Why this ride
From Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue it runs 206 km to Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue; allow about 3 h 48 of riding. The stops in between: Pointe du Hoc, Gold Beach and back through Pointe du Hoc. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l and Gold Beach
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 206 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 48
- 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 back through Pointe du Hoc.
4. 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.
5. 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
Back at Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l. That is the ride.
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 back through Pointe du Hoc
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.