“Make a right when you see Christ and this will take us to the sea.”
No, this isn’t a Bible quote (or maybe it is). It’s something I said to Don on our ride today because … well, the sign said Christ and the sea was to the right and down the hill.
With some divine intervention after a train SNAFU, we turned disappointment into our best ride so far on this trip.
So, the plan was to put our bikes on the train and ride to Plouaret (it’s about 18 miles) and then cycle north to Lannion and do a loop around the Cote de Granite Rose (the Red Granite Coast) and then take the train back from Lannion to Morlaix. The train arrived on time, at 9:42 and … it was a TGV, not a local, and we weren’t allowed to put our bikes on it.
What the hell?
This is France, and you’re supposed to be able to put your bikes on any and every train. Not this one. And not any TGV unless you make a reservation, something I sort of knew about but forgot. And/or didn’t realize the 9:42 was a TGV.
I admit I screwed up and I may have taken you-know-who’s name in vain when the train guy waved us off and said “no” to the two of us and our bikes. Sorry you-know-who – and also sorry to Don (who paid for the train tickets). The next local, bike-accepting train wasn’t for more than an hour, and we weren’t sure if we’d be able to put our bikes on the train back from Plouaret to Morlaix.
So, change of plan … I consulted my Michelin map and we figured we’d ride north on road along the east side of the inlet out of Moirlaix, which we did on our first ride. It’s a nice road. But instead of heading to the coast around Carentac, we’ll cut east across the rural landscape toward the town of Locquirec and the coast around it. This area is called the Cote des Bruyeres – and Bruyeres means heather. It’s not pink granite, but heather is pretty nice, right?. I’ve been writing “rural” to describe the area between towns we’ve ridden, but a better word would be “farmland.” There’s lots of farmland here and on the way to the Cote des Bruyeres.
By studying my Michelin map, I noticed that from the little town of Guimaec, there was a tiny, tiny, tiny road to the super-small village of Christ and, if we made a right turn just before Christ, it would take us to a spot on the coast marked with a symbol that indicated this was an especially picturesque area. It was and, unlike some of the other areas of the coast in Brittany we’re ridden and walked, this area was more sauvage, wild and undeveloped. We rode along the coast for about 10 kilometers, and it was quite spectacular. Here’s a video …
Here’s another photo starring Don …
The ride back was rural, I mean it was through farmlands, and then eventually back along the inlet to Morlaix. From the center of Morlaix there are a few ways back up to the train station and our hotel right next to it, and each and every one involves climbing a steep hill. For some unknown reason, I decided to go up the steepest road. My guess is it’s 12- to 14- percent the whole way (about a kilometer). It was a narrow street and the cars, unable to pass me, began to line up behind me. And … not a one honked their horn at me. I’m glad I climbed this hill once, but never again.
This ride was our longest (41.52 miles) and included the most climbing (2,028 feet). All in all; I think it’s my favorite ride of this trip. We only have one more day of riding, so I better come up with something even more spectacular tomorrow.
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