DIY Raid Pyrennes

milese

Hi,

I have agreed to go on a cycling holiday with my Dad this July and have agreement in principle from my wife.

I’ve spent a bit of time looking around at organised trips but haven’t found anything that jumps out.

We did Raid Alpine in 2010, Majorca in 2012 and Gran Canaria last March, and would quite like to visit either the Pyrenees or Dolomites as not been before.

We thought about doing our own thing in the Pyrenees, flying to the med, ditching cardboard bike boxes, and riding back to Santander through the Pyrenees along the Raid route to get the Ferry back to Plymouth, but it looks like the transfers at either end will be a bit of a pain – Toulouse airport to a sensible start point on the med, and a sensible finish point on the atlantic (Biaritz?) to Santander, both over 200km.

Does anyone have any experience of these transfers?

Is a particular direction (med to atlantic or vice versa) better with regards to wind direction or other reason?

I could carry our (minimal) luggage to equalise our ability (my Dad is 66).

We’d look to do it over about a week. If anyone has any other advice that would be great.

Thanks.

pblakeney

Usual route is Atlantic to Med.
Prevailing wind goes that way. The climbs are worth it. All I know.

ugo.santalucia

I think you should change the title to Raid Pyreneen, as this is what we are discussing.

First of all you need to decide whether you want to do the Randonneur version, which is very hard if unsupported or the Tourist version or whether you don't care and just want to follow the route at your own pace.

I have done the Rando version in 2010, supported by Marmotte tours. I thin it is perfectly possible to do it unsupported, although maybe not in the 100 hours to get the Brevet.
I think your only option is the one you highlighted, which means flying to Toulouse and cycle to the start in Cerbere and come back by ferry. Otherwise you can take a train, Cerbere has a station, although it is not exaclty busy.
Direction wise, most choose to do west to east, but there is no reason why you shouldn't do it the other way round. I don't think wind will be a major factor... In fact I would probably do it the other way round. The west part is much wetter and I'd rather do it at the end... do it first means carrying a lot of damp clothes around for days. In addition, the big climbs (Tourmalet, Aubisque, Aspin, Peyresourde) are all in the west part and that gives you something to look forward to...

milese

Thanks for the replies.

Not fussed about doing an official route or getting a certificate for it.

Happy to do a supported ride, but they all seem to be either 4 days which would be too much for my dad, or 10 days which i dont have time for....

Does anyone have details of the transfers at either end?

ugo.santalucia

Milese wrote:

Thanks for the replies.

Not fussed about doing an official route or getting a certificate for it.

Happy to do a supported ride, but they all seem to be either 4 days which would be too much for my dad, or 10 days which i dont have time for....

Does anyone have details of the transfers at either end?

yes, 4 days is the Randonneur and 10 is the Tourist brevet. Have you looked at flights to Perpignan? I think you can fly from Birmingham and Stansted and it's a lot closer than Toulouse.

At the other end you probably need to cross the "border" from Hendaye to Irun and take a train to Santander. We are still in the middle ages when it comes to trains between Spain and France, at least for inexpensive local trains.

milese

Thanks.

Yeah, flying to Perpignan makes sense, just means that we need to get to Stanstead, but thats probably easier than a France side transfer.

Turns out that Irun is really close to Hendaye, and there is a train from Irun to Santander that takes just over 3 hours, and is really close to the ferryport.

Just need to consider whether this is what we really want to do and that we are happy to carry our luggage, on our non rack mount bikes......

Possible with one of those giant tail packs and a roll up bar mount on a CAAD12?

pblakeney

Milese wrote:

Just need to consider whether this is what we really want to do and that we are happy to carry our luggage, on our non rack mount bikes......

Which is why I choose organised supported tours.
Much more expensive, yes, but you only live once and I am worth it.

ugo.santalucia

I have a 6lt seatpack, which is OK for an overnight ride, but not for a multiday trip. The bigger 10-12 lt ones might be what you need, but they become a PITA when you climb out of the saddle, of which you might have to do a lot in a trip of that nature.
I think they are designed for randonneur type touring... lots of miles every day and not much else. If you need spare clothes, shoes etc, you might find they are not suitable