Day 29 Saubion to Cap de l'Homy-Plage

Day 29. Saubion to Cap de l’Homy-Plage. 72.85kms cycled. 4.26 hours cycling. 40.40 max speed. 16.38km/h average speed. Weather – sunny and hot.

Just as luck would have it, the sunny hot weather has hit this part of France and I am at the beach lapping it up!!

  In many ways it almost seems like I am back at home on the Gold Coast, with surf shops, surfboards and that unmistakable beach culture evident everywhere.

  The campground where I am staying at a pinprick of a place on the map called Cap de l’Homy-Plage is full of young surfers and in fact reminds me very much of the old campground at Noosa way back in 1970s. Surfboards everywhere, lots of old Kombi-like camp vehicles and situated just behind the sand dunes.

  But anyway, back to the start of the day. My first port of call was to the tourist office in Seignosse where I was delighted to find out that yes, there is a dedicated bike track all the way north to Nantes and beyond.

  For just 2 Euro I was able to get a detailed strip map which takes me to the Bordeaux area, where I will have to get another map for the next leg of my trip north.

  So it was with a real spring in my step that I headed off after firstly checking out the beach at Seignosse.

  For the first 40 or so kilometres the track was a good couple of metres wide, perfect for bikes going in either direction to pass each other. Given it was a public holiday there were many, many people of all ages out cycling.

  For most of the way the track is completely separate from the road, but still links up to many of the villages along the way. Most of the popular beach spots are about a one kilometre ride from the track, so I spent much of my time exploring each of the beaches as I came to them.

  As a result my 72 kilometres for the day was probably more like 62 in actual distance gained, but it was very enjoyable nonetheless.

  When the track got further away from the popular, more densely populated areas it reduced in size and wasn’t as smooth to ride on which made for a somewhat uncomfortable ride. Hopefully it improves further along. If it remains rough I may ride some sections on the road, but will just wait and see.

  What strikes me most about the French and the beach is that they are (a) totally non-sun smart and (b) totally uninhibited.

  Virtually no-one wears a hat, they obviously do not use sunscreen and as a result there are huge numbers of very badly sunburnt beachgoers. Where I go looking for the shade, they expose as much skin as possible to the sun.

  This includes the women, with going topless seemingly the norm … it all makes a trip to the beach that much more interesting!!

  I certainly didn’t think I would have a beach experience on this trip, it just goes to show that when you are cycle touring you just never, never know.

captions: Pics 1&2 The famous Hossegar beach Pic 3: The bike track north Pic 4: The beach again Pic 5: The track through the pine forest