The Family Bike Touring Guide

Today was the day! I’ve wanted to ride 100km for a while as everyone else in the family have, Maisey did 100km on the turbo during lockdown, Zak did it a few weeks ago for a sponsored event and Jon has rode much longer distances numerous time! Today I rode 100km fully loaded.

Zak and I got up and went and got baguettes and pastries then after packing up we left around 10ish. Vernon was a lovely town and our accommodation was so central and lovely however the bed was horrendous, I can normally be happy on any mattress but last nights was awful!

Leaving Vernon was beautiful, a lovely flat cycle path took us out of the city right next to the river. I think the cycle path was new and there was an automated sign that told you how many cyclists had gone past today and since it was opened. Jon and Zak spent considerate amount of time last night re planning the route to make the elevation lower, cycling up hills fully loaded is hard work, so we added about 3miles onto the route and reduced the elevation by 600ft.

Shortly after leaving Vernon I spotted around 5 men all in high viz sitting along in a field with a gun. Absolutely no idea what they were doing!

We stopped for a coffee (and slice of last nights left over pizza) in Mantes-la-Jolie. On entering we went through a very built up area (Le Val Fourre) with many high rise flats, on googling it, it is a very population dense area which is unusual for France and houses mostly Arabs and African migrants. The city/town as a whole has a large Muslim population.

We plodded on, stopping next to a river for lunch at around 35miles.

Quick drink top up and ice cream stop.

The ride continued. As we were approaching Paris we cycled through an industrial area, a bit dull to look at but the roads were good, flat and easy to ride.

Just before the Arc de Triomphe we stopped for a drink and some chocolate that had stayed in melted in our cheap cool bag. My shoulders, well in the middle of my shoulders was so painful , my legs were fine.

Cycling through Paris was an experience. It was so busy and trying to navigate where the cycle paths took you along with dodging people, bikes and traffic and following the sat Nav was quite exhausting. Jon and I came to Paris for our wedding anniversary in 2019 and Paris in December is very different from Paris in August! I couldn’t believe how busy it was everywhere.

There was a very cool tunnel that was just for cyclists and pedestrians.

It took quiet a while to navigate through Paris, after a hill to end our day we arrived at our accommodation. We have cycled from home to Paris and 100km today!

Quick showers, then walked to get noodle type bowl food locally. Huge portions and Jon’s meal was the best as he choose duck and we were all a bit jealous.

Back to the apartment, Happy Valley and then bed, a very much needed sleep.