We hear more about European heatwaves, droughts and floods but, on this July 2024 ride I enjoyed perfect conditions. In the bike-traveller community, there is a tendency to talk about how tough conditions were. Not so here. The countryside has been green, temperatures 18-28℃, the winds were gentle and no mountains.
I’m on a Swabia (drop bars), with standard 50:19 gearing (low of 20.5”), and I’m trying out the 57mm version of Schwalbe G-One tyres running as tubeless. When I took out the tubes and put in the tubeless solution, each wheel became 200 grams lighter. Unsurprisingly, I got no punctures. Before the outbound flights I let a little air out, down to 30psi. Over the following three weeks and 1,500km I added more air only once. As an emergency I carried a 100 gram TPU tube and no repair kit. So that saved another 150 grams. Now, 57mm tyres are not fast, but the G-One tread has less rolling resistance than knobby MTB tyres.
There are good route planning apps like Komoot, but I use google maps. These days we have our phones mounted in front of us, in my case on a Rokform mount. For a short trip it is worthwhile paying the $10 per day and getting the internet. On a longer trip you might not want to pay that, and therefore might want embedded maps such as from OSM and preplanned routes downloaded as tracks. But with internet and using live google maps you can pick up fresh destinations and recalculate routes during the day. If you don’t like the look of something, you can zoom in on the map and choose a secondary road for a section. You do need a compass or a compass app as changing hemispheres and seasons is quite disorientating.
With modern phones and fast charging you can get away without a spare battery and just grab extra charge whilst at a coffee stop. In less settled places there is less need to consult the map. There might only be one road. So less checking and less drain. But in most of France there are so many routes you could take. That includes along the big rivers such as the Loire. It’s not as if there is just one bike path with clear signage. Far from it! You really are better off with live navigation.
There was an election in France and posters everywhere. France doesn’t have preferential or mandatory voting. In presidential elections they have two rounds. The country seems polarised during the campaign, but my impression is that it is a relatively diverse, cohesive and inclusive society. As is the case with all of the Western European countries, much of the wealth dates back to the slave and sugar trade. But the actual slaves were in the Americas and today, the resulting problems are there.
Bike travellers know their seasons by what roadside fruit and berries are ripe and to be snacked on. In the north it was still cherries. In the south blackberries. It was too early for figs and grapes which were growing wild along the roadside towards the south. You want to be in Europe in September for those.
A lot of European bike tours follow the Eurovelo (EV) routes or along the river valleys. This ride, from Lille to San Sebastian, crosses many of those routes, and briefly follows bits of them. It is a marvellous thing about European riding that there are so many long routes that you inevitably come across them even when not deliberately looking for them.
I crossed the Loire, the Seine, the Dordogne, the Mayenne and the Somme rivers. Google took me along the EV path on the Loire for a whole day. I discovered the 450km path from Paris to Saint-Michel which I followed for 40km.
It’s mainly on these paths that you see other travellers. Lots of them. And you see beautiful, serene places.
As bike travellers, we spend most of our time out in the country. Vivente is closely connected to the land. Our factory is on a farm in Tasmania. Touring the world is touring often through agriculture, seeing how humans grow their food and what is in season. Western France is most impressive in this regard. In the north there was a lot of sugar beet, flax (linseed), potatoes, hemp, and asparagus. In the south, more grains, vineyards and sunflowers. Some great farm buildings as well.
Somehow, the Europeans, or at least the French, have avoided urban sprawl. The cities have boundaries and don’t invade the countryside. Perhaps this is because populations are not increasing. You don’t see high-rise wrecking the charm of the old cities. I make a point of visiting cities and rode through Lille, Arras, Nante, Angers, La Rochelle, Laval, Rouen, Bordeaux, Bayonne and, in Spain, San Sebastian.
You really have to be there. Postcards don’t do it. But here are two anyway! The castle in Angers and a church in Laval.
The French seem to have missed (or solved) the NIMBY issues around wind turbines and solar that are currently in play in Australia. I ride past thousands of turbines. They are part of the landscape. Many farms have their own solar.
Having the 2” (57mm) tubeless tyres on allows me to go pretty much anywhere. When you allow google to choose the route you can end up in places that don’t even look like a trail let alone a road. There must be an old “public access” status. Probably it was once a road but is no longer such. Online mapping, a compass and wider tyres are best for this. A rear derailleur would be vulnerable, so Rohloff is good. If you are covering 100+ km a day you simply don’t have time to check out every bit of the suggested route in advance.
For decades, Vivente has been involved in bike advocacy. Our global travels have tested all sorts of bike parts but inevitably have witnessed culture as it affects cycling and public administration as it affects infrastructure.
There is a video doing the rounds at the moment about the difficulties of cycling in the UK. It calls the car-dominant culture there “moto-normativity”.
What is the status of cycling in France in 2024?
This 1,500 km tour, through several Departments, cities, country sides and villages has proved that car dominance is not the norm in France. Speed limits in urban areas are mostly 30km/h. Country roads are 70 or 80km/h. There are lots of places bikes may go but cars may not. Cars are restricted in many ways. Almost all one-way streets are bi-directional for bikes. There is relatively little public space given up to car parking. Cycling infrastructure is not just in isolated pockets and does not abruptly end, leaving us stuck. Car drivers slow right down and don’t seem impatient and cross. In fact, there are not that many cars on the roads. Young and old, male and female, in cities and towns, the French cycle as if there is nothing to be concerned about. They don’t wear helmets, and they ride well. The French also walk a lot. Unsurprisingly, obesity levels in France are much lower than in the UK, the US and Australia. French public health costs per person are half of the USA for example.
I would not have mentioned this; It just felt natural. But seeing that video and then being overtaken dangerously several times whilst riding back from Devonport airport (in Australia) to our base at Sheffield made me want to mention how admirable French road culture is. Food culture too but that’s another subject. What I don’t get is that when speed limits are higher, people are in more of a hurry. It should be less. We have to make cars less convenient. Don’t let them go so fast. Don’t let them hog all the space.