Beach to Beach

‍This summer, I cycled on my own from Brighton to Barcelona (Via Paris).

It consisted of covering 1390km, riding over 10.000m of elevation gain during 63 hours of moving time. It took 10 days of  travelling, of which 8 were proper days in the saddle.
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Why did I do it?

Because I absolutely thrive on the feeling of freedom and adventure that travelling on your bike provides (and also because I was meeting some friends in Mallorca, so why not!)
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How much did I plan?

To be honest, not a great deal. I left with no accommodation booked, merely a few messages on a cyclist-friendly website (Warmshowers) for the second night of my trip, in the hopes I could find somewhere to stay in Paris. I'd booked my ferry only two days before departing from Dieppe as I planned my route on that day, did some budgeting, and assessed if I was going to be able to make it on time for the 7^th of August to meet my friends to take another ferry to Mallorca. No accommodation booked can be a stressful feeling for many and it doesn't have to be like this, but I just love having all the flexibility of where I want to stop, how much distance to cover and knowing that if I have a problem with the bike, I have no extra pressure to resolve it ASAP. This is knowing that I might be risking some detours or late arrivals to find somewhere to sleep along the days. 

The initial plan for the journey was to start from London, but a gear cable snapping on the evening  before departure meant quite a few added details to cover, so a train to Brighton and short ride to Newhaven (meaning I only rode 18k on Day 1 of the trip) for the ferry was the best solution.

I always find the ferry really fun. You wait to board with all the other bike packers, exchanging stories or tips of the past trips or journeys to come, then you are allowed to board first, find a space for your bike and go chill for the hours to come. This time I ended up hanging out with two of the bike packers I had just met, looking at our routes and sharing stories all the way to Dieppe.

As I was on the evening ferry, I looked up some accommodation in Dieppe to get a good night’s sleep and start the next day fresh. Avenue Verte was the next cycling section, also known as the Greenway. A mixture of endless cycling ways or empty roads, all with some signs indicating the way to Paris! I would highly recommend this route for a first bikepacking experience as it feels really safe, there are some cafes on the way, but also be prepared, you might find everything closed in the towns during the afternoon hours so make sure you have some extra fuel with you. I covered 220km on day 2.‍

The Olympics were on.

Paris 2024 was happening so a mandatory picture by the Eiffel Tower with the rings had to happen. I went to the closest bridge, as with the bike I would not be allowed in the “fan areas” of the event. As I got there I decided to sit by the bridge, snack and rest while time passed staring at this beautiful monument. On this day I was offered accommodation by a lovely cycling couple who I contacted through Warm showers, a website for bike packers to host and be hosted. They could receive me, but only late at night after they had finished with their day commitments. The incredible thing about bike packing or travelling alone is that you are never really alone; people feel very curious about your story and you constantly get to have some really fun conversations with strangers. So, there I was, sitting by the bridge, on the floor with my cereal bar chatting to a new friend who had approached me. They explained that they were working in the Olympics fan area, and were curious about my journey, bike set up and others. Of course it was a cyclist! The next day, after saying goodbye to the lovely couple and new friends, I was ready to depart, so met up with my bridge friend for breakfast, and realized there was a big storm coming, so an extra night in Paris felt like the best call. As a relaxed day was now ahead, I went to check out the cycling hub by the Paris Hippodrome (23 cheeky kilometres on day 3) before the rain started. (Slightly judging myself by the fact I was already taking a rest day on the second day of the trip, but definitely worth it!)
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The next day, I started rolling out of Paris and my first puncture of the trip came early on, unfortunately. I waited calmly in the hope that it would seal, as I was travelling for the first time with tubeless tyres and on a road bike, but this was not my lucky day. I needed to use a plug to keep rolling. Unfortunately, with the first puncture came the second and third, in the same spot; somehow the plug would come out and the hole was getting bigger. Maybe it was due to the weight on the rear tyre, or just that I’m still new to using tubeless and didn’t sort it out properly. But in the end, I was able to keep riding and cover a good distance. The evening came and I found somewhere to sleep indoors as rain was due overnight. It turned out I had covered 116k on day 4. 

The fun thing about these types of trips is that you decide how much to cover each day and it really doesn't matter if you do 60k or 200k as you make the rules and you lead the trip. All you worry about is where to sleep, eat and about enjoying the views. So if you have never covered a long distance I would still encourage you to do it, it is 100% an incredible experience, and Europe is so well connected that if you ever find yourself in bike mechanic trouble, or your legs are tired, you can always take a train. 

The next morning, I headed to Decathlon in Amilly to get some extra plugs and assess my tyre situation. While there, the plug I had put in the day before gave way. I consider myself lucky as this happened while in the bike shop, so the decision for a new tyre was clear. They didn't have the tyre I needed, but with Google translate in hand, they explained where to go, called a bike shop nearby, and told the bike shop what I needed and that I didn't speak French. They then got my wheel sorted for the little distance to cover so I could ride there, 5 stars for Decathlon Amilly for sure. Such kind souls to make my problem theirs, and this type of kindness is what I encountered in pretty much all days to come. After the slow start, I made my way south. It was smooth and easy riding on this day, I planned to end at a camping site after around 150km. The roads through the forest and countryside were amazing. I found this surprising as I did my own planning using Komoot, Garmin and Google Street view, taking a bit of a leap of faith on the route and had expected at least a bit of chaos from it. Instead, I was on the Loire Valley cycling route, which I of course didn’t know about, no “day cyclists” to be seen, but a huge amount of Bikepacking couples and families instead, plenty of cycling ways and quiet smooth roads.  As my day went by with little planning, I found myself at 730pm searching for a campsite, but then realised a big dark cloud was approaching, and as I checked the forecast, a big storm was due overnight. I decided I didn’t want to get rained on, so I checked for accommodation. The closest one was 40k away, therefore an extra push was required. With a 10pm arrival in the B&B, I headed straight for the shower, food and sleep. I had progressed 211k on this day, definitely a lot more than what was planned for day 5.
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Day 6 arrived and to not make the same mistake with these sudden summer storms showing up, I checked the forecast. Nothing for now. I made my way further south, and continued to enjoy the amazing roads, before stopping for lunch and checking again. The forecast had a storm warning in an hour’s time. Decision making time: Either find refuge in Vichy or keep rolling until it feels it's about to start and find any sort of cover that I could spot. Of course my choice was for the second alternative as I love a bit of adventure. I made an extra 20km of progress before the rain hit, hid under a roof between a sports centre and a pizza self-service (I can at least have pizza was my thought). The storm that was meant to last 1 hour kept going for much longer and brought the biggest hail I´ve ever experienced, so I messaged the campsite I was aiming for to let them know I was planning to stay there later to ensure there was someone to receive me.  After 3 hours of hiding from the rain and hail, I cycled my last 50km in the amazing golden hour with a clear sky after a storm. Once again, kindness hit hard, as I arrived at the campsite, and after sharing some stories with the managers, they ended up inviting me to have dinner at their family table. That made 155km progress for Day 6.

Day 7 went from Sauxillanges to Marvejols, with 144km covered. This day had one of the most enjoyable descents I’ve ever experienced. As someone that has been in sportive cycling for less than 2 years, a smooth tarmac, no sharp turns, wide road with a -4% gradient for 6 kms was the best descent I’ve ever done. Once again I arrived at a place where Google translate was my only way to communicate, but this was not an issue. The campsite manager was very sweet and guided me to where I could set up my hammock. Surprisingly I woke up the next day at around 8:30am, a lot later than usual and my Garmin showed that the quality of my sleep was much better than in the hotels the days before. Success! I made my way to the front desk, and once again was blown away by the kindness of the French in the south, where after exchanging some Google translate messages about where I was headed now, the manager wrote “For your courage, your stay is on us, and come with me, we are getting you a coffee!”.

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Day 8 was meant to be a big day out, but coming across a very sweet French bike packing couple got me enjoying the moment and cruising with them until around 4pm where our routes would go different ways. We had lunch together and shared more lovely stories in a bit of broken Spanish, google translate and signs; it was just a perfect spontaneous friendship. After our goodbyes, I was now riding a bit under pressure as I still had quite a distance to cover before my ferry to Mallorca. The evening came, and another puncture in the new rear tyre came, but I fixed it and went up my last big hill of the day, to then experience the second best descent I´ve ever experienced! Honestly, if you are newish to cycling and would like to bikepack this route, it was great, smooth and fairly easy in terms of cycling skills. This descent involved beautiful views of hills, windmills and the sunset which got me flowing and completely in the moment! However it was one hour from darkness and I had not looked for accommodation. Some browsing gave me the bad news, I had covered 20km downhill from the closest campsite, no available B&B nearby, and another 40km to the next campsite, oh dear! I had to choose between riding back uphill, riding in the dark or wild camping for the first time. The last option sounded like the most promising and ironically the safest as it didn’t involve riding in the dark. I found a little spot by a river about 200m from the road, not so hidden from human sight, but perfect for a first time wild camping. In total I had made 141km progress on this day.

Day 9 arrived and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amazing journey I had had so far. The day started with me making some good progress, but I also found myself having to do some detours due to some unexpected busy roads. It seemed that as I approached the coast there were more cars on the nice roads that were not a highway (Called D- roads in France), but even with this delay, my detour led me to an amazing cycling way by the coast, full of camping resorts. I had never seen so many of this kind. Around Perpignan, but by the coast, I tried 2 campsites, but both were fully booked; this was clearly a summer hot spot. So, I decided to sit down and start calling them instead of showing up at the front to lose less time and energy. I called a little family campsite, and after speaking to 5 different people from the campsite on the phone as I tried to explain I had a Hammock and not a tent [they didn’t speak English or Spanish], they said “just come, we will help you”. As I arrived and was surrounded by 6 adults and 2 little kids, all French, they ended up explaining there was nowhere to put a hammock, but that someone had a tent, and another person a mattress, they brought a table and a chair and within five minutes I had a whole camping set up sorted, by these beautifully kind people, while I was showing the two little kids my journey on the bike so far. I then met a couple who gave me a two litre bottle of water as there was no drinkable water in the campsite and offered some ice cream and nice night chats. Honestly, it was such a great a way to end my time in France, I was really overwhelmed by the kindness of everyone after my day in the saddle. I cycled 153k on this day.

The next morning, it was day 10 and my last day of the trip. After thanking everyone, I departed and headed to the Spanish border; it was really exciting going up the mountain for the crossing! I found myself having to ride a lot more than I had initially hoped for the last day, so I made my way through the rolling hills by the Spanish coast. The views were amazing. I stopped for a snack and views with only 70km to go, when I suddenly spotted a group of cyclists approaching, the first “peloton” in the whole trip, so I put my snack in my pocket and started pushing to gain enough speed to keep up and, as they over took me, I asked if I could take their wheel. They happily accepted and told me they were going for 15k more in my direction, so I happily went with them. It was brilliant being able to put in a bit less effort for the same speed and have a lovely conversation in Spanish! A refill of water, goodbyes and the final push came. 213km for the day and I arrived in Barceloneta, with not much energy (or battery) for pictures, but a good pizza and hug with my cousin that I have not seen in a really long time was the best way to end my trip. I was ready to head onwards to my much anticipated holiday. Some laying down by the beach was needed to even out the crazy tan lines of this heated summer trip!

It was for sure one of the most challenging trips I have ever done, specially with the more than five days that I had to push through temperatures of 35 degrees and above. A lot of lessons learned on such an improvised trip, and a reminder to enjoy the little daily things that life brings you, definitely left me wanting to experience more bikepacking in the future. I have to decide where!