Cycling in Provence

[DCWD]

Planning three weeks in Provence area (outside Avignon). Plan to ride stages 13 and 14 (I think it was those) of the 2008 TdF route and clime Mt Ventoux.

Any experiences from folks on 1)renting a road bike in France, 2)riding in Provence, or 3)traveling with a bike on trains in France (in case I bring mine instead of rent)?

Appreciate ya'll's thoughts.

 

[Cod]

I've ridden in France: in the Vendee, Brittany, and around the Pyrenees. I had a look in a few bike shops and I was surprised at the lack of choice of bikes for rent. Most of them were mountain or MTB hybrids, or VTTs as the French call them. (I think it stands for Velo Tout Terrain). there were a few mid-range road bikes in shops but the rentla charges were steep.

Do a Google search for "location de velo" avignon, (location is the French word for rental, and has nothing to do with the English word location)

I just did a search and there seems to be a few shops in the Avignon area.

http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&q=location+de+velo+avignon&meta=

 

[DCWD]

This is awesome info. Thanks. From my quick tour of some of the links that came up, I'll drop around 300 Euros for 2 weeks, max, including the car rack. Not really that bad (except for the exchange rate) considering that I'd otherwise have to come up with a bike rack on whatever car I rent.

And lucky you for replying to my post. ...next year, I'm headed to Ireland and will probably have a similar question. My birthday gift to me is going to be the time to tour what was formerly called "country Dillon" (but is now Westmeath and Kildare, as I recall being told) by bike.

 

[raybo]

Here are some bike touring in France links. Here is a link to bike touring in Ireland These are both from www.biketouringtips.com.

Ray

 

[Cod]

Just be advised that traffic has increased by a huge amount in recent years in Ireland, and driving standards have worsened due to delays in driving tests.

There are about 300,000 learner drivers on the roads who mainly drive unaccompanied, fast and dangerously. The worst areas are around the cities, Limerick, Cork, Dublin: Kildare is largely a suburb of Dublin now so be careful.

However you will still find quiet back roads, but mainly in the more rural areas, particularly the south, (West Cork and Kerry) north-west (Donegal) and west (Clare, Galway, Mayo). The scenery in these areas is breathtaking, as are some of the hills!. You will probably find Kildare and Westmeath a bit flat for interesting touring, although there are some nice towns around those areas. Try to get out west for a few days if you can!