Why this ride
420 km from Sainte-Mère-Église to Sainte-Mère-Église, about 5 h 54 of riding. It goes by way of Gold Beach, Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay and back through Gold Beach. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Utah Beach and Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 420 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 54
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Gold Beach.
2. 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
Gold Beach comes up about 74 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay.
3. Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay
The tide here is one of the great shows of Europe. In the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel the sea can retreat for kilometres and return with a speed that has caught out many walkers, and at the biggest tides the difference between high and low water is around fourteen metres. On those days the mount, a rocky island crowned with a Benedictine abbey, can be surrounded by water, or stand alone on a plain of wet sand, depending on the hour. The causeway that used to link it to the shore has been replaced by a bridge so that the water can flow freely again.
Read the complete Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 209 km into the recorded legs you reach Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay. Next is back through Gold Beach.
4. 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
back through Gold Beach, late in the day. Next is Utah Beach.
5. 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 at Utah Beach. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
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 Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay
Gold Beach → Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay is 135 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay to back through Gold Beach
Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay → back through Gold Beach is 136 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Gold Beach to Utah Beach
back through Gold Beach → Utah Beach is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.