compiled by James Reid

Trip 1 – Submitted by Renaud Prefontaine.

Before my accident, we were starting to plan a trip along the cycling route that is being completed going from Niagara on the Lake to Brockville. Maybe next year.

Trip 2 – Submitted by John Mynott

WHERE YOU WENT: Ottawa via Air Delayed [Transat] to Marseilles. From Marseilles we grabbed a train to upper Rhone; then we toured by bike: Ardeche; Vaucluse and Provence

WHEN YOU WENT: 5 September to 5 October.

TYPE OF SUPPORT: We took our own bikes plus camping equipment and we went entirely self-supported.

COMMENTS: Try to get through France without collecting much wine, olive oil, and, and…!! We had a good time. the weather was variable [southern France had a serious storm the night we arrived-flooding; roads closed; rail delayed; but later we had a less dramatic variety of good and poor weather. We found that a disadvantage of traveling by bike in Sept. is that the days are only 12hr long; friends had traveled these parts in May-June when days are longest. Thus we had to plan our days to arrive at the next campsite not too late or we cooked dinner in the dark. We visited most of the areas/features that we hoped to see and we have many fond memories.

Trip 3. Submitted by Mike Daniels

WHERE YOU WENT: France: Loire Valley; “Vineyards and Chateaux” Blois, Amboise, Montrichard loop, a commercial trip available through ‘World Expeditions’, offices in Ottawa @78 George St. www.worldexpeditions.com

WHEN YOU WENT: We started the trip July 7th. Flew to Charles de Gaulle, then bus to catch train to Blois from Austerlitz Station, a tiring journey.

FOR HOW LONG (DAYS AND KMS.): Distance about 250 Kms in 7 days easy riding , great for beginners.

TYPE OF SUPPORT: Fully supported, baggage transported to next destination Gitane European-style bikes provided: panniers, lights, big map holder, 21 speeds.

ACCOMMODATIONS: Comfortable 2 star hotel/ inn accommodation with breakfast and dinner, food generally excellent.

COMMENTS: Advertised as a Group Tour but we were the group! Very good self -navigating route card and 1:200000 Michelin maps provided, routes well planned, virtually no traffic. Flexible itinerary, i.e. can add extra days within the schedule if desired, we added a couple of extra nights to the trip so that we could do more sightseeing We started the trip July 7th a bit before the peak season, no crowds, no queues at main attractions. Cost for 8 day’s $1200 CDN each. All in all very enjoyable! We are planning to take their Danube trip next year.

Trip 4. Submitted by Mike Daniels

WHERE YOU WENT: S. W. England tour with 2 friends. Flew from Ottawa to Gatwick, via Thomas Cook Airlines (Canadian Affair) Bikes cost $100 return Much easier to bike from than Heathrow, and more convenient for South coast. Pre planning was done with the help of resource material from the U.K. Cyclists Touring Club (CTC) which I have joined.

WHEN YOU WENT: starting mid September

FOR HOW LONG (DAYS AND KMS.): 2 weeks about 750Kms total

TYPE OF SUPPORT: self organized carrying own gear (2 full rear panniers)

ACCOMMODATIONS: Stayed in B&B’s booked one day ahead using “Tourist Info Centres” worked well although it can be a time consuming process and none opened before 9:30 am.

ROUTE: Gatwick to Southsea (nr. Southampton) onto Isle of Wight , then mainland to New forest (Brockenhurst ) followed south coast to Exeter, across estuary on “Starcross ferry (good short cut) to holiday resort Torquay then on to Plymouth. Serious hills west of Exeter up to 16+% even on main ‘A’ roads. Many of which we walked up.!

We had planned to go further west into Cornwall but given the tough terrain decided to shorten the trip. Took excellent fast Virgin train back to Exeter, (with good bike accommodation), and then connection to Barnstaple on N. Devon coast, (bikes in carriage with us).

Rode from Barnstaple over Exmoor (1500ft) to Lynmouth on the coast using the recently created National Cycle Route (NCR) #3. Mostly quiet back roads which have many 15+% grades, again tough riding, fortunately a tail wind. The climb out of Lynmouth is the famous ‘Countesbury Hill’. again 20% grade, this on the A38! required about 2kms walking, Descended back to sea level at Porlock via toll road, superb 4 miles downhill with magnificent views of the S. Wales coast 20 miles away.

Then headed round coast over the Quantocks and Mendip hills (more serious gradients) heading inland for Glastonbury, and Wells visiting the magnificent Cathedral. From Wells to the Roman Spa city of Bath to complete the bike ride. The 3 hour train journey from Bath to Gatwick was uneventful, good rack accommodation for bikes but only room for six, fortunately we had reserved 3 of them.

COMMENTS: Overall: Tough cycling, I wished I had a lower granny gear (needed 24F 28R) 90 Kms per day was hard going, 65Kms was comfortable, distances seemed always to be 20% longer than estimates! The rewards were: Some of the most magnificent old villages, scenery and views, lovely old pubs with excellent beer and food, Very good value B&B’s with ‘real’ fry-up breakfasts ($55-65 pp/pn) and friendly-to-cyclists hosts. The traffic: sometimes fast and dense, driver skills far better than in N.A. in general recognize bikes as vehicles with a right to be on the road, Back roads were quiet but narrow, i.e. overall ‘bike friendly’, it’s definitely not France though! The weather was cool mostly dry and cloudy/sunny quite good for cycling.

Trip 5. Submitted by Peter Wood

WHERE YOU WENT: Brittany, France Started in Auray approximately 120 Kms west of Nantes ended in Mont St Michel.

WHEN YOU WENT: First two weeks of September

FOR HOW LONG (DAYS AND KMS.): 14 days – 800kms

TYPE OF SUPPORT: Unsupported, we carried everything on our bikes,

ACCOMMODATION: At 2 and 3 star hotels in generally smaller cities

COMMENTS: Fabulous trip, great food, good weather, friendly people who tolerated our bad french, quiet roads polite drivers, super panorama views of the ocean, nice seaside resorts, excellent beaches.

Trip 6 Submitted by James Reid

WHERE YOU WENT: Quebec City along south shore to Riviere-dy Loup, Ferry to St. Simon, North on 170 to Jonquiare, on 172 to Alma, counter clockwise around Lac St-Jean.

WHEN YOU WENT: 31 May June to 12 June – includes days driving – one day to Quebec City and one day back from Lac St-Jean

FOR HOW LONG ( DAYS AND KMS.): 11 Days – 550 kms

TYPE OF SUPPORT: Two types – Self supported to St-Simon, Station Wagon support for rest of trip.

ACCOMMODATIONS: Small hotels for first part and camping for Lac St-Jean.

COMMENTS : We had fantastic weather. Very warm for June. The South Shore of St Lawrence was great as we rode the Route Verte. Small Hotels were lovely. Good meals and many small restaurants along the way. Route 170 north of St-Simon was our longest and hardest day. The ride around Lac St-Jean was fantastic with amazing rides on a wooden board walk and on a paved path through a woods. We followed the Velo Route des Bleuet around Lac St Jean. www.veloroute-bleuets.qc.ca