Santandar to Roscoff

danny1c

Hi,
I'm planning to do Santandar to Roscoff in June next year, because of work commitments I need to complete this in 8 days which I believe is do-able. From what I hear the Spanish bit will the worst, has anyone done this trip recently if so do you have any hints and tips. The plan is camp but travel as light as possible and cover 120ish miles in a day.

Thanks

malcolmfrost

If you can possibly get more time then do, I did Hendaye to Caen with a mate staying in hotels in 5 1/2 days at 100/day and just found there was no time to enjoy the trip. Basically get up, eat cycle, eat cycle,eat cycle eat sleep get up! Looking on BRT it works out at 47:40, 1100km so more like 140km/day so a bit better. The cost was a surprise, it worked out at £1 per mile!!
Great trip though.
Incidentally there is a small ferry that goes across from Santander to the opposite side of the estuary at Pedrena that cuts out the trunk road out of town.
http://www.losreginas.com/i/servicio.htm

danny1c

Thanks for the reply Malcolm. I've heard about the ferry and been advised it a must. Could you explain what you mean by "Looking on BRT it works out at 47:40"?

My other option is to get a train to somewhere close to the French border (needs further research on whats available) as this would cut out the the tricky Spanish section and also allow me to reduce the mileage in France and make the trip more enjoyable.

malcolmfrost

I just did a route on Bike Route Toaster and the total time came out at 47 hrs 40 minutes! It' usually quite accurate for my speeds.
We got my wife to drive us through the tunnel to Calais and took the train from there, stopping overnight in Paris before taking the TGV to Irun (solely because it's just in Spain so we could do the whole of France!) We then rode to Caen and took the ferry back to Portsmouth.
We stayed in Campanile or similar, booking over their free internet for the next day, if we got stuck I texted my wife and she booked for us! We used a toppeak beam bag, just a change of light clothes for the evening and washed our bike kit every night with hotel shampoo. If you then roll it up in a towel and squeeze it will be dry in the morning.
There's also now a Brittany Ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao which cuts out quite a lot of N Spain.
On the train, we wrapped our bikes in paper backed bubble wrap with the front wheel off, and it then becomes a suitcase, so no need to book it on the train.
My next trip I'm thinking of Calais to Nice via the Route des Grandes Alpes! I don't see any point in starting at 1300 feet altitude at Lake Geneva, so you could do sea level to the highest road in Europe and back down again.

andymiller

I know I'm a bit of a slacker but 120 miles a day sounds very optimistic.

Yes you could catch a regional or medium-distance train to Irún. On the medium-distance trains you need a reservation but these are free and you really easy to get - the only possible reason for faffing around wrapping your bikes is if all the bike spaces were taken.

I know that catching the ferry out to Santander sounds like a great idea - but only if you have enough time to get back. (BTW there is a sleeper train from Paris to Irún which would be a cheaper and quicker alternative and just as convenient).

Alternatively if you are dead set on using ferries rather than trains why not take the ferry to St Malo and back via Roscoff - less of an epic but still challenging in 8-9 days and probably you'll enjoy it more.

malcolmfrost

the only possible reason for faffing around wrapping your bikes is if all the bike spaces were taken.

IIRC the reason we went through all of that was that it wasn't possible to guarantee a bike space, because some trains have them, others don't and they change type of train seemingly at random.
It didn't take long, we just took the front wheel off, laid it on the frame with suitable padding and rotated the bars under the top tube, fashioned a strap out of Duct Tape and you had a stylish piece of luggage! Get to the other end and chuck it.

danny1c

Thanks for all the replies, never heard of Bike Route toaster but will check it out. I suppose the reason I'm going to do it by ferry rather than train is that I live close enough to cycle to and from the ferry port.

malcolmfrost

I suppose the reason I'm going to do it by ferry rather than train is that I live close enough to cycle to and from the ferry port.

A very good reason, I must admit when we got back to Portsmouth, the original plan was to take the train back to Haslemere, but when we got there I thought sod it, might as well do the last 50 miles under my own steam!
Bike Route Toaster is good, but I found that the viaMichelin site in cycle mode gave better quiet routings, it only lets you plan 200 miles/day though, so I used the large red France map from Michelin to get an overall feel for the route and plan accomodation. The Michelin Yellow maps are best for cycling on the day, we carried the whole route, but you could easily buy them as you need them.
I'm very jealous, let us know how it goes.

andymiller

danny1c wrote:

Thanks for all the replies, never heard of Bike Route toaster but will check it out. I suppose the reason I'm going to do it by ferry rather than train is that I live close enough to cycle to and from the ferry port.

Well yes I had thought that was the reason and if you had (say) a couple of weeks your proposed route would be a great idea. As it is, in 8 days I suspect it will either be a dull slog (see malcolmfrost's post) or worse.

Given that you only have 8 days why not simply got to and from Roscoff? There's lovely cycling in that area and you'll have the time enjoy it. Save the epic for when you have enough time to do it.

At least have a Plan B - if say you find that you 'only' manage 90 miles a day - can you get a train back to St Malo?

And another thought: while the weather's good why not do a couple of back-to-back 120-mile days with your camping gear? That should give you a reasonable idea of how feasible your plan is. (excuse me if you are already someone who does big mileage trips but you wouldn't be the first person to say something like: '120 miles a day - that's 15 mph for 8 hours that's do-able isn't it?').

danny1c

Well I've booked the ferry so there's no turning back now. I'm sure I will be asking the people on here for all sorts of tips before I set off next June.

Andy 1 mans dull slog is anothers mans epic day, I'm all for looking at the scenery but for this trip I want it to be more about the distance. No doubt as I'm cycling into a raging headwind eyes squinted because of the hail I will regret the whole thing but pottleing around isn't what I want from my trip, I need a challenge!

danny1c

Malcolm - Love the idea of Calais to Nice via the Alps, one of the trips I thought about was Nice to Roscoff. Heading north into the Alps before picking up the Loire as close to its source as possible and the handrailing that until it dumps into the atlantic and then head north to Roscoff. Had to bin the idea as it would just take to long.

malcolmfrost

danny
Just for a laugh I've been looking at the train back from Nice,
Direct TGV from Nice to Paris, Eurostar to London.
Leave 0635 arrive 15:29 with only one stop in Paris.
Best bit though, fare £90.50 single!!!!!
It was on 18th November though, probably a bit chilly on the Bonnette at that time of year