France (local)

This is a log of a month-long cycle tour in south-west France with my wife in the summer of 1993. I've tried to keep it simple, but the rush of great memories made that difficult. With nice pictures.

La Marmotte is one of the toughest and most spectacular one-day events in Europe, only 175km but with well over 5000m of climbing, finishing on that most famous of Tour de France battling grounds, the Alpe d'Huez.

Paris can very quickly lose its charm when you leave the center and enter the ``Banlieue'', the suburbs, but eventually we left Paris at the Porte d'Orl´ans, and rode south towards Orl´ans. After the difficulties crossing Paris we didn't quite make it all the way to Orl´ans, and stayed in a hotel.

This turned out to be a very memorable decision. I am not talking about a motel. This was the house of a family operating some fruit orchards, very old and unremarkable from the outside. We were welcomed by an old lady who led us to a simple but comfortable room upstairs. They had three of these, but we were the only guests. Dinner was served in their large poorly-lit living room. The old lady asked what we would like to eat, and then proceeded to her kitchen to prepare the food. It was delicious. I wish I had written down the name of the village.

Fünf Jahre nach der ersten Reise, im Herbst 1992: Rad fahren und Bergwandern auf einer Tour? Nun, vom Pré de Madame Carle lassen sich zwei sehr schöne Hütten im Gebiet der Barre des Écrins erreichen. Und so machen wir uns mit Fahrradtaschen und in Turnschuhen auf den Weg über den Gletscher. Wenn wir nicht Bergsteigen, dann quälen wir uns über Schotterstraßen hinauf zum Col du Grand Parpaillon...

This is a log of a cycle tour in France that I took with my wife Carol and two friends in the summer of 1992. Although we landed in and departed from Lyon, the entire trip took place in the south, east of Toulouse. As with all our tours, although we carry everything with us on our bikes, we don't camp. (Been there! Done that!) Instead we stay in hotels (or the occasional B&B) and we usually eatin restaurants.

Rad fahren und Bergwandern auf einer Tour? Ja, das geht! Es ist noch gar nicht so lange her: Im Herbst 1992 unternehme Am frühen Morgen bei Corpsich zusammen mit Jörg Eigemann eine Reise nach Südfrankreich, die als Radtour gedacht ist. Wir fahren von Bonn mit dem Wagen nach Luxemburg und über Metz, Dijon und Lyon nach Grenoble, wo wir wenig später bei strömendem Regen auf die Route Napol´on einschwenken. Wir haben - Dank der Geistesgegenwart von Jörg - bereits einen Platten am linken Vorderrad bei Tempo 160 überlebt, Mont Dauphin - Der Fels Von Eygliersda kann uns das Wetter nicht mehr schrecken. Wir übernachten in einem billigen Hotel in Corps, nur etwa 100 km von unserem Ziel Eygliers bei Guillestre entfernt, gelegen am Mont Dauphin.

This is a log of a cycle trip we (my wife Carol and I) took with two friends (Heather and Peter Stark) to southwestern France in the summer of 1991. I am finally (ten years later) getting around to writing it up because I am now REALLY retired and I am feeling guilty that I haven't done it before now. Because of the delay I'm sure I'll miss some important things but there is also an advantage because I now have the experience of ten more European cycle tours and can bring that to my recollections of this trip. As always, I depend on my wife's excellent journal of the trip as my aide memoire. I could never write these reports without it. We cycle unsupported (i.e., no ``sag wagon''); we stay in hotels; we eat our evening meals in restaurants. As you get older you will allow yourselves these luxuries.

Cycling in the Pyrenees is both exiting and relentless. Here are some of the steepest and longest climbs in Europe, and I experience a few of the well known. I ride my touring bike and sleep in hotels. After a weeks struggling I go north to Dordogne. There are several castles around and the atmosphere is medieval. There are several caves, too. It was about here the Cro-Magnon man was found.

This is a trip through some of the most beautiful mountain scenarios in the French Alps. A great part of the route follows road D902 - Route des Grandes Alpes - and on the way I cross some of the greatest Tour de France passes. The touring bike has triple chainrings, so even the steepest slopes are managed without problems. I ride alone, don't carry much pack and stay in hotels overnight. Using only six days for the trip I spend the remaining holidays at Côte d'Azur.

Herbst 1987: Die erste Radtour in den französischen Alpen. Col de la Croix de Fer, Galibier, Col d'Izoard, Col de Vars, Restefond/la Bonette (2802 m), Col de la Couillole und Col d'Allos heißen die Eckpunkte dieser Reise. Zwar fahren wir an 8 Tagen gerade einmal 660 km weit, aber dabei überwinden wir über 14000 Höhenmeter.

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.

Few words, many photos.

Nicely illustrated. Italian versions.

Nicely illustrated. Italian versions.

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.

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

I am an American bicyclist whose focus, since 1979, has been racing. [...] In the fall of 1996 I moved to France and in February, 1997 joined a French cyclotouring club. Except for some individual training and some rides at the velodrome, all my riding is with the club. [...] My pages provide information about French cycling organizations, the types of rides available through these organizations, and my cycling experiences as a member of a French club.

Includes direct experience on La Marmotte, Riding at Longchamp, VCL Tour du Vexin, La Randonnée de Gresivaudan, Le Reblochon, The Weekend at Auxi-le-Chateau, Levallois Criterium, Velodrome La Cipale. With an important note on Bicycles on Trains in France, 1998

``France is paradise for the cycletourist'' says Sheldon, who lived outside of Paris for a year (1988-89) and has plenty to tell. English/French bicycle dictionary, several tour reports, single and tandem rentals, biking in Paris, various articles.

Useful commentaries and plenty of fine photographs for their trips:

• Alps & Auvergne
• Pyrenees & Atlantic
• Provence & Jura
• Seine Valley
• Flanders
• Picardy
• Cotentin
• Normandy
, Brittany

I woke each morning, excited as a child on Christmas morning,wondering what adventures would be unwrapped for us that day. Though we were never disappointed, there were days which stood out as particularly magnificent. The journey from Cucugnan to Lagrasse, though hard, took us along beautiful gorges and woods from where we would emerge to wonder at the amazing sights of former Cathar castles high on inaccessible hill-tops. The quiet and simple attractions of the Canal du Midi led us into the bustling pink brick city of Toulouse. The craggy and rugged mountains of the Pyrenees, full of cycling legends and fantastic views, tested our stamina over several days. Perched along a mountain side, the Cirque du Litor was a fairy-tale path between two mountain tops and a place to which I would gladly return.

A site made for people who are thinking about cycling in sunny Languedoc, France. There are many great cycle routes of all lengths, as well as useful information on what it is like to ride in Languedoc.

Each route page has a Google Map, route description, directions, and photos. Routes can be searched by region, difficulty or distance.

Tour dei castelli della Loira in bici, percorso abbreviato adatto alle famiglie.
Durata: 7 giorni.
Tappe: Tours, Villandry, Chenonceaux, Amboise, Blois, Cheverny, St.Dye, Chambord.
Suggerimenti anche per altri tour: tour dei Castelli Romani, dei castelli medievali del Casentino, dei castelli del Trentino, dei castelli della Scozia.

Grazie anche a girolibero.it per i consigli.

This website gives information for on and off road cycling in the Alpes Maritimes inland from the busy roads of the Cote D'Azur.
Detailed descriptions of on and off road cycles, including height graphs and distances.
Photo gallery.
General information about the area - market days, restaurant phone numbers etc.
Information about cycle friendly accommodation with a shopping service to save cyclists carrying heavy shopping on bicycles when coming to an area devoid of shops. There are cycle tools, a lockable garage, all maps are provided, washing machine available.

What you need to know about renting bikes in Paris; bicycling in Paris; subways, trains, and the RER; and cycling out of Paris. French pronunciation; French bicycle types and repair vocabulary; Road signs and their observance; helmets. How to get regional maps, lodging, and tourist sight information. Six bicycle routes and tours out of central Paris, avoiding almost all traffic: Detailed Directions and Photos. On the same site: Seventeen Best Bike Tours in France, Holland, Italy, Germany and Austria.

Eurostar, Paris Metro, TGV, local trains.

This page has a report of the 1999 edition of Paris-Brest-Paris, a history of the Paris-Brest-Paris tour, and other material.

The IGN (Institut Géographique National) has just [Spring 1995] issued a cycling map of France, with the help of FFC (Fédération Française de Cyclisme) and FFCT (Fédération Française de Cyclotourisme).

See also the important note on Bicycles on Trains in France, 1998 from Barbara Leonard's Bicycling à la Française.

Pari Mont-Blanc is a challenge for two men, Eric Foulon and Pascal Carré, to climb the Mont-Blanc by an ambitious and original way: departure from Paris to Saint-Gervais by bicycle and arrival at the Mont-Blanc by the Dome du Gouter

from the pages of the Ariège region, has some information about events in the area.