2nd July 2016
Day 01, Caen/Ouistreham to Carentan

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Cycled along the coastline, amazing to see all these bunkers and D-day beaches. TdF helicopter was flying around and we saw lots of team cars. Rained a little on the first day of the ride. Length - 19min 35

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Garmin route for today - - Strava route for today

 

Start time: 07:51
Start location: xxxx
Start weather: xxxx
Total millage so far: 0miles

Stops: xxxx

Finish time: 00.00
Finish location: xxxx
Finish weather: xxxx
Miles today: 55.82 before battery died. (worked it out to be 67.6) (Strava says - 55.8. Going with 67.6 from my planned route.)
Total millage so far: 55.82 before battery died (worked it out to be 67.6)
Today's top speed: 27.1mph (Strava says - 26.8mph)
Punctures: 00

Music played:

Blog for the day:
Ok, so here we are at the ferry terminal waiting for the van to arrival. They are watching the "foot" "ball" or something boring like that. So we can see our ship which has just pulled in, alongside are some of the Royal Navy ships, aircraft carrier and new frigates.

Loads of cyclists queuing with with the cars, all carrying their camping gear in panniers haha. Lots of camper vans and caravans too, lots with bikes attached. I guess some of them will be following the tour for the whole 3aeeks, which starts, like us, tomorrow. Windy out so the journey might be rough.

Having a beer before we board the ship.

 

First days riding. Wow that was way too hard today. The first week was meant to be nice and easy with no hills. But I am shattered. We got in to camp around 6pm and we started about 8am!!! I didn't plan it to be like this. I guess stopping off all the time for photos adds time to the day. I could always blame the very strong headwinds we had and heavy rain showers.

But we did see lots which was amazing, missed out on pont du hoc though because no where to leave my bike without a lock. The maps were easy to follow although my garmin never stopped beeping at me all day. So I turned off lots of settings to stop the noise but then I missed my turnings. Oh and the battery died so I missed about 10miles of information.

Got to be more organised regarding having food on arrival and restaurants booked. Hopefully now we are in country that it will be easier.

Generally a good day and happy with my planning. Oh, at campsite now having put up my tent and showered. I now remember why I hate camping and nearly burnt my tent down in Oregon in my last day of the TA.

I had planned to get to watch the sprint of the Tour de France but just didn't have the time to get there. Would have been great to see Cav win.

Ok so first day down. Off for dinner. Starving. Everyone seems happy enough which is great. Fab to have American mike here too.

Then & Now WWII Pictures - https://www.warhistoryonline.com/featured/ghosts-of-time-39-incredible-pictures.html