France. 3 days. Single rides. Suggestions.

[harrison_888]

Hi all

My pal and I are considering popping over to the land of wine and cheese for a long weekend in September. We’ll be going in the truck with our better halves and taking the bikes. (Girlfriends can sit up front of course).

Would like to do a ride a day whilst there. 30+ miles would accommodate all our skill levels and allow us to get battered on cheap plonk in the evening.

Looking for suggestions of circuits you’ve done in the past before I start freestyle planning my own. Northern areas would mean less travelling but I’m flexible. We’ll base our trip and accommodation on the rides we’ll be doing.

Cheers
H

 

[Shadow]

We’ll be going.....with our better halves and taking the bikes. (Girlfriends can sit up front of course).

So you are taking the tandems? Excellent choice.

Would you like some hills or not? I would head to mid Loire area. Great for cycling, very flat if you stay on bike paths! And excellent wine (avoid cheap plonk, your head will thank you the next day!)

Or head for Epernay. Again, good cycle routes along the Marne. And again, excellent wine. (let me know if you head there, I can give you a couple of producers to visit!)

No doubt others will come along with other suggestions. Likely to be more appropriate.

 

[bluenotebob]

I know the central Brittany area very well. I think it's great for cycling - no steep hills (unless you really look for them), beautiful countryside, little traffic - and it's easily accessible either via Roscoff or St Malo.

If you're interested in this area as a possibility, then consider exploring the Nantes-to-Brest canal (it'll be heaving in July/August but much quieter in September) or my favourite Voie Verte (Green Way) - the southern end of the V3 which runs from Mauron to Questembert: 54km of tarmacked and traffic-free cycling.

 

[mjr]

It's got to be Château De Crecy near Bordeaux, hasn't it? Has its own wine, cycle-friendly, good access to V80 Piste Cyclable Roger summat for access to Bordeaux, France's cycling city, or out to Sauveterre or beyond as most D and some N are fairly quiet out there.

Edit: cheap plonk can be had, but the Château's own definitely isn't plonk, so maybe sneak it in under cover but if you eat there on the days they offer dinner, it's fixed price with "vins compris" and I think they were reasonably generous with it. Other days, there are various restaurants from 5 miles away but they're all in different directions so booking is good

 

[harrison_888]

So you are taking the tandems? Excellent choice.

Would you like some hills or not? I would head to mid Loire area. Great for cycling, very flat if you stay on bike paths! And excellent wine (avoid cheap plonk, your head will thank you the next day!)

Or head for Epernay. Again, good cycle routes along the Marne. And again, excellent wine. (let me know if you head there, I can give you a couple of producers to visit!)

No doubt others will come along with other suggestions. Likely to be more appropriate.

Perhaps I worded it poorly but we’re not tandem riders just yet. We’ll all be on our own bikes.

Fairly flat would be preferable.

Epernay looks great, I’ll plot out some routes there for sure.

Thanks for your help

H

 

[harrison_888]

All brilliant suggestions, thanks all.
I'll construct some routes and update this thread.

 

[harrison_888]

It's got to be Château De Crecy near Bordeaux, hasn't it? Has its own wine, cycle-friendly, good access to V80 Piste Cyclable Roger summat for access to Bordeaux, France's cycling city, or out to Sauveterre or beyond as most D and some N are fairly quiet out there.

Edit: cheap plonk can be had, but the Château's own definitely isn't plonk, so maybe sneak it in under cover but if you eat there on the days they offer dinner, it's fixed price with "vins compris" and I think they were reasonably generous with it. Other days, there are various restaurants from 5 miles away but they're all in different directions so booking is good

Love the fact your advice on wine and food is more thorough than the cycle routes. I like your style

 

[mjr]

Love the fact your advice on wine and food is more thorough than the cycle routes. I like your style

Those two facts may not be entirely unconnected but Bordeaux's two-yearly wine festival (which I visited ) is this weekend rather than September.