France by bike (again) - Day 3

Easy going on the old Railway line.

Day three then, and while I'm not exactly raring to go, I do feel better after a decent night's sleep and some breakfast.  I'm a bit worried about missing the boat though, I have fifty miles to do and the ferry departs at 5pm, not really sure what the terrain is going to be like either.  So it is a relief when I find myself on that staple of the UK cycle network, a disused railway line.  Just as at home, it provides a gravel surface and more or less no slope, and even shelter from the sun as I generally have trees on either side.  Very pleasant cycling I must say, I can see why the hotel garage was full of bicycles.

Only fifty-seven kilometres to go!

Nice to see signposts for Cherbourg along the way - and being in kilometres the distance seems to reduce quite quickly.  The other direction is signed for Mont-St-Michel, it doesn't say how far.  As the cycle route is rather less direct than the way I went last year, I am guessing quite a long way.  One problem with following an official route though, I'm not passing through many towns.  At around lunchtime I do at least stumble upon an artisan bakers... here I get an excellent sandwich, a chantilly swan and a can of orangina, all for a mere five euros.

Festival pains eh.  Reminds me of Glastonbury...

The afternoon wears on, and sadly the railway comes to an end, from now on I'm faced with more up and down, and my pace drops alarmingly.  Still, I've made decent time and can afford to slow down a bit... as it turns out I get to within seven miles or so of Cherbourg, and then roll downhill all the way to Tourlaville on the coast, after which it is a flat mile or two to Cherbourg.  After a quick look around I realise that while I can see the ferry, for some reason the entrance to the port area is all the way back in Tourlaville, ho hum.  A bit more pedalling then and I board the boat, time for a beer or three on the way back to England.

This time I have the whole evening to spend in Portsmouth, fortunately my old mate Martin is on hand to direct me to a more salubrious part of town, and indeed the George Hotel where I've booked a room turns out to be a pleasant pub.  Still, I can't make it a late one as I have a full eighty miles to do tomorrow.

The fast boat - Cherbourg to Portsmouth in just three hours.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.