Roscoff to Santander

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
folgesvenn
Posts: 7
Joined: 13 Aug 2012, 4:48pm

Re: Roscoff to Santander

Post by folgesvenn »

I'm at uni in Plymouth (well, not for much longer; my final third year exam is in less than a month!) and am planning this journey in August. I was planning on around 100km/day, but cutting inland around Biaritz to take in some of the Pyrenees before heading across the foothills to Santander. When I planned it out (roughly following the EV1, following roads where it was more appropriate) it came out at aroun 850 miles, including the Pyrenees diversion. When were you thinking of going?

Cheers!
Morgham
Posts: 7
Joined: 9 Apr 2013, 2:40pm
Location: Tavistock, Devon

Re: Roscoff to Santander

Post by Morgham »

I've changed the route now to do it the opposite way, and also persuaded the other half to let me have an extra 4 days! :D

I'm leaving on 16th June for Santander, then going to follow the quieter route suggested by bikepacker on the Santander to St Malo/Caen thread. After that work my way up the EV1 or roads where I think they will be more interesting or quicker.

folgesvenn you sound like you are in a similar position to me, final exam is 10th May and I start work on the 10th July so the trip has to be done in June realistically.
John Morgan
Plymouth Corinthian CC Senior BAR 2011 - with possibly the slowest aggregate speed in the history of the club!
Geoff Dale
Posts: 56
Joined: 17 Jan 2007, 2:30pm
Location: West/South Yorks Boundry

Re: Roscoff to Santander

Post by Geoff Dale »

Hi, Planning a similar ride myself, When exactly do you intend to ride the rout, I'm about ready for a mid May start, maybe we could meet on rout and compare experiences !!
folgesvenn
Posts: 7
Joined: 13 Aug 2012, 4:48pm

Re: Roscoff to Santander

Post by folgesvenn »

Morgham wrote:I've changed the route now to do it the opposite way, and also persuaded the other half to let me have an extra 4 days! :D

I'm leaving on 16th June for Santander, then going to follow the quieter route suggested by bikepacker on the Santander to St Malo/Caen thread. After that work my way up the EV1 or roads where I think they will be more interesting or quicker.

folgesvenn you sound like you are in a similar position to me, final exam is 10th May and I start work on the 10th July so the trip has to be done in June realistically.


That's great about the extra days! My last exam is the 10th too! What do you study...? I start work on the 14th May but have 3 weeks off in August, so was planning to take around 17 days to do the trip, maybe more. It would be good to hear your experiences after your trip when you're back.
DaveGregory
Posts: 1
Joined: 23 Apr 2013, 10:25am

Re: Roscoff to Santander

Post by DaveGregory »

I'm going to Santander this Sunday, riding back to Roscoff. Aiming to do the Spanish bit, which doesn't sound the most appealing!! Weather not looking great for the first week but what can you do? I'll post some details on return if anyone's interested? :D
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BeeKeeper
Posts: 1265
Joined: 29 Apr 2011, 6:45am
Location: South Devon

Re: Roscoff to Santander

Post by BeeKeeper »

DaveGregory wrote:I'll post some details on return if anyone's interested? :D

They most certainly are!
Morgham
Posts: 7
Joined: 9 Apr 2013, 2:40pm
Location: Tavistock, Devon

Re: Roscoff to Santander

Post by Morgham »

Dave I'd love to hear your experiences, I'm sure there is a lot I could learn before I have to learn the hard way. The Spanish bit looks ok if you aim for the coast road, longer and hillier, but much more enjoyable!

folgesvenn I'm studying mechanical engineering, which hopefully won't be called on to fix the bike at any point en route! I'm thinking of doing a small blog, more to record the trip for myself than anything else, and I'm also planning on using strava to record the route I take so it should be easier to explain for anyone else who wants to follow it.
John Morgan
Plymouth Corinthian CC Senior BAR 2011 - with possibly the slowest aggregate speed in the history of the club!
xanabe
Posts: 3
Joined: 28 Mar 2013, 10:27am

Re: Roscoff to Santander

Post by xanabe »

Hi,

I am hoping to do this route soon. I want to take my time, detour, sightsee, etc, so I have given myself 1 month (I guess I can always go on beyond Santander if I want). I wanted to build in rest days and bad weather days but maybe I've allotted too much time - I thought it was 900 miles too so will go and recalculate!

Are any forum members able to advise me about accommodation along the route? I'd prefer not to book accommodation in advance, for flexibility, but is this feasible? Also, are there any good campsites / monasteries / eco hostels / friendly farms / low cost châteaux, etc, that you'd recommend staying?

Dave, not sure whether you'll pick this up one year later, but any advice welcome, esp w/r/t the Spanish section...

Many thanks for any advice.
Last edited by xanabe on 6 May 2014, 11:16am, edited 1 time in total.
dodger
Posts: 696
Joined: 28 Jan 2007, 9:33pm
Location: East Cornwall

Re: Roscoff to Santander

Post by dodger »

Plenty of campsites and B&Bs. Never had a problem on Roscoff to Bayonne.
Get a campsite list in advance or some maps show them. If not sure just get to the local tourism info point before they close - they are always helpful.
About 500 -550 miles to Bayonne, following parts of the Velodyssey route, which is slower and less direct than all roads, but don't know from there. Took me 2 weeks to reach Bayonne with a constant headwind and well loaded last year.
xanabe
Posts: 3
Joined: 28 Mar 2013, 10:27am

Re: Roscoff to Santander

Post by xanabe »

Thanks very much dodger.

Yes, I guess France has a SW prevailing wind too...

L
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