jay clock
Massive member
- Location
- Hampshire UK
In 1999 I moved there and the UK was 6.6 and France was 14.4. Attitudes to booze are still a problem, but there has been a massive improvement
My tips for cycling in France
- Thread starter Jimmy Doug
- Start date
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oldfatfool
Guru
Scary stuff, Came across maybe a km of very loose surface dressing maybe 5km up the Col de Sarenne on approx 8% grade. Hope this is not going to become a common occurrence, those descending onto it where not happy bunnies.Come to think of it ascending wasn't exactly fun due to wheel spin, ended up walking 
nomdeplume
Active Member
A new cycle route is France is to be inaugurated in 2014 between Ouistreham and La Rochelle, to be called 'Veloroute 43', 603 km. Apparently cyclists contribute 70€/day to the local economy against 60€ for motorists.
Nothing on the Web yet.
Nothing on the Web yet.
looe
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Looe, Cornwall
bigjim
Legendary Member
- Location
- Manchester. UK
I find that it is definately worse down South. In the chaos of Paris the drivers were great [http://adenough1.blogspot.co.uk/] but in Biarritz we were abused a few times.
Liz Davies BHT
New Member
Thanks for this Jimmy!
I'm organizing a charity cycle ride in France this year so I will share this with our riders :-)
Liz
I'm organizing a charity cycle ride in France this year so I will share this with our riders :-)
Liz
OP
OP
Jimmy Doug
If you know what's good for you ...
Hi Liz. No probs. Glad you found it useful. May I ask where you're going?
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CycleShorts101
Regular
"on some lines you must take the bicycle to pieces and put it in a bicycle bag. This is obviously no use to touring cyclists who can't cart a bulky bike bag around with them"
You could buy a lightweight 'Housse' bag to get around this problem.
http://www.cyclehoussebags.co.uk
You could buy a lightweight 'Housse' bag to get around this problem.
http://www.cyclehoussebags.co.uk
nomdeplume
Active Member
If you want to take your bike on the TGV train you must remove the wheels and use a 'housse'. If you are touring you have to carry the housse which is a pain in the housse as it is fairly bulky. Using the TER train is not a problem as hooks are provided to hang the bike though apparently the newer TER trains do not have this facility
PaulSB
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chorley, Lancashire
Some brief observations on this topic. Tonight I completed a tour from St Malo to Bordeaux via La Loire and Dordogne.
Throughout the trip people were incredibly helpful and kind.
In just under 700 miles I saw less than 10 serious potholes. At no point in suburban or rural areas did I come across "priorite a droit". In fact in 35 years of visiting France I've probably only seen it 5-6 times and those would have been many years ago.
Carry plenty of food and water and top up at every opportunity. Rural France can be VERY rural and not every village will have a shop or if it does the opening hours are for locals not touring cyclists.
France can be very hot. Some days I was drinking 6-7 litres of fluids. Peanuts helped a lot with the salt loss.
I found accommodation difficult to get some nights - I B&B not camp. So be sure the place you are heading for is open and available.
If like me you usually unclip the left foot first, learn to unclip the right first as you'll need to.
Throughout the trip people were incredibly helpful and kind.
In just under 700 miles I saw less than 10 serious potholes. At no point in suburban or rural areas did I come across "priorite a droit". In fact in 35 years of visiting France I've probably only seen it 5-6 times and those would have been many years ago.
Carry plenty of food and water and top up at every opportunity. Rural France can be VERY rural and not every village will have a shop or if it does the opening hours are for locals not touring cyclists.
France can be very hot. Some days I was drinking 6-7 litres of fluids. Peanuts helped a lot with the salt loss.
I found accommodation difficult to get some nights - I B&B not camp. So be sure the place you are heading for is open and available.
If like me you usually unclip the left foot first, learn to unclip the right first as you'll need to.
Crankarm
Guru
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
They look as if they could get around the problem until Eurostar/SNCF decide they want to prohibit bikes altogether. £69.99 is a tad steep for a sheath. My Brompton didn't cause any problems when I went to Biarritz on the Eurostar and the TGV in 2004.
DooDah
Veteran
- Location
- France, now Northamptonshire
What do you mean by you did not come across it? It exists everywhere, particularly in rural areas. Quite simply if there is a junction without road markings then you have to give priority to the rights. I know two Brits who have written off their vehicles as they were unaware of this.
OP
OP
Jimmy Doug
If you know what's good for you ...
I'm sorry, but I'm really going to have to take issue with this. I would suggest that it's more a case that you've only noticed priorité à droite 5-6 times rather than actually not come across it. I want this to be very clear - it's one of the reason's why I mentioned it in my post: priorité à droite is everywhere in France and it is very often not signalled. Over the past 16 years I've lived in Le Havre, Nantes, Paris, Lyon, and now near Amiens, I've also travelled extensively in France and, although it varies from region to region, you cannot escape it. Probably you've been doing what most Brits do, what I did for a long time: sail past them blissfully without even realizing you've not respected the rules, or wondered why someone has pulled out in front of you (but it's true that most French drivers are very respectful to cyclists so this doesn't tend to happen - but it's happened to me a few times when I hadn't realised I'd grillé une priorité à droite.)
I'd lived here for about two years before I really did start to understand the extent of this rule. I'd known about the marked priorité à droite but rarely came across them. What took me so long to realise/accept was that this is a fundamental rule on French roads and applies at every junction unless marked otherwise. And accidents do happen - often. Someone I know was recently involved in a car crash when a vehicle suddenly came in from the right and it was claimed to be his fault because it was priorité à droite. The fact that he didn't even see the road until it was too late was of no difference.
Some places are more fond of the rule than others. I think it's less common in Britanny - but in the Paris area, for example, it's everywhere (and here you'll still find some roundabouts that are priorité à droite, which is thankfully rare elsewhere these days). Also, it's true that this is a common rule that applies in most of Europe not just in France. However, it is particularly frequent here and doesn't seem to be going away (in one of the villages near where I live a road has very recently been changed to become priorité à droite.)
Just to be even more clear, here are some examples from around my area. It's literally everywhere.
This is the typical scenario:
https://www.google.fr/maps/@49.4478...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1swCvpGoo3jU92o2gX3If-IQ!2e0
This one here is marked. It never used to be. Probably there were loads of accidents at this point:
https://www.google.fr/maps/@49.3194...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sNe-6_dOz8krQoqPeoQ09Mg!2e0
Usually it's more like this. This junction is only metres from the other, going the other way (obviously you'd be on the other side of the road). Notice there's no line on the road branching off from the road you're on here - that means priorité à droite. Still, at least you can see this one ... often that's not the case until you've gone past it:
https://www.google.fr/maps/@49.3188...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1ssejMmxCgFgUYJ_YGs2XQug!2e0
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
Key signs to understand are the yellow diamond/slanted square with or without a black line through it, and the slanted x crossroads sign. Some pics here.
http://maisonlaudiere.com/13.html But as @Jimmy Doug says, it may not be explicitly signed.
http://maisonlaudiere.com/13.html But as @Jimmy Doug says, it may not be explicitly signed.
