What a summer! Cycling adventures through mountains and along coastlines, a memorable trip to Porto with my sons, Adrian and James, an escaped to La Rochelle, and a spring visit to Annecy in the French Alps to see our daughter and her family. I even caught up with old skiing friends. Other highlights included launching my podcast website, publishing a heartfelt tribute to my father and his fellow POWs on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, and raising funds for Ukrainian causes. It has been a season of adventure, reflection, and purpose.
What a summer it has been! From cycling adventures across beautiful mountainous landscapes and coastal routes to a memorable trip to Porto with my sons, Adrian and James, the season has been full of highlights. Carol and I enjoyed a lovely getaway to La Rochelle. In the spring we had a wonderful visit to Annecy and the French Alps, where we spent time with our daughter and her family—and I even caught up with old skiing friends. Added to that I launched my podcast website and published a heartfelt tribute to my father and his fellow POWs on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, and I managed to achieve some meaningful fundraising for Ukrainian causes!
Roscoff to Dieppe – Solo cycle ride of 429 miles in 8 days – weather was sunny and settled throughout. Great ride! Here is my diary with photos and short videos. Enjoy!
A great 400+ mile ride in wonderful sunny weather through Brittany and Normandy – August 2025
Earlier this year In June I completed my longest-ever bike ride — over 1,000 miles. It felt like a huge achievement, but after a few weeks back home, I found myself restless. Was that it? Could I really leave it there? The answer, of course, was no. I wanted another challenge, another cycling adventure! So in early August I packed up again, caught the ferry from Plymouth to Roscoff, and set out to cycle across northern France to Dieppe.
Author: Vic Ient
Thanks to Adrian Ient for editorial input
Click on image to enlarge them. Click on the short videos to watch them. Click HERE to see all my photos and videos
Cycling Route note: EuroVelo 4 (EV4), is the Central European EV Route. It is a 5,100 km long-distance cycle route stretching from Roscoff, France, to Kyiv, Ukraine!
Route Map Sketch (approx. distance markers)
429 miles – 8 days
Ferry arrives at Roscoff early in the morning
In total, I covered 429 miles in eight days, averaging around 50 miles a day. The weather was on my side — sunny and settled throughout. The first part of the ride, across Brittany, was new to me and full of discoveries; the second, from St Malo onwards, felt like reuniting with old friends. There was comfort in the familiar cycle paths, but also excitement in the unknown stretches. Each morning I felt that mixture of anticipation and slight nervousness about what the day would bring — Would the roads be quiet? Would I make good progress? — and each evening brought the quiet satisfaction of having done it.
These Valiant Men – The Story of Eight British Servicemen in World War II in the Far East – by Victor S. Ient
At last my book is published! For more info click HERE
It wasn’t until my father died, in 1988, that it dawned on me that I actually knew very little about his life as a soldier and more especially about his life as a POW. I had clues and snippets but I needed more if I were to write his story. My mother outlived my father by 11 years so I accumulated more little stories which were like briefly opening a ‘window on the past.’ I went on the hunt for dad’s fellow servicemen and POWs who were still alive. Luckily I actually met four of them and gathered the information about the other three with the help of contacts and descendants including Adrian Batty whose father was in the same POW camp as my dad. Adrian wrote the chapter about his father. I was also helped by an experienced WWII historian who has kindly written the forward, – Dr Tony Banham. The experiences of the other POWs has enabled me to fill the gaps in my childhood memories to make a full (well almost) account of what it was like for them from 1941 until 1945.
In the book I present you with the biographies of these eight men. It’s not all doom and gloom, as you will see. Of course, they describe some of the horrors, but their characters are strong. Their factual and sometimes humorous accounts have brought into focus what life was like in those terrible years.
There are many books written about and by great leaders and generals, but what about the ordinary guy? Their story is worthy of the telling as well. These eight were ordinary guys who were caught up in the global war during the 1940s, many of them young men, just finding their way in life who saw a career in the Services as adventure and travel. Little did they know what was to befall them in 1941! Read this book if you’re interested in understanding how, by accident and luck, I was able to piece together the circumstances surrounding my father’s capture and imprisonment. By investigating the lives of other servicemen who ended up in POW camps in Japan I’ve been able to tell my father’s story.
This is a fascinating story by Lord Ashdown (Paddy Ashdown). Whilst the story recounts the heroic actions of many SOE and French resistance agents, it focuses primarily on three people – a British secret agent Roger Landes; the Gestapo counter-espionage officer Frederick Dohse; and a French resistance leader André Grandclément who was responsible for most of the controversial betrayal that took place in France from 1942 to 1944. At first, I thought this was going to be documentary recounting the many conflicts between the Gestapo and the resistance and SOE in France. But it’s more than that, – it’s a gripping story that unfolds during World War II from the time the SOE agents are trained in England to the final days of the liberation of the Bordeaux area and the snub given to British agents by General de Gaulle. The book was clearly painstakingly researched – there are literally hundreds of references. Highly recommended!
Vic Ient 