South of France bike tour - routes & general advice
KnightOfTheLongTights
Posts: 1,415
I'm taking two weeks, maybe a day or two more, in late September to ride around the south-east of France. It'll be my first cycling trip and first time doing serious distances on a daily basis.
I have a vague idea of starting somewhere like Grenoble and ending up somewhere like Avignon or Nice. Would like to stop in a couple of places for a day or two to do some 'proper riding' sans panniers. I'm umming and aahhrring about taking on the big Alpine cols / Ventoux etc, but it would seem a shame not to as I'm in the area. (Would it be sensible to tackle these without the panniers on?)
Am envisaging something like 50-80 miles a day. This is as far as I've got planning wise.
If anyone has any faoured roads or routes or places to stay in this part of the world, I'd be v interested to hear them. Also general advice to a touring virgin - even if it seems obvious - would be appreciated.
e.g. maps? Michelin road maps, or something more detailed? Where do you stash them? Are handlebar bags a good option for easy-access to maps and other bits (camera?)?
Is there perhaps a good book of recommended riding routes?
I have a vague idea of starting somewhere like Grenoble and ending up somewhere like Avignon or Nice. Would like to stop in a couple of places for a day or two to do some 'proper riding' sans panniers. I'm umming and aahhrring about taking on the big Alpine cols / Ventoux etc, but it would seem a shame not to as I'm in the area. (Would it be sensible to tackle these without the panniers on?)
Am envisaging something like 50-80 miles a day. This is as far as I've got planning wise.
If anyone has any faoured roads or routes or places to stay in this part of the world, I'd be v interested to hear them. Also general advice to a touring virgin - even if it seems obvious - would be appreciated.
e.g. maps? Michelin road maps, or something more detailed? Where do you stash them? Are handlebar bags a good option for easy-access to maps and other bits (camera?)?
Is there perhaps a good book of recommended riding routes?
0
Comments
-
Starting from the bottom, you could try the Lonely Planet Cycling in France book.
Michelin 1:200k maps are IME, the best compromise between weight and detail - especially if you know what information to look for (eg altitude, road gradient, scenic roads). If you were planning on touring in one or two specific areas then you might well find the IGN 1:50k maps a help.
There's nothing to stop you staying in one place for more than one night an doing day rides without your luggage.
Bear in mind though that in parts of France you can encounter much longer climbs than you would find in the UK (eg 500 metres of altigtude gain wouldn't be considered unusual). So take the amount of climbing into account when deciding how many miles you are going to do: 50 miles with a 1,000 metres of climbing is obviously a different proposition from 50 miles on the flat.0 -
Grenoble is between 3 different mountain ranges , each with a distinctive character and each worthy of at least one day ride. The mountains are accessible from the city using a good network of cycle routes.0
-
heading on for Grenoble to Provence, I'd prefer to avoid any of the big tunnels - is that possible? (haven't really looked at a proepr map yet - that would help)
Alternative I'nm considerign is to start in the Pyrenees and wend my way Provencewards from there.
Thanks andym.0 -
Bear in mind there's the viamuchelin.com site which has online mapping and a routeplanner with a cycling option. IGN mapping is also available online (IIRC geoportail.fr).
If you're still thinking about trains, there are sleepers from Paris to the Pyrenees (or at least there were the last time I looked).
You may also want to check out the road version of the Grande Traversée du Vercors.0 -
Michelin 1:200,000 spiral bound road atlas - then you can just take the pages you need and leave the rest at home. Fits nicely in map case on top of bar bag. I like find navigating is easier if I highlight my route before setting off. No experience cycling in big mountains so can't help with that - but I reckon go for it.0
-
nicktheluddite wrote:Michelin 1:200,000 spiral bound road atlas - then you can just take the pages you need and leave the rest at home. Fits nicely in map case on top of bar bag. I like find navigating is easier if I highlight my route before setting off. No experience cycling in big mountains so can't help with that - but I reckon go for it.
mmm, OK, the A3 one?0 -
We did Telgraph/Galibier & Col de Vars in a day with panniers so anything is possible. Bourg D'Osian would be a good base - Alpe D'Heuz, Galibier, Glandon, Ornon and others and you could go over Bonnette to Nice or from BdO to Nice via Gap (much lower!). Recommend you stay in the Logis in Corps and have the evening meal. From memory 7 courses, free oysters and sleep in a velvet bedroom.0
-
I think it's about A3 yes. Because you are just folding individual pages (rather than a whole OS map) it fits well into map case. I looked at a load of french road atlases/maps in Stanfords - thought that one showed most information about elevation/gradient for the scale. It also seems to show every little road which is handy.0
-
Cheers all.0
-
nicktheluddite wrote:I think it's about A3 yes. Because you are just folding individual pages (rather than a whole OS map) it fits well into map case. I looked at a load of french road atlases/maps in Stanfords - thought that one showed most information about elevation/gradient for the scale. It also seems to show every little road which is handy.
just ordered this atlas
so at 1:200,000 it's the same scale as the orange fold-out regional Michelin maps - just in a different format?0 -
-
KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:nicktheluddite wrote:Michelin 1:200,000 spiral bound road atlas - then you can just take the pages you need and leave the rest at home. Fits nicely in map case on top of bar bag. I like find navigating is easier if I highlight my route before setting off. No experience cycling in big mountains so can't help with that - but I reckon go for it.
mmm, OK, the A3 one?
I've heard of people finding these on Amazon at bargain prices, but if you are only planning to go to one part of France, rather than all the way acroos it, it's a lot more paper than you need.0 -
andymiller wrote:KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:nicktheluddite wrote:Michelin 1:200,000 spiral bound road atlas - then you can just take the pages you need and leave the rest at home. Fits nicely in map case on top of bar bag. I like find navigating is easier if I highlight my route before setting off. No experience cycling in big mountains so can't help with that - but I reckon go for it.
mmm, OK, the A3 one?
I've heard of people finding these on Amazon at bargain prices, but if you are only planning to go to one part of France, rather than all the way acroos it, it's a lot more paper than you need.
but as nick says, if you rip out the individual sheets needed it could be a less bulky option? - am used to that sort of thing from fellrunning, where you either cut apart an OS map to get the section you need and cover it in sticky-back plastic to waterproof it, or do the same wit ha good-quality photocopy.
Fold-out maps can be a right pain when you're on the move.0 -
That Michelin spiral-bound road atlas is incredibly heavy. We have one we carry in our campervan. My wife has transferred it to a small spring-loaded A4 folder so when we're in France we can take out the sheet(s) we need for our day rides.
That's ideal for the sort of cycle-touring we do now and the 1:200 Michelin maps are an excellent compromise for cycling IMO. However, if we were cycle touring 'properly' as we used to, I would choose the individual maps over the single pages of the Atlas.
Certainly ride as many of the cols as you wish/need to. Bear in mind the Ventoux isn't a col and actually there's no point in riding it except as an enjoyable exercise - it isn't a route to anywhere. If you have time, a worthwhile route from Grenoble might be to take in the high plateau of the Vercours just to the west. Just as pointless in a way as the Ventoux, but very rewarding IMO with a very long descent into Die to the south.Old cyclists never die; they just fit smaller chainrings ... and pedal faster0 -
At just under a tenner it's definitely a bargain, and A3 is a reasonable size. The fact that the pages are printed on both sides means less weight for a given amount of coverage. I'd say it's definitely the better option if you need more than a couple of maps, if you only need one or two maps then maybe it's a bit more debateable.0
-
You could consider riding a loop of the Gorges du Verdon - pretty spectacular.0
-
I rode around the South a bit with panniers and attempted Ventoux. It was a bit early in the year though and snow forced me to call it a day two-thirds up (in April). You will find some snaps of me here...
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page ... 35540&v=WG
If you click on the following pages, you'll see where I went after... down to Avignon, Nice etc.It's an uphill climb to the bottom0 -
just as an updatem, I'm going to start in Toulouse and finish in Nice, with two weeks bimbling in between, will definitely try to squeeze in some of the suggestions ....0
-
andymiller wrote:At just under a tenner it's definitely a bargain, and A3 is a reasonable size. The fact that the pages are printed on both sides means less weight for a given amount of coverage. I'd say it's definitely the better option if you need more than a couple of maps, if you only need one or two maps then maybe it's a bit more debateable.
how do you keep your map handy andy (hoho)? handlebar bag? or in pocket of cycling jersey?0
