This was less a case of “my ride today” and more a case of “my rides last week” but as I was working to reasonably tight schedules, I didn’t really have time to update in real time!
Last Monday some friends and I set off on our long overdue trip to France and Belgium to follow a few stages of the tour, so it was a case of parking up at Dover, then riding straight off the boat t’other side of the drink.
Day 1’s ride was a lumpy and (head)windy affair along the coastal road from Calais to Boulogne (where stage 4 finished the following day) but with fresh legs, beautiful sunshine and everyone in high spirits this didn’t deter us one bit. We found a little place on a square on the edge of Boulogne and had a cheeky beer or two to toast the start of the trip before a long climb back to the digs. A quick turn around and we were off out to the Buffalo grill across the road for some long overdue sustenance (and a few more beers!) before turning in.
Day 2 was another windy and lumpy affair- or at least for part of it- as we made our way inland towards the next stop at Bethune, but catching stage 4 at Remilly-Wirquin beforehand. It wasn’t our plan to watch from here but the gendarmes had closed the road earlier than anticipated which stopped us from getting to where we wanted to be, though not before having a sprint off with my mate to the top of the KOM and through the banner first to rapturous applause by the roadside crowd! 🤣
After a mini detour we found a perfectly placed little tabac and indulged in a few beers and snacks as we waited and eventually watched the caravan and then the tour roll through right by us. Tour pushing on, it was soon time for us to do the same and get to another little bar closer to Bethune to watch the finish, though not without a little more climbing first before it really flattened off. Arriving in Bethune in the evening, it was another quick turn around, chow down and turn in for the night again.
Day 3 was a flat jaunt over to Valenciennes, but taking in sector 5 of the cobbled section of stage 5 of the Tour. As we left Bethune and tanked it through towns and villages to get to the cobbles the locals were in fine form, cheering us on from the sidelines! Eventually getting to the cobbled sector, we settled in ready to catch the action. Arriving well ahead of time we picked a great spot in the shade and with a perfect viewpoint! As they thundered through you could almost touch the riders, there was dust flying everywhere and the crowd was roaring! It was soon time to head off again, though not without seeing Geraint Thomas’ gilet passing through, the lucky recipient of that in the form of a little toddler being towed in a carrier on the back of Dad’s bike! 🥰
Arriving in Valenciennes, we once again, cleaned up, got food and turned in for the night.
Day 4 and it was time to head into Belgium, specifically to Binche where stage 6 was starting from. This would be the last stage we followed, as the tour was heading south and we needed to start turning our tour back north ultimately towards Dunkirk. The excitement quickly dissipated as the otherwise brilliant weather turned sour. Cloudy, overcast and somewhat drizzly at times, the depressing weather was only matched by the scenery as we crossed into Belgium. Flat long straight roads lined both sides with run down terraced houses, poorly surfaced, bike lanes shocking, we were not impressed as we arrived into Binche. Binche itself was lovely it has to be said and the atmosphere was great as we soaked in the start of the tour, viewing team buses and catching the pros making their way to the introduction. A few small beers later, tour started, we made the short trip back down the same old crappy roads with the same crappy scenery back to our next port of call in Mons where we would stay the night. Mons is a nice city in an otherwise depressing area, the evidence of industrial decline in the Wallonia region all too plain to see. We had loads of downtime to take in the place, eat drink and be merry and all that.
Day 5 saw us move out early from the dreary Wallonia region and northwards into Flanders and the city of Kortrijk. The weather, scenery and our moods improved vastly as we started to see some the best of what Belgium has to offer. Stunning roads and scenery and much more patient drivers than in Wallonia. There were a lot of main roads on the planned route and so we ended up deviating, whilst remaining parallel to the main roads so we knew we were going the right way. The last ten miles or so into Kortrijk were on a well paved cycle path, well used by other cyclists and walkers, firstly running right alongside a river before turning away towards the city itself. We arrived in the mid afternoon, which gave us ample time to turn ourselves round and head out for food and a few “last night cold ones.” until 1am 😬🥴🤣
Day 6 was travel home day, waking up at 5am, dressed and ready to head to the station by 7am to catch a train up to De Panne on the north coast. A little “delicate,” 🥴 we snoozed on the train and arrived in De Panne a little after 8:30. From here it was a short 20 mile pan flat ride back over the border into France and the ferry port of Dunkirk. As we were quite early we stopped off in town after 10 miles, filled our hung over faces and realised if we got a wriggle on we could get the earlier ferry back to Dover than the planned 2pm one and so we tanked it the last ten miles to the port to catch it.
All in all this was a great trip with fantastic friends and many memories made! Around 260 miles overall over the week- a good laugh start to finish and great weather throughout! Can’t wait for the next one!
View: https://youtu.be/NYoAQgUDufQ
) so having walked the dog early I thought I could still get a ride in before it got too hot.
