32.03 hours in the saddle
1338 miles ridden
Average speed 41.1 mph
"You want me to ride up that?" I thought as I embarked on the Plymouth to Santander ferry, the "Val de Loire". "I'm an overweight 46 year old 'born again biker' not a trick cyclist!" The
45° ramp beckoned and I 'metaphorically' closed my eyes and rode up it, just managing to turn the corner at the top with the feeling that I ought to duck as I rode along the companionway which forms the motorcycle deck on this pride of Brittany Ferries.
This was a start of a trip that had been my ambition since purchasing my Triumph Sprint ST in November, my first motorcycle for 13 years. I rode in company with Alan, a friend, whose wife, like mine, endures her husband's motorcycle mid-life crisis stoically. Alan rides a Honda Pan-European ST1100 and we have found that our riding styles are similar, hence had no problems envisaging the 1200-mile trip together.
The trip planned was to take us from Santander to Cherbourg, trying where possible to avoid motorways and the normal routes. We did not want it to be a slog but had the limit of six and a half days
for the journey therefore sightseeing was limited.
The entire route
The weather was unusually warm at Plymouth and the companionway on the 'Val de Loire' was soon a seething mass of sweating bikers and roped up bikes. Humour and consideration was maintained, however, and nobody objected to waiting to pass whilst bikes were roped to the bulkhead and deck (wall and floor respectively for the non-nautical). Alan and I had brought our
own straps and handlebar
strap, which made life easier. The ST was parked in gear on the side-stand with the bulkhead on the left of the bike. One ratchet strap was taken from the left handlebar to the bulkhead ring; the other ratchet strap was passed from the right handlebar to the deck ring in the centre of the companionway; one normal strap was passed from the luggage rack (with no rack fitted you could use the
grab-rail) to the bulkhead ring; and the last normal strap was passed from the deck ring across the lowest part of the saddle to the bulkhead ring and padded where it passed over the saddle and bodywork. About enough to survive a Force 10 in the Bay of Biscay -
it was actually like a millpond!
The voyage to Santander takes 24 hours and it passed uneventfully - the
restaurant is definitely worth a visit, the buffet for the entrées is excellent.
Contents - click on the text to go to the relevant page
Day 1 - Santander to Estella,
Navarra - 166 miles
Day 2 - Estella to Bielle,
Pyrenees Atlantiques - 151 miles
Day 3 - Bielle to Tournon
d'Agenais, Lot et Garonne - 152 miles
Day 4 - Tournon d'Agenais to
Arnac Pompadour, Correze - 170 miles
Day 5 - Arnac Pompadour to
Fontervraud l'Abbaye, Maine et Loire - 181 miles
Day 6 - Fontevraud L'abbaye to
Cherbourg, Manche - 248 miles