1000 miles in France
Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 11:55 pm
Hi all, I am new here and also new to bikepacking. Last summer my son and I completed the 'Velodyssey' route across France to the Spanish border in cycle touring mode. For those of you not familiar with the route it is a flattish, off-road path from Roscoff (channel port in the north) to the Spanish border at Hendaye. Although it was supposed to be around 750 miles, we clocked up something like 968 miles by the time we reached the border, and then put on a few more to take the total past 1000 miles in Basque country before getting the ferry home from Bilbao. Although it was not technically a bike packing trip, I thought I would share some photos of it here in case it inspired anyone to give it a go. My son is 12 and was not really much of a cyclist before we left, but was a lot fitter by the time we returned. We took it gently at first and slowly built up from 15 miles a day to 40+ by the end. We travelled in a pattern of cycling for three days, then took a rest day. We also took a week's holiday on Noirmoutier and a few other extra breaks when we found somewhere we liked. Because of this we didn't reach Spain til 54 days after we left Roscoff, though I know that the route can be done in as little as 10 days. To start the trip we drove to Plymouth and left our car at a caravan storage place there, then continued as bike-passengers on the ferry to Roscoff. Two months later the overnight Bilbao ferry returned us to Plymouth and our car once more.
This is my son Joe with the route we took. We travelled north to south. Roscoff to Nantes is mostly along the Nantes-Brest canal, then along the Loire estuary to the coast. The route then follows the coast for the rest of the way, with a ferry crossing needed to get over the Gironde estuary.
On the Nantes-Brest canal tow path. We travelled on ali hard-tail mountain bikes with slick tyres. I pulled the Bob trailer with the camping gear and also had two front panniers plus a bar bag. Joe's contribution was to tote a bar bag with a teddy and a pack of cards in it, though he gathered a lot of other rubbish in it by the end.
The Nantes-Brest canal tow path. We left the UK on the 1st of August so were glad of the shade from the trees along the way.
The amazing steampunk animatronic elephant in Nantes.
The even more amazing puddings from the all-you-can-eat buffet we encountered along the way. I suspect the restaurant may regret chosing this mode of dining so close to a major cycle route.
We took a Berghaus 3 man tent which wasn't too bad for a touring tent at 2.9kg. It had an enormous porch that we could store the trailer and all the gear in on the rare occasions it rained. As we hadn't done this before, I was very concious of the need to make sure Joe enjoyed it and taking a spacious tent was all part of that plan.
We wild-camped a bit, but not anywhere near as much as I thought we would. The campsites were abundant and at between 5-10 Euros for both of us, were stupidly cheap. At that price it seemed daft not to use the facilities and have a shower, use a proper toilet etc. It also gave Joe the chance to find playmates and me drinking mates.
We camped outside an abandoned railway station when the path followed the old track bed.
We spent one night in a kindly old lady's garden but mostly we were in campsites. This is Joe on a rest-day.
A couple of times we stayed at fancy campsites.....
The path was very good....
....and very well signposted.
We ate....
....and drank like heroes...
We cycled through some amazing landscapes....
...and had some unforgettable experiences... here Joe is waiting for the sea to recede before we cross to Noirmoutier on the tidal causeway,
....crossing the Pont de la Fosse....
...visiting the seriously creepy vintage animatronics museum in La Rochelle....
....waiting for the ferry to cross the Gironde....
...visiting Europe's highest sand dune...
or just chilling out on the beach...
When we reached the end and clocked Spain across the river from Hendaye he was incredibly proud of himself and I think felt a real sense of achievement at what he had done.
We carried on into Spain with the intention of cycling to Bilbao to catch the ferry home, but once we lost the safety of the Velodyssey path we encountered some terrifying Spanish roads and I had to put us on the train a couple of times. Having cycled every inch of France I was prepared to compromise on Spain. We had a few days in the Basque country but it was horribly hilly and seriously hard work. Pretty though!
So there you go. Apologies for the rather long and pic-heavy post. I have enjoyed lurking in here reading about your adventures and wanted to give something back. I saw on here that Tom and Rich were also on the Velodyssey path last summer, but we were still in Britanny at that point and so our paths didn't cross, which is a shame as it would have been nice to have met them. I should perhaps say that I home-educate Joe which is why we were able to take our time on this trip. That said, if anyone with kids in school wanted to give it a go, it is perfectly feasible to just do a section of the route as the train network in France is so good.
And yes - we really did do the whole thing wearing only crocs on our feet - they were only footwear we took with us.
Cheers, Bridget
This is my son Joe with the route we took. We travelled north to south. Roscoff to Nantes is mostly along the Nantes-Brest canal, then along the Loire estuary to the coast. The route then follows the coast for the rest of the way, with a ferry crossing needed to get over the Gironde estuary.
On the Nantes-Brest canal tow path. We travelled on ali hard-tail mountain bikes with slick tyres. I pulled the Bob trailer with the camping gear and also had two front panniers plus a bar bag. Joe's contribution was to tote a bar bag with a teddy and a pack of cards in it, though he gathered a lot of other rubbish in it by the end.
The Nantes-Brest canal tow path. We left the UK on the 1st of August so were glad of the shade from the trees along the way.
The amazing steampunk animatronic elephant in Nantes.
The even more amazing puddings from the all-you-can-eat buffet we encountered along the way. I suspect the restaurant may regret chosing this mode of dining so close to a major cycle route.
We took a Berghaus 3 man tent which wasn't too bad for a touring tent at 2.9kg. It had an enormous porch that we could store the trailer and all the gear in on the rare occasions it rained. As we hadn't done this before, I was very concious of the need to make sure Joe enjoyed it and taking a spacious tent was all part of that plan.
We wild-camped a bit, but not anywhere near as much as I thought we would. The campsites were abundant and at between 5-10 Euros for both of us, were stupidly cheap. At that price it seemed daft not to use the facilities and have a shower, use a proper toilet etc. It also gave Joe the chance to find playmates and me drinking mates.
We camped outside an abandoned railway station when the path followed the old track bed.
We spent one night in a kindly old lady's garden but mostly we were in campsites. This is Joe on a rest-day.
A couple of times we stayed at fancy campsites.....
The path was very good....
....and very well signposted.
We ate....
....and drank like heroes...
We cycled through some amazing landscapes....
...and had some unforgettable experiences... here Joe is waiting for the sea to recede before we cross to Noirmoutier on the tidal causeway,
....crossing the Pont de la Fosse....
...visiting the seriously creepy vintage animatronics museum in La Rochelle....
....waiting for the ferry to cross the Gironde....
...visiting Europe's highest sand dune...
or just chilling out on the beach...
When we reached the end and clocked Spain across the river from Hendaye he was incredibly proud of himself and I think felt a real sense of achievement at what he had done.
We carried on into Spain with the intention of cycling to Bilbao to catch the ferry home, but once we lost the safety of the Velodyssey path we encountered some terrifying Spanish roads and I had to put us on the train a couple of times. Having cycled every inch of France I was prepared to compromise on Spain. We had a few days in the Basque country but it was horribly hilly and seriously hard work. Pretty though!
So there you go. Apologies for the rather long and pic-heavy post. I have enjoyed lurking in here reading about your adventures and wanted to give something back. I saw on here that Tom and Rich were also on the Velodyssey path last summer, but we were still in Britanny at that point and so our paths didn't cross, which is a shame as it would have been nice to have met them. I should perhaps say that I home-educate Joe which is why we were able to take our time on this trip. That said, if anyone with kids in school wanted to give it a go, it is perfectly feasible to just do a section of the route as the train network in France is so good.
And yes - we really did do the whole thing wearing only crocs on our feet - they were only footwear we took with us.
Cheers, Bridget
that looks amazing 
I hope I can get my kids into that kind of adventure when they're a few years older!
There were a lot of families on the route, some with very small kids. It is easy to keep them amused when the weather is good and reassuring to know that if they take a tumble they won't end up falling into the traffic (just maybe the canal!)
)
