Out of the 8 that went, there were 3 returnees and the others were first timers, so yet to experience the great weekend that we 3 knew they had laying in wait for them, Andy and myself decided to trail ride down to Bike Normandy, Andy on his KTM690r and me on my KTM525mxc,
All packed and ready for the off -
So we got the over night ferry from Portsmouth to Caen, the plan was to sleep on the ferry, but the coach loads of excited teenagers on Easter break, high on sugary drinks and bouncing off the walls all night, made that plan obsolete, so headed to the bar to be met by the blues brothers and other film characters all on stage weekends.
So as we got off the ferry, with a planned route using the french version of the OS maps ( IGN ). We headed to the Pegasus Bridge cafe for breakfast, as we had planned a few stop offs at historical sites along the way.
Just off the ferry, at the Pegasus Bridge.
Good to see the bridge, but the cafe was shut, we just headed off on the route, the plan was to head east and south and a lunch and fuel stop in Lisieux, it has to be said that 3 of the planned routes were shut off, so we had to go around, but to be fair the trails that we did use some of them were quite challenging especially with the added weight of the luggage, and Andy had a tank bag on his 690 so he couldn't get his weight forward on the climbs, of which they were a few.
A few trails and the lunch stop at Lisieux.
Andy managed to find the only wheel shaped hole.
Lunch at Lisieux main square .
With full tanks and belly's, we now headed south to Vimoutiers via Orbec, and as the hills got a bit steeper the trails started to flow together with some great forest trails and leafy muddy valley routes, only really one mishap on-route, we were following a trail down a valley that was supposed to veer to the right, but the trail went straight on, well that's what we thought.
The trail that wasn't, looks like it goes straight on, but actually the route to the right was obscured by felled trees.
The proper route, up the valley side.
Getting to the proper trail proved tricky.
A quick break was in order, sitting on the tree that blocked the route.
But soon got back into the swing of things, and the trails just kept getting better, with the added bonus of the cracking weather, we just made one more stop before we got to Bike Normandy, the stop was at the sole remaining German Tiger tank, type E of those that know about these things.
An hour of trail riding ( and the best yet ) to go before we arrived at BN, as we rode diveway up the hill to the farm house that is BN, we were met by Jen, a warm welcome and a cold beer was just the ticket, so as we had a few hours before the others arrived, so showered and changed, just sat looking at the great views with some more cold beer.
The other arrived about 2000hrs, in 2 vans there was Phil and his KTM300exc, Gav with his WR250 and Roy with his TE250 in one van and Charlie and his Gas Gas 250ec, Mike and his 450exc, and Dave and his KTM 450 I think.
After we were all sorted in the room, we sat down to a fantastic meal, 4 courses with wine, ( Jen would be a dead cert to win master chef ) and chatter about the coming days of riding, the plan was to get to bed nice and early to hit the lanes with a clear head, well true to form as with most trips away with the Surrey massive, that plan went straight out the window.
The next day arrived, with the morning sun shining on us, and the breakfast table all laid out, with fresh Croissants and baguettes, home made jams as well as fresh fruit and yogurts and the smell of fresh coffee in the pot.
All fed we got ready to leave, with our ride leader Alain and our tail gunner Richard, as the first day we were heading out from BN to sample the local lanes, well the very first lane was a real eye opener, a steep climb into what seemed to be endless deep muddy ruts, which Alain just seemed to skip across, as the rest of us were wishing we had gone to bed a bit earlier, a running repair to Richard's bike gave us a quick rest bite.
Richard's air box cover fix.
We headed off, on-route to the first stop, where John from BN would meet us, with fuel and water, he also carries a few spares, luckily for Andy a gear lever was amongst the spares. The days are planned out with 3 planned stops, 2 short fuel breaks and a longer lunch stop, and John settles all the bills and then it's split at the end of the trip, great idea, no messing around.
The first stop, for a 'coke'.
Here are a few pictures of the trails, there not in any order, but it will give you an idea of the type of terrain we covered, and it has to be said, that although I never registered the mileage, judging by the fuel used it must be about 90 / 100 miles and I would estimate about 85% on the trails if not more.
Some fast flowing farm tracks.
Water, yep plenty of water....
Although I got no pictures, ( someone will have footage ) we did do the riverbed route, those that were there last year will know what I mean, but it's a narrow riverbed of flint stones
and roots, with the added bonus of fallen trees to duck under, and some drainage tunnels that are so small you have to get off the bike and crawl beside it through the tunnel.
Lots of muddy stuff to have fun in.
As ever with these trips, there were a few opps moments, not many to be fair.
The food on the lunch stops was great as was a welcome beer.
Some more forest climbs and it was time to head back to BN and a shower and another 4 course meal and some more cod beer, just to be sociable you understand.
At the evening meal, John informed us that he would have to nip out, as one of the pregnant sheep had gone missing, so Charlie and myself offered to help look, half an hour in the fading light scrambling up muddy banks and in thorny thickets looking for the sheep, but alas to no avail as the fading light made the search fruitless and the worst was feared as they had lost a few of the new born lambs to foxes in the past.
Day 2 was more of the same but this time we started from Orbec, we opted to stay for an extra night at BN so no rushing off to the ferry, on the Monday when it was time to leave after another good brekkie, the vans set off to see a few of the local sights and then headed off to the picture postcard town of Honfleur for lunch before making there way to the ferry at Dieppe.
While Andy and myself had planned a route of about 200kms of single track farm roads and some easy trails up to Dieppe, the idea being not to get covered in mud before getting on the ferry, we only did about 9 trails, we routed via the Pont de Brotonne just south of Yvetot.
The view of the bridge from the trail and a close up.
Some of the easy trails and sights on-route back.
We stopped for lunch in a small town called Moyaux and we really hit lucky, with some great food at a lovely little cafe in the town square.
The Hansel and Gretel moment was funny for some, well about seven I would say, whilst marking a junction in the middle of the woods, there was quite a wait and no more riders after the first 3, so a few minutes later Alain comes back past to find out what's gone wrong, unbeknownst to me, the first riders through were at the cafe, and Alain had sorted the problem at the back of the pack and just lead them on the road to the cafe to meet up with the others, I would like to think they were all out looking for me but in reality there was beer at the cafe, and just me in the wood, so no contest really, John phoned me, and I said just crack on without me as I had a IGN maps of the area and could find my own way back to BN, be he would have none of it, so the plan was to make my a nearby village and give him a ring, so he would come and I could follow him back to the group, which we did only thing was I found the only village in the whole of Normandy that had a slow moving carnival going through it.
I had spent the whole of the trip with no side stand as the nice people on the ferry snapped it off for me, so the worry was that they may not let me back on the ferry because they wouldn't be able to secure it, so a few plans were hatched involving chemical metal or swapping stands with one in the vans, but they didn't fit so the final plan was to take an ally box stand on the ferry with me, as it was I need not of worried as the picture shows...
As we were all chatting of the ferry home, about the trials and tribulations of the weekend, John from BN phoned me to say that they had found the missing sheep a few fields further up the hill, and she had had 2 lambs and all were well.
I v'e been to Bike Normandy 5 times now and have booked number 6 with my road bike, if you want to find out why most of there customers a return trade, get your self over there, but be quick they book up pretty fast.
Here's a link to all the picture that I took for those that want - http://s640.photobucket.com/user/Rainma ... sort=3&o=0
an excuse to get the newer one I think. 
