Cycling UK Forum

Thought I'd do the decent thing and follow up after our tour round Brittany. Parked the car at Portsmouth - eventually found the port! With about 4 hours to kill, a local hostelry beckoned! Fairly early on the cheap pannier fixings let us down, but with a bit of inventive bungey use we arrived at a reliable system.

The ferry to St Malo was excellent. Struggled to find our way out of St. Malo, but once on the road and orientated we had no major issues.

Accommodation on a Sunday night also proved a challenge. We eventually pitched up at a hotel (closed) on the edge of an industrial estate. A quick call to the number on the speaker and within minutes an inebriated Frenchman came screeching onto the car park and opened up for us. Result!

The common issue that we will address next time is some sort of tech device for establishing where there is local eateries and accommodation. The Windows phone was good for telling us where we were, but only disclosed local amenities when within range of Wifi. Perhaps my (lack of) IT savvie let me down. The system settled in to:

- find where we are on the phone, then
- locate ourselves on the paper map, then,
- establish which way we are going with a pocket compass.

Low tech, but reliable!

Day 2 saw us finding the vioe vertes from St Meen to Mur de Bretagne. Now I know this type of terrain might be boring to some, but we found this to be sheer bliss; hours and hours of well-maintained cycle tracks amid a sea of farmland. No cars, very few people, beautiful scenery and wildlife. Next year we will definitely seek more of this out.

Camp sites and accommodation were, by and large, excellent. We travelled on road bikes, but next time I will opt for something more relaxed. I am prepared to sacrifice speed and distance for comfort and a more upright riding position from which to take in the beautiful scenery. The bikes coped admirably even though we were each carrying 40-50 pounds of luggage and camping gear.

We arrived back at St. Malo early for the ferry back - we had about a day and a half to kill! Unfortunately for us, this was at the start of a busy French bank holiday, so accommodation was scarce. A bit of searching and a lot of assistance from a few of the French consierges came up with a roof for a couple of nights, even if the 'plastic Santa' did wince a bit!

St. Malo was a great place to spend a couple of days of enforced laziness before an excellent fery back on Saturday morning. Over hte week, the weather was kind, only saturating us once; on the return trip to St. Malo.

Overall, an experience definitely to be repeated. Things to improve? CoPilot for the smartphone looks good, but I don't think it is available for Windows phones. Some sort of device that carries the maps in the memory, but uses GPS to show your location would be good. I don't really want to invest in a bike GPS such as a Garmin, etc. Am considering doing the next trip without a tent - perhaps relying on YHA/B&B-type places.

Brittany is a place that we will definitely return to. Thanks to all those who offered advice and suggestions prior to our trip.

Regards, Steve.

Okay chaps, thanks for all the comments and helpful information. Thought I'd post a quick update as we are getting closer to launch date.

Ferry booked, car park booked, passport renewed, EHIC card replaced, tyres pumped up, and almost ready to lay all the kit out on the spare bed. Talk about organised?

Contrary to what I concluded above, both my mate and I have decided to do the trip on our road bikes. They are both set up for audax-type events, so luggage carrying should be okay. As the deadline for leaving approaches we are gradually building up the miles on the bikes, and the weight of luggage on the back!

Last time I did something like this I picked up a map on the ferry over. Given it was an after-thought, it proved to be the single most useful thing we took with us.(I think my original map had been photocopied from my road atlas). Does anyone have any suggestions for the best map to get, (in advance, this time!) that would show sufficient detail for cycling, possibly disclose campsites (notwithstanding that they may be closed!) but not be too large or unwieldy for managing (possibly in a stiff breeze)?

I have to say, compared to our last trip over to France on £50 mountain bikes, light walking boots, etc - this times trip seems much more 'professional' - better bikes, cleats and clipless pedals, BROOKS saddle (lush). It is just the '2-wheeled vagrant' culture that remains the same. The idea is that the improved kit will make the miles easier and add to the pleasure.

Thanks so much for all the information and suggestions. I had initially favoured the voie verges (I think that's how it's spelt!), but I like the idea of getting the train west. Looks like the wife has lost her bike for a week too.

A mate and I have a week off work in May and are planning a cycle tour, camping, round Brittany. I am looking for ideas and advice. The ferry lands at St Malo and we have a return ticket a week later.

My initial idea was to use some of the 8 major cycle routes in Brittany to create a clockwise route: head South from St Malo, then head West across the 'middle' in the direction of Brest. Pick up the coast at some point, then head East along the Northern coast back to St Malo.

Not sure what the terrain will be like and, hence, uncertain what type of bike to take, how many miles per day we can expect to cover, and therefore how long a route to plan.

We did Cherbourg to LeHavre a couple of years ago on crappy old mountain bikes overloaded with camping gear. Managed about 40 miles per day on mainly tarmac roads. Great fun!

This time the bikes will be better, the tyres a bit thinner and (hopefully) the luggage a bit lighter. So I was thinking that at 50 miles per day, about a 300 mile circuit would be do-able without too much pain. We were hoping to spend as much time as possible on the coast, so the return was planned along the Northern coast.

Our plans on these types of trip are fairly loose and only a guide, as we tend to 'wing it' if we find somewhere nice. Not sure whether my road bike or the wife's tourer would be the better choice.

Anyone with experience of the area on a bike or suggestions for the trip?