I'm back on the Ocean - well, the English Channel - again. I rode 85 miles, with 2400 feet of climbing, today in seven hours. The weather was gray, wind,y and chilly. The riding was great!

Riding to Lyons-la-Foret

I rode D 323 planning to switch to some smaller D roads that headed north, as doon as I found them. I never found them ;-{. My maps - scanned from a Frommers European Atlas - are not very good! However, as is often the case when I can't do what I planned, the result was a better route.

It was a very pretty ride

I noted, as I rode looking for those roads north, that D 323 was following a lovely valley and that thoe road I was looking for would have to climb out of it. Maybe staying on D 323 wasn't a bad idea! I did try two smaller D roads, but they both turned west after starting out going north. Turning west was not good - the cold wind was blowing form the southeast.

Lyons-la-Foret is a neat town!

Lyons-la-Foret - Lyons of the Forest - is beautiful, but it is also where D 323 climbs out of the valley and up - about 500 feet up - to a plateau. It was pretty up there too, but windier and colder.I had to put my wind vest on, and later my liner gloves. Much later - I should have done it sooner - I put on my extra kneewarmer. My knee is sore tonight and it might not have been as sore if I had started protecting it from the cold wind earlier in the day.

There is forest on both side of Lyons-la-Foret

I stopped for a break on the plateau, eating the last piece of yesterday's bread and demonstrating, once again, how easy it is to park a loaded bike when all the weight in in the front;-}

Forges-les-Eaux

D 323 ends at an N road and D 921 starts on the other side of the road. D 921 does a beautiful descent down into another river valley - interrupted today by construction - and goes to Forges-les-Eaux, another neat town.

I stopped to shop in Forges - it was almost noon. I got supplies at at a grocery store and bread an two pastries at a bread and pasty shop. Then I rode on out of this - pretty big, town trying to decide if I should stop for lunch. I ended up stopping, outside of town, a picnic table and making lunch from what I'd bought. I stopped again a couple of hours later and repeated the process. I rode on on D 1314 to Neufchatel-en-Bray where I switched to D 1 and continued north.

A sign for the adventure road

Leaving Forges I saw bicycle path symbols on the road and than a sign warning motorist to watch out for bicycles. I figured this must be a popular bike rouet. As I rode on D 1 after Neufchatel-en-Bray, I saw a bike path below the road. Then I saw signs for an 'adventure road' with images of biking, hiking,skating,and horse riding. Finally I put the signs and the 'bike path' together. This was a 70 km long, multi-use, path that extended from Forges to (near) the ocean on a paved railtrail. Neat, but the road was fine, so I kept using it.

The adventure road

Finally when I needed to take a break - that second lunch I mentioned - I headed down to the adventure road. It is nicely paved - only a little bumpier than most of the road - and easy to ride. Its best feature for me was that it was lower and better sheltered from the wind than the road, and it was also much flatter than the road. I think I would have gotten very bored with in after 70 km, but for 20 or so it was quite pleasant!

When I got to the end of adventure road, I was still some 10 km from Dieppe. Ther is a big sand and gravel place there that looks like it uses the railroad from there on into Dieppe. I climbed back up to D 1 and cranked on down to and through Dieppe, almost to the ocean, then I headed east. That involved a very long climb through Dieppe - another on of those close to 500 feet vertical climbs. Dieppe isn't particularly pretty or interesting to bicycle through, so, if I had to do it again, I'd try to get on D 925 south of Dieppe. That would eliminated the climb, but might make it an easier.

D 925 is a good rood and easy riding, especially with the good tailwind I had today. There is a moderate amount of traffic, including big trucks, and no shoulder, but most of the road is either 4 lane or had a third lane in the middle. I is also mostly flat, but, when it does decend and climb, it does big descents and climbs. My bad knee started hurting as I cranked along the flat section, so I did not welcome the climbs, but I found I was OK if I just took it easy.

Another shot of the cliffs and beach

I reached Le-Treport about 5 PM, having been on the road since 8:15 AM. It looked like a cool place, and it is. I rode down to the beach, was impressed by the town and by the cliffs, bought supper at a Kebob Kiosk on the beach, and then rode back through town looking for the cheap hotel/bar/restaurant I spotted on the way in. I'm in it now: 36 E with breakfast which is 24 E less than yesterday cheap hotel ;-}. The room is small, the neighbors are noisy, and I'm typing this while sitting on the floor, but the bed is comfortable, and the room has a shower and sink. I hope my earplugs will block the noise from my neighbors and the seagulls...