• I did this exact route with Krzys 3 years ago. Except we rode to Dover. We did 950km in 5 days. We were both pretty fit, but that still added to 10 hours at least riding each day. For a more comfortable experience I would aim for 100 - 150k a day.

    I recommend you get a 1 200 000 and a map-holder. That way you can plot and follow a quiet lane route, and stay off the long, straight and fast highways. We stopped at Cambrai, Verdun, Remiremont, rode across Ballon d'Alsace and into Basel.

    I can send you a rough outline of the route we took, but are you planning tents or hotels? It makes a big difference. North Eastern France is pretty empty once you get away from the major towns, there is nothing. Especially in August. On the way to Verdun, me and Krzys didn't see a single open hotel for 100k. And believe me, if we had seen one, we would have stopped!

    Don't even think about taking a bag, at least not one you carry on your shoulders. Me and Kryzs had a trailer, a big messenger bag each and swapped the trailer over between us.

    Forget it being flat - just cos there aren't any hills over 300m doesn't mean it's flat - it's up and down the whole way until you get to the Vosges. Each little rise is nothing, but taken together they add up to a lot of effort. I don't think we had more than 1k of flat the whole way (apart from when we finally arrived in the Rhine valley.

    RIding it fixed? If you are really fit, yes, why not? If you aren't really fit, forget it. I pulled the trailer over Ballon d'Alsace (I think I was towing maybe 20 -25 k) and I ran out of gears, even with 39-32.

    And finally, that ride was one of the best experiences of my life. And Krzys said one of the funniest things that anyone's ever said to me: after 260k from Cambrai to Verdun we were on our hands and knees. And our arses were RAW. Krzys summed it up by saying: My arse feels like I have been fucking with 1000 monkeys...

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