On the Somme Battlefields with Carl, a local guide

Ask any cyclist why they cycle and somewhere in their list will be ‘the silence’. A memory recalled of a remembered ride when the stillness and terrain combined to create a perfect experience. Perhaps with a tailwind to ease the effort. Just the sounds of nature and of tyres on tarmac to mark their passing. Riding with friends it’s a shared moment. Peloton chatter reduced to a whisper as the miles disappear.

 

A visit to the many memorials, graveyards and historic sites of The Great War bears comparison. Each visitor seeming to understand, without explanation, that these are places of quiet remembrance; their tranquillity today in stark contrast to the events they commemorate. Silent families wandering amongst the graves of the fallen, each no doubt mentally marking a familiar surname – their own name, a friend’s; wondering if they would have returned had they been born a century ago. Which is perhaps why discovering the region by bicycle seems so appropriate. For all that the events of 1914-18 were so cataclysmic, truthfully, they are of a quieter age, an era when the bicycle and the horse were still the main means of personal transport; the car still in its infancy; a rich person’s plaything.

 

 

 

 

 

The graveyards of northern France remain a place of solemn pilgrimage for the British. Most families have a relative to remember, a grave to visit, or a name on a memorial to the missing to run their fingers across. 

Over recent years a number of companies dedicated to cycling tours of the WW1 battlefields and sites have emerged. Carl Ooghe’s Cycling the Western Front is one such operation, combining Carl’s love of both cycling and his long experience as a guide to the region. Central to his approach is to provide carefully tailored routes and to help visitors searching out a particular experience, for example a detour to a personally significant location, such as a graveyard or memorial. His passion bringing the events of 1914-18 to life. His local knowledge guiding visitors along the best routes, taking in rest stops – so beloved of cyclists – guaranteed to revive heart, body and mind. And the cycling is that perfect mix of rewarding, yet not too demanding.

 

“The phrase ‘higher ground’" could be misleading,” explains Carl. “In the context of Flanders any terrain that rises to 60 m or more was of great military value. Cycling gives the tourists a much better understanding of the geography of the old battlefields. Not only as one has to push harder to get to Hill 60, Vimy, Thiepval, Verdun or the Vosges, but even more so because I stop at carefully selected spots where one can appreciate what were commanding views in the age before satellites.” 

 

Of the more well-known ‘official’ routes, the Remembrance Trail is a marked route through the Somme Battlefields linking the towns of Albert and Péronne, and is perfect to explore on two wheels. Taking in many graveyards, sites of particular significance, such as the Lochnagar Crater, the Somme 1916 Museum in Albert and the huge Thiepval Memorial that commemorates more than 72,000 men of British and South African forces who died in the Somme sector, the Trail is both a perfect introduction to the history of WW1, and at around 100km is easily explored by less experienced cyclists over a long weekend.

The Somme region is perfect for an introduction to cycling and remembrance. As Carl enthuses: “Riding the rolling fields of the Somme on a nice day with a gentle breeze is what makes me feel that my job isn’t really working! The Somme country roads are almost deserted, but the surface is in good condition for both road or commuter bikes. So, it is both safe and pleasant.” 

 

Combine Remembrance experiences and gastronomic experiences  

 

Tours such as Carl’s are perfect for visitors, young and old alike. In fact, the majority of Carl’s guests are a similar age to him, in their mid-50s to mid-60s. “An active vacation is what they are after,” says Carl. “Most have taken bike holidays before in the UK or along the Danube or Canal de Midi, or they are here for the Tour de France and want to visit the Somme. Riding the routes of the Western Front seems like an interesting offer because they can combine their favourite hobby and learn more about history! For some it is the only way to get their partner to give the green light; or even better to join them on this tour!”

Carl’s last point is insightful: many people struggle to find holidays that successfully combine differing passions and activities. However, a WW1-focused tour can include so much more.

 

Cycling off the beaten track has always been a special way to discover a region’s secrets as well as its treasures. The Somme region is rich in heritage, the 13th-century Amiens Cathedral, for example, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was described by writer John Buchan’s fictional WW1 spy Sir Richard Hannay as ‘the noblest church that the hand of man ever built only for God’. Its architecture renowned the world over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And cycling these days rarely means ‘roughing it’! If you are drawn to Amiens, the city of Jules Verne, the five-star rated Hotel Marotte, with its 12 luxuriously appointed rooms, makes the perfect base for visitors in need of luxury after their day’s two-wheeled exertions.

The active nature of a visit by bicycle, the solemnity of the events recalled, and the majestic nature of the many memorials is, for many, an ideal combination of experiences. Educating, rewarding and physically demanding. Truly an experience to remember.