inspiration for roads from Mont Saint Michel to Rennes and surrounding Rennes

[the woodster]

Fellow Tossers: I am off to France in late May with seven other riders and am looking for recommendations/suggestions for roads worth riding from Mont Saint Michel to Rennes and then for a days riding once we are in Rennes. I am not familiar with this area and would like a steer in relation to roads to have a look at.

 

[Wapping]

Me and seven mates, we…… That’s a record

Mont St Michel to Rennes is 41 awesome miles. How long do you want to set aside for it?

Is this separate or inclusive of the day out from Rennes?

How far (total distance) do you eight want to go (presumably in a circle) from Rennes?

 

[the woodster]

Me and seven mates, we…… That’s a record

Mont St Michel to Rennes is 41 awesome miles. How long do you want to set aside for it?

Is this separate or inclusive of the day out from Rennes?

How far (total distance) do you eight want to go (presumably in a circle) from Rennes?

Hi Richard, well, they're more like acquaintances Happy to set aside 3 hours from MSM to Rennes. The next day we will be in Rennes and want to ride a loop. 5 to 6 hours riding would be great. The distance isn't important but a mix of roads would be great. I can do the MRA round trip thing but I'm looking for roads that people have ridden, if possible. Any coffee stop recommendations would be great as well. I don't want much, do I?

 

[Wapping]

OK let’s say 200 miles circular route, out from Rennes and back again.

 

[Wapping]

Just very rough, sat in the pub:

 

[the woodster]

Just very rough, sat in the pub:

Big skies, two way roads that look.................'progressive' and enticing in a rural backdrop. What's not to like? Thanks very much

 

[Wapping]

Big skies, two way roads that look.................'progressive' and enticing in a rural backdrop. What's not to like? Thanks very much

Welcome, as they say. I deliberately also put in some smaller roads, too.

 

[Two wheels good]

The D999.
Villedieu, Brecey , St Hilaire, Saint James (where the stripey jumpers come from), Combourg,

The coast road west of St Malo - Cap Frehel,
West of Saint Brieuc - the Cote de Granit Rose.
Scenic and gentle pace. Might be busy on a sunny weekend

Destination: Dinan. For a galette followed by a crepe, waterside at the port.

 

[the woodster]

The D999.
Villedieu, Brecey , St Hilaire, Saint James (where the stripey jumpers come from), Combourg,

The coast road west of St Malo - Cap Frehel,
West of Saint Brieuc - the Cote de Granit Rose.
Scenic and gentle pace. Might be busy on a sunny weekend

Destination: Dinan. For a galette followed by a crepe, waterside at the port.

The D999 will be handy for leaving Normandy and dropping down towards Mont St Michel, avoiding motorways and the A84. I'll look at the others later today. Thanks very much.

 

[Wapping]

Here is a 235 mile circular route, starting and ending in Rennes. I cobbled it together, in a few minutes on my iPad. Is it perfect? No. Why not? I cobbled it together as as example only; it would need tidying up. Is it truly crap, mate? No, as that would have been a waste of my, yours any your seven mates’ time. Can you make some alternatives, mate? Yes, I probably could.



Here are some screenshots lifted from it, taken sequentially in the same clockwise direction. As is normal, I had to put in some main roads in order to join smaller roads up. Just because you’ll be in France, it doesn’t mean there are “Great twisty roads, mate” everywhere, any more than there are all the way between say, Chelmsford and Norwich. In short, I just picked out roads from a Michelin map on my iPad which sort of worked to create a 200 mile circle. I went off into Vannes, as it’s quite a popular place and is (sort of) halfway around, being at 140 miles out of 235 miles.

As there are eight of you, it might well take you all day to ride 235 miles….. my advice would be not to leave at 11:00 and expect to be back for tea and buns in Rennes by 14:30 after a leisurely lunch somewhere. You’ll know you (and them) way better than we ever will.

 

[Wapping]

 

[the woodster]

View attachment 313144View attachment 313145View attachment 313146View attachment 313147

Great stuff, Richard. I will peruse all this later. Thanks very much.

 

[Wapping]

No problem.

You could, as an alternative, do the right hand outer edge of the route. Then cut off to St Nazaire, to see the ‘Must do’ U-boat pens. But that is only if you like seeing huge U-boat pens. If you hang about in Nazi concrete for hours and then have lunch, you might need to cut back to Rennes, up the main road.

There are lots of other possibilities too, not least as Brittany is an area of 10,000 square miles. By way of contrast, Yorkshire is 4,500 square miles and Norfolk 2,000 square miles. Add the two together and you are only at 65% of the area of Brittany.

Arsey is your man for all things Brittany.

 

[Arsey]

To be honest, Rennes is not the best base as the surrounding roads are pretty dull.
It’s a nice city though with a nice old quarter.







I’d I were you I’d blat west on the N264 to make progress with biker mates and then ride the sublime D767. Have a coffee in Guingamp then head to Morlaix to the ride the superb D785 over Mont’D’Aree.



I’ve thrown this together in 2 minutes but gives you an idea.
Longer ride but some will be on dual carriage way just to get to the good stuff.

 

[EVskiy]

Fellow Tossers: I am off to France in late May with seven other riders and am looking for recommendations/suggestions for roads worth riding from Mont Saint Michel to Rennes and then for a days riding once we are in Rennes. I am not familiar with this area and would like a steer in relation to roads to have a look at.

Not even a glimpse of a p..... or a t.... y..

It is Brittany that you are going to be in, full of fine experiences, regardless which direction you choose to go into. So get off the boat, pick a direction and follow the wind as they say, you'll hardly put a foot wrong. Especially if as you have said "I am not familiar with this area". What a better way to have an Adventure?!

There are plenty of suggestions for routes and places to stay at on these very pages from just the past 6 months alone for the area. Just involves looking and using these pages. Give it a go, it is amazing what one can find, by simply clicking and tapping about the place.

Rennes is good for a transiting stop in my opinion. If I wanted a hub, it wouldn't be my first choice though. Last year we stopped there for just one night, as it was conveniently located within an hours ride to the boat the following morning and meant we could have a final bit of fun as a group, before everybody burst out the bowels of the boat at Portsmouth harbour and gone their separate ways.

MSM, look at it from a distance, take a snap and get a move on. Unless of cause you have 4-5 hours to waste and do not mind to being surrounded for hours on end by hordes of an umbrella holding short folks, from eastern lands. DAMHIK

 

[Wapping]

Rennes is not the best base as the surrounding roads are pretty dull.

A point I sort of made in post #10 when I said:

Just because you’ll be in France, it doesn’t mean there are “Great twisty roads, mate” everywhere, any more than there are all the way between say, Chelmsford and Norwich.

What you can do though is try to find them, which is (to some degree or another) part of the fun of it all. I put it all into the same camp as: “All the roads around Calais and that part of France are crap”. Of course they are not.

 

[the woodster]

Gents, as usual, you have all come up with the goods and thank you to you all for taking the time and effort, especially those who knocked together starting routes and highlighted specific roads. I can now build on your efforts (Also known, unkindly I think, as stealing) and cobble something together.

I have decided to just make MSM a photo opportunity after researching it and then seeing EVskij's comment, which confirmed my worst fears. Like yourselves, I wouldn't have made Rennes my first choice but wanted to find somewhere where we could all be together in the same hotel, unlike our two nights in Normandy where we are spread over three properties, albeit in close proximity but not walkable to each other. I have no idea how Teapot One and Richy Vida get their entire groups in one place!!

 

[the woodster]

To be honest, Rennes is not the best base as the surrounding roads are pretty dull.
It’s a nice city though with a nice old quarter.







I’d I were you I’d blat west on the N264 to make progress with biker mates and then ride the sublime D767. Have a coffee in Guingamp then head to Morlaix to the ride the superb D785 over Mont’D’Aree.



I’ve thrown this together in 2 minutes but gives you an idea.
Longer ride but some will be on dual carriage way just to get to the good stuff.

I always like a photo, especially ones like those above. Thank you.

 

[EVskiy]

I have decided to just make MSM a photo opportunity after researching it and then seeing EVskij's comment, which confirmed my worst fears.

Here, I’ll save you the bother. You can keep this one.

I have no idea how Teapot One and Richy Vida get their entire groups in one place!!

10-12 month advanced planning. Not 6-8 weeks.

We booked our hotels for the trip in June Last September/October, to guarantee our staying together. Some have neglected the opportunity, might have issues with having digs, but we will work something out.

 

[wessie]

I have no idea how Teapot One and Richy Vida get their entire groups in one place!!

It takes a lot of time and you just have to be a bit dictatorial when herding cats, especially if eleven people on seven bikes like I had a few years ago . This year, I could not find anywhere south of Munich around Tegernsee so I simply announced we would go into Austria and stay at Bregenz on Lake Constance instead. It means we won't go further east than Oberammergau on the German Alpenstrasse but we will ride in the Hahntenjoch instead.
Sometimes, especially for a single stopover, you take the easy option and book a city centre Ibis or other chain hotel. At least then, being in a city centre, you should have a choice of places to eat & drink. Hence this year, we will assemble at the Campanile Reims Centre Cathedrale before heading to an independent hotel in Obernai, Alsace for a few nights.