It was all his idea…
It all started late last year, when fellow Audax Kernow-ite John Morse told me he was looking for a suitable challenge for the Summer of 2005. LEL just didn’t float his boat – it had to be a PRoF*, and not just any old ProF would do either. Local organiser Simon Jones is well known for his ultra-long permanents, many of which have been ridden and written up in Arrivees past by Simon Kolka and George Hanna, but John couldn’t spare the time required for Trafalgar – Trafalgar or Calais – Brindisi. Happily, one of Simon’s more recent creations, Roscoff – Nice, fit the bill to a T.
…but I reckoned it sounded like a hoot!
The start is just a ferry ride away from Plymouth, and it’s a ride that takes in some of the best scenery that la Belle France has to offer: the sunkissed Loire valley with it’s fields of sunflowers and old windmills; the rolling hills of the Auvergne; Provence, and it’s endless symmetrical fields of Lavender; the fearsome Mont Ventoux and Europe’s own Grand Canyon – the spectacular Gorge of Verdon. All this, and a generous ration of memorable climbs and pant-wetting twisty descents on roads that tend to be better surfaced than most motorways in the UK. Best of all, a time allowance of seven days to complete the 1405km – no kipping in hedges necessary! John had planned to do RN solo, but I was already sold on the idea. After i’d accomplished the difficult trick of selling the idea on to my cycling-sceptic wife, the date was set for the beginning of July.
* Permanent Ride on Foreign Soil
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