Going on vacation to France with bike! Good idea?

[nathanong87]

so my friend is getting married in Tours, and i will be in paris (looking up Airbnb near the louvre) for 4 days and 3 nights prior to his wedding.

i have the possibility to bring my bicycle with me. Is this a dumb idea? Riding a bicycle in paris is obviously a city, but is the city safe just to cruise around with my sneakers in? should i just leave the bike in it's box and rent a bicycle-share bike? Bicycle is just to get to tourist spots around paris which is all i want to do for 4 days. I will have a bike lock too, is paris like safe for a bike to be locked up on street while sight see-ing, or should i just keep it in my room til i get to tours?

What about Tours? The pictures of the area and chateau we will be staying at , looks more suburb and rural, so i was planning on getting out for a longer distance. Thoughts? Thanks!

[ross]

Safe to cruise around in sneakers, Parisian drivers pretty crazy so have your wits about you. I wouldn't leave a nice bike unattended, but this goes for any big city

Lots of hotels / b&b will have dedicated bike storage. Not many will allow you to take your bike in the room unless you have a cover for the chainset eg http://www.wiggle.co.uk/scicon-gear-bike-cover/ at bare minimum, I use a full bag and get some raised eyebrows but never any refusals http://duffbag.myshopify.com/collections/all

[Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez]

It's not quite safe to lock a good bike in Paris. Safe to cruise around? I'm sure it's worse in NYC. I would not call it safe but for an experienced cyclist you should be fine, but in most places you have to use taxi/bus paths ad these guys aren't funny. It's pretty busy so you won't have a quality time. I'd suggest just renting the Velib bikes, several spots in Paris where you just lock/unlock them.

Tours surroudings is a great place for bike riding if you follow the Loire river.

[nathanong87]

It's not quite safe to lock a good bike in Paris. Safe to cruise around? I'm sure it's worse in NYC. I would not call it safe but for an experienced cyclist you should be fine, but in most places you have to use taxi/bus paths ad these guys aren't funny. It's pretty busy so you won't have a quality time. I'd suggest just renting the Velib bikes, several spots in Paris where you just lock/unlock them.

Tours surroudings is a great place for bike riding if you follow the Loire river.

Lots of hotels / b&b will have dedicated bike storage. Not many will allow you to take your bike in the room unless you have a cover for the chainset eg http://www.wiggle.co.uk/scicon-gear-bike-cover/ at bare minimum, I use a full bag and get some raised eyebrows but never any refusals http://duffbag.myshopify.com/collections/all

THANKS! i think based on what you both have said, i'll keep my bicycle in the case i have just in my room and only use it when i get to Tours =)

[Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez]

That's what I'd do if I were you. Of course you could have a rad go-fast time with your good bike, but to get you fast enough from spots of interest, I'd use the Velib system. That way you don't have to sweat for your locked bike (whether it's yours or rent)

[nathanong87]

any good routes from starting from http://www.chateaudedetilly.com/ .... should i head N, S, E, W?

[Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez]

I don't know precise route but you can't go wrong by taking secoundary roads in the neighborhood, don't miss Chinon, Azay-le-Rideau but I guess you'll get informed about the Chateaux de la Loire and how to go anyway. (some of them are further east of Tours, by quite some distance while you'll be based on the west so I doubt you go there by bike)

[djm]

I definitely wouldn't bring my bike for four days in any US city, nor Paris. Enjoy a few days off the bike?

I think Paris has bikes you can rent on several locations around the city.. city bikes that is.

[nathanong87]

so the follow up question (which im fine with either way). Is 4 days in Tours, worth* bringing my bike? (assuming i can pedal around in spandex and cycling shoes for some moderate rides? 2-4 hours)

[Antoine]

Look at Dcrainmaker's site for rides in Paris and Velib renting bikes , for example : http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/02/weekend-cycling-multiple.html
As long as you stay in the center of Paris you'll find bike lanes and it's quite safe if you pay enough attention.

In France you'll find thieves from everywhere in the world, so be careful.

As said before you will want to visit the great castles instead of cycling while in Tours. Anyway it's mostly flat around Tours.

While in Paris you can also book a track ride in the national velodrome http://velodrome-national.com/sports/12-cyclisme-sur-piste.html, Saint-Quentin velodrome is about 45 minutes by train from center Paris (Saint-Michel station for example).
First ride is called baptème and it's 18 euros including the bike, helmet and shoes for rent. It's fun.

[ross]

There's some nice countryside in the Loire Valley but it's pretty flat dude. More suited to cycle touring along the rivers.

If you do take your bike - the road surface is generally good in France - even on back roads and the drivers courteous to cyclists outside of the cities

http://www.cycling-loire.com/ - EuroVelo 6 long distance cycle route, lots of greenlanes (ie traffic free)
http://www.locationdevelos.com/en/concept.php - not sure if they do road bike rentals

[nathanong87]

this new strava feature is neat. Im thinking of trying these

https://www.strava.com/local/fr/paris/c ... routes/671

[cazone]

The vallée de Chevreuse is where most people go for their Sunday morning group ride.
It's nice. But not very special. It's just the nicest place out of town.

For Paris, nothing beats the velib! I use it every day to go to work.

[Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez]

this new strava feature is neat. Im thinking of trying these

https://www.strava.com/local/fr/paris/c ... routes/671

Most of my roads where I was still in south Paris. You won't get any better than that because it's the shortest way out of Paris to find landscape, where the suburbs are less urbanized.

You'll find rolling roads, forests, punchy climbs, countryside. And a lot of cyclists/groups

[sawyer]

Central Paris is an amazing place but not great for cycling generally IME. It's okish - lots of bikes (though nothing like London), but the very wide roads and some carefree driving make things dangerous IME ... sure you get used it though lke everything, just not in 3-4 days!