2024 Hayling Charity Cycle Ride

The 2024 ride was a mixture of old routes and new ones. It was the 80^th anniversary of D-Day, so the ride took us along the Normandy beaches on the last day.

The ride started at the Portsmouth ferry terminal. We caught the 8.15pm sailing on Saturday 6^th July to St Malo, arriving at 8am local time on Sunday 7^th July.

The route:

• Sunday: We cycled from St Malo to Rennes in Brittany, a city of art and history and some fabulous shops! c50 miles
• Monday: We went to Laval, a very pretty town with the River Mayenne running through it. c51 miles
• Tuesday: We travelled from Laval to Flers using dedicated cycle paths alongside the river Mayenne; stunning scenery. c68 miles
• Wednesday: Flers to Port en Bessin via Bayeux - our toughest day cycling-wise. Port en Bessin is a gorgeous fishing village with several Michelin starred restaurants! There are plenty of other good restaurants with more reasonable prices. c73 miles
• Thursday: Fancy dress day. Cycling to Caen along the Normandy beaches. As it was the 80^th Anniversary of the D-day landings there was a lot to see in the various museums along the route. It was a short day so we had plenty of time. Then there was the last night party, with a meal and DJ. c45 miles

On Friday, we caught the 8.30am ferry from Caen (Ouistreham), arriving back in Portsmouth at 13.30pm local time. From there we rode back to Hayling.

The itinerary, route notes and GPX files for the ride are here.

Pete McQuade writes:

“Mayhem in the Mayenne” But Still A Great Ride

This was dubbed the Mayenne Ride, highly appropriate as it featured the French department, town and river all given that name. It was a mixture of old and new route and featured many familiar features of past events: great countryside, some tough but conquerable summits and of course weather! In many years splendid summer weather has been a key factor in the success of our annual pedal, but this year the very positive feedback we received was achieved despite some unseasonal weather.

The first two days we cycled from St Malo to Rennes and then into Laval along routes which have featured in several past rides. We departed Rennes in heavy rain and the same happened the following morning as we left Laval. That day riding alongside the River Mayenne should have been a real highlight of the 2024 event. In my view, parts of this picturesque valley rivals the splendour of its well known southern neighbour - the Loire - but things didn’t quite work as planned. The monsoon like conditions that day and several days past had wrecked the cycle path and given its proximity to the river it meant we got rather muddy. Perhaps even worse so did our bikes! It seemed many of of these were making strange noises clogged up as they were with fragments of the aforementioned cycle path. The support team improvised impressively. Hoses and various bike lubricants were purchased, and a highly efficient cleaning station was set up outside our hotel in Flers .

The following two days were fortunately dryer but still quite cold for July. My suntan lotion was to remain unopened throughout the trip. Cycling from Flers to Port En Bessin we passed through Suisse Normande. The very name serves to emphasise the frequent vertical masochism in this part of Northern France but to accompany that there was some spectacular scenery. All survived to reach the quaint Port En Bessin entering via the famous and historic town of Bayeux. The last day was a ride along the Normandy landing beaches to Caen with many taking time to visit D Day memorials in Aramanches and other towns en route. One rider even scattered some ashes belonging to her father a D-Day veteran. It was a moving day and an appropriate conclusion to this year’s ride in the D-Day Anniversary Year.