3 Week Introductory Cycling Tour September. France?

[Ryan Dixon]

Hello all. Pleased to stumble across this forum whilst researching cycling.

I hope to do a trip in September - apprx 3 weeks - which will be an introduction to touring cycling for me. I have up until then to purchase a suitable bike and start training/practicing. I have an ultra- lightweight tent and as a keen photographer I may want to take my camera.

My a rough draught for a route is Lyon - Hossegor - Perpignan - Lyon. This is simply because Lyon and Hossegor are places I've wanted to visit for quite a while.

Any tips advice re. A) Which bike to get? B) Is this a good route? Gratefully recieved.

 

[sabian92]

What sort of budget do you have for a bike? Do you have panniers and a rack or do you need all the extras too?

 

[vernon]

When choosing a bike you need to think of what it is going to be used for in addition to the tour. Is the tour going to be the first of many?

Budget tourers can be had from the Edinburgh Bike Co-operative. Also look out for the Raleigh Royale. You could also look at www.spacycles.co.uk who have a comprehensive range of Dawes tourers.

You need to have a few trial runs with the camping if only to establish what you need to discard but it will also get you into a routine for making and breaking camp.

I'm unfamiliar with the route and the geography of the bit of France that yo have chosen. Have a play with www.mapmyride.com to get a feel for the hilliness of the route.


Have fun.

 

[Ryan Dixon]

At this point I'm not sure about my budget. I will need to buy panniers and rack too. I'm assuming I will need to buy a touring bike in order to cope with panniers/rack and they seem to start at £850 - seems like more than I wanted to spend but at this point I am clueless as to the costs involved in this pursuit. I want the trip to be as cheap as possible but don't want to 'scrimp' on the bike because yes this trip is probably the first of many - assuming I enjoy it!

 

[Ryan Dixon]

http://www.ashcycles.com/site/raleigh-royal-tourer?zenid=5f77546bb0128c29c06f3dec27021181

Hmm £399 is more like it.

Is a steel frame better for touring than an aluminium frame?

 

[sabian92]

You're going to get opinions from either side, it's honestly a personal choice. Are you planning on cooking as well as camping? Get a rack with a high weight limit - a cheaper one will probably fail at some stage.

Also, don't worry so much about getting top end components. If you have a decent frame you can upgrade it as the parts wear out and effectively spread the cost.

 

[Ryan Dixon]

I'm unfamiliar with the route and the geography of the bit of France that yo have chosen. Have a play with www.mapmyride.com to get a feel for the hilliness of the route.


Have fun.

This site is fantastic.

But it does confirm that the route I have chosen is very challenging reaching 4600 feet at the beginning of the ride and at the end!

 

[rich p]

I don't know what your criteria are but I think you'll be crossing the Massif, Cevennes etc which means hilly and then along the Pyrenees foothills which will be the same.
A thought occurs that you could pick up the canal du midid at Bordeaux-ish and come out at Narbonne-ish for an easier section. It depends how much you want to go to the places you mention and how much climbing you want to do.
FWIW, I like hills on tours but after a few days I need a break from them and a few easier days to recover.

 

[Ryan Dixon]

I don't know what your criteria are but I think you'll be crossing the Massif, Cevennes etc which means hilly and then along the Pyrenees foothills which will be the same.
A thought occurs that you could pick up the canal du midid at Bordeaux-ish and come out at Narbonne-ish for an easier section. It depends how much you want to go to the places you mention and how much climbing you want to do.
FWIW, I like hills on tours but after a few days I need a break from them and a few easier days to recover.

I don't want to underestimate the difficulties of these hills so this option you've mentioned is useful.I think I'm going to be looking at doing 80 miles per day but obviously this is going to vary significantly due to the elevation.

I am quite eager to see Hossegor. It seems that the section from Brive-la-gailarade to Hossegor although its 200 miles it is relatively "flat" in comparision to the rest of the loop. maybe an opportunity to get extra miles on the clock and have a rest at Hossegor before taking on the Pyrannees foothills.

I think at the end of the ride, assumming I go anti-clockwise (from Lyon - Bordeaux - Hossegor - Lourdes - Perpignan- Millau - Lyon) - have the opion of missing the Massif, Cevennes by taking a slight detour via Montpellier - so if Im knackered I may take that option.

I agree with you are saying though - i bet the hills are great for vistas - but I will need to make sure I have rest days if I take these harder routes.

Definitely going to need to get some practice in

 

[Ryan Dixon]

Hmm i'm concious that Im setting my goals to high with this loopwithin 3 weeks. I'd imagine that cycling through the Cevennes i'd realistically be looking at 50 miles per day max with all that climbing???

Plus, I've done the route on 'map my ride' but that doesn't take into account all the winding roads in france. Back to the drawing board.