Burgundy canals, anyone been?

[Fandango]

I am taking my family to Burgundy in a few weeks and we would like to do some cycling, either cycle camping or setting up our main tent and having days out on the bikes. None of us are hardcore bikers so the canals seem like a good easy ride - we loved the Kennet and Avon canal cycle path.

Has anyone been?

What are the canal paths like? My lovely new Ridgeback Panorama is great on a good surface but not so happy on rough tracks or gravel as my old hybrid.

Can you recommend any particular areas to cycle or camp, visit etc?

Many thanks.

 

[andym]

I am taking my family to Burgundy in a few weeks and we would like to do some cycling, either cycle camping or setting up our main tent and having days out on the bikes. None of us are hardcore bikers so the canals seem like a good easy ride - we loved the Kennet and Avon canal cycle path.

Has anyone been?

What are the canal paths like? My lovely new Ridgeback Panorama is great on a good surface but not so happy on rough tracks or gravel as my old hybrid.

Can you recommend any particular areas to cycle or camp, visit etc?

Many thanks.

Hopefully someone with direct experience can answer your questions, but there's a shedload of information on a dedicated website:

http://www.burgundy-by-bike.com

There are brochures and maps etc availabe as pdf downloads from the downlaods section:

http://www.burgundy-by-bike.com/Documents-telechargeables--53en.html

The site also has a photgallery and information about accommodation, bike shops etc etc etc.

 

[Fandango]

Hopefully someone with direct experience can answer your questions, but there's a shedload of information on a dedicated website:

http://www.burgundy-by-bike.com

There are brochures and maps etc availabe as pdf downloads from the downlaods section:

http://www.burgundy-...bles--53en.html

The site also has a photgallery and information about accommodation, bike shops etc etc etc.

Thanks for those. Found this that made me a bit dubious about our bikes

Cycle from Migennes to Dijon along the canal towpath and quiet little back roads, preferably on a mountain or hybrid bike.

I'd be grateful to know just what the surface of the paths is like, if anyone has been?

 

[andym]

Thanks for those. Found this that made me a bit dubious about our bikes

I'd be grateful to know just what the surface of the paths is like, if anyone has been?

Well yes but equally there are pictures of people rollerblading on tarmac. So maybe taking the optimistic views, the fact that the website highlights the fact that a stretch is more suitable for VTTs and hybrids is an indication that the rest is rideable by all sorts of bikes?


I suspect that there's probably a bit of spectrum from fine aggregate to tarmac. The picture gallery should give you a reasonable impression (at least until someone with first-hand experience stops by).

But in any event, I'm not sure why you think your ridgeback panorama won't cope with canal towpaths. I don't know what size tyres you can put on them but at a guess i"d have said up to 32Cs which should be more than fine for canal towpaths.

 

[Fandango]

But in any event, I'm not sure why you think your ridgeback panorama won't cope with canal towpaths. I don't know what size tyres you can put on them but at a guess i"d have said up to 32Cs which should be more than fine for canal towpaths.

They are the tires that came with it, Continental Contact 700 x 32c, thinnish but with tread. I found the going really tough on sections of the railway cycle route from Scarborough to Whitby, I had to walk on some sections, but Hadrians cycle path and the kennet and Avon canal were fine. I love the Panorama but don't feel too confident fully loaded on rough or gravelly paths. I should add that am getting on a bit and need to lose some weight which doesn't help. What a young fit guy would find easy, I might not, and my wife and kids will be coming along too. I don't want to scare them off cycle camping - this will be only our second trip after the B&A canal which was lovely for noobs like us. If the Burgundy canals are like the B&A it will be great, that is why I am after first hand experience.

 

[Muddyfox]

I don't know what size tyres you can put on them but at a guess i"d have said up to 32Cs which should be more than fine for canal towpaths.

I've got 700x35's on my Panorama and i've ridden mine on some woodland singletrack .. the Panorama is designed for world touring a canal towpath is'nt going to present it with any problems

Simon

 

[JackE]

Slightly off post but if you are still worried about the Burgundy ones, you could always consider the fantastic canal paths in Belgium. We tried them out 2 years ago and were completely smitten. The area around Bruges is wonderful for family cycling as is the Limburg area further East towards Germany. The quality (and width) of the path surfaces put the British equivalents to shame.

This is the website that inspired us to go: http://www.gamber.net/cyclebel/. For Limburg see: http://www.cycletourer.co.uk/cycletouring/belgium.shtml

 

[Fandango]

Slightly off post but if you are still worried about the Burgundy ones, you could always consider the fantastic canal paths in Belgium. We tried them out 2 years ago and were completely smitten. The area around Bruges is wonderful for family cycling as is the Limburg area further East towards Germany. The quality (and width) of the path surfaces put the British equivalents to shame.

Thanks for that. We are not set in stone on Burgundy so it's certainly worth thinking about. We have booked our ferry, but we are likely to wait until the last minute to decide depending on the weather forecasts.

 

[TheDoctor]

The French canal paths I've seen have all been doable on a bike.
I've done a short stretch of the Burgundy Canal - around Pont d'Ouche and Dijon IIRC - and you'd be fine on a hybrid.
I'd rate Burgundy over Belgium anyday, but that may be my Francophile prejudice showing a little.

 

[dragon72]

the former train line (now bike path or "avenue verte") from chalon sur saone to macon is a good ride. It goes through some lovely villages like Cluny along the way.