Dangers while touring

[xilios]

My wife and I cycled through several countries in Europe and never had any real concerns about the traffic.
There will always be a few jerks in every country but if you use common sense you shouldn't have any problems.
I can safely say that 97% of the drivers are courteous and the other 3% were in or near cities.
They just seem to always be a bit uptight and in a hurry

 

[ch3]

661-Pete -> I am making a note on the D road numbering system. Thanks for the link to the signs as well.

asterix -> Riding on the right will also be a problem. Even if I come from Greece where we drive like in France, I've never actually cycled there, in comparison of 6 years cycling in England. So I can see my self going on the wrong way in the first few days. =] Good point about the signs as well. I'll have a closer look just before I depart.


bianchi1 -> Heat stroke is a concern indeed. I remember the day I cycled to Brighton, it was rather hot and sunny and apart from sunburnt I got a little bit of a headache. Even if I've grown up in Greece where there is pleanty of sunshine, I need to get used to it again after living here for so long and spending so much time infront of the monitor rather than outdoors. How did you deal with the wild boar??? This sounds a little scary! =]




Thank you very much for all your advice guys, I really appreciate it. I am in the process of calming down my parent as well, since they are a little worried about the whole mission. =]

 

[PackDonkey]

France

Ch3 - my partner and I have done over 8000km of touring, the majority in France. Stick where possible to the 'white roads' i.e the white roads on Michelin maps. We use the very detailed and accurate Local series, scale 1cm: 1,75km or 1cm: 1,5km. These are indispensable for self-guided touring.

We have never experienced dangerous driving - indeed the opposite. Occasionally we have used yellow routes, and even less frequently the red ones; these are obviously busy, and to preserve your sanity (nothing worse than coming off quiet roads and having the noise of trucks and cars roaring in your ears) and calm the nerves, stick to the white where possible.

There are many signposted touring routes, as well as 'voie verts' which permit only cycles, pedestrians and rollers. Do a bit of research, and planning your trip will be a pleasure.

BTW a compass is useful - crossroads become less of a guess!

Happy cycling.

 

[dragon72]

In thousands of kms ridden in France/Italy, the only times I have ever had vehicles pass too close, it's been by campervans with UK licence plates.

 

[bianchi1]

[ How did you deal with the wild boar??? This sounds a little scary! =]




It was the middle of the night and rather strangely my mate who i was with stood up, naked with his sleeping bag around his ankles shouting "bonjour..bongour" at them. They just stopped, turned and ran back into the wood!!

Genius

 

[661-Pete]

How did you deal with the wild boar??? This sounds a little scary!

I've only ever seen them in the wild once - and that was from the car, not on the bike. It was a sizeable 'commune' with lots of young: they just ran across the road unperturbed and unharmed, evidently used to traffic. The piglets, all of them striped, were charming: lots of 'oohs' and 'aahs'. I wouldn't have wanted to get between a sow and her piglets, mind you!

 

[yello]

Sorry, I don't quite follow this. The yellow diamond sign without the black diagonal stripe

.
That's not the sign asterix means. He means the one you go on to mention...

But you are quite correct about the 'X' form of cross-roads sign, this does mean 'priorité à droite', although this is likely to be used mainly on such quiet roads that you'll seldom encounter another road user at the junction!

To be honest, and in my experience, it is wise to be very careful with any rural junction when vehicles are approaching. Just because you have priority, DON'T assume the other vehicle will stop... for PRECISELY the reason you give! That is, they are probably not expecting another vehicle either!

Equally, don't assume that just because they may be on a 'give way' sign (or 'stop' even) that they will give way/stop. Some of the old boys will blissfully sail through junctions thinking.... actually, I don't know what (if even!) they are thinking!

Mercifully, there is such little traffic on the rural roads that meeting another vehicle at a junction is not a frequent occurrence.

 

[rich p]

Be very afraid. Wild boar can strike at any unguarded moment so be alert. They tend to attack just when your guard is down - they can sense complacency.
The other thing to bear in mind is unprovoked attacks from buzzards which, whilst thankfully rare, are a menace to unhelmeted cyclists. Cars and lorries shaving you are pussycats by comparison.

 

[andrew_s]

I thought buzzard strike was only a problem in Devon

 

[stewie griffin]

These may be other cars and trucks, or even slippery tarmac next to cliffs.

I can tell you there WILL be cars, trucks & busses, quite a few will be too close for comfort & a bit scary (you've cycled in London?!!), as for slippery tarmac near cliffs, it's a f<%!ng bicycle not a 150Hp motorcycle FFS (excuse my french).
Well I'm maybe not the best ambassador for cycle touring but it doesn't suit everybody, if these things really worry you, DON'T GO.
Nobody on here can tell you what YOU are going to encounter on your tour, I've not had anything that I haven't been able to deal with........YET.
For me that is part of the enjoyment, the challenge of being "self sufficient", the unknown, dealing with problems as they arise, no matter how small they are, & I know at the time they can seem unsurmountable but you deal with them.
I'm sure cycle touring doesn't suit everyone, so that's why I say DON'T DO IT, IT'S DANGEROUS

 

[bianchi1]

Yeh, cos us cycle tourists are the SAS of the roads!!! Infact I belive Bruce Willis is going to do the next Die Hard film based around a pedal tour!

it's a brilliant holiday on wheels. Any adventures are a bonus!

 

[skmc1955]

i would say the biggest danger is that you wont want to come back!

 

[Danny]

IME France is easier than any part of the UK, like for like.

Agree - had no problems when cycling in France.

Have only driven in Italy, but for the most part drivers seemed to be very good. The exception is around the big cities where a kamikaze approach to driving appears to be the norm.

 

[661-Pete]

One thing I can say about Italy, not having cycled myself, is that with all the multitude of scooters and light motorcycles around, it's obvious that drivers will have plenty of two-wheels awareness at least!

 

[PpPete]

IME car drivers in France & northern Italy are much more likely to give cyclists plenty of room when overtaking than UK drivers.

No experience of southern Italy though.