More Than 21 Bends

25/09/2026

630km across France, and the one thing that nearly derailed it

The riding is the easy part. Here's the bit that catches people out, and how I take it off your plate. The Logistics Nobody Warns You About on a Point-to-Point Bike Tour A point-to-point route is the dream. Coast to coast, one direction, a proper journey with a start and a finish you can point to on a map. The…...

https://morethan21bends.com/point-to-point-bike-tour-logistics

20/09/2026

Bikepacking the Vélo Francette: 630km across France, from the Normandy coast at Ouistreham to La Rochelle on the Atlantic, six days on a loaded bike. Everyone sells it as a gentle river route.

Day 1 had other ideas.

Day 1 runs from the D-Day coast at Ouistreham, through Caen and down the Voie Verte into the hills of the Suisse Normande, over Clécy, past Flers, and finally up to Domfront. Dead legs, an empty water bottle, and one hot dog I'll regret for the rest of the trip.

Bikepacking the Vélo Francette: 630km across France, from the Norma...

13/08/2026

DAY 5/5 — Rennes → Saint-Malo 🇫🇷🚴‍♂️

The final day. And back where it all started.

Left Rennes at 7:10 am for the final 91 km to Saint-Malo.

📏 91 km
⛰️ 552 m climbing
⏱️ 5 days on the bike

Today’s climbing is equivalent to 0.49 Alpe d’Huez.

And after five days, the numbers have really started to add up:

🚴 465 km
⛰️ 3,885 m climbing
📊 3.47 Alpe d’Huez

That’s almost three and a half times the vertical gain of climbing Alpe d’Huez — all accumulated on the rolling roads of Brittany.

And the original target was around 500 km.

We didn’t quite get there, but 465 km of bikepacking, five days in the saddle and nearly 4,000 metres of climbing isn’t a bad way to explore Brittany.

📍 Saint-Malo: DONE. 🇫🇷

Five days. One bike. One very memorable loop.

12/08/2026

The Brittany Bikepacking Tour — Day 4

Day 1: ⛰️ 1.09 Alpe d’Huez
Day 2: ⛰️ 0.79 Alpe d’Huez
Day 3: ⛰️ 0.73 Alpe d’Huez
Day 4: ⛰️ 0.36 Alpe d’Huez

Running total:

🚴 374 km
⛰️ 3,333 m climbing
📊 2.98 Alpe d’Huez

The numbers suggest today was the easiest stage.

The temperature suggested otherwise.

After four days on the road, the challenge is no longer just distance or climbing. It’s recovering, refuelling and turning the pedals again tomorrow.

Saint-Malo is getting closer.

One final stage to go. 🇫🇷🚴‍♂️

11/08/2026

DAY 3/5 — Saint-Nicolas-des-Eaux → L’Île aux Pies 🇫🇷🚴‍♂️

Another day, another collection of Breton hills.

📏 93 km
⛰️ 818 m climbing

That’s the equivalent of 0.73 Alpe d’Huez in elevation gain (818 m vs 1,120 m for the famous climb).

Tour totals after three days:

🚴 286 km
⛰️ 2,928 m climbing

That’s now 2.61 Alpe d’Huez worth of climbing accumulated since leaving Saint-Malo.

📍 Tonight: L’Île aux Pies, one of Brittany’s most beautiful river valleys, tucked beside the River Oust.

Three days down. The distance is adding up, the climbing is adding up, and so are the memories.

10/08/2026

DAY 2/5 — Saint-Brieuc → Saint-Nicolas-des-Eaux 🇫🇷🚴‍♂️

Another day in the books on my Brittany bikepacking loop.

📏 92 km
⛰️ 885 m climbing

Not quite the elevation of Day 1, but Brittany continues to prove that you don’t need mountains to keep the legs honest.

Tour total after 2 days:

🚴 193 km
⛰️ 2,110 m climbing

That’s already the equivalent of 1.88 Alpe d’Huez in vertical gain.

📍 Tonight: Saint-Nicolas-des-Eaux, deep in the beautiful Blavet Valley.

Two days down. Three to go.

09/08/2026

Brittany is sneakier than it looks.

Day 1: 101 km / 1,225 m ↑

There aren’t many huge climbs around here, but there are a lot of little ones.

The result?

An average of 12.1 m of climbing for every kilometre ridden.

Compare that with Alpe d’Huez:

⛰️ 1,120 m ↑
📏 13.8 km
📊 ~81 m climbing/km

So Alpe d’Huez is obviously a completely different beast.

But string enough Breton hills together over 100 km…

…and the elevation starts to hurt. 😅

Day 1: St Malo → Saint-Brieuc and 1.09 Alpe d’Huez

07/08/2026

Ever wondered what a real French cycling event s like ?

Anjou Vélo Vintage

Anjou Vélo Vintage is what a real French cycling event actually loo...

17/06/2026

Are you doing L'Etape du Tour - You need to think about these things

You've got the entry. You've trained. But have you actually thought...

10/06/2026

Does this make me a Cycling in France Influencer?