Thury-Harcourt to Ouisterham 32  miles Running total 953 miles 

Here is todays route. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42318441

Todays objective is to get to the ferry terminal at Ouisterham no later than 3pm. As long as we have no issues to contend with, this should be an easy ride. The cycle way is on a disused railway initially alongside the River Orne and then alongside the Caen Canal. (Famous last words)

We awoke to another sunny morning. We have been so lucky on a trip of this length to have only had a couple of days with light showers and all other days perfect cycling weather, if we ignore the headwinds.

The cycleway runs alongside the River Orne, looping back and forth over old railway bridges. In some places going through cuttings where there are sheer cliffs on either side and then going through tunnels. After about 10 miles, we cycle through the Grimsbosq Forest or, as my compatriot says, Le Foret de Grimsbosq.

The old rail lines are still in position for about 8 miles, and at one point, we found a Velo Rail station with units waiting to be hired out.

We eventually reach Caen, which is still 10 miles from the ferry port. We stop for a coffee and then resume our journey. The Cycleway has not finished messing with us yet. We follow the Velo La Francette signs and come across a missing bridge with no indication of where the route has been diverted. We retraced our steps and found an alternative route through Caen, and when we eventually arrive at the other side of the missing bridge, we found that they seemed to have put all the diversion signs only on one side.

The ride down the canal could have been perfect, but we were cycling directly into a strong headwind, which made it hard going. We reached the famous Pegasus Bridge and cafe where we stopped and looked around. The cafe was in the very first house that was liberated during the D Day invasion and was full of tributes and photos of the liberating armies. We had yet another coffee and took photos.

The final few miles to the port were very hard going as we were now peddling directly against a 26mph wind coming straight up the Caen Canal from the channel. We pressed on, and after a very draughty picnic, we decided to check in for the ferry. We thought there might be somewhere sheltered for us to wait. This was not the case, and we and the motorcycles were treated like cars and had to wait for two hours before boarding. At least it was not raining.

The 6 hour ferry journey was uneventful, and we had a fish & chip meal ( How British). However, getting off the ferry was delayed due to the fact that they could not lower the ramp to let us off. There were people in orange suits pushing and pulling, and after a 45 mins delay, it came down.

There were six cyclists, and we had to wait until all the cars had exited before we could. We did get the last laugh because we were told to cycle up the queue for immigration and were allowed to jump in next to passport control in front of the cars and motorcycles. A short cycle in the dark to where the car was parked, and home by 00:30.

A great adventure and achievement. We’ll done my compatriot, I might let you do it with me again. I am wondering how difficult it would be to circumnavigate the globe! Something to explore on a dark winter night.