Our holidays are planned to ensure you'll experience up close the beauty of the real France - the sights, the atmosphere, even the perfumes you miss as you hurtle along in a car.
To help you choose the right holiday, we have graded each cycle trail according to the number of miles and type of terrain covered each day. Riding distances between hotels range between 15 and 40 miles: easily manageable when you consider that average cycle speed is between 6 to 8 miles per hour - much faster downhill!
Where can you ride
Naturally you can ride on any tarred roads and there are a vast number of little surfaced lanes in France, far more per square mile than in Britain and in addition there exist an even greater number of non-metalled tracks. These join surfaced roads and maybe cinder tracks, stones or beaten earth. Unlike in Britain most of the tracks running between fields are communal and provided they are not fenced off you can feel free to ride between them.
Some cinder and beaten earth forestry tracks offer good surfaces for miles although if you use them you have a greater chance of a puncture from dead brambles. As these tracks are communal it means, of course, that cars, motorcycles and horses can use them too, but this is infrequent. So if you see a farm track or path that looks appealing , provided it has no crops or gates across it, the land can be used for cycling.
Cycling Safety Some action can be taken to reduce risks if you are aware of what they are. Cycling can become unsafe for several reasons:
Rain: You are exposed and high up on a bicycle and riding in the rain is uncomfortable. Wet brakes will be noticeably less effective particularly on smooth road surfaces. You need to ride with greater attention in the wet and if possible sit out a downpour.
Traffic: When cycling, traffic constitutes more of a fear than a real physical danger. Vehicles passing close to you are a bigger problem than their speed because it can be scary! Our routes avoid main roads as much as possible but all cyclists are likely to encounter busy road when approaching towns.
Bike mechanics: When your bike is issued it should be safe to ride and everything important on the bike will be working properly when it leaves the workshop. Check regularly that nothing has worked loose. Ensure your saddle doesn't swivel and handle bars don't twist. Make sure wheels don't wobble and check the bottom pannier hook is still correctly attached and ensure mudguard nuts are tight.
Your body: It is worth remembering that cycling uses muscles of which you are unaware. Maybe more importantly it can make you realise that muscles you thought you possessed are, in fact, absent! Some practice before you start the holiday will make the whole experience of cycling in France easier and more enjoyable experience.
Riding a Bike
No, this isn't the silly section! The biggest difference between undertaking a bike journey and a car journey is that on a bike the fuel is you! You may become frustrated in a car because the road is winding, travel is too slow in traffic or a parking place cannot be found. None of these things happen on a bike which is nice - but there are other things that, like car travel can lead to concern.
Fatigue: Becoming tired is the biggest problem. Just because you are keen and think you are fit doesn't mean you can do what you want. Until you have had some experience on a bike you don't know what you are best at. Maybe you are good at going up hills, maybe you are deft at changing gear. So to start with, take it easy, do not be over ambitious and plan modest deviations only.
Cadence: Cadence is basically the natural rhythm at which you operate best - the most comfortable and most productive. You need to adjust the gears on a bike so that they match your cadence. Cycling in the wrong gear is a bit like trying to walk on railway sleepers - two at a time is uncomfortably long and one at a time trippingly short!
Organisation: Try to match effort to ability, especially if you are not quite sure what your ability is. Do not tackle things which may be difficult, at least not to start with. A spontaneous addition to a modest ride is often more successful than an ambitious grand tour which has to be abandoned.
