Loire a Velo with Friends: 2019-05-31: Planning and Prep

Tip
Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Notes
General Info01. Route$0.00I'm thinking that we might want to skip starting in Basel (for this trip) and do just the \"Loire a Velo\" route, which officially starts at Nevers and is 800km long.

If we have time at the end, there are lots of options, and folks don't necessarily have to do the same thing. We can:
1) Continue down the Atlantic coast south of Nantes on the Eurovelo 3 route, which is also called La Vélodyssée in France (https://www.velodyssey.com/).
2) Take a train up to Mont St. Michel, which is certainly worth a look
3) Take a train up to Paris

I think 800km is a reasonable goal in a month and ensures that people do the Loire section, which, I think is the nicer section.
General Info02. Getting To-From$0.00There are flights from Edmonton and Calgary to Nantes.

We could look for accommodation in Nantes that we would stay in at the start AND end of our trip where we could store bike bags. Perhaps a hostel or an AirBnB place.

From Nantes, we could take a train to Nevers. This needs to be researched: How to get from Nantes to Nevers by train with assembled bikes. Here are some resources:
1) Crazy Guy's blog
2) Per Crazy Guy, Deutsche Bahn is a good resource for finding trains in France (better than the France web sites, apparently). This makes train travel to Nevers look pretty straight-forward on TER trains. Click the box for \"show routes that take bikes\".
3) Cyclomundo's blog. I like his first sentence about taking bikes on the train... \"First of all, you should ask yourself if it is really worth it!\"
4) Info for how to make a reservation for your bike
5) Freewheeling France article about bikes on trains. Note that on their train map you can trace the thin purple line from Nantes to Nevers:
General Info03. Printed Materials for Loire$0.00I already have this set of maps, which Brent and I used (some of) in 2015: EuroVelo 6It's really good and shows lots of Campingplatzes.

Velo Guide: This is a series of guides. I have the \"Nantes a Royan\" one, which is French. It's ok, but not fabulous (i.e., I don't think it shows campgrounds). BUT, there is an ENGLISH one for the Loire, which may be worth it for easily readable material. English Bike Guide

Bikeline: There's also a Bikeline book for this route which we can consider buying, depending on what we decide about other materials. This one is in German.
General Info04. Printed Materials for Velodyssey$0.00This looks interesting. It's the Loire-Atlantic area, so basically exploring (thoroughly) the area west of Nantes without really going down the coast.

Velo Guide: Per above, I have the \"Nantes a Royan\" Velo Guide in French. Not crazy about it.

La Routard: This may be something to consider. It looks better than the Velo Guide one.

The Velodyssey web site has interactive maps that you can zoom and choose options for and then print. This looks pretty awesome. Example
General Info05. Electronic Navi - Eek!$0.00OK, seriously... is it time for me to join the 21st Century? I'm thinking so, but I'm at a loss for even the most basic decisions like whether to use a GPS or an app on a phone. I'm leery of phone apps because I've had such terrible experiences trying to use phones in Europe.

We can download GPS tracks for Loire

And for Velodyssee

Articles for using a GPS:
Cycle Tourer
Travelling Two
Toms Bike Trip

Article about using phone app:
Long Haul Trekkers
General Info06. More Resources$0.00This web site seems really good... Cycling-Loire. It also looks like it has information about luggage transfer and bike rentals.

Incidentally, I also have this, which shows all the cycle routes in France. Sort of a one-stop-shop map that Laura wanted to look at.
General Info20. Sample ItineraryMap$0.00NOTE that this is just a sample itinerary - the actual trip dates will be June 1-30
DateDestinationKmsAccommodation
May 1Fly to Nantes0Plane
May 2Arrive Nantes, Assemble Bikes15Nantes. Hostel? BnB?
May 3Train to Nevers10Nevers (Campground)
May 4Ride to Givry (near Cours-les-Barres)24Campground (Fourchambault)
May 5Ride to St-Satur43Campground (St-Satur)
May 6Ride to Bonny-sur-Loire32Campground beyond Bonny-sur-Loire
May 7Ride to Sully-sur-Loire50Campground Sully-sur-Loire
May 8Rest Day10Campground Sully-sur-Loire
May 9Ride to St-Denis-de-l'Hotel28Campground St-Denis-de-l'Hotel
May 10Ride to Orleans25Campground beyond Orleans
May 11Ride to Muides-sur-Loire50Campground at Muides-sur-Loire
May 12Ride to Chaumont-sur-Loire48.5Campground at Chaumont-sur-Loire
May 13Ride to Tours46Tours - Hostel? BnB?
May 14Rest Day10Tours - Hostel? BnB?
May 15Ride to Savigny-en-Veron53Campground at Savigny-en-Veron
May 16Ride to Gennes41.5Campground at Gennes
May 17Ride to Montjean sur-Loire55Campground at Montjean sur-Loire
May 18Ride to Mauves-sur-Loire52.5Campground at Mauves-sur-Loire
May 19Ride to Frossay (beyond Nantes)
*End of trip option
50Campground at Frossay
May 20Rest day in Frossay0Campground at Frossay
May 21La Vélodyssée: Ride to Pornic40?
May 22La Vélodyssée: Ride to La Barre-de-Monts52?
May 23La Vélodyssée: Noirmoutier par le Gois45Same as previous
May 24La Vélodyssée: Ride to Sables-d'Olonne65
May 25La Vélodyssée: Return to La Barre-de-Monts65
May 26La Vélodyssée: Return to Pornic52
May 27La Vélodyssée: Return to Frossay40
May 28Ride to Nantes35
May 29Errand Day in NantesNantes. Hostel? BnB?
May 30Errand Day in NantesNantes. Hostel? BnB?
May 31Fly Home15Home
General Info21. Route Specs - Loire$0.00
WhereKmSee?Lav?Camp?*Camp?
Nevers0xx
le Guetin14x
Cuffy17
Givry24x
La Charite-sur-Loire44.5x
St-Satur72x
Bannay76.5x
Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire*80x
Belleville-sur-Loire94.5xx
Bonny-sur-Loire102.5
Bonny-sur-Loire (Campground)104.5x
Chatillon-sur-Loire108x
Briare112.5x
Gien124x
Sully-sur-Loire153xx
St. Benoir-sur-Loire160x
Chateauneuf-sur-Loire172x
la Bourdonniere176.5x
Jargeau181x
Orleans202xx
St-Jean-de-la-Ruelle205.5x
Beaugency230x
Muides-sur-Loire246xx
Huisseau-sur-Cosson261x
Blois272.5xx
Cande-sur-Beuvron287.5x
Chaumont-sur-Loire294.5xx
Amboise314.5xxx
Lussault-sur-Loire321x
les Fosses Bouteilles332x
Tours349.5x
Savonnieres361.5x
Langeais371x
Chateau d'Usse384x
Contebault391x
Savigny-en-Veron399x
Candes-St-Martin409x
Montsoreau414x
Turquant417.5x
Saumur428.5xx
la Houssaie437.5x
Tour Treves445.5x
Gennes449xx
St-Remy-la-Varenne459.5x
St-Mathurin-sur-Loire461x
la Dagueniere472x
Angers*480x
les-Ponts-de-Ce (near Angers)480x
Another campground481.5x
Bouchemaine487.5x
la Possonniere497x
Chalonnes-sur-Loire506x
Montjean sur-Loire516x
Ingrandes520.5x
Ancenis536xx
Oudon545x
St-Simon557x
Mauves-sur-Loire558.5x
la Bourniere565.5x
Ste-Luce-sur-Loire568x
Nantes574xx
le Migron608.4x
Paimboeuf619.4x
St-Brevin-les-Pins *END LOIRE633x
*Campground off the main route - extra distance required
General Info22. Route Specs - La Vélodyssée$0.00There are campgrounds all down the coast, but I don't know if they all take tents. We should have a proper cycle touring guide to find out.
WhereKmSee?Lav?Camp?*Camp?
St-Brevin-les-Pins0
St-Michel-Chef-Chef10x
*Pointe de St-Gildas+12
Pornic26
La Barre-de-Monts78x
*Noirmoutier par le Gois (Island)+45
Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie113x
Sables-d'Olonne143x
La Tranche-sur-Mer191x
Marans236
*La *Venise verte* au depart de Marans+50-80km
La Rochelle271x
*L'ile de Re au depart de la Rochelle+50
*Bonus/Diversion - off the main route
General InfoEuroVelo 6Rhine to the Atlantic - pretty much our exact trip$0.00
General InfoEuroVelo 6, France section$0.00
General InfoEuroVelo 6: Loire Valley$0.00
General InfoGroup MessagesPlanning and prep e-mails sent to trip attendees.$0.00
HandyAccueil VeloFreewheeling France$0.00
HandyLoire Valley by TrainInterloire$0.00Thanks to the \"Train Vélo Loire\" (Train Bike Loire) system, you can board trains on the Interloire line with your bicycle, from mid-June to mid-September. The service is free and has dedicated personnel for taking care of your bike from the moment you board to when you get it back when you get off. This allows you to easily skip stages or return to your point of departure.
To DoMaps.meLoad required maps into Maps.me$0.00
Activity
Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total Notes
CycleBasel to Nantes$0.000105882
Service
Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Notes
RentalBike Hire DirectPossible bike rental option$0.00
RentalBim Bim BikesPossible bike rental option$0.00
RentalSpin ListerPromising rental options (individuals)$0.00
StorageBlue Marble in ParisLuggage storage and shuttle services in ParisBlue Marble$0.00
Blog Entries
I started a new blog this year, called \"Self-Supported Cycle Touring for the Faint of Heart\". It's mostly for me, but maybe someday someone else will get some value from it.\n

During my preparations for this trip, I wrote a few posts:\n