Why this ride
A 481 km round trip from Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue - roughly 8 h 01 in the saddle. It goes by way of Pointe du Hoc, Gold Beach, Utah Beach and Beaches of the D-Day Landings. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l and Beaches of the D-Day Landings
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 481 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 01
- 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. Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l
On the eastern shore of the Cotentin peninsula, in Normandy, the little port of Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue looks out at a low island called Tatihou, and on the island and on the headland of La Hougue stand two stout stone towers designed by Vauban, the military engineer of Louis XIV. They belong to the group of Vauban fortifications that UNESCO inscribed in 2008, and they are among the least known of the twelve sites.
Read the complete Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l is where the day begins. Next is Pointe du Hoc.
2. Pointe du Hoc
Pointe du Hoc is a headland of grey cliffs, about thirty metres high, between Omaha and Utah beaches on the Normandy coast, and it is one of the most moving places on the whole D-Day shore. On the morning of 6 June 1944, some two hundred and twenty-five US Army Rangers under Lieutenant Colonel James Rudder came in by landing craft, fired grappling hooks and rope ladders up the cliff, and climbed under fire to take a German battery thought to threaten both beaches. They found the guns had been moved inland, tracked them down and disabled them, then held the position for two days against counterattacks. Fewer than a hundred were still able to fight when they were relieved.
Read the complete Pointe du Hoc write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pointe du Hoc comes up about 67 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 103 km into the recorded legs you reach Gold Beach. Next is Utah Beach.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Beaches of the D-Day Landings.
5. Beaches of the D-Day Landings
Port-en-Bessin is a working fishing harbour squeezed into a gap in the cliffs, and on the morning of 6 June 1944 it sat exactly on the seam between Omaha Beach to the west and Gold Beach to the east. British commandos took the port in the days that followed, linking the American and British sectors. Today the trawlers still come in with scallops in season, the boats crowd the inner basin, and a stubby stone tower designed by Vauban's engineers watches over the entrance. It is a fine base for exploring the whole stretch of the Normandy landing beaches.
Read the complete Beaches of the D-Day Landings write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beaches of the D-Day Landings sits at 189 km, about halfway. Next is back through Utah Beach.
6. 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 comes up about 304 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Gold Beach.
7. back through Gold Beach
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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 378 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Gold Beach. Next is back through Pointe du Hoc.
8. back through Pointe du Hoc
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pointe du Hoc write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Pointe du Hoc, late in the day. Next is Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l.
9. Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 481 km.
Leg by leg
Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l to Pointe du Hoc
Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l → Pointe du Hoc is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pointe du Hoc to Gold Beach
Pointe du Hoc → Gold Beach is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gold Beach to Utah Beach
Gold Beach → Utah Beach is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Utah Beach to Beaches of the D-Day Landings
Utah Beach → Beaches of the D-Day Landings is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beaches of the D-Day Landings to back through Utah Beach
Beaches of the D-Day Landings → back through Utah Beach is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Utah Beach to back through Gold Beach
back through Utah Beach → back through Gold Beach is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gold Beach to back through Pointe du Hoc
back through Gold Beach → back through Pointe du Hoc is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pointe du Hoc to Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l
back through Pointe du Hoc → Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.