MooN
Tour Pro
back in 2010 I rode west & then south to hook up with some other guys from a uk forum also living in France.
This is how it went:
Though Phil & I both live in france, me about a third of the way down from the top & east of centre (Auxerre) and Phil about a third of the way up from the bottom & west of centre (near Souillac) there's about 500km separating us by the shortest road. I didn't want to simply ride the shortest road, but the best one, so it would be nearer 600k...ish. As I work in the tourist industry, I struggle to get time off during the summer months & even at the end of season I only had 3 days so the plan was, a day down, a day round about the Dordogne & a day home.
I'm not used to doing that sort of distance in a day (getting old & knackered!) & was a little concerned about whether my back & knees would take it, hence some careful forward planning... map out, look for some wiggly bits heading in the general direction, "that looks about right", Planning done!
friday morning, once I'd got the animals off to school & Madame Moon off to work, I was ready to go,
the dead cat seat cover thing is the one I used to good effect on my jura trip the previous month. I was hoping it would allow me to spend more time in the saddle & less time hobbling around car parks wondering what the hell I'm playing at...
I took the N 151 from Auxerre to Clamecy, a great road to get you into the mood, lots of looong sweeping curves & a good surface. I followed it on from Clamecy to La charité sur Loire & on to Issodun it's just dead straight & boooooring like so many other roman roads
crossing the Loire
The main highlight of this first part of the trip was Bourges, some wonderful architecture & a superb cathedral which I didn't have time to visit
Having bimbled round Bourges & drunk some coffee...s I was a wee bit behind schedule so Issudun was only visited as far as the industrial estate & a brief burger/icecream/pee stop in macgonads.
Issodun was where I gratefully abandoned the N151 & started heading south on the D 918 for La Chatre & then the 940 for Guéret.
stopped in Guéret for a break & a smoke
I had intended simply following the 940 from Guéret down to Bourganeuf & on to Eyemouthiers & Treignac, but divine intervention came in to play & they had dug up the road & installed a diversion. I was diverted on to the D940A from just south of Guéret all the way to Bourganeuf. I started muttering about bloomin' roadworks, & "thats ALL I need!" & so on but soon cheered up, the road was brilliant! I now see that on the michelin map it has the telltale green line all the way along it & I would have missed it except for the roadworks
I was, however, having far too much fun to stop & take pictures!
I arrived in Treignac & parked up at the Hotel de ville in order to adjust my chain which ressembled more a skipping rope than a final drive...
I texted Phil to say I was there & he phoned back to say that they were too...!?
I had confused Mairée with Hotel de ville, though Phil reckons I was hiding 'till I'd seen what they looked like...
One of the guys led us back to Phil's via goodness only knows where! I remember some tiny backroads full of gravel & some dual carriageway where some of the boys got photographed courtesy the Gendarmerie, but those of us on French plates managed to slow down some...
Got to Phil's as the sun was setting, around 6.30ish
This is how it went:
Though Phil & I both live in france, me about a third of the way down from the top & east of centre (Auxerre) and Phil about a third of the way up from the bottom & west of centre (near Souillac) there's about 500km separating us by the shortest road. I didn't want to simply ride the shortest road, but the best one, so it would be nearer 600k...ish. As I work in the tourist industry, I struggle to get time off during the summer months & even at the end of season I only had 3 days so the plan was, a day down, a day round about the Dordogne & a day home.
I'm not used to doing that sort of distance in a day (getting old & knackered!) & was a little concerned about whether my back & knees would take it, hence some careful forward planning... map out, look for some wiggly bits heading in the general direction, "that looks about right", Planning done!
friday morning, once I'd got the animals off to school & Madame Moon off to work, I was ready to go,
the dead cat seat cover thing is the one I used to good effect on my jura trip the previous month. I was hoping it would allow me to spend more time in the saddle & less time hobbling around car parks wondering what the hell I'm playing at...
I took the N 151 from Auxerre to Clamecy, a great road to get you into the mood, lots of looong sweeping curves & a good surface. I followed it on from Clamecy to La charité sur Loire & on to Issodun it's just dead straight & boooooring like so many other roman roads
crossing the Loire
The main highlight of this first part of the trip was Bourges, some wonderful architecture & a superb cathedral which I didn't have time to visit
Having bimbled round Bourges & drunk some coffee...s I was a wee bit behind schedule so Issudun was only visited as far as the industrial estate & a brief burger/icecream/pee stop in macgonads.
Issodun was where I gratefully abandoned the N151 & started heading south on the D 918 for La Chatre & then the 940 for Guéret.
stopped in Guéret for a break & a smoke
I had intended simply following the 940 from Guéret down to Bourganeuf & on to Eyemouthiers & Treignac, but divine intervention came in to play & they had dug up the road & installed a diversion. I was diverted on to the D940A from just south of Guéret all the way to Bourganeuf. I started muttering about bloomin' roadworks, & "thats ALL I need!" & so on but soon cheered up, the road was brilliant! I now see that on the michelin map it has the telltale green line all the way along it & I would have missed it except for the roadworks
I was, however, having far too much fun to stop & take pictures!
I arrived in Treignac & parked up at the Hotel de ville in order to adjust my chain which ressembled more a skipping rope than a final drive...
I texted Phil to say I was there & he phoned back to say that they were too...!?
I had confused Mairée with Hotel de ville, though Phil reckons I was hiding 'till I'd seen what they looked like...
One of the guys led us back to Phil's via goodness only knows where! I remember some tiny backroads full of gravel & some dual carriageway where some of the boys got photographed courtesy the Gendarmerie, but those of us on French plates managed to slow down some...
Got to Phil's as the sun was setting, around 6.30ish