Pictures from 4 week France bike tour

raybo

I just returned from a 6 week trip to France: 4 on a bike; 2 in a car. I have put up a page of selected photos (no captions) for family and friends and thought I would tell everyone else about it, as well.

I will put up a fully commented journal when I get the time.

Ray

bwfcmullet

looks beautiful where roughly did you cycle to, from, around? very jealous although the weather looks a trifle disappointing 8)

raybo

I've put the actual route I rode on bikely.com.

Ray.

timbooth

Nice - I love seeing people's photos from tours and I love France, but it makes me jealous and question chucking the job in for a bit of a sabbatical!

APIII

Looks fantastic. I'm off to France this summer, but only for two weeks.
Look forward to reading the journal.

Ted Edwards

Thanks Raybo for sharing your photos. Just like as been mentioned I am envious of you. I also ride a motorcycle and I recently went to Spain for the MotoGP and as I was riding down some of the roads I really wished I was on my push bike. The trouble I have is being brave enough to do it. I cannot even use time as an excuse for not doing as I recently took early retirement. Can you tell me or perhaps I need to wait for your journal but did you camp and just how much weight did you or can you take on a bike

Ted Edwards

Thanks Raybo for sharing your photos. Just like as been mentioned I am envious of you. I also ride a motorcycle and I recently went to Spain for the MotoGP and as I was riding down some of the roads I really wished I was on my push bike. The trouble I have is being brave enough to do it. I cannot even use time as an excuse for not doing as I recently took early retirement. Can you tell me or perhaps I need to wait for your journal but did you camp and just how much weight did you or can you take on a bike

Ted Edwards

Thanks Raybo for sharing your photos. Just like as been mentioned I am envious of you. I also ride a motorcycle and I recently went to Spain for the MotoGP and as I was riding down some of the roads I really wished I was on my push bike. The trouble I have is being brave enough to do it. I cannot even use time as an excuse for not doing as I recently took early retirement. Can you tell me or perhaps I need to wait for your journal but did you camp and just how much weight did you or can you take on a bike

RyanBrook

Hi Ted,

You should do pluck up the confidence and do it. I did a tour of Provence and the alps for three weeks with two friends in the Summer 2005. I'd only cycled a month previously when I got back I'd done Alpe d'huez, Galibier, Col de la Madeleine etc. Last summer I encouraged my girlfriend to tour with me. She isnt exactly victoria Pendleton though only 22. She had been to the gym a couple of times a week that year. We did two weeks from Nice up into the alps and then into Italy. She also had a month to prepare. She had a lot of stress and negative thinking before the trip but our first day she did over 50 miles from Nice along the coast to St Rapheal (I think). We did the Vercors contrast. I did a hell of a lot of pushing so was very draining. She even did Alpe d'huez(alone), trooping up in 2 hours. Towards the end of the holiday we cycled from Briancon to Pinarello in Italy ascending 2000m up Mount Genevre followed by a huge descent then up to Sestriere before descending 2000m. Basically what I am trying to say is where there is a will there is a way.

In terms of lugage the bike in the pictures is packed like a mule whereas I like to travel with only the basics. We both had two panners bags 3kg if I remember correctly and a tent weighing less than 1kg by Coleman. It was only £30. It was tiny, very tight for the pair of us and you got some condensation as it was single layer. It did the trick though. We also had a sleeping mat each and a lightweight sleeping bag. Sleeping mat was about a tenner from Decathlon, rather than £60 for the same thing from Blacks or somewhere. The sleeping bag was £25 by Micro-dot. The trips are full of extreme highs and the odd low with the highs making the lows worth it.

Happy travels

ThatGuyOnABike

great pics, really like the one of that wheat/grass close up, very artsy. i always like to see others set-ups on the bike, helps me think of what to do.

powenb

They are some incredible photos.
It has made me so jealous.
I have been thinking about getting a touring bike for a little while now after reading 'French Revolutions' by Tim Moore.
I bet it looked even better in the flesh.