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Cycling trip to France

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  • 08-06-2008 10:25pm
    #1
    supertramp
    Closed Accounts Posts: 241 ✭✭


    Has anyone gone to France cycling? How was it? Any problems?

    I am thinking of doing a circuit through France over 3 weeks, next summer.

    Cherbourg - St Malo - Le Guilvenec - Nantes - Royan - Arcachan Cap Ferret - Lourdes - Carcassonne - Montpellier - Digne - Grenoble - Beaune - Chaumont - Metz - Soissons - Rouen - Caen - Cherbourg

    most stages would have 200km +
    3,448km in total with 3 rest days.

    Last year I cycled 1,730 in 2 weeks, and still felt strong at the end, although I lost 8 pounds, down to 9 stone 6 :/

    If anyone has cycled in France, did you have a trailor or just a rucksac?
    Cheers


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    #2
    Run_to_da_hills
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,009 ✭✭✭✭Run_to_da_hills


    Car drivers and the heat is the problem :eek:

    Cycled from Paris to the Italian border and then on to Rome in 1980. Never again!!


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    #3
    Cassiel
    Closed Accounts Posts: 346 ✭✭Cassiel


    Holy cow, Tour de France kilometerage there :eek:

    Sounds like you have the fitness already so I will skip recommending Tim Moore's French Revolutions which can be summed up thusly:
    "Slather your arse and bollocks in Savlon". It is a good read though.

    From my own experience, the mastery of key phrases and words is less of a success than is understanding what is being said back to you. Plan ahead, when you want to skip a boring bit, not all trains carry bikes - which may mean missing your ferry and spending an extra 48hrs in Cherbourg.


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    #4
    blorg
    Registered Users Posts: 15,989 ✭✭✭✭blorg


    Whatever you do don't take a rucksack, use a rack+panniers or a trailer. A rack will be lighter if you are climbing. If you are going very light, you could possibly make do with a saddlebag.

    TBH 200km+ per day for three weeks, loaded, is a lot. It is also a lot more than you did last year. Might be pushing it but only you will know that. (I certainly wouldn't be doing it, 100km/day is around the max I would find sustainable day after day.)


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    #5
    supertramp
    Closed Accounts Posts: 241 ✭✭supertramp


    blorg wrote: »
    Whatever you do don't take a rucksack, use a rack+panniers or a trailer. A rack will be lighter if you are climbing. If you are going very light, you could possibly make do with a saddlebag.

    TBH 200km+ per day for three weeks, loaded, is a lot. It is also a lot more than you did last year. Might be pushing it but only you will know that. (I certainly wouldn't be doing it, 100km/day is around the max I would find sustainable day after day.)

    I think a rucksac has it's advantages. I think it makes it easier going up hill, as the weight of the bag is pushing down on the pedals on the ascent.
    With trailors, you can't use that extra weight to that advantage. Plus if you fall off the bike, the rucksac can give you a soft landing.

    I know it is a tall ask, the distance, but I think the adrenaline of being in France, gives lots of free km's.


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    #6
    supertramp
    Closed Accounts Posts: 241 ✭✭supertramp


    Run_to_da_hills wrote: »
    Car drivers and the heat is the problem :eek:

    Cycled from Paris to the Italian border and then on to Rome in 1980. Never again!!

    Was that on the larger roads, or country roads?


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    #7
    blorg
    Registered Users Posts: 15,989 ✭✭✭✭blorg


    Have you done long distances in a hot country with a rucksack before? If it works for you, great, but it would be driving me round the bend. I would be uncomfortable, sweating, and developing back problems.

    What sort of weight are you thinking of bringing? If it is the sort of weight rucksack that I would consider half-reasonable to carry even a shortish distance (and that would be well under 5kg) you could put it in a saddlebag instead.

    You can even get a backpack that clips onto the seatpost, which might be ideal- would give you the choice. "If you fall off the bike..." is a stupid reason. I've fallen off with a backpack and it is highly unlikely to help you in any way. That's what helmet/gloves/etc are for.

    Trailers you need for much heavier loads, like over 20kg. Which you would not be carrying on your back, believe me. Most trailers also have a fair amount of weight themselves.

    With regard to the daily distance, it's just a matter of what might be realistic. I have done between 200km and 230km in a day the last three weekends running and personally I need a rest day before and after (rest day= less than 25km, I'll still commute.) I'll be back out for a spin on the bike tomorrow but it won't be for another 200km.

    The bank holiday 200km came immediately after 100km the previous evening and it was MUCH more difficult than other 200s I have done in isolation, there was literally no comparison. Other than that it was an easier route so I am placing the blame on the previous 100km!

    On the other hand I can dole out 100km day after day loaded touring in a hot country without difficulty. I could possibly do a bit more. Point is there is a limit and that limit may not actually be that much over what you can do comfortably. Only one way to find out where the limit is I guess, so you could set off with the intention of doing 200km day on day but I wouldn't book your all your accomodation in advance ;-)

    Where are you planning on staying- camping? Staying in B&Bs? Camping is great, and France is a great country to do it, the municipal campsites in particular are very inexpensive. But it obviously adds weight.

    Where did you do the 1,730 in 2 weeks? What were you carrying? What sort of bike will you be using?


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    #8
    supertramp
    Closed Accounts Posts: 241 ✭✭supertramp


    blorg wrote: »
    Have you done long distances in a hot country with a rucksack before? If it works for you, great, but it would be driving me round the bend. I would be uncomfortable, sweating, and developing back problems.

    What sort of weight are you thinking of bringing? If it is the sort of weight rucksack that I would consider half-reasonable to carry even a shortish distance (and that would be well under 5kg) you could put it in a saddlebag instead.

    You can even get a backpack that clips onto the seatpost, which might be ideal- would give you the choice. "If you fall off the bike..." is a stupid reason. I've fallen off with a backpack and it is highly unlikely to help you in any way. That's what helmet/gloves/etc are for.

    Trailers you need for much heavier loads, like over 20kg. Which you would not be carrying on your back, believe me. Most trailers also have a fair amount of weight themselves.

    With regard to the daily distance, it's just a matter of what might be realistic. I have done between 200km and 230km in a day the last three weekends running and personally I need a rest day before and after (rest day= less than 25km, I'll still commute.) I'll be back out for a spin on the bike tomorrow but it won't be for another 200km.

    The bank holiday 200km came immediately after 100km the previous evening and it was MUCH more difficult than other 200s I have done in isolation, there was literally no comparison. Other than that it was an easier route so I am placing the blame on the previous 100km!

    On the other hand I can dole out 100km day after day loaded touring in a hot country without difficulty. I could possibly do a bit more. Point is there is a limit and that limit may not actually be that much over what you can do comfortably. Only one way to find out where the limit is I guess, so you could set off with the intention of doing 200km day on day but I wouldn't book your all your accomodation in advance ;-)

    Where are you planning on staying- camping? Staying in B&Bs? Camping is great, and France is a great country to do it, the municipal campsites in particular are very inexpensive. But it obviously adds weight.

    Where did you do the 1,730 in 2 weeks? What were you carrying? What sort of bike will you be using?


    I have had 2 particular collisions with a car turning in front of me at decent speed, and both occasions, the rucksac, cushioned my fall, and stopped my head from hitting the ground......I was thinking of that particular event. In other common crash conditions, I know it wouldn't help.

    I travel lightly. a pair of runners, a couple of jerseys, spare shorts, and a jumper and pants. I have no problem wearing same post cycle wea over and over.
    I cycled around the coast from Dublin, around the south coast and up to westport, and across to Dublin. It was very warm each day, apart from being badly burnt the first day, i was grand.
    I carried a 35 litre rucksac, packed to brim, heaviest items, being runners and a bike lock.
    I used a cannondale R500 racer bike, and I have a new trek bike, that hopefully won't be vandalised until next summer.
    I am planning on B&Bs like I did in Ireland, as you can get a decent breakfast.
    I eat like a pig on the cycles, large breakfast (although French breakfasts won't be as filling), rolls and fruit on the bike, and 3 course meals every evening. Although i was caught out in Durrus last year, there were no restaurants open, so I went without dinner that night, but still managed my cycle the next day fairly comfortable.
    I am still content with the distances...


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    #9
    supertramp
    Closed Accounts Posts: 241 ✭✭supertramp


    blorg wrote: »
    Have you done long distances in a hot country with a rucksack before?


    Not for long distances, but I cycled in Croatia in the height of summer. I enjoyed the heat, although i sweat more than the average person.


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    #10
    blorg
    Registered Users Posts: 15,989 ✭✭✭✭blorg


    Having done long distances not in France but Spain (shorter ones in France) I would humbly submit that it will likely be a lot hotter in the southern part of France than it ever gets here, and that it makes a big difference to the cycling. Depends on your route of course but the mountains are real ones over there too.

    Best tip I could give is to leave before dawn and try to get it over by lunchtime in the hot bits.

    I'm with you on the one set of off-bike clothes although for those sort of distances in the heat you will need fresh shorts on a daily basis so work out your washing schedule. Especially if you sweat more than average. I would not bother with a second pair of shoes in the rucksack, get something you can use both on the bike and off (I use SPD sandals.)

    Eating like a pig is indeed necessary, you have that one right ;-)


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    #11
    Run_to_da_hills
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,009 ✭✭✭✭Run_to_da_hills


    supertramp wrote: »
    Was that on the larger roads, or country roads?
    Country roads. We were in a group of 30 with a back up crew. Pilgrimage to Rome with the local Catholic Church 1980!


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    #12
    blorg
    Registered Users Posts: 15,989 ✭✭✭✭blorg


    Run_to_da_hills wrote: »
    Country roads. We were in a group of 30 with a back up crew. Pilgrimage to Rome with the local Catholic Church 1980!
    Sounds like fun. My girlfriend's tourer came from a pilgrim doing that same route, around that time, who gave the bike to her uncle, a priest in Rome. Possibly he had the same "never am I riding a bike again" when he made the donation! It has since been on a pilgrimage to Santiago.


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    #13
    Caroline_ie
    Registered Users Posts: 5,400 ✭✭✭Caroline_ie


    Yep ... you're going to get hot ... In france especially in the south west where I am from, it tends to be scorching hot ... the kind of ... you go for a shower and you're in sweat as soon as you turn off the water. The country roads are brilliant, usually no major pot holes, quite well kept.

    I never cycled properly in France, I left I was 18 and took up cycling while here. I'd love to do something as simple as Bordeaux - Biarritz ( stopping just before the pyrenees :D ) I wanted to do it this year, but I won't have time...my mum wants me all for herself ..when I go visit ... ah well.


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    #14
    blorg
    Registered Users Posts: 15,989 ✭✭✭✭blorg


    Caroline_ie wrote: »
    I never cycled properly in France, I left I was 18 and took up cycling while here. I'd love to do something as simple as Bordeaux - Biarritz ( stopping just before the pyrenees :D ) I wanted to do it this year, but I won't have time...my mum wants me all for herself ..when I go visit ... ah well.
    You could get that done in a day at a push, a little over 200km but it is a very flat route. There are no mountains on that side of the border either, it is flat at Irún/Hendaye. So no excuse for not pushing on at least as far as San Sebastián!


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    #15
    Caroline_ie
    Registered Users Posts: 5,400 ✭✭✭Caroline_ie


    blorg wrote: »
    You could get that done in a day at a push, a little over 200km but it is a very flat route. There are no mountains on that side of the border either, it is flat at Irún/Hendaye. So no excuse for not pushing on at least as far as San Sebastián!

    Yeah I know ... That's where I am from Flat 200 km :) I will do it next year in the spring... I am getting a month sabbatical with work - that's my plan to bring the bike over :pac: Can't wait!


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    #16
    Sean02
    Registered Users Posts: 337 ✭✭Sean02


    Cycling that kind of distance with a rucksack is Guinness book of record stuff. Just back last week from a 800 miler Biarritz / Malaga. tough but very enjoyable. For me even wearing raingear was a burden,


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    #17
    supertramp
    Closed Accounts Posts: 241 ✭✭supertramp


    Worked out a route, not as long as previously stated, but long enough:o

    decided I will go camping, not bed and breakfasts..


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