Four Months to Go
26. april, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Three years ago I had the privilege of being part of a group of Ghostriders exploring the Nivernais Canal from Decize to Joigny. We had already completed a challenging ride around the Five Countries, a bike and barge tour along the Moselle, a ride along the upper Danube from Donaueschingen to Ulm and finally a ride around Lake Constance.
The ride along the Nivernais was something of an afterthought. None of us knew anything about this route, other than the fact that it was well off the so called "beaten track". It turned out to an absolute highlight and was a very welcome change after the much busier routes we had followed earlier.
After our 2024 ride along the Elbe and Danube from Hamburg to Vienna, I looked for another epic ride to follow it up with. Since this ride would almost certainly be our last extended ride in Europe, I wanted it to be truly memorable. I had already ridden the Loire from Nevers to Le Croisic in 2013, 2015 and 2019, so I already knew how special that ride was, however I wanted to add something extra as a prologue to the main event. When I studied the map, I made the discovery that Decize was actually only a day's ride from Nevers. That meant that it would be easily possible to combine a ride along the Nivernais with a ride along the Loire. Each of these rides could be undertaken separately, or combined together to make an unforgettable journey across the centre of France.
Many months were then spent planning the itinerary and seeking out a local partner who could handle the complex logistics for us. At times It looked like the plan really was going to be a "bridge too far", however eventually all the pieces came together and I was able to announce that yet another cycling adventure was available to anyone who wanted to share it with me.
It is customary to choose a name for every adventure, and this one was no exception. In fact I came up with, not one, but two names. The first section (The Prologue) from Joigny to Nevers would be called The French Connection, while the main ride along the Loire from Nevers to Le Croisic would be called The Nevers Again. This name was a play on the fact that we would be returning to Nevers, and also that it would be our final long distance ride in Europe.
When I released the plans to the group, all the places were quickly filled. In fact, we formed three groups, all of whom would be following the same itinerary, but starting two days apart,
Now that we only have four months to go till we finally get underway, the long period of planning is almost over, although the past two months have thrown us a few unexpected challenges, as I will explain in the next footprint.Læs mere
