Routes south from Bordeaux

jezash

Me and the mrs just booked some flights down to Bordeaux in July, with the plan being to ride down to see a tour stage as it goes past my parents' place in the Pyrenees (near Pau). Should be a pretty manageable ride as the Landes are flat as anything, but having only driven that way before I don't know any good cycling routes.
Anyone done something similar and have some suggestions?

welton

Yes, it's very flat and you can cover a lot of ground. The only problem being if it's windy and in the wrong direction! On my 2006 TdF charity ride, I rode the Bordeaux-Dax (Etape 9 - 169.5 kms) in showery weather in 6hrs 19mins 02secs at a fairly even pace averaging 26.6 kph. It was quite a relaxing ride warming up for the Pyrenees stages.
Really the only hilly area is around Mont-de-Marsan where they hold a good sportive in May.
Have a good trip.

mz__jo

Good coastal cycle path most of the way down. Should be ok for keeping the mileage up.

waltho bum gravy

I cycled out from Bordeaux-ish last summer through les Landes. You should manage to get to Mont de Marsan in a day as it is very flat and quite dull. Well, the route we took was. We went out of Cadillac, through St Symphorien and into MdeM along long, straight flat roads bordered by the same types of tree for kilometre after kilometre. I was warned about it but thought it would be a nice, gentle way into the tour, which it was.

From there it was a bit lumpier into Pau and there were several routes to chose from. A more enjoyable ride with the Pyrenees hoving into view throughout the day. I'd recommend a stay in Pau as it's a beautiful city and obviously get into the Pyrenees as soon as you can.

If I were to do a similar trip again I'd look for another, less obvious, route to MdeM and possibly not stay there at all. Despite it looking on the map like the most viable option I found it a bit characterless personally.

jezash

thanks for the feedback guys. what kind of coastal path are we talking, mz_jo? is it tarmac'd?