Cycling in France

jackk1992

Woke up this morning with the crazy idea of wanting to go away. Fed up of the temperamental weather at the moment (hate road riding in the rain) and fancy going to like france with my bike and doing abit of cycling. Don't want to spend a fortune though so ideally want to camp.

Has anyone on here done this before and got any tips for me, as ive never driven abroad before nor camped abroad.

Don't have any preference on where to go, will more or less go where the nice places to ride are as thats the main reason for the trip.

marcusjb

Don't expect the weather to be particularly different - especially in Northern France.

Jump on ferry, ride around, camping is cheap (with municipal sites).

Brittany is great - lots to see and do. A tour up the Normandy Coast - see the WW2 sights and more. Both easy on the ferries.

Food is easy - a set menu of the day meal will often be between 8 and 12 Euros for 3 courses of very decent food. We usually use that at lunch, and then have stuff we've picked up from supermarket for dinner (depending on if we're carrying cooking gear or not, depends on what we have - but in summer, salad, bread, cheese etc.).

jackk1992

You got any campsite recommendations? I would preferably want to camp somewhere "bike friendly" maybe with somewhere to lock your bike up? surely they exist

marcusjb

Virtually every town and large village will have a municipal campsite - usually open from June(ish) to end of August(ish). They mostly cost very little (5 Euro) and will be basic but generally clean and fine for a cycle tourer.

There's always something, somewhere to lock your bike to. I don't overly stress about it, but do things like put a guy rope through the frame at night, so hopefully, I'd wake up if someone tried to move the bike at night. I'd be more cautious camping in the UK though.

lyn1

Just had a week here. Lovely 6 pitch site with British owners ... large pitches. Loads of quiet back roads...very little traffic and not hilly. Also close to the coast. Town is 30 min walk or 5 mins cycle downhill...touch more back. Plenty of bars for coffee stops on rides. Weather was not any different to England though.
http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/revie ... revid=9224
If you travel with Brittany Ferries they will give you a 20% discount code when you have booked their site.

Dorset_Boy

You need to get south of the Loire for the weather to be significantly different, but that's stilll no guarantee.

Cycling in France is a different experience, and this time of year camping will be pretty cheap as it's low season.
Driving - it time is not of the essence the main roads are generally fairly quiet (by English standards) and a good alternative to the motorways. Just remember you need triangle, breatherlisers, high viz vests, your insurance docs etc in the car at all times, & one high viz vest must be accessible from the driver's seat.

Mikey23

Cycling in France is utterly brilliant. I've been over three times this year already and will do more if the weather is good. Safe, we'll tarmaced roads, considerate courteous motorists, and loads of interesting places to visit, eat and drink. I just book with Brittany ferries on the spur of the moment, cycle to Plymouth ferry port, hop on the overnight and ready to go next morning. Last Friday there were at least 60 cyclists which shows how popular it's getting. Most towns have an information office which will tell you where camp sites are and probably book up in advance for you and the staff generally speak English ...

I would start with a small easily manageable trip so that you get a feel for the place. The warning is that it's terribly addictive

CiB

I went out to St Malo last year for the TdF and camped nr Cherrueix - it was fantastic. Smooth roads, no driver issues at all in towns, on quiet side roads or anywhere else. Didn't worry too much about the bike - it was in the car boot or I was on it most of the time except for a couple of nights leaning it against a village restaurant where I could see it. Didn't take a lock.

Go for it. Camping was cheap, about 7 Euros a night for a camp site with showers and EHU.

Mikey23

If I want to do a long ride in Cornwall I've got basically two choices. Go back lanes and ride up and down steep hills and terrifying descents on appalling road surfaces with crazy intolerant motorists. Or go main roads on better surfaces but with crazy intolerant motorists.

Or hop over the channel and ride on nice roads with courteous and considerate motorists with a reasonable prospect of survival. No brainer really...

navrig2

Burgundy. It offers a great variety in cycling and other things to see and do.

http://goo.gl/maps/5YNU6

The green area is a national park and akin to the lake district with loads of climbs and scenery. The area to the north east is largely flat and full of little viallges to stop in.

We rented a villa there for a family holiday for two weeks. I took my road bike and got out about 5 times. Some great routes all made up on the spot and a real mixture of relaxed distance riding and hills. The hills are not alpine standard so not too scarey.

Burgundy is one day's drive from Zeebrugge.

I'd go back tomorrow given the chance.

All that said it rained for the entire two weeks and we barely used the outdoor swimming pool at the villa because the temperature was about 13-15 degrees. This was July but not a typical July, even the locals complained about the weather that year.

grumpygrandad

My brother in law and I are taking the Plymouth - Roscoff ferry in July and bimbling down to visit friends who live near Bergerac. The TdF individual time trial is going through their village. Estimated distance is 700 km at 100 km a day. I have no concerns about cycling through France. Have done so many times before and have always loved it. However, this year is the first time it has been a camping trip so it has been good to read the advice on this thread. Now looking for pannier rack and bags to fit my 9 year old spesh allez. Don't want to take over thread, but any advice gratefully received. Also need a couple of new tyres and wondered weather 25mm instead of 23mm would off we extra strength / comfort?
Enjoy your trips!

whoof

France is a great place to cycle and camp. There are countless numbers of good campsites that are far superior to UK ones and cheaper. Better facilites, you usually get your own 'pitch' rather than stuck in a field and no drunken idiots shouting into the small hours. June is a good time to go as the weather is usually very good in the South and the French still consider it low or mid season so it's relatively quiet.
Take a look at the CTC wesite as this contain years of amassed experience regarding what to take, how to carry it and recommended places to go.
I might see you out there as I am riding from Toulouse to Nice in a couple of weeks time.

If you are campling definately change your 23 mm tyres.

Druidor

Off to France in August for 3 weeks Wife has insisted the bike is not going but the father-in-law has some bikes so will borrow one when I get there to get out a bit. Maël-Carhaix closest town so looking forward to the scenery & very quiet roads.

crispybug2

Off to France tomorrow.

Riding from Limoges to Aubusson...Aubusson to Clermont Ferrand...Clermont Ferrand to Aubusson (Hopefully taking on the entire length of the Puy Dome)...and finally Aubusson to Limoges.


I love riding this route, it's quite up and down but no absolute bastard climbs (apart from Out of Clermont Ferrand) but this time the weather looks a bit iffy!

whoof

crispybug2 wrote:

Off to France tomorrow.

Riding from Limoges to Aubusson...Aubusson to Clermont Ferrand...Clermont Ferrand to Aubusson (Hopefully taking on the entire length of the Puy Dome)...and finally Aubusson to Limoges.
quote]

Are you riding as part of the organised one day event if not you can't ride the Puy de Dome.

http://www.lescamelias.eu/en/cycling-road.php
Climbing the Puy de Dôme individually is no longer possible. Because of the creation of a tourist train - the Panoramique des Dômes - the Puy de Dôme is closed to individual cyclists. However, special events for cyclists are being organised. Climbing the Puy de Dôme on a bicycle will be possible on 15 June 2014 between 7.30 am and 9.30 am during the La Montée de Puy de Dôme event.

crispybug2

whoof wrote:

Are you riding as part of the organised one day event if not you can't ride the Puy de Dome.

http://www.lescamelias.eu/en/cycling-road.php
Climbing the Puy de Dôme individually is no longer possible. Because of the creation of a tourist train - the Panoramique des Dômes - the Puy de Dôme is closed to individual cyclists. However, special events for cyclists are being organised. Climbing the Puy de Dôme on a bicycle will be possible on 15 June 2014 between 7.30 am and 9.30 am during the La Montée de Puy de Dôme event.

Greetings from France

Ahh bugger it!!

I knew you could only ride the Puy de Dome on a sunday morning due it being a private road but didn't realise it was completely closed to cyclists now.


Such is life, having said that the climb out of Clermont Ferrand is horrifying enough on it's own!!