Bordeaux france, with touring bikes, in November ?

[mntlion]

Mrs Mntlion and I are going to spend Nov 1-20 in Bordeaux area. Fly calgary direct to Paris and get to Bordeaux. Not really planning on Paris time. (will have urban time in bordeaux, and more interested in biking, and eating then eiffel tower) We have a buddy on a educational exchange with room for us (and bike box storage etc) for the month.

We are bringing our touring bikes, and looking for anything from day trips, to 3-7 multi day trips.

1) 40-100km/day (depending on terrain and stuff to see and eat)

2) Any surface from paved, to chunky gravel (both bikes are flat bars, with 2.2*29 XC tires and ridged forks)

3) Not bringing camping gear, or stove/pots, so looking somewhere inside to stay on any trips. No need for fancy, would much prefer to spend the money on food over beds

4) more rural, and out of the way the better. Less peoplie the better. (we live in banff alberta, so are VERY use to tourists) We are use to mountains, so looking for more ocean, and more rolling farmland as its not what we get at home.

5) happy to do loop trips, or out/back and take public transport back to Bordeaux to reset and do laundry

6) Any ideas in Bordeaux are great too.

7) If the weather sucks, happy to travel to stay warmer and dryer.


So, any tips, suggestions, hints, tricks, etc?

[doebedoe]

Eurovelo 1 and 3 are both good starting places. 1 goes along the coast, 3 comes inland and goes E/NE out of town and through the Right Bank. I haven't ridden either of them, but my experience with other Eurovelo routes is that they are well signed, and the heavy bike traffic means inns/hotels/restaurants are commonly very biker friendly.

Personally I'd be planning a few rail assisted mini-tours structured around weather when you know it. One out to the coast, north, then back through the Left bank. One out and around Right Bank. If weather looks shit, a train / car down the Languedoc/Roussillon region (Carcassonne or Narbonne) is likely warmer and has a bunch of national parks nearby. St Emillion is a UNESCO world heritage site; I would make every effort to get there especially as a wine dork. You are there well after harvest, likely at a softer spot in many winemakers calendars. Take advantage and try to score some fun tours. Don't sleep on Sauternes either or Buster will be disappointed in you.

Personally I found RideWithGPS super helpful in planning Euro bike tours, worth the cost. Their heatmaps are pretty helpful. Just don't rely too much on their "unpaved cycling layer" as it is often more wrong in Europe in my experience where they have every tiny wine path that isn't public/well suited for biking on it.

Jealous. Enjoy.

[Buster Highmen]

...
Don't sleep on Sauternes either or Buster will be disappointed in you.

^This, not that it would matter. But if you go, everyone wants d'Yquem, which is great, but don't skip Raymond Lafon, Chateau de Fargues or Climens.

Also: Dordogne is super cool with foie gras, cave painting (Lascaux), incredible stone architecture from little cottages to massive fortresses fought over during the 100 years war and lots of gorgeous riverfront. There's great train connections from Bordeaux to Sarlat and Bergerac.

[halliday]

This sounds like a great trip.

[Peruvian]

We did a week long cycle tour loop out of Bordeaux in Spring ‘[emoji638][emoji639]. I’m happy to share RWGPS tracks with you as well as where we stayed, etc (although pretty easy to figure out based on the ride data). Shoot me a PM if interested.