Cycling on French D-roads

[Dec66]

I'm planning a little trip later in the year which involves cycling from Dunkerque to Bethune. The most direct route appears to be D916 then D937.

From what I see, they appear to be single carriageway, similar to the rural A-roads here.

Am I asking for trouble cycling along them, in terms of other road traffic?

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I rode on various D roads during my September Alps and Pyrenees cycling tour, and had no problems with the motor traffic.

Regards,

--- Victor.

 

[Alex H]

On some D roads round here, I'm lucky to find any other traffic

 

[Globalti]

I've never cycled in France but from reports I've read you are likely to be treated with the utmost courtesy, even admiration.

 

[ianrauk]

Cycled all the way from Geneva to Calais on D roads. Some resemble the humble quiet country lane whilst others resemble a single lane busy fast A road.

 

[ianrauk]

I've never cycled in France but from reports I've read you are likely to be treated with the utmost courtesy, even admiration.

Not entirely true. Whilst French drivers on the whole are very good and in the main you are treated with respect.. In large towns and cities you do get some of the same problems as here. Not a patch on Spanish drivers though. No one beats the Spanish for respect of cyclists.

 

[ianrauk]

@mmmmartin probraby knows that road

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Street view is a useful tool for checking traffic levels.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/B...f13e81646da0!2m2!1d2.3767763!2d51.0343684!3e1

 

[srw]

In general, the higher the number in France the busier the road, which would instantly make me wary of your suggested route. There are two online mapping services which will be useful, because they indicate the size of roads well. The IGN national mapping online (https://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/carte) seems to be based on the 1:100k paper maps, which are the best, bar none, for bike touring in France - they are clean, easy to read, light, and have contour lines. And viamichelin (https://www.viamichelin.co.uk/web/R...BPT0=&index=0&vehicle=3&distance=km&corridor=) has a routing option specifically for bikes.

Looking at those, I'd want a route based on the D52 and the D238. I'd also pop over to Stanfords (http://www.stanfords.co.uk/ or in Covent Garden) to buy a paper copy of the 1:100k IGN map.

 

[jay clock]

I have toured all over France and agree it is a great place. But beware the D road. The comment above is true, in that a D2 will likely be smaller than a D916. Some like Bayonne D260 are dual carriageways with cycling banned.

My look at Streetview suggested those roads are fairly busy.

A quick look at RWGPS suggests the route you mentioned more or less, but i plotted it out using the main roads 66km and back another way using much smaller roads. I have not put tons of effort into double checking with Streetview but it is a tiny bit longer and much quieter

see here https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18520028

Caveat that as I now use garmin for navigation I am very happy with quite fiddly little back routes, and if in a hurry with just basic maps I would happily give the main roads a bash as nothing wastes more time than navigation.

Final point is that for huge cities I will skirt round on country lanes but most towns ignore the by passes and simply head straight through the centre

 

[1000kChallenge]

I'm organising a tour this year from the English Channel to the Med, all on quiet D-roads.

I've cycled this route the last 2 years, and it's fantastic. The d-roads we use are all ultra-quiet, like UK country lanes but they go cross-country like UK A-roads!

 

[mmmmartin]

SRW and jayclock have it covered. D roads can be horrid, or lovely. Avoid the trap of thinking the system is like our A, B road system, it isn't. A D road is classified thus because it is maintained by the Departement while N roads are maintained by the National government. These classifications do not signify traffic levels. So a D road can be a fast busy road with an Armco barrier each side, meaning a fragile cyclist has nowhere to go when a 22 tonne lorry approaches in its rear-view mirror. And an N road can be an excellent piece of perfect, empty tarmac because all the traffic is on the nearby autoroute. Streetview can show you traffic levels, albeit not always accurately. Avoid straight roads, they tend to have fast traffic.

 

[Dec66]

Thanks all, plenty of food for thought. I think the upshot is... Buy a Garmin.

I checked bits of the route on Streetview and they reminded me of riding on the road from Pagham to Selsey, which I didn't enjoy one bit, even at 7am. That's what prompted the initial question, really.

Now to work out the best route from West Wickham to Dover...

 

[Dogtrousers]

Streetview can show you traffic levels, albeit not always accurately. Avoid straight roads, they tend to have fast traffic.

I sometimes wonder about the history of the French road network. Some of the larger single carriageway D roads are very straight and seem to have been slapped onto the landscape by a central planner, while the smaller wiggly roads around them form the same sort of emergent network our own country lanes. The ones I'm thinking of are definitely pre-war and I wonder if they date back to Napoleonic times? (Just a guess. My French history is rubbish)

A result of this is that not only do the straighter roads have faster traffic, as @mmmartin says, but they tend not to be in sympathy with the landscape, so you get some real roller-coasters.

 

[ianrauk]

Now to work out the best route from West Wickham to Dover.

Did Dover to Orpington last year.
Be warned, it's a hilly ride whichever way you go.

Here you go. RIDEWITHGPS LINK