Dieppe Raid 2022 - Photo Special

This year's edition of the annual Dieppe Raid cycling tour was certainly memorable, not entirely in a good way.   A total of 34 Sou'westers were registered to take part, but several were unable to go due to illness, mainly Covid, and several might be wishing they had not attended, due to a mystery bug (not Covid this time).

We all made our way to Dieppe at various times last week, individually or in smaller groups, braving train strikes and heavy downpours, some riding down to Newhaven on Friday.  The ferry had been painted in Sou'Westers colours for the event.   Fewer Sou'Westers than usual (maybe 15) stayed in the Hotel de la Plage, which is under new management but was still very familiar to people who had been before, still very welcoming and I think we would all recommend it.  Others stayed in a gite, AirBnBs, campervans, camping sheds or possibly other hotels.

New events for 2022

In addition to the usual 60km, 100km and 140km Sunday rides, there were extra events this year.   The Five Yard Dash was completed several times by five unwilling participants who contracted an very nasty tummy bug at various times throughout the weekend, and were extremely poorly.   Thankfully it was quite short-lived and they are all now recovering, but most were unable to do their planned ride on Sunday.   It was a bit like a murder mystery - at intervals through the weekend we would get news that another person had succumbed, and one of the earlier victims would emerge, ashen faced and exhausted, after a day or so.  We wish you all a speedy recovery.

Janice's hire bike

A further unwelcome event was the Nine Mile Walk, completed by Janice on Saturday after her rear derailleur was damaged beyond repair on the ferry.  Janice spent the day walking with her bike, between bike shops at the bottom or top of Dieppe's hills, to try to get it fixed (unsuccessfully in the end) and eventually (another walk) to collect a hire bike.   It was impressive to see the good humour and fortitude with which she managed this, despite not having packed her walking boots.   Using this hire bike, Janice was able to complete the 140km ride on Sunday, before returning the hire bike, in the rain, to the hire shop at the top of the hill.

Saturday

That left 20+ riders who had a more traditional Dieppe experience.   On Saturday, instead of the informal joint Sou'Westers ride of earlier years, several people spent the day in Dieppe as the forecast wasn't brilliant; an A+ group ride went along the coast to St Valery en Caux, and an A group ride went to Quiberville sur Mer before looping back inland, hoping to return before the rain but not quite making it.  Others did their own rides.

Sheltering?  or praying for better weather?

The A+ group were a little too adventurous in their choice of restaurant  for their Saturday evening meal.  Booked using an app, after a bit of head scratching to work out where it was, it emerged that it was 4,474 miles away in Dieppe, Canada!

"Sorry, we could not calculate cycling directions."

Pass the maple syrup.   Hans is already starting to look unwell.

Our hosts, the Cyclo-Club Dieppois, held a reception for the visitors on Saturday evening, at which tables groaned with trophies, and a few speeches thanked the amazing volunteers who organise and mark the routes, man the controls and provide refreshments for us, and also thanked Caroline Street, the UK organiser who manages to juggle website bookings, meal bookings, website and communications for the 300+ UK visitors as well as coordinating with the Dieppe organisers and handling the upheavals due to Covid.

Caroline posing for Madeleine

Rallying the organisers

Caroline is stepping down as organiser after twenty years(!) and deserves our heartfelt thanks for many years of wonderful cycling weekends.   She appealed for someone to come forward and take over the UK organisation of the event, and looking round the room, I thought that several people looked quite interested in their own modest way.

Reception (and trophies to be won)

Sunset between the downpours

Sunday Ride

The main attraction of course (apart from the beautiful town of Dieppe, French cuisine and sparkling company of us Sou'Westers), is the Sunday ride organised by the Dieppe cycling club.  At least 500 riders aged 8 to 80+ were registered to take part.   It is not a mass event like, say, Ride London, and people set off in small groups to ride the routes of different distances, marked by orange arrows on the road, in the peace and quiet of the wonderful French countryside, with wonderful (and scarce) French motorists who always seem to respect cyclists on the road.

Around 10½ Sou'Westers rode 140k, 15 rode 100k, and five rode 60k in beautiful weather.   At the halfway lunch stop all distances converged on an outdoor kiosk at St Aubin-le-Cauf where the Dieppe CC volunteers managed to feed the 500 with baguettes, coffee, cake, bananas, and a small ration of chocolate.   Congratulations to all who rode, and commiserations to those who could not join us.

140k

140k

Mike's wonderful Relive video of the 140k ride is here.

Lunch

Lunch

100k

100k

At the finish line

What happens in Dieppe, stays in Dieppe ...

Apres-ride

After the ride, the prize-giving.   A few more speeches (well, it is France) and then a lot of trophies were handed out to worthy and rejoicing winners.  We checked our tombola number on our entry form and some were lucky to win a nice prize, some not.   Cidre was consumed, a lot of chat was had, a bit more cidre, and after all this entente cordiale, we went to prepare for the evening meal.

Winners!  (club with the most entrants)

Winner!  (biggest smile)

Dinner at the Casino

The after-ride dinner was at a new venue this year, the Casino, so it was a bit of a gamble.   Luckily Brian Greenwood was in charge of organising the menu and getting everyone seated with their friends, and his arrangements along with those of Caroline, were pretty well perfect.   We had a very enjoyable meal (with a few empty seats left by those who couldn't actually face eating anything).   Thank you Brian!

Judging from everyone's comments, the weekend was a huge success, socially as well as cycling wise.  Just such a shame that it was marred by illness for so many.  It was a lovely opportunity to socialise across the different groups of Sou'Westers and also with other clubs who come back year after year.  Many thanks to those who helped organise large or small parts of the weekend for us to enjoy, and to those who took the photos you see here.