,064m of altitude gain
- 21 days of riding
- Average km/h of 18.5
- Average ride distance was 60km
- Average ride length was 3 hours and 16 minutes
This is the most kilometers I’ve done in a tour and the most riding days. I feel good! I always go a bit too fast in the early stages, but it is nice to wring yourself out like a wet towel.
This tour was flat; I didn’t have to do any big climbs. Weirdly, I kind of missed it. I had 8 days in Italy with 700m+ climbs and only 1 here.
The first part from Bordeaux to Paris was very rural and wild. Some days, I was only going 15-16km every hour because of the heavy mud or grass or bike hiking. That was fun in its own way. For my next tour, I want to add more history stops.
Notes
- I could bring only my running shoes next time; then I have more comfortable walking shoes. But I think the bottoms of my feet would be sore, given they are not as tough as the biking shoes. Either way, I need shoes for walking if I want to explore more.
- I need to include a rest day every 5 or 6 ride days. Possibly with more upfront.
- I should plan rest days around historical sites if possible. I am thinking about doing a future trip around following the Band of Brothers book from the landings through Eagle’s Nest.
- For training, I need to do more long rides. This time was better, and by the 2nd/3rd week, I was feeling good about the distance.
- This tour was wetter and colder than I expected. I am really glad I brought 2 jackets, and wish I had brought my new waterproof jacket.
- I think I could have done more economic rest days every 5 or 6 days and then ridden the EV1 down the coast to Bordeaux. But I would have been exhausted and needed to push ~70km a day on average.
Ideas for the next trip?
It might be fun to follow the Band Of Brothers from start to finish in WW2. And planning rest days and history tours as some of the key spots.
I am also interested in riding around the Pyrieas mountains, so going across the front and the bike. Lot’s of amazing castles and history there.
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