I want to ride across France. Any thoughts?

Not crazy at all! Check out the following sites for ideas on where to go and how to do (plenty of very useful travelogues).

crazyguyonabike.comcrazyguyonabike.comOpen ↗

trentobike.orgFrance.htmlOpen ↗

Enjoy yourself!

Just do it - you'll love it. I did a few days in the Alps during this year's tour and it was great. I'll definitely be back. Don't ride too long any one day and leave it late to find somewhere to stay though – it can be hard to find accomodation on demand (I've been travelling through France for 20 years and living here for 13, so I'm speaking from experience!).

http://www.cyclingcols.com/ is worth a look too.

i got plans to go across the UK right now but i got ALOT of trainig to fit in - see my thread "am i mad" to see what people commented to me. theres some useful information in there too.

cyclingforums.comt369327.htmlOpen ↗

Also if you haven't done alot of endurance in the past, read this book its good

"the complete guide of long distance cycling" by edmund R. Burke

Thanks for the posts. I'm looking forward to the trip!

jsull14 said:

Hi,

Next May or June I want to ride my bike across France. I would like to do the Pyrenees and Alps stages from the 2006 Tour. I'm thinking of flying into western France and out of Geneva. Am I crazy? Is this a bad idea? Do other people do this? I would most likely drive from the Pyrenees to the Alps and perhaps take a couple of days to enjoy the French countryside.

Any experience with such an adventure?

Thanks

Here you will find lots of maps and other usefull information:

cyclingcols.comcyclingcols.comOpen ↗

I have some thoughts:

1. Learn some French words.
2. Get a Brooks saddle.
3. Eat before you're hungry, and drink constantly, (get a Camelbak).
4. Take me with ya! 😉

Seriously though, riding France is something I always wanted to do. Good Luck, and I hope you have a blast!

Try to learn some french in advance - (from my work experience in france) lots of french people do not speak english...

enjoy your trip!

1. Learn some French.
2. Use whatever saddle works for you. Brooks saddles are no more special than any other saddles.
3. Be prepared, if you are American, for pea-brained Americans to question your patriotism for riding through some place that doesn't share the same blood-lust that some 'mericans have.
4. Enjoy. France is beautiful.

alienator said:

1. Learn some French.
2. Use whatever saddle works for you. Brooks saddles are no more special than any other saddles.
3. Be prepared, if you are American, for pea-brained Americans to question your patriotism for riding through some place that doesn't share the same blood-lust that some 'mericans have.
4. Enjoy. France is beautiful.

I'd agree with all of the above except to say that, no, Brooks' are no more "special", but they are more comfortable for many people for very long hours than the average 150g. 'race' saddle. I don't see many tourer's riding Arione's and SLK's. Brooks' also hold up far longer than 2-3 years, unlike many of the weight weenie models, which makes them a better long-term investment.

This debate has been done to death, so ride whatever works for you. I offered a suggestion based on experience of mine and others'.

Wurm said:

I'd agree with all of the above except to say that, no, Brooks' are no more "special", but they are more comfortable for many people for very long hours than the average 150g. 'race' saddle. I don't see many tourer's riding Arione's and SLK's. Brooks' also hold up far longer than 2-3 years, unlike many of the weight weenie models, which makes them a better long-term investment.

This debate has been done to death, so ride whatever works for you. I offered a suggestion based on experience of mine and others'.

get a life....shove your politics and just answer the man's legitimate question...and no I did not and do not support Bush.

dauphin said:

get a life....shove your politics and just answer the man's legitimate question...and no I did not and do not support Bush.

You ought to get a life: Wurm did answer the man's question, and no where did he bring up politics in this thread. I mentioned pea-brained 'mericans that are still pissy at the French.

Maybe you oughta take your own advice and, uhm, "shove" your 'tude.

Yah!, I got a thought,,, Have a nice trip.🙂

alienator's right - there are a lot of numb-skull Murkin's that are still [censored] at the French, and for no good reason other than what the media propaganda machine has told them to be [censored] about - which was and is a giant pack of lies.

Well, it's been looking for some time now like the French were right all along not to support Der Chimpenfuhrer's illegal imperialist reach into Iraq. The French are to be commended for trying to stop those insane mofos.

Now that I have mentioned politics here, I will also say to dauphin: if you don't like my politics...tough [censored]. :p

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jsull14 -

Hope the planning goes well, and you get to do the trip across that beautiful country. 🙂

Wurm said:

alienator's right - there are a lot of numb-skull Murkin's that are still [censored] at the French, and for no good reason other than what the media propaganda machine has told them to be [censored] about - which was and is a giant pack of lies.

Well, it's been looking for some time now like the French were right all along not to support Der Chimpenfuhrer's illegal imperialist reach into Iraq. The French are to be commended for trying to stop those insane mofos.

Now that I have mentioned politics here, I will also say to dauphin: if you don't like my politics...tough [censored]. :p

--------------------

jsull14 -

Hope the planning goes well, and you get to do the trip across that beautiful country. 🙂

Well now that it's been mentioned....you also better be ready for some snotty French folks telling you what a devil you are for being american(if you are)....many will treat you like a friend and welcome you...but many will not....doesn't matter where you go, there's always plenty of a-holes to go around...and believe me France is NO exception....it will be beautiful and the food and wine is out of this world!!!.

You'll have a great time - France is beautiful and cycling there is excellent.

I've spent a few weeks cycling around France and have a single gem of advice:

Fill your water bottles with wine and water (half/half). Not only will this help you settle right into the relaxed ambience of France, it also provides a mild analgesic effect when the inevitable crash occurs.

Bon voyage!

Wheelist

Pharmr said:

Well now that it's been mentioned....you also better be ready for some snotty French folks telling you what a devil you are for being american(if you are)....many will treat you like a friend and welcome you...but many will not....doesn't matter where you go, there's always plenty of a-holes to go around...and believe me France is NO exception....it will be beautiful and the food and wine is out of this world!!!.

Well, maybe they have good reason to consider Murkins as 'devils'. Certainly many in the Mid East do.

The thing is, trying to convince them that you didn't support the murderous Bu$hCo actions, if in fact you really didn't.

wheelist said:

...Fill your water bottles with wine and water (half/half).

Now there's a suggestion! 😉

Wurm said:

Well, maybe they have good reason to consider Murkins as 'devils'. Certainly many in the Mid East do.

The thing is, trying to convince them that you didn't support the murderous Bu$hCo actions, if in fact you really didn't.

well they didn't have a problem with Americans when we were kicking [censored] and his boys out of France because they couldn't do it themselves....but get in the way of them making money in the Middle East and then you're a devil....they couldn't give a rats ass about the people of Iraq...it's all about the $$$, let's be honest....that's all I'll say about this, as this is not the place for a political debate....still, France is a beautiful country and it would be great to get to ride some of the classic roads there while enjoying the food and wine...I hope you get to do it.

Pharmr said:

well they didn't have a problem with Americans when we were kicking [censored] and his boys out of France because they couldn't do it themselves....

No, because [censored]'s invasion wasn't a manufactured lie, it was real, whereas WMD's in Iraq were lies.

The American colonies had no problem with France sending Lafayette to help, nor when France blockaded Cornwall at Yorktown.

Pharmr said:

...but get in the way of them making money in the Middle East and then you're a devil....they couldn't give a rats ass about the people of Iraq...it's all about the $$$,

Reagan & Bush Sr. made tons of money and political gain (illegally) selling arms to Iran, while also propping up Saddam Hussein by selling him weapons and providing intel against Iran. Then more money invading Iraq in '91, and now Bu$hCo making untold billions since invading in '03.

Pharmr said:

....that's all I'll say about this, as this is not the place for a political debate....

You mean: this is not the place for political debate until after you've aired your views.

Pharmr said:

...still, France is a beautiful country and it would be great to get to ride some of the classic roads there while enjoying the food and wine...

Agreed.