My wife wasn't a cyclist. She had a whole list of reasons she couldn't do a tour. Wrong bike, not fit enough, can't camp, doesn't speak French. Honestly I was a bit nervous, everyone says taking your partner on their first tour is how you put them off it for life.
We did the Avenue Verte anyway. Gatwick to the Eiffel Tower, about 400km over five easy days, plus a rest day at Giverny. And it just… worked. The route's basically flat, you sleep in B&Bs the whole way so there's no camping gear to deal with, and the ferry in the middle gives you a four-hour sit-down that resets everyone's legs and mood. By day three she was the one checking the map.
Now she wants to pick every tour we've done since.
Wrote it up properly on my Substack if you want the longer version.
Happy to answer anything if you're thinking about doing it or you have a reluctant partner you are trying to come on your tours with you.
by djrivard1
4 Comments
I took my husband on his first biketour in Korea and Japan. He hates it 😂
Why do you use AI to write your blog posts?
I bet you could tell a much more compelling story yourself.
My wife’s first trip was Calais to Amsterdam and then we did Passau-Budapest. Kudos on initiating another one into the fold. May you have many happy miles ahead.
So good to see posts like this between all the ‘which bike do I get’, ‘look at my New bike’.
Cheers! Longe live the bike life