Avenue Verte: the perfect introduction to multi-day cycling?

For anyone who’s ever dreamed of doing a multi-day cycling tour then Dieppe to Paris is the perfect introduction. It’s a proper journey to a magical destination: Paris. The route follows miles and miles of smooth tarmac cycle paths, interspersed between quiet country lanes that link ancient sleepy villages. Hours can go by without seeing another soul, never mind any noisy vehicles. And the cream on the top is that there are no steep hills for the whole length of the journey.

The only kind of traffic you are likely to encounter on the journey

We are taking a group of friends on this route next month and they wish to have an adventure that they can enjoy rather than endure. They want it to be type 1 fun, the sort where you are enjoying it at the time, rather than type 2, which is always fun when looking back on it after completion but at the time can be anything but fun. They want it to be technically straightforward with a route that doesn’t require Tom Pidcock levels of bike handling. They want to ride upto 100km each day.

So I set off on Monday evening to do a recce of the route, to reassure myself that the Avenue Verte would deliver the kind of social, enjoyable cycling adventure that I had promised our clients.

I used the overnight ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe to get to my start line. It left Newhaven at 11pm and travelling by bike meant that I was first to be allowed on the boat and thus I was already tucked up in my cabin by 1030, getting in a few hours of much needed sleep. The ferry arrived in Dieppe at 4:30 am and I was on the road within a few minutes.

I love cycling whilst the world is sleeping and one of life’s great joys is riding into a new day. Dawn is magical and Tuesday didn’t disappoint. There was a heavy frost and icy cold air pockets sat around lazily in the Bethune valley that the super smooth cycle path follows for the first 50km to Forges les Eaux. I needed every item of clothing that I’d brought to keep warm and was especially pleased with my new purchase of Assos’s thermo rain shell overtrousers. They made such a difference in keeping my legs warm for the first few hours. As an example of how cold it was, one of my bidons froze in the windchill before the sun came up. Unsurprisingly I had the world to myself and I loved it.

I found a café that was open early in Forges les Eaux and took the chance to warm up for a few minutes before getting stuck into the next section of the route to Gisors. This sector is predominantly on small, quiet lanes where the terrain is gently undulating through dairy farms and miles of heavily scented rapeseed fields. Gisors is a gem of a town. Cobbled high street, gorgeous and quite unique castle and lots of amazing boulangeries, the cyclists heaven.

Beyond Gisors, its back onto a beautiful cycle path that follows the Epte river south, all the way to Bray et Lu. Here the route crosses the river and heads into the Vexin national park, one of the playgrounds of the great impressionist artists. The next 50km or so is the part of the route that requires the most planning. The official “Avenue Verte” suggests following multiple off-road sectors that are a bit like a cross between the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix, the Strada Bianchi sections of Tuscany plus some single track through wooded areas. For the more adventurous cyclist, these sectors could be great fun but they are not what our group are looking for and so on my return leg the following day I took a slightly different route and found the perfect alternative. My amended route goes through more ancient villages along picturesque quiet lanes.

Around 180km from Dieppe, the route arrives in the Greater Paris area with the inevitable urban build up of people and traffic. However, cycle lanes are everywhere and from my experience the other road users are very respectful of cyclists. The parts of the route that are directed onto bespoke cycle paths become a bit more challenging towards Paris as the surfaces are more variable with some lengthy gravel and packed earth parts. The bigger challenge of these urban cycle paths, in my opinion, is that they are shared with pedestrians who have clear priority and so it can make progress more difficult than navigating traffic.

So, there is a clear choice. Use the cycle paths and take lots of time to weave your wave along the Seine towards the city or opt for sticking to the north side of the river with its cycle lane and prettier views of the river before joining in with the cars for the final approach to the inner city.

Once in the inner city the cycle lanes continue to be well marked and provide easy access to the famous sites, smells and sounds of this beautiful place. Perfect.

The next day I rode back to Dieppe and it felt twice as hard as I was riding into a head/cross wind for the whole of the day. I’m pretty sure that this is the usual direction of the prevailing winds and so think about this when you are planning your own adventure. If you want any help or tips then please get in touch.