Get out and ride - Normandy in the snow

A trip to the continent is usually a summertime affair but one UBG contributor has found a different time of year to sample some Gallic delights.

Story/pics Mike Blake

You must have seen one of those ‘Pack-it-all-in-and-move-abroad-to-a-new-life’ programmes on TV? The new life is usually based in nice countryside with cheap property that’s the result of a total absence of jobs in the vicinity. Normandy is a good example of this scenario. Although most people just scream through the place on their way south or west, Normandy has a lot to offer in terms of lovely villages and a slow pace of life.

John and Jeanette Eggleton have solved the employment problem by making their new home the centre for leisure weekends run by their company Bike Normandy. There are two offerings, a road bike trip where they meet you at the port and take you touring and an off-road version where they bring in local guides to take you out on the local trails starting from their property. (They are also open as a regular B&B in the summer. For details check out www.bikenormandy.com).

Their place is ideal for accommodating a crowd of people on bikes. The basement has pool and table-football plus a big fridge full of drinks. The décor is sparse, a bit like a clubhouse but it also has a ‘drying room’ where heaters and dehumidifiers dry your kit overnight, which is bloody vital in winter. The lounge-diner is huge, with an open fire to warm your bits on and big sofas to rest while you stroke the dogs and lubricate your throat in advance of the evening meal.

We arrived too late for this on Friday night; it was past 1 o’clock in the morning before we arrived from the Caen ferryport. One piece of advice if you go to France, take a good map.

We were a party of eight, organised by Darren who I’d met last year on one of Chris Evans’ Normandy trips. There were two Scousers and the rest were all from Tarleton near Preston.

My three previous trips to Normandy off-road have been in November. The weather is usually mild and wet, very wet but, this year was different, and a harsh winter – the weather forecasters had been warning us about it for months – was upon us. The temperature on day one was barely above freezing. The cold took its toll on several of the batteries, a bump start down the hill being needed to fire them up.

Firing up the distinctly jaded riders was more of a challenge. Riding gear is a big question on days like this. You don’t want to be cold, but trail riding is hard physical work, sitting in a puddle of sweat is a recipe for hypothermia when you stop. Snow started to fall as we left and I wondered if the jacket I’d bought on eBay was waterproof. I needn’t have worried; by the time we paused for breath I had a breastplate of solid ice!

Riding in the snow was a new experience for me, but to be honest it wasn’t too bad. The snow was more predictable than the frozen grass, which was always ready to catch you out if you gave the bike too much right hand. The conditions varied enormously with a solid covering of snow giving way to frosted grass then frozen mud every couple of miles. We coped well, despite the hangovers, and were grateful for lunch. Eating out in small restaurants in rural France is not the wallet draining that travellers to Paris know so well. You can eat and drink well as a group for 8-18 euros, depending which of the fixed price menus you select.

Dinner on the second night was followed by extended drinking into the small hours and our only casualty of the weekend. Scouser Roger has several stitches in his head, the result of falling down and hitting his head on the corner of a wall. Unperturbed he insisted that he was fine as blood spurted rhythmically between his fingers. John took him to hospital where after treatment he offered to walk the 10 miles back from the hospital rather than give John the bother of driving him. I risk no libel suits by admitting that Roger was not 100 per cent sober throughout this incident. Roger was returned with an amusing bandage that made his helmet sit rather high on his head but otherwise didn’t seem to worry him.

On day two we put the bikes in the vans and onto the trailers and headed to the Suise Normand. This wooded, hilly area is a must for off-roaders, no more flat farm tracks here. The ‘Chemins’ (trails) twist through the trees with steep gradients and plenty of water crossings. Large rocks in water-formed gulleys knock the front wheel sideways and gnarly roots, slippery with frost and mud, do their best to see you and your bike on the deck. Amazingly, offs were few, but there were some notable exceptions and some cracking (no pun intended) collisions with trees.

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