Planning Basics
Many followers of our previous trips have asked about the planning methods we use. We will be traveling for five weeks so the logistics becomes critical that everything is dealt with before we leave.
Locations and lodging: After six previous trips to France (5) and Italy (1) we decided to deviate from our past years and pick one location for our five week stay. We are getting too old to move locations which requires packing our bikes and stuff, driving to the next place, and fully unpacking and making the house comfortable for another week. We settled on Castlenaud in the eastern end of the Dordogne river valley. This will be our third visit to this area where we have created wonderful cycling routes, found great towns and villages for meals and coffee stops, and made friends with a number of English speaking couples. Having people to socialize with is a major plus. They have shared their experiences and made great recommendations on where to go, what to see, and of greatest importance where to eat and drink. This newest twist has added immense pleasure to our annual jaunts. Not sure what the future might be but now committed to this winning formula.
Once we select the general area we use Google Maps and various biking sites to insure that we can find rides that fit our criteria such as road quality, scenic value, and terrain suitable for our aging biking legs. Since we prefer the "hub and spoke" riding where we can start and end each ride without loading the bikes and driving to a starting location. So we will probably retrace many of the rides from last year when we stayed in Castlenaud a short distance from the house we rented this year. Although we don't mind repeating rides we will scout our new routes a short drive from the house. This will allow us to discover new areas we missed in the past. We also try to incorporate local attractions that we can either access along our biking routes or drive to on non-biking days.
We use Airbnb exclusively to locate the houses. This is a tedious process finding the ones that meet our criteria including King bed or twins we can move together. Since European bed classifications (King, Queen, Twin) are variable we confirm the actual measurements with the host. Additionally we want a toilet on the same level as the bedroom. The house must have a washer (dryer optional but a plus), dishwasher, and well equipped kitchen. No spiral staircase for us. We try to avoid a lot of outside stairs.
Our house preference is in a village or short drive away. Castlenaud has a terrific boulangerie and a few restaurants in walking distance. Night driving is avoided on the narrow country roads so we either stay locally or have friends (most are significantly younger) provide transportation. Since we are close to the river the area is a popular tourist destination but the people and car traffic gets lighter once the August vacation rush is over.
Price is a minor consideration since we are comfortable with the smaller places with most rentals in the range of $150-$200 per night.
Our modus operandi is to eat breakfast and dinner in. This is because we are mostly in remote rural locations which requires limiting night driving. The narrow and windy roads are challenging for my aging eyes. This also precludes drinking and driving which conflicts with our five o'clock ritual of cocktails and munchies - a daily absolute. Dinners are simple especially if we have indulged in our passion for charcuterie with baguette accompaniment to our happy hour ritual. We try to enjoy lunch out on our rides.
Bikes: The most challenging aspect is traveling with our own bikes. This guarantees that we have bikes that are comfortable and reliable. Renting would be a logistical nightmare which would require that we could find comparable bikes at a convenient pick up and drop off location. Also, it would be a disaster if we got to the rental shop only to find out that the bikes we requested are not available. Lastly, the daily cost for comparable bikes would be close to the cost of buying a new bike over there.
Transporting: The trick to this task is to get these:
 |
| Alan's Bike |
 |
| Kim's Bike |
 |
| Bike Box Collapsed |
 |
| Bike wrapped in foam and placed in box |
Which looks like this when fully packed.
 |
| Bike Boxes Packed for Transport |
We have been using these cardboard boxes from BikeShipper.com. Their major advantage over extruded hard sided plastic carriers is that we can break them down and easily transport them from location to location in the back of the vehicle. Like origami they unfold into a rigid box which is as sturdy as traditional carriers as long as the baggage handlers keep them upright and don't run over them with a forklift. Since transporting the boxes between locations is no longer a problem we could replace them with extruded hard plastic carriers when they have exceeded their useful life.
Car rental:
An essential factor in making the whole process work is transportation. Unlike bike touring where you, your bike, and all your stuff travel together we transport ourselves by car. On our first trip back in 2016 we were introduced to a fantastic car rental service. It is available in most countries in western Europe, especially France and Italy. The service is an outgrowth of Peugeot. Actually, you purchase a vehicle that is delivered to you at the airport with only 5 KM. The only requirement is that the rental period is 21 days or longer. Even though you are presented with an ownership title the only money that is paid is the daily charges. Our first four rentals were a minivan which is no longer available so this trip we selected the 5008 SUV which is a seven passenger SUV. It will not be as versatile but spacious enough to transport all our bags and two fully assembled bikes. Driving from our houses to a ride starting point is easier without the luggage but still requires a bit of finagling. Oh well, it is all part of the adventure.
Food & Libations: France is an eating and drinking paradise. It is hard to decide which keeps us coming back. The food or the riding. In the end "we ride to eat, not eat to ride". This means that we are passionate about pastries, bread, wine and bubbly, an endless variety of pate, cheese, salami, sausage, and everything between. Beyond the beautiful scenery and pastoral cycling routes is the ability to indulge and keep our weight under control. A perfect combination to extend our health span and enjoy the pleasures that eating provides.
