France: Cycling through the Dordogne

By Sharon Arkoff

Tour Highlights
Country	France
Time of Year	July
Tour Group	Europeds
Miles per Day	25-35
Road Conditions	Paved
Terrain	Hills
Weather	Warm
Riding Days	7
Total Miles	175

Et Voila! We're back from our first-ever cycling vacation, in Dordogne, France. We loved it. We chose the Dordogne region for its food, its history (lots of prehistoric caves, lots of action in the 100 Years' War between France and England), and its rural charm. And the region did not disappoint in any way. The terrain is long, gentle hills -- gentler than what you find in west suburban Boston, perhaps, but long -- a mile or two long, and often several miles long. I am new intimately acquainted with "granny gear," thank you very much. But the views were just beautiful-- mile after mile of rolling yellow and green farmland and woods, with honey-colored stone buildings (even the roofs are made of stone, on the very old structures), and lots of castles (real castles, with moats and turrets and towers) along the rivers. At one point, I was riding along on a hill that had lasted 40 minutes. I was on my own at that point, and had heard nothing -- no cars, no farm equipment, no voices -- except my own breathing, for quite a while. I cycled around a curve, and found myself face to face with a small herd of cows. "Don't you laugh at me!" I told them (in French, of course). The flip side of long up-hills is that on long down-hills, my arms would ache from supporting my weight for so long -- and then there was the death-clutch on the brakes. We are casual cyclists, and cycling 25-35 miles per day over this terrain, on hybrid bikes, was just our limit, I would say.

Highlights of the trip included a trip to several prehistoric caves, eating foie gras at least once every day, a trip to a bicycle museum, and exploring the castles. The bicycle museum was especially interesting not only because of the bikes -- they even have the first models, which didn't inlude pedals; you sort of "walked" them along -- but because it's obvious that everything bike engineers think they're inventing now has already been invented. Upright handlebars, racing handlebars, men's seats, women's seats, suspension seat posts, tandems, you name it -- it's been toyed with before. Especially fascinating were the very early bikes in which the drive chain consised of a circle of leather, and two pieces of wood at either end with pegs sticking out that caught on holes in the leather. Ever wonder how the name "Michelin" got so big in tires? Well, around the early part of the 1900s, there were two theories for the most comfortable bicycle tire. Michelin advocated rubber, and another person advocated metal tires with a sort of honeycomb structure around the rim to absorb road shock. To settle the controversy (remember that rubber was expensive back then), Michelin and the other guy decided to have a bike race, and whoever won would be considered to have the best idea. Well, you can guess who's bicycle won the race....

The Dordogne is just a beautiful area through which to bike; especially if you're interested in French food, prehistory, or castles. Roads were well-marked, drivers were courteous, etc. And, while crowds weren't an issue while we were cycling, at the caves and other attractions, and in the larger towns, things were alittle frenetic. I hear things quiet down alot after mid-September, so, I think that's the time to go to Europe, from now on. I don't think we'd ever go back with the same tour group, though; they are overpriced for what we experienced (and did not exactly bend over backwards to apologize when we expressed our concerns). One of the hotels was the sort of weary maloderous flophouse you stayed in while backpacking through Europe in college, not the "charming small hotel" described in the brochure (the other hotel, Domain Rochebois, was something out of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," but still... the first hotel was just plain unacceptable). Also, the brochure promised full van support, as in "always there to offer a lift, carry purchases, provide directions" but in reality, the van's presence was virtually nonexistent except at predetermined meeting places. And, there was some nickel-and-diming over lunches and wine, which seems unnecessary in a so-called luxury cycling vacation. Finally, the route maps were adequate in terms of telling you where to turn, but gave you no idea of terrain, scenery, difficulty, interesting things along the way, alternative routes, etc. And, there were a few other little organizational things that they should have worked out, after 20 years in the business, the inherent imperfection of humans and the unpredictabilities of a large group (there were 21 people in our group, all a pleasure to vacation with) notwithstanding.

Regardless, I'm ready to plan a similar trip for next year! Back to the brochures!