Cycling France

RawTruth

Hi,

We are thinking of cycling from Nice to Marseille along the coast in May.

New to cycling so was wondering if anyone could tell me how far i could expect to cycle each day doing about 5 hours at a relaxed pace?

Also any help regarding bike rental sites etc. would be very handy.

Thanks

mikedragon32

I'm moving this to the cycling forum so you'll get more informed answers. The only bike hire place I know does bikes that are terrible for one hour ever, let alone five a day!

Lumen

Depends on a few things like how much load you're carrying and (obviously) how fit you are.

There are people on here who would probably be quite happy to do it in one day, although not in five hours obviously.

From my own experience of going in the other direction as part of a much longer tour, 3 days should do it. That was solo and fully loaded (front and rear panniers, tent etc) with a decent bit of sightseeing and plenty of navigational checks, finding campsites etc.

Caroline_ie

Really depends what you call 'relaxed'. Are you going with kids? Do you have a road bike? Do you stop for a lot?

You should be able to cycle no less than 100Km in 5 hours ( that's 20kph ) taking it very handy.

blorg

Caroline_ie wrote: »

You should be able to cycle no less than 100Km in 5 hours ( that's 20kph ) taking it very handy.

Not new to cycling and loaded touring, no way. Half that would be good going.

RawTruth

Well we're reasonably fit. Will carry as light a load as possible.

By relaxed i mean time to stop for lunch and a quick dip maybe here and there.

We'd also like the evenings free of cycling to chill out and have a look around. We were hoping to be on the road by 7 each morning and be finished with the cycling by 12 maybe.

I must be hopeless and using the internet cos cant find much info on this kind of thing at all, apart from the help from you guys.

Lumen

RawTruth wrote: »

I must be hopeless and using the internet cos cant find much info on this kind of thing at all, apart from the help from you guys.

We are the internet.

I vaguely recall that prevailing winds are west-east (at least they were in August) which should help. I can't remember whether there is much in the way of hills on that route - this is critical.

FWIW, I averaged 65km a day for 20 days from St Malo-Nice (1300km), going a squiggly tourist route through a lot of big hills. At the time (15 years ago) I had been cycling about 100km a week for perhaps six months. I was knackered by about day 4.

Heat also plays a part, although if you're going in May and leaving early every day you might be OK.

blorg

RawTruth wrote: »

We'd also like the evenings free of cycling to chill out and have a look around. We were hoping to be on the road by 7 each morning and be finished with the cycling by 12 maybe.

It is not a bad idea to try to get it all done in a block in the morning, before it gets too hot (although may not be so bad in May.) Most of the delay tends to be caused by pauses which all add up, rather than your actual moving speed which is not as relevant as you might think. If you are stopping at all on the way and that is included in the 5 hours (e.g. it is not moving time) I would reckon no more than 50km/day. If you can get 50km in before your lunch you are in my opinion doing very well.

You will have issues getting your breakfast if leaving that early, doesn't mean you can't do it but bear that in mind, you may have to sort that out yourselves. You may get some bread left out for you but might have to skip on the coffee. It is a good idea to have SOMETHING to eat before you set out but you could always make do with a Clif bar or something and stop for your breakfast around 8... of course that is another stop which takes time, etc.

Civilian_Target

I had a couchsurfer who stayed with me who did that run over the course of 2 weeks. It's not really very far, he said he only cycled about 2/3rds of the days, and sometimes as little as 30km. The whole thing is only a little over 200km, and there's only the Esterel and the entrance to Marseille in terms of mountains.

I would say Nice -> Cannes -> St. Raphael -> Les Arcs or Le Lavandou -> Toulon -> Marseille is an itinerary any half-fit person can manage in 7 days. Except for the last leg, each of those towns are 40 or 50km from the one before.

The prevailing wind is West to East, so Marseille to Nice is easier... but since you'd mostly ride in the morning when it's less warm, this would also have you facing the sun most of the time.

sy

Civilian_Target wrote: »

I would say Nice -> Cannes -> St. Raphael -> Les Arcs or Le Lavandou -> Toulon -> Marseille is an itinerary any half-fit person can manage in 7 days. Except for the last leg, each of those towns are 40 or 50km from the one before..

Good recommendation.
I would also recommend you spend some time in La Londe, a few kms west of Le Lavandou (nice campsite on the edge of the Mediterranean at La Londe) and if you are feeling energetic head up into the hills (le-massif-des-maures) for some spectacular views of the Med. Enjoy