The Basics

Back in 2020 we made grand plans to put together a long ride through the Netherlands, Belgium, northwestern France and then the Loire valley. But then the world got put on hold and our plans were likewise stowed away. Time and circumstance do what they have always done, twisting and turning things and lives, and here we are in 2023 dusting off the plans that we'd made before. We're thrilled to be at it.

It has been a long, long, cold winter here in Central Oregon. As I type this preliminary note at the end of March, we still have nearly a foot of snow on the ground, which has been frozen hard since mid-November. I am really hoping for a break in the weather. Maybe actually get some riding in; we leave for Amsterdam in mid-May and that is coming fast. I know that there is no way to get enough road miles in before we leave to feel like we're ready to ride on Day 1, but we'll sort it out and "ride into shape." Typical for us. That's pretty much what we do every year. Last year in the month of May we rode around Nova Scotia, which was just moving away from winter. Maybe you followed the blog for that trip, which was wonderful despite some pretty edgy weather; Nova Scotia Blog, 2022.

The bike is ready to go and I expect that in another month, we will be ready as well. Of course, we'll have panniers front and rear, sleeping bags and a tent, and lots of other stuff to make us really heavy and slow. Typical for us.

It will have a lot of bags and gear when we actually get going!

This year we're going a long way. Here's our route for the first part:

Lorie is especially excited to visit wineries along the Loire. Did you know that the diameter of a wine bottle is nearly identical to the diameter of a bike water bottle? Makes it easy to carry a bottle or two. Inevitably, we'll spend a few days in Beaune exploring the Burgundy region and its wineries. From there we head southeast through the Jura and meet up with our good friend Jon, who will be flying into Geneva and riding northwest to meet us somewhere in between. 

Once we connect with Jon we'll zoom (by train) to southwestern France for a week of what should be epic riding in the Pyrenees, then south into Spain. 

In the Pyrenees we plan to ride a bunch of the famous, big climbs. The Col du Tourmalet, Col du Soulor, Col d'Aubisque, Col de Marie-Blanque, and a few others. Here's the basic route through the Pyrenees, Phase 2 of our ride:

We will be in Bilbao for the start of the Tour de France and will follow the race for a few days, back into France in the beautiful Pyrenees-Atlantiques region. Jon will then head back to Geneva to fly home and Lorie and I will work our way back north to fly home from Amsterdam (by way of Bordeaux).

As I have done every year, I will try to include a route map with each day's post. You can play around with the individual routes and look at the bike paths and roads we are riding. Even though our daily distances have trended shorter over the years, we're riding over 3,000 km this year (about 1,800 miles) and will be climbing over 29,000 m (nearly 100,000 feet)! As usual, we'll have our tent and sleeping bags and lots of other stuff, so we are truly a heavy RV of a bike. Jon will be much lighter and much faster up those big hills, for sure.

We hope that you can armchair ride along with us.