Touring around france

marcandre

Hi,

I am currently in the thoughts process of arranging doing a tour around france on bike approx 4-6 weeks.

I obviously have alot of questions, but the main one that springs too my mind is, as i have never done something of this stature before. i will be doing this solo, and will obviously need to carry alot of stuff. but i would prefer to do this on my roadbike, is it possible to do these things on a road bike? with gear and everything.

Im a keen road cyclist, and would like to unload my gear somedays and do l'alpe huez and other such iconic climbs, so i would prefer to be using my road bike. hope that makes sense.

any opinions and info welcomed.

many thanks.

Marc

cycladelic

France can include the Pyrenees and Alps - if you are thinking of riding a fully loaded bike up big cols and if the bike's gearing isn't low enough, your knees will suffer. Either that or you'll end up walking.

Do you have a route in mind?

tatanab

marcandre wrote:

and will obviously need to carry alot of stuff.

Why? Assuming you are not camping you can easily fit all you need in a large saddlebag (Carradice Camper's Longflap recommended) with the Carradice Bagman saddlebag support. A handlebar bag carries your paperwork, camera, snacks etc. Last year I rode 1500 miles in 3 weeks cyclecamping. My camping kit was in another bag but my saddlebag was not even full. If you are camping you might find it a challenge to fit appropriate carriers and bags to your machine.

Gearing etc - if you are going into the mountains then you will need lower gears than you use at home. It is not necessarily the gradient that gets you but the length, particularly when you are on your third pass of the day.

MichaelW

If you are camping in France there is no real need to carry cooking gear.
You can keep the load down by using a very small tent such as the Gelhert Solo, a 3/4 length mat and a light sleeping bag. This can all be carried on a seatpost-clamp rack. If your bike has normal rack fittings, these are far stronger so use a proper rack.

Flogger

MichaelW wrote:

If you are camping in France there is no real need to carry cooking gear.

Why not? Looking to see what I can get away with...

MichaelW

The only reason to cook for yourself is if you are on a very tight budget.
There are almost always cafeterias, restaurants and bars where you can eat within range of a campsite and local cuisine is one of the attractions of French touring.
Most campsites are commercial or municipal. Very few are primitive and wild camping is only allowed at altitude.
Coffee, bread/ croissants are available in most campsites or along the way.
I only found one site out of range of anywhere and I carried some iron rations to get me through unplanned emergencies (tin of sardines, cereal bars, biscuits etc). If I had planned the overnight stay I could have stocked up on better food before.
The only food-related utensils I took were a Swiss army penknife and a plastic spoon or spork.
You could take a simple stove (eg solid fuel) and small pot/cup for drinks and Just Add Water cooking but any cooking brings extra bulk and weight.
I have camped with full cooking kit, its a totally different style, quite enjoyable but much more heavily loaded.

marcandre

Thanks for all the responses so far. Sorry for the delay in replying, been working.

I have taken all the replys in mind, but what my main concern was, and it may seem naive or silly. but im not sure on it.

Can I have my road bike i.e Cannondale Caad9 with paniers and all the essentials for doing a tour fitted? As i love my road bike, and wouldnt really want to use a touring/mountain bike.

any further thoughts?

andymiller

marcandre wrote:

any further thoughts?

I'm guessing that you want someone to tell you that you can have your cake and eat it. But (and I know this risks being simplistic) you chouce rally boils down to:

- carry less stuff eg stay in B&Bs etc, don't carry cooking equipment;
- get a bike that can carry more stuff.

marcandre

Haha, Andy.

I guess i do. well put though.

Realistically I would like someone to follow me in a support vehicule. But thats not really an option. ha.

marcandre

So I guess my other question i wanted an answer to was, can you add panniers onto a Caad9 or Supersix?

MichaelW

You can fit a seatpost clamp with built-in threaded eyelets and use a Tubus quick-release adapter at the bottom. Recommend a Tubus Fly rack for road bikes, strong, light, aerodynamic (narrow).
Use some medium sized panniers with a heel cutout shape.

welton

For what it's worth, I certainly would not put panniers on my Cannondale System 6, I think it would be very unstable, particularly on steep descents and with windy conditions. What the other guys have already said rings true.
You use a touring bike or go B & B.

pneumatic

Specifically on climbing the Alpe d'Huez, when I was touring in the Alps, I asked at the tourist office if I could leave my luggage there for the day. No problem, no charge.

pampliekid

Hi I live in France,I have a colnago c40 and tour with it .10Kg with panniers using a topeck rack off my seat stem and works well and a handle bar bag . All my kit is light weight , tent, sleeping bag ,ect . you don't need much stuff . I do have a cycling B&B .www.bluebicycleholidays.com

andymiller

marcandre wrote:

Haha, Andy.

I guess i do. well put though.

Realistically I would like someone to follow me in a support vehicule. But thats not really an option. ha.

I was thinking that a more helpful reply might have been:

- if you're carrying less than 10kgs then you should be fine;
- more than 10kgs it starts to get a bit dodgy;
- more than 15kgs probably not a good idea;
- more than 20kgs probably a bad idea.

... so a lot depends on your definition of 'essentials'.

There are by the way companies who do organise support and hauling your stuff around - either a guided tour or 'self-guided'. Or you could organise a DIY version - ie take it in turns to drive the van - or persuade a non-cycling friend/partner to do it.

mz__jo

There is the alternative: Formule 1 hotels, credit card in jersey pocket and bar bag for a pair of light trousers for the evenings, waterproof and bike lock. Buy or beg maps as you go, rinse out your shorts nightly, grow a beard and anything in excess gets put in the post to go home. Things get desperate, there's always Decathlon, Go Sport or a hyper somewhere close and the credit card will see you through. Once upon a time you would have organised gear drops in post offices along the way but I doubt that this will work now.

mz__jo

I would add that I have a clubmate who has broken the seat tube on his (steel) Colnago, just below the bottom of the seat post. Sorry i don't know the model other than that it was expensive but he didn't put much weight on it, he has a proper 650 randonneuse for that. I would be careful about overloading a seatpost rack on a race frame.

el_rey

Take a look at Its not about the Tapas http://www.amazon.com/Its-Not-About-Tap ... 0385339925. It is about Spain, not France, but Polly Evans followed a plan much like mz-jo outlined and seemed to have a great time.

ralex

You could always consider getting a trailer, that way you can take your road bike and also as much stuff as you want loaded on the trailer.

andymiller

mz__jo wrote:

There is the alternative: Formule 1 hotels, credit card in jersey pocket and bar bag for a pair of light trousers for the evenings, waterproof and bike lock. Buy or beg maps as you go, rinse out your shorts nightly, grow a beard and anything in excess gets put in the post to go home. Things get desperate, there's always Decathlon, Go Sport or a hyper somewhere close and the credit card will see you through. Once upon a time you would have organised gear drops in post offices along the way but I doubt that this will work now.

Actually IME 'poste restante' works very well in France.

It's well worth carrying a list of Decathlon and Intersport brances but they tend to be in industral estates/out-of-town shopping malls in larger towns so you will probably have to make a conscious detour to find one. Similar thing with Formule 1 hotels - the chances are you'll get a perfectly good deal at a normal hotel.

mz__jo

andymiller wrote:

It's well worth carrying a list of Decathlon and Intersport brances but they tend to be in industral estates/out-of-town shopping malls in larger towns so you will probably have to make a conscious detour to find one. Similar thing with Formule 1 hotels - the chances are you'll get a perfectly good deal at a normal hotel.

Very true. When I did "déplacements" some of the best deals were small hotels or "chambre d'hôte". But they take a bit more researching to find. On the road we usually preferred "BnB" hotels which are a tiny bit more expensive than Formule1 but these are all hotels aimed at the commercial market which is why they are in industrial zones usually close to a restaurant chain, favouring convenience over quality. (although some diagonalists favour Formule1 because you can get access at all hours of the night with a credit card, and no-one complains when you want to put your bike in your room, a real advantage).

Another thing that works sometimes (out of season, when its raining and the manager is soft-hearted) is having the use of a chalet or mobile home for the night. Clubmates camping have benefitted from this.

+1 for the trailer, although you can feel the weight behind a race bike if its loaded. Behind a tandem you don't really notice it. All a question of the ratio of the masses.

Cheers Jo

donkykong

i wouldnt really tour on a lovely road bike, putting panniers or a decent size saddlebag on, and the back end oddly turns to jelly,
trailer good option, can be purchased from amazon from around £160 ,
otherwise a cheap tourer bike, need not be new , just serviceable.
have a great tour, and if passing us, pop in.

mididoctors

go B and B

lucus_j

FWIW I did La Manche -> Le Med a few years ago (http://lucusj.wordpress.com/tag/france/page/6/ for blog) staying at several chambres d'hote an F1 and a couple of hotels.

As much as I love my road bike I'd do it the same way again; ie in a bit more comfort at the expense of a little speed. That said, I could have used a little less luggage, but not much.

To my mind touring's touring & racing's racing; by necessity, not through choice.

On the tech side, I would only load a rack on a road bike with well under 2 x 10kg panniers and wouldn't use < 25mm tyres.

infopete

Hi

add a tubus fly or airy to you bike and small 25 litre panniers or carradice limpets to the front.

Travel light and just make sure your wheels are well made. I just did 600 miles touring through France on a front hope titanium with Open 4cd and x-ray spokes and a rear campag 32 spoke open 4cd wih plain gauge spokes running on conti 24 mm tyres.

Your only real problem is France is so expensive nowadays and most villages are deserted except for a pharmacy or a hairdressers. Supermarkets have killed off most local trade!

Best advice nowadays is to eat lunch in a restaurant during weekdays when you get 11 or 12 euro menus with wine ) and keep away from restaurants at night when the price jumps to at least 24 euros for a menu and some rediculous price for wine.

Oh and don't trust maps with campsites listed, campsites are closing all the time. Check with a tourist office before you get to your chosen destination.

GyatsoLa

I've toured on a CAAD7 frame and its fine - the rear end is stiff, so it won't flop around as many say. But of course you are limited in weight - I never carried more than 10kg. I used an oldmanmountain rack (which is designed for mountain bikes, but works perfectly well on road bikes. I'd use slightly tougher than normal tyres, like Michelin Krylions.

You can also, if you are willing to invest, go for custom luggage options. You can fit a sleeping bag and even a tent into a good handlebar bag-roll, and you could go for custom bags to fill the frame. Porcelain Rocket [url=Ihttp://theporcelainrocket.wordpress.com/]Ihttp://theporcelainrocket.wordpress.com/[/url]) is just one of a few custom bag manufacturers - they work brilliantly so long as you are disciplined about what you carry. You may also need to invest in some very light gear - tarptents, for example, are great for cycle touring.

I personally wouldn't use a heavy trailer with a road bike, I'd be worried about the impact on the rear stays. That said, I was in France last week and I saw people touring with Bobs on roadbikes. An Extrawheel might be a better alternative: http://www.extrawheel.com/

I've toured on proper touring bikes and on road bikes. If you have the discipline to keep your load really light, touring on road bikes is great, you cover so much more ground and its more fun, if a little less practical.

bigjim

He posted this in May. has he gone?