{"id":718,"date":"2016-01-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-31T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kergudon.com\/https-www-kergudon-com-sunday-31-january-cycling\/"},"modified":"2020-05-12T15:54:40","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T15:54:40","slug":"sunday-31-january-cycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kergudon.com\/fr\/sunday-31-january-cycling\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday 31 January – Cycling"},"content":{"rendered":"

The end of another week and, while I said I only had the perception we hadn\u2019t achieved as much as we would have liked in last week\u2019s blog, this week I can say it with absolute confidence!\u00a0 While the title of the blog may also suggest that we have been physically active even that isn’t true but all will be revealed further down!<\/p>\n

I posted last week\u2019s blog<\/a> early as we were hosting a Burn\u2019s Night dinner in Priory for some of our neighbours. I think the evening was a huge success and among our 6 guests there was only one genuine haggis virgin who really enjoyed the, very traditional, Burn\u2019s Night menu.\u00a0 If time of going to bed is any indication of success then this one was fantastically successful.\u00a0 We had decided to have Scottish aperitifs at 8 pm and sit down about 8.30. \u00a0We sat down about 9 in the end, no issue there, but didn\u2019t finish the meal until shortly after midnight and our first guests didn\u2019t leave until after 2 am.<\/p>\n

We hope this was an indication of how much they were enjoying the evening, and it was really great fun although tiring, at least for me, concentrating on trying to get my French right and understand all that was being said. Our last guests however, didn\u2019t leave us until about 6.30 am as the conversation continued, as too the single malt.\u00a0 Needless to say we didn\u2019t get a lot achieved on Monday, or Tuesday for that matter as we recovered and cleaned up!!<\/p>\n

\"Burns<\/a>\"Burns<\/a><\/p>\n

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Unfortunately Monday was by far the best day of the week for weather and about the only one when we could have been outside without getting soaked \u2013 and we certainly could have done with the fresh air!!<\/p>\n

While we have managed to achieve a few, small, things much of the remainder of the week has been spent inside on the routine stuff so no exciting photos to show. However, last year I started to use my blog to outline some of the activities that you can do during your stay with us at Kergudon and detailed the amazing fly fishing opportunities here \u2013 indeed Philippe who we recommend as a fly fishing guide has produced a new video which you can see on our Things to Do<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

This week I thought that it would be worth outlining another of the activities that bring people to the Monts D\u2019Arr\u00e9e \u2013 cycling.<\/p>\n

This region is hugely popular with club and professional cyclists who make the most of the empty, well maintained roads with just enough undulation to make them seriously challenging and great training!<\/p>\n

Last year we had a guest who came with his family from another g\u00eete near M\u00fbr-de-Bretagne which, by even the shortest route is 95 kms (approx. 60 miles) away. His family arrived by car and he came an hour or so later on his bike.\u00a0 The family lived in Cambridgeshire, on the flatter fen side, so while he was a very experienced cyclist he wasn\u2019t so used to the hills.\u00a0 While he was with us he got quite used to the changes in elevation as he went for a couple of long cycle rides with one of our close neighbours who is a SERIOUS cyclist and may be persuaded to guide (15,807 kms (9,822 miles) cycled in 2015 over 637 hours on 213 days during which his elevation totalled 217,624 metres which equates to 24 times up Everest \u2013 or so his data readout said!)<\/p>\n

The French too are mad-keen cyclists and there is so much more to it than just \u2018Le Tour\u2019. Sadly (for us) Le Tour changes its course each year and no longer follows the original route which was used for many years around the circumference of France one year clockwise, the next anti-clockwise which meant that every year the cyclists passed close to Saint Cadou en-route to or from Brest.\u00a0 This year the Grand D\u00e9part leaves from Mont St.Michel on the Brittany \/ Normandy border so about 2\u00bd hours from us and doesn\u2019t come any closer – another year \u2026<\/p>\n

While \u2018Le Tour\u2019 doesn\u2019t pass near us every year there are a number of elite and amateur races which do.<\/p>\n

The closest in format to Le Tour is the Tour de Bretagne<\/a> held in late April \/ Early May, 25 Apr \u2013 01 May this year which will be the 50th<\/sup> running of the event.\u00a0 The race totals 1,173 kms (729 miles) over 7 stages and is used to showcase some of the up and coming under 23s who race with more established elite racers.<\/p>\n

\"Cycling<\/a>\"Cycling<\/a><\/p>\n

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The annual Grand Prix de Plouay<\/a> is a 4 day festival of cycling in and around the village of Plouay held in the last weekend of August (28 \u2013 31 Aug 2016). It centres on a very technically demanding, and hilly, 229 km men\u2019s race although there is now a 114 km women\u2019s race held the day before.\u00a0 The festival also has BMX events and various mass participation and amateur races.<\/p>\n

\"Cycling<\/a>\"Cycling<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"Cycling<\/a><\/p>\n

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For those who prefer their cycling \u2018dirtier\u2019 the Tro-Bro-Leon<\/a>, a 1-day, 204 km (127 mile) race is held in April on un-paved roads forming a circuit north of Brest but passing very close to Landerneau.<\/p>\n

One of the largest events is the Paris \u2013 Brest \u2013 Paris<\/a> held every 4 years. Not technically a race (although there are prizes for the winners(!)) it was run in August last year so sadly not again until 2019.\u00a0 This is a serious event and open to amateur cyclists which passes through our nearest town of Sizun on the way to and from Brest.\u00a0 Riders have a time limit in which to complete the 1,200 km (746 mile) course which is either 80 or 90 hours depending on category.\u00a0 Regardless, no rider can receive any form of external support so they have to buy provisions en route and sleep as and when they want.\u00a0 Hard core stuff.<\/p>\n

\"Cycling<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Cycling<\/a>\"Cycling<\/a><\/p>\n

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With all of these options there is great choice for serious cyclists, and even for those who enjoy a more sedate ride but can appreciate the effort of the pros, to spectate, potentially participate, but certainly to train and exercise and all easily accessible from Kergudon.<\/p>\n

For those who have serious bikes and would like to bring them with them, we can keep them safely under lock and key and for those who would rather have a more leisurely activity we have 6 mountain bikes available for guests to use free of charge \u2013 and can even provide a picnic for you.<\/p>\n

Salut.<\/p>\n

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http:\/\/kergudon.com\/sunday-6th-september-off-season-activities-fly-fishing\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.paris-brest-paris.org\/index2.php?lang=en&cat=accueil&page=edito<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/trobroleon.jimdo.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.grandprix-plouay.com\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The end of another week and, while I said I only had the perception we hadn\u2019t achieved as much as we would have liked in last week\u2019s blog, this week I can say it with absolute confidence!\u00a0 While the title of the blog may also suggest that we have been physically active even that isn’t…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":729,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ben-and-daves-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kergudon.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kergudon.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kergudon.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kergudon.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kergudon.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kergudon.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kergudon.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kergudon.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kergudon.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kergudon.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}