Day one in France kicked off with an 8:15pm arrival in Saint-Malo and a 110km ride to Loudéac. We followed the estuary south, then stumbled upon the medieval town of Dinan—a nice surprise, since we’ve done almost no planning beyond booking our hotels.

From there, a 60km cross-country stretch on quiet, empty country roads led us to a final rail trail into town. With the sun on our backs and tired legs, it was a cracking way to start the trip.