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My wife's first cycling tour, and with all of six gears on her bike we wanted to find something suitable: L'Avenue Verte was perfect. Packed and ready to go. Debs bravely on her city hybrid, and my lovely Dawes Super Galaxy Tourer. The week started with a five-minute ride from our home to Honeybourne station, where we caught the train to London.
A short cycle across Hyde Park and we were on the train to Newhaven, where a last-minute "I'd better just double-check" revealed that it's best to get off at Newhaven Town, not Newhaven Harbour if you want to catch the ferry.
It was approaching midnight and raining heavily, with thunderstorms on the horizon, but that didn't stop the car drivers getting upset with us for daring to shelter near the front of the queue instead of standing in the rain and exhaust fumes. There were only six of us taking the overnight ferry with bikes: a father and daughter taking on a long-dreamed-of trip, an Italian returning home from his London studies on a beautiful vintage bike and a lunatic named Bradley, who was cycling from Luton to Paris for charity in the least-prepared way imaginable.
More on him later. Take your luggage off your bike to at least try and save your wheels. And no Euros. By 6am we were off the ferry and, after a few adjustments to the bike and donning of waterproofs, were riding through the drizzle. We managed to find Bradley and, after explaining the best side of the road to cycle on in France, spent a lovely couple of hours helping him in the right direction and getting to know one another — occasionally encountering the rest of our ferry companions.
