La Seine à Vélo, Normandy, & Brittany // World Bicycle Touring Episode 3

In July we rode the newly completed La Seine à Vélo bike route, across the beaches of Normandy, and through the hills and farms of Brittany.
We're Andrew and Jenny. We sold all our stuff, built our bicycles, and headed out on an around the world bicycle tour in May of 2021. The second part of our tour started in Paris and we're now in Croatia.
Instagram: / rollingexistence
For our route GPX track and more details, see this post on our website:
www.rollingexistence.com/rout...
First Episode: • The Olympic Discovery ...
Bicycle gear list below. We're running a mix of traditional panniers and bikepacking bags.
- 2020 Surly Ogres
- 36h Rohloff Speedhubs
- 36h Son 28 Dynamo hubs
- Ryde Andra 40 rims
- Marathon Mondial 29x2.0 DD tires
- Avid BB7 brakes, 200mm front, 160mm rear
- Sinewave Cycles Beacon headlight/USB charger
- Brooks B17 (Andrew) Terry Butterfly Century (Jenny) saddles
- Rogue Panda custom frame bags
- Ortlieb Back Rollers Plus rear panniers
- Bedrock Bags Hermosa front panniers
- Tubus racks
- Planet Bike AL fenders
Camera Gear:
- Fuji X-T4
- Fujinon 16-80 mm f/4
- Fujinon 23 mm f/2 prime
- GoPro Hero 8 Black
- Rode VideoMic Pro

[@chakrambinoystraveldiary4223]

wow great ... i am following

[@j.k.6148]

Peaceful and calming Seeing you two peddle Streets and landscape so Serene

[@dermotpurcell8861]

You guys are very skilled at finding great wild camping spots

[@RollingExistence]

Thanks, we have gotten pretty good at it with lots of practice!

[@petesig93]

Beautiful countryside and classic towns with charming and very pleasant car-free streets. This is what I have loved about our tours in Provence, Tuscany as well as Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica. So much to be learned about a good urban fabric from the Europeans. Nutrias. We saw one of these in Greve in Chianti (Tuscany) and spent some time trying to work out exactly what it was. An introduced feral pest species from South America. They are quite big, much larger than an otter, and with those long white whiskers.

[@cphshanthiraju8180]

So wonderful locations

[@j.k.6148]

At 11:30 mark, Elton John song “Bennie and the Jets” playing in my head seeing Jenny eat while cycling, “Jenny and baguette “ As always, enjoyed it. You adventures are getting me through this state of war. Safe travels. Peace.

[@george.stefanescu99]

New subscriber here , greetings from Romania ! Great video, happy cycling !

[@fehrcarlo2381]

Excellent tour 👍

[@gordonm.macdonald9743]

Love your video blog. Can you provide more geographic references, town city names or show video of sign post so that we are able to follow your route more accurately. Unfortunately, you cannot reference the intro map summary easily due to You Tube limitations. Much appreciated

[@stevecrofts2054]

Hello. I've just discovered your channel,which I'm thoroughly enjoying. I was watching the Camino trip and noticed your cool overshoes. Can you let me know the brand? Happy Trails. Steve Biker UK

[@RollingExistence]

I'm using Vaude overshoes.

[@kevind4012]

Recently came across your channel and have watched a few. Kudos for taking on a big adventure. I've cycled in France 3x and Croatia once, but only for a couple weeks at a time. I think they was a comment in this video about "form". IMO seems just fine and comfort is the most important thing for touring of course. I will say that sometimes I think J's seat could be a bit higher - a little more leg extension and better for the knees. Kind of hard to tell though, so maybe you have it dialed in just right. One other thought: I notice her finger tip just reaches the brake lever. There should be a set screw to bring the lever closer - you might need to put a little slack in the cable to adjust that w/o tightening the brake . . or, if there's room in the barrel adjuster that would do it. Best wishes.

[@RollingExistence]

Thanks for the tips! I think you are correct - Jenny has raised her seat a bit since this video. Even after a year on these bikes we're still making small adjustments to our fit/form!

[@cascadorys]

I am curious how you find all those back roads, amazing!

[@RollingExistence]

We use the OSMand+ app and keep an eye out for singletrack/gravel roads that are parallel to the main route we're heading. It sometimes ends in failure and we have to turn around, but it's worth it to see interesting areas and avoid traffic!

[@Alan-Tang]

It was so wonderfully that cycling all the places. May I ask are you just cycling all the way with normal pants? Should wear those cycling pants with gel right?

[@RollingExistence]

Neither of us wear padded cycling shorts anymore, but it's a personal preference. We have saddles that are comfortable over long distances, and after cycling for such a long time we don't have much saddle pain anymore.

[@mashudali8482]

Liking the videos as a cyclist... Gt Grade... But what bought me here was your comment on a Zhiyun M3/XT30 comment... THinking of this set up as a Fuji user

[@RollingExistence]

Honestly I wouldn't recommend it unless you use a very lightweight lens with OIS. The only video on our channel that used that setup is the Taiwan video, now I just use a GoPro for all the riding shots. The XT30/M3 setup had so many micro jitters that the footage all had to be run through DaVinci resolve stabilizer, and it took a lot of dialing to keep the footage from warping. IBIS/OIS or a heavier gimbal would solve the issue, but I can't really recommend the XT30/M3 combo after using it extensively.

[@MrJx4000]

Great scenery again, I guess you can't go wrong in France. But one question: do either of you have the annual spring and/or summer allergies in N. Am. and if so, did you experience this over there?

[@RollingExistence]

Definitely, France was one of our favorite places! We both have mild allergies in the US and experienced them in France to a similar degree.

[@lesleykenwood2715]

What brand visor is Jenny using. 😍 your content!

[@RollingExistence]

Glad you're enjoying it! The brand is Da Brim, they are amazing 👌

[@fleetfut423]

There were three of you in America and then suddenly just the two of you in France!. What happened inbetween?

[@RollingExistence]

Our friend Marcus was only with us for the first two months of the trip. He rejoins us for our ride across Korea in Episode 42, but the rest of the time it's just the two of us.

[@fleetfut423]

@@RollingExistence ah thanks for letting me know. I'm not far off Episode 42, i'm up to where you were cycling through Vietnam. Was just curious how you got to France from America as there seemed to be a bit of a gap n the videos. Have been enjoyable to watch though as a keen tourist myself.