France is no Switzerland when it comes to traveling with your bicycle on its trains, but infinitely better than Japan (my other frame of reference for train-friendly countries), and probably better than most EU countries. Here is how you can take your bike around the country.
Wheel it on (for free!)
Corail Intercités, middle-distance trains. On most [...]
Archive for the ‘Cycling’ Category
Taking Your Bike on the Trains of France
Posted in Cycling, France, Gear, Transport, tagged ter, sncf, corail, teoz, lunea on December 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
An Odd Encounter
Posted in Cycling, France, Languedoc, tagged pic st loup, les matelles, prades le lez, chateau de restinclieres, st gely du fesc on December 7, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I saw the darndest thing today on my ride up north. Riding through the tiny, uninhabited hills north of the source du Lez, I passed this fellow traveller.
A dog on the road. Nothing strange, you say. Well, not really, except this was kilometers from the nearest house, AND she had a baguette in her mouth. [...]
Valhauquès and Back
Posted in Cycling, France, Languedoc, Medieval Stuff, tagged Montpellier, valhauques on December 1, 2009 | 2 Comments »
I had big aspirations today. I looked at the map and noticed a village that was tucked into the hills some 20 km west of Montpellier, and I had never been there. As it turned out, there is probably a good reason why – namely because there is nothing to this village except an unremarkable [...]
Sommieres to Nimes Along the Voie Verte
Posted in Cycling, France, Languedoc, Roman Leftovers, tagged caveirac, nimes, sommieres, voie verte on November 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Firstly, thanks to Peter from the Languedoc Page for reminding me that I had to get off my butt and check this thing out. I’d been sort of meaning to ride this 20-km long cycling path for over a year, but since it starts over 35km from home I guess I just never had the [...]
Mitake-san (Japan) – Flashback #17
Posted in Cycling, Japan, Longer Trips/Flashbacks, tagged maruishi emperor, mitake-san, ome, tamagawa, tokyo on November 14, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Excuse the redundancy, but having found the secret to fixing my scanner I find myself needing to ‘re-package’ a few of these old ‘flashbacks’.
I lived near a river called Tamagawa for most of my 9 years in Japan. Without too much of an exaggeration, this long strip of cycling bliss probably saved my sanity on [...]
Nikko (Japan) 2005 – Flashback #16
Posted in Asia / Australia, Cycling, Japan, Longer Trips/Flashbacks, tagged irohazaka, nikko, numata, toshogu shrine on November 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The scanner is back from the dead, so here is another older post beefed up with new pictures.
Cycling buddy Nigel and I did a couple of rides from Tokyo over the years (if you just can’t get enough of him, fret not! He is prominently featured in Flashback #5), starting with a 400 km loop [...]
Eastern Hokkaido (Japan) 1999 – Flashback 15
Posted in Asia / Australia, Cycling, Japan, Longer Trips/Flashbacks, tagged hokkaido, kuril islands on November 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
This entry is actually from a while back, but I’ve slapped a couple of photos in and added some more content.
I lived in Japan for nearly 10 years, and rode a lot. Unfortunately, I only did a few ‘real’ trips, the rest being up and down (and up and down, and up and…) the Tama [...]
Tips on Watching the Tour de France
Posted in Cycling, France, Racing, tagged tour de france tips on October 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
With the Tour just 8 short months away I thought I’d jot down a few pointers for those who might be considering a trip over here next year.
1. Don’t rent a camper van! OK, this one is just a personal pet peeve, and you are more than welcome to fill up the narrow roads of [...]
Oppidum d’Altimurium
Posted in Cycling, France, Languedoc, Roman Leftovers, tagged oppidium d'altimurium on October 27, 2009 | 1 Comment »
For the few of you out there who don’t know latin, the name of this post refers to the ‘main settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome’, and the one I rode by today is one of only 10 in France according to the know-it-alls at Wiki. This actually dates from the 2nd century BCE [...]
Mauguio
Posted in Cycling, France, Languedoc, Roman Leftovers, tagged berlin wall montpellier, castries, mauguio, pont des tourilles on October 25, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I went east today, which I nearly always avoid due to the autoroute, national highway and train line. Generally not a very bike-friendly experience. However, I happened upon a ‘back door’ into the area the other day and decided to explore some more today. On my way out of town this morning I stopped at [...]
