So The West Coast Is Crap; What Alternative For Roscoff - Pamplona?

PhaedrusMC

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By all accounts I've read on here and elsewhere, the west coast of France is dreary and can be windy - is this the case for the entire route?

Me & my mate both like posh yachts, so I'd been thinking that sticking to the coast and popping into a couple of marina towns & villages for a drool might work. But if there are nicer roads and scenery inland, that could work out even better?

Hoping to make Roscoff-Pamplona with just one overnight stop. It's approx 1000km/620m, so that'd be 500km/310m per day - not a ridiculous prospect?

Not looking for routes or towns to visit, just general opinions.

Trip is only in an aspirational pre-planning research phase for now.


Thanks. :thumb
 
I have just got back from a few days in Normandy/Brittany. Even staying off the Autoroute, the "N" and even the "R" roads are very long, flat and straight. The tun back up through Brittany to Roscoff was very windy but not a problem.
500kms a day is easily done.

One thing to bear in mind if your objective is to cover distance over a couple of days is that I found services where few and far between unless you are on a tolled autoroute.

Sent from a OnePlusX
 
Grand.

Did/do you use GPS? Can routes be planned to include re-fueling every 250 (or whatever) miles, but still avoid tolled motorways?

GPS-noob, so forgive me a dumb question. :augie
 
Grand.

Did/do you use GPS? Can routes be planned to include re-fueling every 250 (or whatever) miles, but still avoid tolled motorways?

GPS-noob, so forgive me a dumb question. :augie

Yes, very easily. If using the more minor D roads then many of these go through towns so you will encounter Intermarche, Carrefour etc supermarkets (even small ones often have fuel). If using the N roads (main trunk roads) then you will often need to drop off the N road into a town to find fuel.

Always leave some contingency in the tank as the satnav database can be out of date. Like the UK & Ireland, many small village petrol stations are now used car lots as there is a supermarket 2km down the road. Fuel prices vary wildly. Avoid Elan which are small independents and often 20% more than a supermarket. Try a Chip & PIN pump early in the trip so you know if your card(s) works with them. My Bank of Ireland Mastercard from the Post Office seems to work.
 
Have a look at:

1. The sticky of ViaMichelin routes, which includes the area you are planning on holidaying in

2. The RiDE magazine website, which also has route suggestions

It is not impossible to buy fuel in France. Indeed, as Wessie says, it's maybe easier in rural France these days than it is rural Ireland, not least as most half decent towns have automatic pumps at even quite small convenience stores / supermarkets.

Use a bit of common sense, is my advice. If your bike has say 25 litre tank then it's a pretty good rule of thumb thst its range will be 250 miles, based on the pretty reliable 10 miles per litre method. If you start each day with a full tank and you know how far you'll be travelling, cut your cloth according to circumstances. For example, if your day's ride is 260 miles you'll know thst the last 20 miles or so will be with the fuel light glowing and your nerves (possibly) jangling. But, if when you stop for a coffee at say 100 miles there is a fuel station, then splosh in 10 litres. You are now back to a 250 mile range and comfortably able to make your final destination.

The trick, if there is one, is to start each day with a full tank, then just employ common sense and a bit of imagination. I regularly tour on bikes with a tank capacity of well under 25 litres, down at the 17 litre size. I manage by using this method. OK, I'll sometimes be splashing fuel in whilst others are chilling out a coffee stop - of which I'll maybe miss say 10 minutes - but so what, I will be chilling when they are sweating later. Yesterday, I rode 260 miles (maybe the equivalent of a day's tour in France) on a 13 litre tank bike, quite happily by using this method. I arrived home without once seeing the fuel warning light come one, just by refuelling on my own earlier than the rest when we stopped for lunch. I then splashed a bit more in when all the others stopped in the mid afternoon. Easy, really.

One last tip. Do get yourself a decent map. It will help you plan your days much better than any GPS device I have ever used.
 
Be careful of "Speeding " on the Payage Toll roads! Some (not all) time you between toll plazas and you can get a fine

Wapping and the rest of the gang who enjoy Dashes will have more recent experience than me

Also "Rural" France on a Sunday can be Ghost City Man even Dunkerque when I lived at Warhem was Dead no shops open just one carrefour that I discovered late on my stay

Take stuff with you for a lunch / Break or just mooch about where you are
 
Thanks. :thumb2

I got Michelin 721 (France, 1:1,000,000) & 734 (Spain/Portugal 1:1,000,000) for broad/general planning.

I'll probably also get some smaller-scale maps later too, once we have the general route outline agreed.

I just got Bin Ridin's 1150GS last week, which came with a Zumo 550, so with my copy of mapsource (kindly shared by The Grey One, IIRC), I'll spend some time attempting to create routes.

If my mate is still on his Transalp come trip time, I imagine it and a standard 1150GS will return reasonably similar mileages between refills.

I had begun playing with MotoGoLoco which is good at identifying off-road/unpaved roads/trails, and letting you drag your route to include them, but Mapsource doesn't seem great at identifying off-road/unpaved roads/trails? Or am I missing something?

The France leg to northern Spain is kinda the only bit we don't really care about, but at the same time, if there's any fun to be had from a route or route sections, it'd be good to include that/those.

Long way away yet - no panic. :thumb
 
If you want to use unpaved roads in Mapsource makes sure you do not have "unpaved roads" selected in the avoid list.

The database will not be so extensive as other specialist sources though.

John will be along soon to tell you to use OSM mapping data...
 
No they don't.

If you are so sure they don't why go and try.


The other more frequent place for a radar is on the approach to the toll gate when you should reduce your speed, they pick you up on leaving the toll booth.
 
Yes they do, a mate told me.

My mate said they don't and having met your mate I know that my mate is bigger than your mate so that top trumps you so I'm right and you're wrong :rob

If you are so sure they don't why go and try.


The other more frequent place for a radar is on the approach to the toll gate when you should reduce your speed, they pick you up on leaving the toll booth.

They do not time you between tolls. Never have done and don't currently. My licence would allegedly be in tatters by now if that were the case.

And, whilst I'm not saying they don't I have yet to see a camera/radar/trap/whatever anywhere near the entrance to the tolls - I'm very glad too 'cos entering & leaving the gates whilst making good progress is top fun on a busy A-route :D

Andres
 
Me & my mate both like posh yachts, so I'd been thinking that sticking to the coast and popping into a couple of marina towns & villages for a drool might work. But if there are nicer roads and scenery inland, that could work out even better?

If you like yachts, I'd advise not going inland, as there won't be many to see.:D
 
Wha?! The west coast of Brittany is spectacular! But I don't know how you'll fit in marina detours with a two day timescale.
For yachts: Foret de Fouesnant,(near Quimper), home of Michel Quelque-chose who won the Vendee Globe some years back.
Maybe Ile de Ré (posh), La Rochelle area too. Mais je ne sais rien.

My approach was to cover some ground on the Rennes- Nantes-Niort(-Santes) m-way/peage. Then seek out the D roads towards Angouleme and onto Bergerac area. But that won't suit the yacht lust you're harbouring.
Maybe sling your hammock in Arcachon area if La Rochelle is too early in the journey

Yeah, roads are flat and straight in Les Landes, south of Arcachon/Bordeaux but you have the Pyrenees to look fwd to.

PS I too think speed traps timed between toll booths is a myth.
 
Going to Spain. Going through France. :thumb

Keener to get to Pamplona than to drool over yachts. The yachts were just a kind of if-we're-heading-south-along-the-west-coast-of-France-anyway-we-might-as-well-try-to-fit-in-a-bit-of-a-drool-over-some-yachts-on-our-piss/coffee/sleep-stops idea.

But maybe we'll just keep our eyes on the prize and just rip on for Pamplona in the two days, and accept that it'll be a bit dull. Surely that'd still be better than two ferrys (IRL-UK-FR)...
 


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