French N roads should I or shouldn't I

ram038

I am off on my first tour in a couple iof weeks. I will be heading across the Pyrenees the east to west. I am in the process of working out my route and have noticed that my routes take me along N roads for most of the way, red on the maps. I was told to avoid these roads by someone as they are main national roads and very busy with heavy traffic. Has anyone ridden along the N116, N32 and N20 in that area and can they confirm this or advise alternatives please.

smifffymoto

Down here there is usually just one sensible route or the long way round,if you can go on a D road do as they are quieter.Having said that,once you get out of town roads are quieter anyway.

mz__jo

Any Nationales that don't carry traffic (and quite a lot that still do) have been transferred to the regions or départements and renamed D something. If it is a Départementale with a number in 3 or 4 figures starting with a 2, 5 or 9 assume that it is a converted Nationale. If you want to know if it takes traffic the best guide is the thickness of the line on the Michelin map (or on-line planner).
There are some ex-Nationales that run parallel to free motorways and are virtually traffic free (but not always the case). I can recommend the old N20 going south from Vierzon; I think it gets called the D520 in Haute Vienne. However around Toulouse it is a death trap and between Paris and Orleans it is as bad as the motorway due to the lorry traffic.
Don't forget that D roads normally change road number at each départementale boundary.

cycladelic

ram - I went across the Pyrenees from Pau in France and did a few N roads.

I have a journal on Crazy Guy which includes some snaps of that ride.

My mate and I did some of the N230, N260 and N152 going towards Barcelona.

Take a look...

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=R ... 6355&v=1T2

andymiller

Unfortunately the road classification system only gives you a bit of a guide to how busy the roads are. Roads between big towns will obviously be busier than a road between villages. Roads where there's a faster free alternative (or a tunnel) will be quieter. Try posting a shortlist of posible alternatives: it's quite possible someone will know the road.

ram038

Thanks for your replys guys.

mz__jo

andymiller wrote:

Unfortunately the road classification system only gives you a bit of a guide to how busy the roads are. Roads between big towns will obviously be busier than a road between villages. Roads where there's a faster free alternative (or a tunnel) will be quieter. Try posting a shortlist of posible alternatives: it's quite possible someone will know the road.

Unfortunately the road classification system doesn't give you any useful guide at all any longer. There are D roads that are banned to slow vehicles (like bicycles)! The line widths used by Michelin indicate the type of road construction, which is about the best you can get, unless you have access to local knowledge.

mz__jo

cycladelic wrote:

ram - I went across the Pyrenees from Pau in France and did a few N roads.

I have a journal on Crazy Guy which includes some snaps of that ride.

My mate and I did some of the N230, N260 and N152 going towards Barcelona.

Take a look...

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=R ... 6355&v=1T2

N230,N260 and N152 are all the Spanish side of the border. They might carry less traffic because they are essentially east-west routes when the principal flows will be north-south in that region.

mz__jo

I have been looking at the map and you don't have a lot of choice in the matter because there is very little in the way of parallel minor roads. An alternative would be to go into Spain on the D115 via the Haut Vallespir and the Col d'Ares into Spain then C151/N152 to Andorra, but allow 1-2 days longer. The N20 north of Andorra is one of the principal routes across the border so it will be very heavy - lorries, cars, caravans, le total!! You will have to go over the Col de Puymorens, which should be ok, there's a tunnel for the traffic.
I haven't found the N32; where is it? Does it still exist?

These would not be my personal choice of roads for a holiday, except perhaps in the autumn. Going further north from Perpignan would give a better choice of minor roads.

Note that the N20 ceases to be useable at Tarascon-sur-Ariège going north. Until there it will be busy.

cycladelic

I don't think Andorra is worth it - that is one busy road.

The route I did - linked above - was great. The N230 in Spain was very quiet. Crossing over from France on it was wonderful. It's the D618a on the French side. It's just a bit busy near La Seu - where the Andorra traffic goes to/from.

mz__jo

cycladelic wrote:

I don't think Andorra is worth it - that is one busy road.

The route I did - linked above - was great. The N230 in Spain was very quiet. Crossing over from France on it was wonderful. It's the D618a on the French side. It's just a bit busy near La Seu - where the Andorra traffic goes to/from.

+1 except that on my map it's the N125 on the french side. I did a work déplacement in the marble works at Fos about 10 years ago. They have quarry galleries that cross the border.

Cheers Jo

dodgerdog

What is your aim? To tranvesre the Pyrennes? complete a route from X to Y in a certain duration or what?

Did the Route du Col a few years ago, Aubisque, Tourmalet, Aspin from Biarrits, lasted as far as Bagneres du Luchon before my lack of backside hardening got the better of me and I had to bail out - cycle to Montrejeau to get a train. Maybe I should have holed up for a couple of days but had been too ambitious and only allowed my self 10 dyas between flights Biarritz-Perignan.

Most of it was on D roads, Biarritz/ St Jean Pied du Port/Arrete/Laruns/Argeles Gazost/Cautrets/Bagneres du Luchon. Great scenery, fantastic (if exhausting) climbs, not too much traffic and amazing descents.

dodgy

I find Google Streetview is great for getting an appreciation of the type of road you're thinking of using. Sounds simplistic, but it works for me, the visual clues are usually enough to get a feel for how fast/busy it will be.

cycladelic

Jo, just to clarify - I didn't ride into Andorra and arrived in Spain via Bagneres, cycling east-ish from Pau to Barcelona.

The Google map on my journal shows the road north of La Seu as the N145 up to the border, then CG-1 on the Andorran side. In France , it seems to be numberd E09 and N20.

ram038

Dodgerdog wrote:

What is your aim? To tranvesre the Pyrennes? complete a route from X to Y in a certain duration or what?

Did the Route du Col a few years ago, Aubisque, Tourmalet, Aspin from Biarrits, lasted as far as Bagneres du Luchon before my lack of backside hardening got the better of me and I had to bail out - cycle to Montrejeau to get a train. Maybe I should have holed up for a couple of days but had been too ambitious and only allowed my self 10 dyas between flights Biarritz-Perignan.

Most of it was on D roads, Biarritz/ St Jean Pied du Port/Arrete/Laruns/Argeles Gazost/Cautrets/Bagneres du Luchon. Great scenery, fantastic (if exhausting) climbs, not too much traffic and amazing descents.

dodgerdog I am planning to cycling from Perpignan to Bayonne and take in as many of the cols of the Raid Pyremean as I can and then head up the West coast to St Malo.

mz__jo

cycladelic wrote:

Jo, just to clarify - I didn't ride into Andorra and arrived in Spain via Bagneres, cycling east-ish from Pau to Barcelona.

The Google map on my journal shows the road north of La Seu as the N145 up to the border, then CG-1 on the Andorran side. In France , it seems to be numberd E09 and N20.

Thanks Iwill look it up; it might be easier than pouring over my road atlas looking for the numbers. The N20 on the french side can't have been too much fun though.

mz__jo

Dodgerdog wrote:

What is your aim? To tranvesre the Pyrennes? complete a route from X to Y in a certain duration or what?

Did the Route du Col a few years ago, Aubisque, Tourmalet, Aspin from Biarrits, lasted as far as Bagneres du Luchon before my lack of backside hardening got the better of me and I had to bail out - cycle to Montrejeau to get a train. Maybe I should have holed up for a couple of days but had been too ambitious and only allowed my self 10 dyas between flights Biarritz-Perignan.

Most of it was on D roads, Biarritz/ St Jean Pied du Port/Arrete/Laruns/Argeles Gazost/Cautrets/Bagneres du Luchon. Great scenery, fantastic (if exhausting) climbs, not too much traffic and amazing descents.

It is wise to be humble before the mountains, they have a way of outlasting us and don't readily make friends. At least that's what most of my french cycletouring freinds seem to say!

Garrigou

Ride on the D918 & D618 for as much as you can. Those are the 'col roads' over the Aubisque, Tourmalet, Aspin & others.
The N116 gets quite a lot of traffic - I'd leave it at Prades & head over the Col de Jau on the D14 and then over the Port de Pailheres on the D25.
The N20 over the Puymorens is horrible. Full of HGVs and coaches going between Spain, Andorra & France.
Cheers.

ram038

Garrigou wrote:

Ride on the D918 & D618 for as much as you can. Those are the 'col roads' over the Aubisque, Tourmalet, Aspin & others.
The N116 gets quite a lot of traffic - I'd leave it at Prades & head over the Col de Jau on the D14 and then over the Port de Pailheres on the D25.
The N20 over the Puymorens is horrible. Full of HGVs and coaches going between Spain, Andorra & France.
Cheers.

Thanks Garrigou you have just confirmed my own thinking on this. I did want to do the Col De Puymorens but thought that that road looked a tad busy\dangerous so have decided to leave it out.and head north at Prades to the Col de Jau.and then on to Col de Port.

smifffymoto

Ram038
I would give Col de Port a wide berth as kit's popular with camping cars. Col d'Agnes brings you more or less to the same place but because it's a much narrower road it is not used anywhere near as much and I think a road with better scenery.

frenchcy

Garrigou wrote:

Ride on the D918 & D618 for as much as you can. Those are the 'col roads' over the Aubisque, Tourmalet, Aspin & others.
The N116 gets quite a lot of traffic - I'd leave it at Prades & head over the Col de Jau on the D14 and then over the Port de Pailheres on the D25.
The N20 over the Puymorens is horrible. Full of HGVs and coaches going between Spain, Andorra & France.
Cheers.

Exactly what I was going to advise. We got fed up with the trucks on the Puymorens and asked the CC de Béarn wheher we could substitute the Jau; they said okay and this is now our Raid route.

welton

Having cycled over just about all of France I would agree with most of what has been stated. I would add that it is best to avoid July and August if at all possible because of the French on holiday together with visitors. Then it is busy almost everywhere apart that is for very minor roads which often provide alternative routes, albeit longer and sometimes poorly surfaced.
However, apart from the obvious major routes and large towns, the N roads are not normally that congested, particularly compared to the UK.
Have a good trip.

jefferson15109

Not quite Pyrenees I know but if you bike along the N260 from Spain into France , be careful . At the border , it becomes the D914 and I got to Argeles sur Mer and decided to turn round back to my base in Spain . Sign said , in French. “ no bikes allowed “ . I didn’t see any such signs when I was headed north - maybe it was just my mistake but I don’t think so .