Avenue Verte Day 3 Beauville to Chantilly Day 4 and Day 5

 Wednesday dawned bright and sunny but unfortunately it was to be the worst day for many.  Over half the party rose itching terribly with raised spots and had had an extremely uncomfortable night.  Bedbugs were the cause though the reception staff looked blank and in denial.  The bedbugs became a secondary issue when it was discovered Helen's bag had been stolen with her passport, money, phone and other stuff.  She was distraught and plans were made to backtrack to the police station in Beauvais to begin the slow process of getting a temporary passport to enable her to travel home.   WE REALISED THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING YOUR PASSPORT NUMBER WRITTEN DOWN SOMEWHERE OR A PHOTO OF IT ON YOUR PHONE .

This was the day with two ride options, a long and a short.  The majority had opted for a shorter day and this enabled them to support Helen in Beauvais but still ride in the afternoon to reach Chantilly.

Lillian, Christina and I set off in very hot weather but did have a great day on the Avenue Verte route, visiting  Bresles, Clermont, Sacy le Grand (where we lunched at a traditional restaurant) , Senlis and finally climbing up to an area of national forest with many footpaths running through it.  We descended to the magnificence of Chantilly with its extensive parkland, stabling and chateau.  A memorable day for many reasons.  We were pleased to learn that Helen now had an online form to complete however it was difficult for her to access her mail accounts on someone else's phone so she would not easily be able to receive the document they wanted to send her.  (In the end a visit to the Embassy in Paris on Friday secured the temporary passport at the very last minute and she caught the train with us to Dieppe.)

Accommodation at Le Avenue in the centre of Chantilly provided us with comfortable rooms, a garage for the bikes and good dinner. 

Day 4 - Chantilly to Pontoise

The group set off together to view Chantilly chateau before joining the route to Pontoise.

A lovely day on small roads that followed the River Oise and the small villages along it.  A lovely lunch was had at Beaumont-sur-Oise with supplies from an award winning boulangerie and drinks at a bar opposite.  More gentle meanderings, at one point on a narrow track by the edge of a field of sweetcorn until we climbed to the significant village of Auverrs sur Oise where Vincent van Gogh and his brother are buried and where he painted some of his most famous paintings.   It was a very relaxing afternoon in glorious sunshine.  At Pontoise Lillian, Paul and Maggie stayed at L'Hermitage, Tim and Pat said their goodbyes and headed off for further adventures, and the remainder lodged in Le Petite Reine, apartments a little too close to Pontoise Station, but very bike friendly with bike parking on the ground floor below the apartments. The 3 storey town house was tradionally shuttered and charmingly decorated with a bike mounted on one wall and 3 wheels on another.  We felt at home until the hourly express trains made themselves felt in the rooms at the front !

Day 5 -Pontoise to Paris

Helen got an early train to get to Paris first and obtain the vital temporary passport.  Pinky's cousin who lives in Paris was a huge help at this point.  The remainder of the party were ably led by Paul and Maggie in an impressive debut partnership to get us directly to Gare Lazare for the 3.45 train to Dieppe.  There was no time for anything but the briefest of photos and we were so glad we'd left time to negotiate the lifts, the platforms, the carriages (we were looking at the wrong numbers ...1 and 2 being first and second class).  Eventually on carriage 3  - some had there allotted bike spaces others just had to stack them and help bemused Parisians lift their suitcases over us to find their seats.   Helen arrived in the nick of time.  Madelaine was staying on in Paris.  With a combined sigh of relief we departed to raid Dieppe.

Avenue Verte - Day 2 Forges les Eaux to Beauville

 Fortified by a better than expected breakfast we wheeled forth into brilliant sunshine, crossed the purpose-built cycle path over the railway and entered the green rolling hills of the open country towards Gournay en Bray. 

Having pushed the pedals over flat terrain the previous day the pleasures of rolling downhill were enjoyed and the party was in good form knowing we had a full day to do our mileage rather than the mid afternoon start from Dieppe the previous day.  Gourney en Bray has a market on Tuesdays so the town was pleasantly busy and we lingered in the sunshine over various provisions from the local bakeries.

We were then on another long straight stretch of off road cycle path beautifully surfaced and through attractive woodland towards Beauvais.  The highlight of this town is the magnificent towering cathedral with its astronomical clock.  More time for refreshments and chat.  We sorted out the glaces from the glasses and the iced coffee from the coffee ice cream at a cafe opposite the cathedral.  

Onwards, led valiantly by Tim through the rush hour traffic into the out of town supermarket zone where our beds for the night awaited.   KFC sufficed for some , others went on a tour of the huge supermarket opposite finding enough to picnic on on the outdoor tables.  Forty miles in fantastic weather.

Sou'westers Avenue Verte to Paris - Day 1 Dieppe to Forges les Eaux

 Ten fully refreshed and enthusiastic Sou'westers (Tim and Pat, Paul and Maggie, Helen, Christina, Steph, Madelaine, Pinky and Lillian) rolled off the ferry on Monday afternoon into glorious sunshine with the French countryside waiting to embrace them.  The closure of the blue metal bridge into Dieppe town meant a crowd of passengers off the ferry were waiting to file through the footbridge.  Our destination that evening was Forges les Eaux so we bypassed the town and cut through the side streets to the beginning of the route as it was running alongside the railway out of town.   Very soon we were passing lakes, cows, allotments, fields of flax not yet in flower and views across pleasant countryside scenes.  We made good progress on the wonderful surface, stopping for regular drinks.  Just before Neufchatel (our hoped for tea stop) we stopped for photos and to admire the chateau at Mesenieres, a welcome rest off the saddle with jellybabies on offer.  At Neufchatel we knew we d be too late for the creperie on the route so we diverted into town and found a bar one side of the road and a bakery the other.  Christina managed to take advantage of both facilities buying beautiful quiches and then joining us for tea/Ruby leffe at the bar.  The back room was cool and the adjoining toilet provided amusement as the lock didn't quite catch.  Only a few miles to Forges les Eaux the route becoming more interesting as it wound round and through woodland as it approached this pretty little spa town.  It was 8 pm and we d cycled 34 miles. 

Quick showers and out to eat massive plates of food at the local kebab cafe where we sat outside nattering and watching swallows/swifts (Maddie knew and now I ve forgotten which ones).  Helen and I accompanied Lillian back to her accomodation where she showed us round a beautiful period town house with high railings and curved stone steps each side of the impressive front door.  We watched a few bats fluttering at speed then returned to our less impressive but equally welcoming hotel du Colvert for a good night's sleep.

Derbyshire Dales day 3 - just one more trail

The day dawned with a cloudless blue sky and a freezing wind - the coldest day yet.   But it didn't last, before the sun could come out, it clouded over.   As we left the main building for our penthouse apartment in the Coach House, we saw a friend from last night, doing a vigorous dance while having a cigarette outdoors, presumably to keep from freezing solid.

Our final trail today was the Manifold Way, following the route of a small-gauge railway that "starts nowhere and goes to the same place" according to a critic at the time.  It is actually in Staffordshire, and was built to capture farm trade, particularly milk, and take it to via nearby market town of Leek to a waiting world, but only nine miles were built and it was abandoned, having never made a profit.    It started a few miles away from Hartington, leading south down the pretty meandering valley of the Manifold river, part cycle path and part quiet lane.   The surface was all tarmac but not necessarily smooth or well maintained, but the ever changing landscape captivated us while we were not looking out for potholes.  

Manifold Way

Thor's Cave

The trail, and the national park, ended at the nowhere town of Waterhouses, and the only large hill of the day took to the village of Ipstones, where there was a community cafe in the village hall, packed out with locals having their lunch and a natter.   Lovely to see, and great food.

The Dolly Bird Cafe, Ipstones

I promised Roger it was downhill all the way from there, and it was almost true; we were dropping down westwards to the Trent valley.   At Cheddleton we joined the Caldon Canal, which took us in a meandering way right into Stoke.   We were relieved to find it had a good surface all the way.

Kilns in Stoke

After a few stops to take photos, we arrived in Stoke with half an hour to spare before our train, which should be the end of the story, but not quite.   Our train was cancelled due to overhead line trouble.   We went to the ticket office and the person there could not have been more helpful.  He got us bike reservations on the earlier train, organised the platform guard to let us into the 'guards van' space for bikes, and we got the train 15 minutes earlier than planned.  Thank you!

It was the first time Roger and I had toured together although we've been on many day rides.   Roger seemed to put up with me very well, and I'd commend him as an excellent back marker.  He didn't lose anyone in the whole three days.   Thank you Roger for your company, for contributing some of the photos, and for being prepared to brave the unknowns on this trip.

Millennium window at Hartington Hall YH

Hartington Hall YH was a very good base for the trip, but it was quite a hilly ride from Derby station.  If you wanted to do an easier trip, Hartington is a good base for the Tissington Trail or the Manifold Way (you could spend a day doing each of them, out and back), but a better option for doing a day ride on either of the Monsal Trail or the High Peak trail would be Matlock or perhaps Bakewell.  A car would be useful to avoid the climb on the High Peak trail, and also to avoid the descent when returning, which I think would be tricky without excellent brakes and grippy tyres.

Roger's bamboo bike

< Day 2

Derbyshire Dales day 2 ‐ an adventurous circuit

I slept well, but woke a few times with anxieties about today's ride.  The plan was an ambitious attempt to join together four trails which didn't quite join up, involving some unknown off-road adventures.   First to finish off the Tissington Trail to the north, then to somehow join it to the Monsal trail, going east in a steep sided valley with no road access to the start.  This goes eastwards to Bakewell, but the next trail is only accessible by several miles of the A6, or an unsurfaced path up and over a hill.   This third trail, which didn't seem to me named, led south to Matlock, and then by road to the High Peak Trail, which comes back to near the start.  Fifty miles, mostly unsurfaced, with a fair bit of climbing.  Was it too much?

 

The plan for all three days

I had mentioned these dodgy bits to Roger when we first planned the ride, but he may not have taken full notice of what was at that stage a theoretical ride.  When we talked about it last night, he was very attentive, and pensive, but we decided to give it a go with the option of abandoning or re-routing if necessary. 

In the event, it worked out very well, as good as I could have hoped for really.  Though I say it myself, it was a beautiful, varied, adventurous,  interesting ride.  We set off in cold sunshine back to the Tissington Trail, continuing where we'd left it yesterday.  A few miles further on, at Parsley Hay, was the junction with the High Peaks Trail, our return route.  Continuing north, with glorious views, we reached the end of the trail, and then a few miles of lanes, crossed the A6 and found the bridleway down to the Monsal Trail.

  

The old station signal box (and tiny cafe)

Croatian stone shelter

The northern reaches of the Tissington Trail 

It was steep, stony and a bit slippy, but dry and without mud.  We decided to go for it, and carefully descended - a long way down - on foot, into the Dale, to be faced with a huge gorge hacked out of the rock by the railway builders.

  

Are we really going down there?

 

Yes, we are!

Made it!

The Monsal trail

Headstone Tunnel

The Monsal trail is epic.  An easy ride through a steep sided, winding valley of the river Wye, with the track high above the river on one side or the other, or going through long tunnels (well lit with tarmac surfaces), surrounded  by high cliffs or steep valley sides.  Variously called Chee Dale, Monsal Dale and Millers Dale, at various points, it was a great ride, all slightly downhill.  We enjoyed it so much that we forgot to take any pictures after the start.

 

Bakewell Tarts

All too soon we were in touristy Bakewell for an early lunch.   Roger was keen to try Bakewell pudding, but they had run out, so we shared a delicious fresh Bakewell tart.  We made the decision to risk the A6 rather than the off-road over the hill route, and it was fine - not too busy, wide enough for cars to pass safely; flat or gently downhill, still following the Wye, along what was now a wide green valley.

 

From Rowsley to Darley Dale and Matlock we followed the trail with no name, aka NCN 680.  It was lovely easy riding,, with the sunshine and a following wind.  After the genteel streets of Matlock came a shock as we turned right into the hills.  Soon we were at Cromford, for a tea stop on the pretty Cromford canal.  After a mile on  the canal we turned sharp right at High Peak Junction, onto the High Peak Trail.

 

Cromford canal

The High Peak Trail is unusual, as it was a railway with a gradient of 16-19%, and it was also built as part of the UK canal network, linking the Midlands with Manchester, via the high peaks.  250 metres of climbing meant an impossible expense to build hundreds of locks, so they built a cable-operated railway instead, to get up the slope, connected to a regular railway across the top.

 

High Peak junction
(at the bottom of the climb)

 

Sheep Pasture Top, the top of the first climb

 

Middleton Top, after the second climb

It was .. challenging ... to ride up the steep bits, especially off-road with a loose surface, but the ten or so miles across the top was heavenly,  with huge views across the limestone landscape, and unexpected sunshine.  Bordered by dry stone walls or banks of cowslips, the trail was a marvel of civil engineering, finding or forcing a flat route across green valleys or through craggy outcrops.  The surface was dry and as smooth as tarmac.  We arrived home at the hostel tired but happy after a great day out.

 

 

Lambs!

In summary, riding the Dales trails has been like touring Derbyshire without having to do most of its characteristic steep hills.  A similar tour on road would probably have involved four times the climbing, more traffic and maybe less good views.

Would I recommend it?  Well, the circuit we did is definitely a challenging ride, and the descent into Monsal Dale is only for the sure-footed; perhaps risky when wet. But it's a lovely route.  As an alternative,  each of the trails could be ridden out and back for an enjoyable day's outing on each trail.  There are plenty of cafes, except on the High Peak Trail where they're at either end.  You can avoid the big climb up to the High Peak Trail by parking at the top of the incline, at Middleton Top.

One more trail to do tomorrow, on our way home ...

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