Stage 4 – 13 May. Compiègne to Beauvais.

We had an early start today, setting off alongside l’Oise under a clear sky with a slight chill still in the air. A few kilometres out of the suburbs the cycle path – gravel at the time – passed alongside some étangs (small lakes) surrounded by rushes and trees. It was calm and quiet and beautiful, and I dawdled along taking it all in.

We slipped past the village of Verberie on the riverbank, heading for the morning break I’d planned at Pont-Sainte-Maxence. This village and its bridge of the same name marked the point where we parted company with major rivers, although we would briefly join le Thérain as we approached Beauvais. We were also leaving the well-signposted cycle routes we had enjoyed for the past three days; the EV3 Scandibérique continued south while our route turned north and then east on the much less-frequented V16a.

But more importantly Pont-Sainte-Maxence had a bakery where we could buy good things for lunch. Even better there was a tabac next door and a small park where a few market stalls were set up. We each bought pastries and tarts for lunch, and Teresa and I bought take-away coffees from the tabac which we carried to our bikes parked under a tree in the park. I had a wander round the market stalls; one was run by an older lady selling honey and strawberries from her strawberry farm, each different variety labelled and displayed in its own section.

For the rest of the day we were cycling on minor roads with very little traffic and passing through a succession of small villages, mostly pleasant but unremarkable. Except for Clermont. Clermont has A HILL!

I should explain. When the route I’m following reaches a hill, my handlebar computer/GPS^* switches the display to show the gradient profile, altitude, distance to the top, etc. In the settings you can choose to have this happen on even the gentlest gradients, only the hardest climbs, or an in-between option which is the one I use. At 0.7km, an average grade of 7.7% and a maximum of 11.3% the hill in Clermont was the only hill on our five day ride which triggered the ‘Hill’ setting. I found it a bit of a struggle with a loaded bike, but ground up slowly in my lowest gear and made it without having to stop.

We arrived at our hotel in Beauvais at mid-afternoon, and after showering and changing went to explore. Beauvais Cathedral is another of the seven cathedrals of Picardy; we sat and had beers in the square in front which was being prepared for an event with staging and speaker stacks.

The centre of the city is a large square a few minutes walk from the cathedral. Jack and Teresa wanted to have a ‘proper French meal’ (escargots and steak tartare had been mentioned) so we checked out the restaurants for later. The other two headed back to the hotel while I stayed to explore a bit more of Beauvais, finding several streets of old buildings which had survived the wars.

The restaurant we had chosen (le Papotin) didn’t open until 7:00, and when it did the maître (maîtresse?) d’ explained they were only offering a very limited menu; it didn’t include escargots or steak tartare. We politely declined and went instead to the Brasserie of the Hotel Victoire whose menu promised those things and delivered us all an excellent meal.

* Hammerhead Karoo 2

View track on Komoot

Overnight: Hotel de la Cathédrale, Beauvais

Stage 5 – 14 May. Beauvais to Amiens.

The V32 cycle route officially connects Paris to Wervik on the Belgian border near Roubaix, passing through Beuavais and Amiens on the way. In 2025 the Beauvais – Amiens section would best be described as ‘work in progress’.

We soon left Beauvais behind, first through parkland then on quiet rural roads and tracks generally following le Thérain through a succession of small villages as far as Milly-sur-Thérain.

Shortly after Milly-sur-Thérain where our planned route crossed the river (now le Petit Thérain) we rode past a “Route Barrée” sign. A gravel track led down to the river and what had once been a bridge. Now it was just two rusty girders with the remnants of a few iron bolts; any decking had disappeared. Maybe it was flood damage, but whatever the reason there was no way we could get us and our loaded bikes safely across.

Consulting our maps we thought we could follow a track to the next village and cross there so we backtracked slightly and took a rough gravel track uphill for half a kilometre before it ended in a padlocked field gate and continued on the other side as a footpath. Another dead end. Teresa flew back down the hill on the gravel followed more cautiously by Jack and me. More map consultation and we decided our best choice was to go back to Milly and cross there, riding the local roads until we could pick up our planned route again. The deviation only cost us about 5km extra, but probably added about three quarters of an hour to our time.

So we continued onwards. Today’s elevation profile was different from the last four days. We would climb gradually all morning for the first 35 kilometres to reach the day’s highpoint at the slightly disconcertingly-named Crèvecœur-le-Grand (“Big Heartbreak”), then descend equally gently until we were on the outskirts of Amiens. During the morning we were mostly on quiet back roads and gained height slowly on undulating terrain.

I’d counted on us finding a bakery open in Crèvecœur and sure enough there was a fine one on the main square by the church. It was clearly the right choice as there were two other cyclists already there, and a third arrived as were were buying things for lunch. He had a good road bike and had, I discovered, ridden up from Beauvais that morning (but a lot quicker than us). We ate our lunch on a seat in the square.

As we left Crèvecœur a left turn took us onto a wide gravel track into thick shaded woodland. We didn’t stop to read the information board but I did see a sign that we were on “la Coulée Verte”. It sloped downhill at an easy gradient and it soon dawned on me that we were on an old railway line – confirmed soon after as I passed what was unmistakeably on old iron railway sign half-hidden in the trees at the side of the track.

The track continued downhill for more than 15 kilometres, gradually levelling out. It was easy cycling – a broad track, plenty of shade, dry surface. But lower down it began to change; new developments started to spread over the old railway track and we found ourselves on paved roads or field edges. And our, er, saddle contact areas were getting increasingly sore with the rough surface and jolting on our touring bikes.

It was while we were riding along the edge of a field on a track with two deep tractor ruts that Teresa lost balance and fell into the undergrowth at the side; luckily she only suffered scratches and nettle stings. But we’d been talking about giving up on the Coulée Verte and taking to the local roads, and this was the point that decided it. So as soon as we could, which turned out to be at the village of Conty, we joined the D8 which took us all the way to the outskirts of Amiens. Cycling mostly on service roads alongside the busy inner ring road wasn’t much fun but we finally made it to our hotel. We ate in the hotel restaurant that evening.

View track on Komoot

Overnight: Novotel, Pôle Jules Verne, Longueau, Amiens

Epilogue – 15 & 16 May. Amiens and home.

In the morning Jack and Teresa left for the station on their bikes, heading for a few days in Bruges before getting back to England for their flight home.

After waving them off I took a bus to the city centre to spend the day as a tourist in a city I had not been to before. I visited the cathedral (another one of the seven), bought Macarons d’Amiens at speciality shop Jean Trogneux, spent more than an hour in the amazing Martelle bookstore/art shop, had a large salad and a crêpe dessert surrounded by Ladies Who Lunch at Crêperie La Mangeoire. I wandered down to the canalside area where there were many restaurants and bars, but it was the wrong time of day and too chilly to linger so I headed back to the bus interchange at the railway station and back to the hotel.

After breakfast the next morning I loaded my bike back on the car roof, drove to Calais and le Shuttle to Folkestone, and finally reached home towards the end of the afternoon.