The Fridays Tour 2013 with added poll

[dellzeqq]

it's just that some D roads are big roads - the D915 in to Paris, the D627 at Leucate.......while I can think of some of our B roads that are busy, and some that are fast, they're almost all 'good value'.

 

[User482]

Having just got back from France (Brittany and the Vendée) I was reminded what a delight (for the most part) it is to cycle there. French driving standards have improved considerably in the last few years, many towns and villages have 30Kph limits, and most drivers are extremely courteous to cyclists. My advice would be to avoid any N road that runs roughly parallel to an autoroute, or running from a port, as these are the ones with heavy traffic.

 

[srw]

The only ones you're not allowed on (usually) are the A-roads - Autoroutes (Motorways). You wouldn't want to ride on most N roads (Routes Nationales - trunk roads), and some have bans. The E numbers are trans-European code names for specific long-distance routes.

The French number D-roads (Routes Départementales - all other numbered roads) the wrong way round - in general, low numbers are quieter than high numbers, though there are exceptions.

Looking at that map of Normandy, with absolutely no knowledge of the area, the only road I'd actively go out of my way to avoid is the N13 - the main road to Cherbourg. And even that would probably be OK if you found a window between ferry crossings.

 

[martint235]

Although Foolhardy is my middle name, I have a feeling I may need to do a lot of research before I allow my foolhardy side to start cycling on the wrong side of the road.

 

[ceepeebee]

the one I mentioned on the other thread was a D road iirc - but provided a handy single lane rat-run between a couple of big distribution centres - and was bloody scary, and the D1 is most definitely to be avoided - plenty of fast dual carriageway.


Not sure I've even been on any B roads in France - I've never really toured - just ridden out from one spot.

 

[User482]

I thought I was going mental for a second there, but what I thought was the E17, is also the A26 (see also E44/A29 - why do they do that?). It's a payage, and cycling on that bugger would be foolhardy at best.

"E" is a trans-Europe designation, designed to avoid confusion when crossing land borders. Anything classified "E" in France is probably an "A" autoroute or "N" dual carriageway.

 

[ceepeebee]

The A is a French designation the E a European one.

all becomes clear, ta

 

[dellzeqq]

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?sadd...g=w&mra=dpe&mrsp=5&sz=12&via=3,4,5,6&t=m&z=11

 

[dellzeqq]

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?sadd...x&dirflg=w&mra=mrv&via=1,2,3,5,6,7,8&t=m&z=14
market day

 

[martint235]

Practice looking over your left shoulder, surprisingly hard in my experience.

This could actually be good for me as I have very limited vision in my right eye so if I can get the knack of looking over my left shoulder the chances are I'll see a lot more in France than I do in the UK.

 

[srw]

the D1 is most definitely to be avoided

Every département (all 80-something) has a D1. Most of them are tiny lanes between obscure villages.

One other thought about Normandy - there are ferry services from a couple of ports to Guernsey.

 

[dellzeqq]

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?sadd...e&dirflg=w&mra=dpe&mrsp=2&sz=10&via=2&t=m&z=9 the big boys (whoops, after you, Rebecca) day - (possible shortener to St-Lo)

 

[dellzeqq]

Every département (all 80-something) has a D1. Most of them are tiny lanes between obscure villages.

One other thought about Normandy - there are ferry services from a couple of ports to Guernsey.

and to Jersey - but they are thirty euros and up!
http://www.manche-iles-express.com/

 

[theclaud]

Every département (all 80-something) has a D1. Most of them are tiny lanes between obscure villages.

One other thought about Normandy - there are ferry services from a couple of ports to Guernsey.

Great. The Lovely Amy can join us. She has a new bike!

 

[GrumpyGregry]

The Cotentin Peninsula is a delight and a joy. I had a couple of very happy holidays there in the noughties, one based at La Haye du Puits and another at Barneville-Carteret. Although both were avec les enfants and not cycling holidays as such, significant amounts of cycling was done in order to escape from said sprogs. (and drinking cidre, brown beer and calvados and eating far too many dairy products)

Most people scream south from Cherbourg as fast as their company car will carry them and stick only to the main roads. Slow down, ease up and turn off and an undiscovered part of France awaits, a France of small towns that foreign tourists don't visit, of dairy farms and degustation, or bread and cheese washed down with beer, of cidre that makes your knees buckle, of quiet beaches, and, oddly, lots and lots of English history.