Why this ride
431 km from Pontorson to Pontorson, about 5 h 47 of riding. On the way it passes Utah Beach, Gold Beach and back through Utah Beach. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ancien moulin de Moidrey and Gold Beach
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 431 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 47
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Ancien moulin de Moidrey
If you have ever seen a photograph of Mont-Saint-Michel standing alone over flat green fields, with a small windmill in the foreground, there is a fair chance it was taken here. Moidrey is a village on the Couesnon, close to Pontorson, and its old mill stands in the polders that were reclaimed from the bay over centuries. The mount sits on the horizon, a few kilometres off, shrunk to the size of a thumbnail and a little unreal, and in the early morning when mist lies in the hollows it floats above the grass.
Read the complete Ancien moulin de Moidrey write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ancien moulin de Moidrey is where the day begins. Next is Utah Beach.
2. Utah Beach
Low dunes, a wide grey-gold beach and a sky that seems to go on forever: the westernmost of the D-Day landing beaches looks peaceful today. On 6 June 1944, troops of the US 4th Infantry Division came ashore here, on the eastern coast of the Cotentin peninsula, after paratroopers had dropped inland during the night. A current pushed the first landing craft south of their intended sector, onto a less defended stretch of sand, and Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., walking the beach with a cane, decided to start the war from right there. Casualties at Utah were far lower than at Omaha, a few kilometres to the east.
Read the complete Utah Beach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Utah Beach comes up about 142 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gold Beach.
3. Gold Beach
On the morning of 6 June 1944 the British 50th Northumbrian Division came ashore along this low, sandy coast between La Rivière and Arromanches, and almost everything you see from the dunes at Ver-sur-Mer is shaped by that day. Gold Beach was the middle of the five Allied landing zones, with Juno to the east and Omaha to the west, and it is the quietest of them to ride today: a string of small seaside villages, wide flat sands at low tide and a coast road that ambles rather than races.
Read the complete Gold Beach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 216 km into the recorded legs you reach Gold Beach. Next is back through Utah Beach.
4. back through Utah Beach
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Utah Beach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Utah Beach, late in the day. Next is Ancien moulin de Moidrey.
5. Ancien moulin de Moidrey
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ancien moulin de Moidrey write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Ancien moulin de Moidrey. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Ancien moulin de Moidrey to Utah Beach
Ancien moulin de Moidrey → Utah Beach is 142 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Utah Beach to Gold Beach
Utah Beach → Gold Beach is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gold Beach to back through Utah Beach
Gold Beach → back through Utah Beach is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Utah Beach to Ancien moulin de Moidrey
back through Utah Beach → Ancien moulin de Moidrey is 141 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.