Newbie: Cycling north-south France, route ideas & Qs?

[ActiveCampers]

Hi
Me and the missus are going to cycle from St Malo to the Med, via Bordeaux ish, and get the bike-express bus from Montpellier back up to the UK. We're going on mountain bikes with panniers & road tyres and carrying tent etc, and sort of doing a dawdle route, so stopping in bars along the way and just chilling. With a week or more on the med beaches, where hopefully we'll be a bit trimmer than when we started, you should get the idea that this isn't a "do it in a week" journey. We've got just 5-6 weeks

We know France reasonably well having spent many months there in a campervan, so not worried too much about major detours for site-seeing.

One question we have relates to security - we're taking panniers and tent and when we're camping and out for a meal or something we'll leave stuff in the tent and bikes locked (Kryptonite NewYork) locks to either something solid-ish or a ground cork spike. We'll have a rucksack for the electronic stuff & valuables etc which we'll carry. Is theft an issue tent camping in France?

The rough route we want to is to end up on the canal-de-midi just east of Bordeaux and follow that ish to the Med. Rough route, as per google, http://goo.gl/maps/jUMLk - looking at the route seems to be fairly quiet routes. EDIT: after a search on here, OpenCycleMap was mentioned, and this shows a route down the west coast. Would this be a better option? Will see if I can get more info on this with extra distance etc.

The question is, are there any better routes worth investigating/checking?

Many thanks

Best think about some training......

 

[frank9755]

I did Dieppe to Montpellier a couple of years ago. I loved my route. Highlight for me was the Massif Central. One of the best places I've ever cycled.
I wouldn't choose your route as my perception is that further west is flatter and less interesting and might be more windy. I find canals a bit tedious after a few hours. However, cycling across France is a dream and I am sure that you'll have fun whichever route you take. And no-one stole anything out of my tent!

 

[vernon]

I cycled from Calais to Montpelier five or six years ago and have cycled from St Nazaire to Mulhouse along Eurovelo Six camping all the way. I agree with frank9755 that the canals get tedious after the first few lock keepers houses and kilometers along well metalled tree lined towpaths.

As for security, there's always something immovable to lock your bikes to: trees, fences, drain pipes and the like. A spiral ground spike is an unnecessary encumbrance. I always took my money, documentation and gadgets with me when leaving the campsites. I used a handlebar bag to carry them in - much more convenient than a rucksack.

 

[frank9755]

Agree with Vernon re security.

Basically bikes get nicked in cities, not in small towns, villages or in the country. So, if you pick a route to avoid the cities - which is the best thing to do in any case - you cut the theft risk down dramatically and so don't need to carry heavy London-level security stuff. For my trip I used a cheap cable lock (£3.95 from Lidl) and locked my bike to a tree, or just to itself overnight, and had no concerns.

Bar bag is also what I use for touring. Mine has a plastic map holder on the top so it is very handy. In towns / villages I always just leave the panniers on the bike, unclip the barbag and walk away.

 

[ActiveCampers]

Thanks for the advice and comments.
Whilst we do downhill mountain biking, we tend to use the ski-lifts up and just bomb down lol - so really not undertaken much hill riding. We've probably ridden >30 miles 3 times ever, and always on flat routes, so carrying weight the flat will be our best bet as we love the coast anyway. Fully accept it may be a bit tedious/boring and I may well regret it! But being totally new to touring we've got to be realistic - and if hills were there the wife would be put off.
That said, if we enjoy the experience there is always next time....
Thanks for note about spike and security. We have the kryptonite locks and cable locks for wheels already - so a bit more than Lidl £3.95 Nice that you can there - sadly where I used to live you get trained to lock everything having had bits nicked off the bike, and the entire bike despite being locked (with the Police too busy to look a the CCTV that looked over the bikes!)
Will look into bar bags. We have slim/waterproof walking rucksacks (25L daysacks) which we're used to. Wasn't planning on taking a map I'm a techie. so GPS all the way (That is 2x units and 1x solar battery)

Also trying to figure what spares to take. Bikes will have new tyres (Kevlar) and chains and be serviced. We'll carry tools, chain tool, link, oil, puncture stuff and brake pads. But do you need anything else really? Our bikes have done 8 weeks down hill in the Alps with nothing breaking (well except after an off which we won't be doing!). They are robust so road/EV1 type route should be well within the bikes limits

Are the French bike routes (EV1, V80, V42) available on anything offline?

Only 5 months to go

 

[bigjim]

I've toured in France every year for the last three years. Last year I rode from Tours down to Beziers. I veered over to the west as in theory it's flatter but you still hit some long climbs even though they are less than 600ft. Does not sound much but they can go on a bit. Never found it boring though. The canal into Toulouse is a great ride as the surface is so good but the Canal Du Midi can be a nightmare on a road bike and pretty slow going on an MTB.
I've done the west coast route. Very flat, easy riding but very changeable weather. It blows in off the Bay of Biscay and can be hot/cold/windy/still. Personally I would not use an MTB especially with knobbly tyres but I'm a road bike
/tourer person.
I camp and mix it up with B&B. I'm a reluctant camper and if there are two uf us find it cheap enough to B&B.
I use a £1 shop cable lock. never needed anything better and can't be bothered with the extra weight.

 

[ActiveCampers]

Thanks indeed.
Spent a bit of time sorting out a route and it works out over 1400km! Oops. oh well. We have to use the MTB as that's what we have, but it will have road/slick ish tyres on. Panneirs fit too.

Plan and details coming along, along with GPX routes etc.
http://www.doyourdream.co.uk/2014/01/planning-for-home-to-med-cycle-ride/
Cheers

 

[fraefreuchie]

Hi Your route has evolved to something quite close to that which I followed in reverse in 2012 ( Narbonne to Edinburgh). You may be able to glean some useful information here http://briansbigbikeride.blogspot.co.uk/ If you have any questions I would be delighted to help. It is basically flat from Bordeaux but St Malo to Rennes is a bit lumpy. Enjoy.

 

[srw]

Take a look at the link in my signature. It starts the other side of Calais, but does include quite a large chunk of what you're considering. We've included routes (downloadable GPX files) as well as some commentary on the route.

We rather liked the canals - at least until the tarmac ran out. On mountain bikes you'll be less constrained, but do be warned that the Canal du Midi towpath is basically a rough track from about the point we came off it. (Or at least it was in 2010).

One more thought - there's a free cycle tourist map of the Canal du Midi which is available online in PDF and also as a handout once you get to the south of France.

 

[jay clock]

I did st malo to Spain and used much of the newish Velodysee route. Excellent. See here for the write up

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/julian2012

 

[bigjim]

the Canal du Midi towpath is basically a rough track from about the point we came off it. (Or at least it was in 2010).

It still was 3 months ago.
Its better further south.

 

[doog]

Thanks indeed.
Spent a bit of time sorting out a route and it works out over 1400km! Oops. oh well. We have to use the MTB as that's what we have, but it will have road/slick ish tyres on. Panneirs fit too.

Plan and details coming along, along with GPX routes etc.
http://www.doyourdream.co.uk/2014/01/planning-for-home-to-med-cycle-ride/
Cheers

Seems a sensible route. I did Gerona , Spain to St Malo in a more direct route a few years back (700 odd miles) and it was quite hilly inland via Bergerac, Niort, Cholet and, Rennes. Im thinking of doing a similar route to yours from St Malo down to the Pyrenees, sticking to the coast / flat until I hit the mountains.

 

[jay clock]

@ActiveCampers I just read your blog http://www.doyourdream.co.uk/cycle-tour-north-to-south-france/ and very enjoyable. To my mind you have a colossal load but each to his own (I tend to overdo it!). One thing I have learnt is that once cycle tourists are experienced everyone has their own level of comfort/weight tradeoff. One of my tours had a forum member telling me I didn't need to floss my teeth while away to save the wight

 

[StuartG]

Two years ago the Canal du Midi & Garonne towpath from Bordeaux were very sound and enjoyable (if you enjoy a flat relaxed ride) as far east as Ocean Lock near Castelnaudary. Then complete rubbish. Don't even try. From there I basically followed wonderful quiet roads following the Aude towards Beziers. With a strong westerley the villages just flew by.

BTW Toulouse is a nightmare for cyclists. The only place I had to use my phone as a SatNav rather than maps.

 

[Tigerbiten]

I roughly did the route in reverse last year.

Turn left at Lacanau Ocean for Bordeaux on the D801. That's a good flat cycle path. Good campsite just north of Le Lac.
Then pick up the V80 out of Bordeaux which is good until you get about 30 miles south of Toulouse on the Canal de Midi.
After that the canal is rough single track until a short way before the Med.