France (all)

My first trip to the Alps and Provence is a lightweight tour on a road bike with just a handlebar bag for the luggage. I stay in hotels overnight. The route includes a few passes known from Tour de France. This, however, turns out to be somewhat hasty. At least I get some hard-earned experience - both with respect to gear ratios and my own ability. But it's surely beautiful, and standing at the Col du Galibier summit for the first time is very self-satisfactory.

That year, 666 cyclists started. There were 19 women, 17 riding solo and two stoking tandems. I had never seen so many bicycles in one place. I picked up my control book. It had a hand-drawn American flag and a typed English translation of the rules. I found out that seven other Americans were starting.

Welcome to the first "wired" human-powered (bicycle), land-bound circumnavigation of the Mediterranean Sea. The team have concluded their journey, but they are continuing to add reports to this site.

A great photo archive. Each page includes no more than 3 photos, on average, 25,000 bytes. We hope you enjoy them. There is a help page if you are having difficulty viewing the images. The photos are not of printable quality - if you wish to use any of these pictures in a hardcopy publication, please contact us and we will supply a high-resolution file.

A huge collection of altitude profiles of cols and climbs.

Passes in Switzerland, in France and in Italy are described on this site. The most important information for cyclist in figures and texts, of course some pictures and partly historical backgrounds. In addition tips to accommodations, maps and (at the moment mainly german) links.

Read the exciting story of the middle-aged couple who cycled over 6000 kilometres around Europe. Travelling from their home in southern England, they rode down the west coast of France before peddling on into Spain and Portugal - enduring the best and worst of Europe's weather! Their adventures are described here for you to enjoy, and maybe encourage you to do the same!

The Coast-to-Coast Route covered 1000miles (1600km) beginning in Hendaye on the Atlantic Ocean and finishing in Collioure on the Mediterranean Sea.

Few words, many photos.

Nicely illustrated. Italian versions.

Nicely illustrated. Italian versions.

On these pages we will show you the cycling pursuits of John and Daniel Gould (from Australia) and our friend Peter (from Japan).Our challenge will be to ride from London to Istanbul through 12 countries in 2 months while having a great time and seeing the sights. Peter should be there to Italy and then its just 2 unless anyone else wants to join us. For father and son John and Daniel the quest will also try to raise money for Odyssey House.

A site filled with tours all over Europe, Africa, Asia, and America.

Tabular data and altitude profiles of mountain passes all over Europe.

A photo album of mountain passes in the Alps

Several cycling travel stories and detailed descriptions with profiles of 17 of the most beautiful climbs in 7 different European countries.

Extensive data about Patrick's extensive tours in the Alps from 1991 to 2005: includes reports, maps, diagrams... a must-see for the Alpine cyclist. Contains a list of passes in the Alps and the Jura, true stories about cycling, and some pictures.

Many of the towns in the Normandie have unusually large cathedrals. Eu was no exception. The cathedral is built on a hill. There is a youth hostel built into the base of the hill under the cathedral. It was more expensive than average (FF 93) but definitely worth the price. The picture to the right shows the hallway leading to the rooms, each with a vaulted ceiling and its own bathroom. Recommended.

From the cycling pages of Karl Brodowsky: see the German Version for plenty of interesting reports in German.

Many tour reports:

• 2005 - Von Den Haag nach Berlin - unterwegs auf dem Europaradweg R1
• 2005 - Quer durch den Thurgau nach Rohrschach
• 2005 - Flotte Fahrt zum Bodensee
• 2004 - Entlang der Flüsse Naab, Main, Tauber, Altmühl und Donau
• 2004 - Von Zürich aus nach Aigues-Mortes ans Mittelmeer
• 2004 - Mal eben um den Bodensee...
• 2003 - Bretagne...ausnahmsweise mal mit Auto und Ferienwohnung
• 2003 - Von Zürich nach Würzburg - Siebene auf einen Streich
• 2003 - Neckarttalradweg
• 2002 - Das Loiretal zum Atlantik
• 2002 - Through the Valley of the Loire to Brittany (english version)
• 2002 - Tour de Hessen
• 2002 - Spritztour ins Elsass
• 2001 - Von Zürich aus ins Loiretal
• 2001 - Von Lausanne nach Olten
• 2000 - Von Oberviechtach ins schweizerische Solothurn
• 1999 - Fränkische Schweiz, Aischgrund, Taubertal und Jagst
• 1999 - Von München nach Oberviechtach
• 1999 - Stein am Rhein und Bodensee
• 1998 - Bodensee und Hochrhein
• 1997 - Fulda- und Weserradweg
• 1997 - Von Zürich aus um den Bodensee und wieder zurück
• 1995 - Von München aus ins Markgräfler Land
• 1995 - Von Erlangen nach München
• 1994 - Rundfahrt Altmühltal und Donau
• 1994 - Donauradweg von Donaueschingen bis Regensburg

Reports and pictures from various mountains of Europe, America, and Australia. Partly in Dutch.

Jobst's 1960 tour started and ended in Tuscany. The Net was not in place yet, so the report had to wait...

Well, there's a first time for everybody, and Jobst too had to discover the Alps once. If you are looking for the inspiration to do it yourself, just go ahead and read this glorious report.

I had asked Mr Cinelli what the greatest road in the Alps was, to which he replied without hesitation, the Stelvio, but that I might not like it because it was unpaved. That especially caught my interest so here I was heading up the Valtellina at Tirano where the road to the foot of this great pass starts its climb.

I arrived in Bormio at 3:30 and decided to go to the top in beautiful afternoon sunshine. After a snack at the store I headed up the road that ran out of pavement at the city limit and became a coarse gravel and grey powdery road that, with a little rain, was pretty solid. I discovered that standing up easily caused wheel spin, so I pulled my straps tight and worked on a smooth stroke to keep traction.

Farther up the Braulio canyon the road went through several tunnels for avalanche and rockfall protection. These stone arch tunnels wind along the wall with ventilation holes near the floor that give a little light, and because they are not straight, I could only see where I was going from reflections from the wet floor. Everything was dripping and water rushed in drains under the walls. The amazing part is that these are one lane tunnels in which uphill traffic has the right of way, as is common here. Therefore, downhill drivers had to assess when to enter by watching what went in from below, something that is possible from the lay of the land.

I was discovering why Pirelli named their top racing car tire the Stelvio. This has a special meaning to people who know this road. At the end of the Braulio canyon the road goes up a wall in a series of traverses with tight hairpins to reach the upper Braulio Valley at Bocca di Braulio, that ends at a ridge over which the Umbrail pass from Switzerland joins the Stelvio, about three kilometers below the summit.

Camino de Santiago realizado en bicicleta de montañiendo de Roma (12 de junio) hasta Santiago (31 de julio). He seguido los siguientes itinerarios:

• La Vía Francigena, en Italia, desde Roma hasta Montgenevro. Itinerario señaternita di San Jacopo. El itinerario pasa por las regiones: Lazio, Toscana, Emilia-Romagna, Liguria y Piemonte.
• La antigua Vía Domitia, en la actualidad Sendero de Gran Recorrido GR 653D, que comienza en el Puerto de Montgenevro para conectar en Arles con la Vía Tolosana-Chemin de Arles. Itinerario señation Française de la Randonnee Pedestre FFRP. El itinerario transcurre por la Provence-Cote d´Azur (Hautes Alpes, Alpes de Haute Provence, Vaucluse y Bouche du Rhone).
• El Camino Francés del Mediterraneo o Vía Tolosana, en la actualidad Sendero de Gran Recorrido GR 653D. Comienza en Arles, pasa por Montpellier y Toulouse (de la que recibe su nombre), para cruzar los Pirineos y entrar en Españomport. Después de recorrer el Camino Aragonés, conecta con el Camino Frances en Puente la Reina. Itinerario señation Fçnçaise de la Randonnee Pedestre FFRP. El itinerario transcurre en Francia el Languedoc-Rousillon y Midi-Pyrenees, en Españrra.
• El Camino Francés en Españe la Reina. Realizado en bicicleta de montañ20 al 29 de Julio dentro del viaje de Roma a Santiago. El itinerario transcurre por Navarra, La Rioja, Castilla y León y Galicia. Desde Santiago continua hasta Muxía pasando por Fisterra (30 y 31 de Julio) finalizando a orillas del Atlántico en la Costa da Morte.

Travesía de los Alpes de este a oeste, que une Trieste y Ventimiglia . Circula Cinco países: Italia, Eslovenia, Austria, Suiza y Francia. Los macizos montañosos más conocidos de los Alpes: A. Julianos, A. Cárnicos, Dolomitas , Adamello-Pressanella, Ortler, Engadina, Bernina y Bregaglia, lagos de Como y Maggiore, Monte Rosa, Mont Blanc, Gran Paradiso, Monviso, Alpes Marítimos y Mercantour. Recorrido realizado en solitario en 43 días (del 4 de julio al 15 de agosto de 2009). Son unos 2.100 kilómetros y cerccerca de 60.000 metros de desnivel (media diaria: 50 km. y 1.400 m.). Coincide en muchos tramos con al Vía Alpina, Alta Vía Cárnica, Tour del Monte Rosa, Tour del Mont Blanc, Alta Vía del Valle de Aosta y Vía de la Sale. Cruza collados por encima de los 2.500 metros (Tarscher Pass, Stelvio, Cassana, Turlo, Salati, Bettaforca, Nana, Malatrá, Chavannes, Chivasso, Longia y Sibolet). Cicloturismo de montaña en estado puro. El sueño de todo biker de atravesar todos los Alpes.

Trailsource has started a collection, among others, of European Mountain Bike Trail Descriptions. Mountain Biking TrailSource is your online adventure guide to the best mountain bike trails around the globe! You'll find over 4,000 singletracks in 100 countries.

We flew from Stockholm to Geneva. Then we biked along the southern shore of Lac Leman, crossed Pass des Morgines, headed up the Rhone valley, and made a side trip to Zermatt. Then, we continued to Brigg, Davos, St Moritz, Livigno, Canazei, and Cortina. From Cortina we headed south to Lago di Garda. Reaching the Plains of Po approaching Milan we spontaneously decided to take a train to San Reno, and continue from there to Monaco, Nice and up through the mountains to Chamonix, ultimately heading back to Geneva for our return flight to Sweden. There are plenty of excellent reports on cycling along these roads [...] and we feel we have little to contribute. Instead these pages are focused on the possibilities of single track riding.

Includes trail descriptions in Switzerland, Italy and France.

We flew from Stockholm to Geneva. Then we biked along the southern shore of Lac Leman, crossed Pass des Morgines, headed up the Rhone valley, and made a side trip to Zermatt. Then, we continued to Brigg, Davos, St Moritz, Livigno, Canazei, and Cortina. From Cortina we headed south to Lago di Garda. Reaching the Plains of Po approaching Milan we spontaneously decided to take a train to San Reno, and continue from there to Monaco, Nice and up through the mountains to Chamonix, ultimately heading back to Geneva for our return flight to Sweden. There are plenty of excellent reports on cycling along these roads [...] and we feel we have little to contribute. Instead these pages are focused on the possibilities of single track riding.

``Si e' pesanti sotto il sole 5 giorni con Bagni e Sole (Sempre) - 515Km''. The site has reports of several mountain bike tours, in Italy, Slovenia, Corse and Turkey, by him and others. In (a very idiomatic) Italian, and text-only, but very worth looking at.

From Carsten's Cycling Web, the Web site of Carsten Gregersen. This trip is dedicated off-road cycling. We go by car to the Alps and stay at different campsites and arrange one-day rides without pack. In the peaceful Vanoise national park we are at the home ground of the marmot. The western Susa valley offers some very relentless climbs on old military roads and an unforgettable tour along the Asietta ridge. We end the trip in Grindelwald at the feet of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau - three magnificent, Swiss giants.

Mit dem Mountainbike zweimal über die Alpen. From the MTB page of Florian Michahelles. The great story of a five-weeks trip from Mittenwald (Germany) over to Alps to Bozen/Bolzano and then to Liguria, Corse (France) and back through Lombardia and Switzerland. Individual sections are linked to under the various countries.

A ski trip to l'Alpe d'Huez became a winter mountain bike adventure for British cyclists David George and Kate Harvey. Nicely illustrated with photos and maps.

A mountain biking guide for various regions of France with excellent practical information that is extremely helpful when organizing your trip.

Excellent information and photos on this prime cycling region. Featuring photographs of the 2002 Tour the France.

Surrounded by three mountain ranges, Grenoble is in a unique position and offers a cyclist a huge variety of rides. The rolling mountains of the Chartreuse to the north, the high plateau of the Vercors to the south-west before the huge imposing climbs of the Alps to the east.

L'Alpe d'Huez; Col de Sarenne; Les Deux Alpes; La Berarde; Cols de la Croix de Fer/Galibier; Mont Ventoux (July 4, 1999).