South to Saint Mary de la Mer

24 okt 20237 minuten om te lezen

Where do I go for a first ever bike-packing trip? What if I don't like it? What if my legs can't handle cycling everyday? What If I get lost? ''You go where you want, and whenever you feel tired you just take a break. Your legs will get stronger as you go.''

With these words mum and dad send me off on my first ever bike-packing trip. But before I got to that point, I had some preparing to do.

Preparation

The main thing to decide whilst going for any trip is the destination. Yes, the cliché that a long trip on a bicycle is more about the journey than the destination is true but at least it's nice to have a goal somewhere. Mine was South of France. Saint Mary de la Mer to be exact. I had chosen this location because it looked far south and was bordering the sea. Cycling across France from North to South, eating many baguette and croissants along the way and ending with a swim? A plan was starting to come together.

I couldn't just set off south. To make it a little bit more manageable for me I divided the trip South in three different stages. I'd figure out the way back when I completed these.

Stage one would have me leave home and cycle east through The Netherlands until the border of Germany.

Stage two starts in Germany and I'll follow an old train rails south into Luxembourg and ending in in Dijon.

Stage three would be the final stretch from Dijon through the city of Lyon to my ''end point'' in Saint Mary de la mer.

Stage 1: Easing into the rhythm

As this was my first ever bike-packing trip I wanted to give myself some time to test out the bike, camping and cycling everyday. Instead of diving down south immediately I chose to first head east and bike across my own country.

It was the beginning of August so perfect weather to start this trip, and also a few days before my mother her 60th birthday. As a surprise me and my dad decided I'd still leave on the trip but then meet them all before I'd go south.

Anyway, stage 1 was surprisingly tough. My knees started hurting almost immediately. I had never really cycled with luggage, and not at all every day 80+km. I was struggling.

But ultimately my knees didn't hurt as much, my legs could go on for longer and the bags felt lighter. Training as I go was working out well.

The route led me through forests, lots of farmland and ultimately along side the Maas down to the BnB where I would surprise my mom. We had decided to meet in Limburg, the province closest to my route south. This province is mostly known for its vlaai and hills. Vlaai is a very nice pie, usually with a fruit filling and the hills of Limburg are famous for cyclists. There was one I wanted to do as my first: The infamous ''Cauberg''.

Traditionally the finish line of the Amstel Gold Race, I had to go up. With only 134hm it is considered a very small climb but as a first: it felt epic. A good finish of my first stage and in that moment I felt very ready to go South.

Stage 2: Germany, Luxembourg and France

The bike worked, my knees stopped hurting, the tent was comfortable and I was eager to get back on the bike after a day of rest. Funny how quick you get used/addicted to the feeling of always moving on your bike. From where I was it was a short day of riding to start the Vennbahn. The Vennbahn route is a cycling route that follows an old train rail. The start is in Aachen and it takes you to Troisvierges in Luxembourg. The track goes through beautiful Forests and for many km's you will be surrounded by birds, trees and a variety of flora. But, the first half is always slightly uphill. With just 2% average it doesn't sound terrible but I thought it was surprisingly tiring after 85 kilometers per day. (The second half goes downhill so that is a breeze, and I made my way very quickly into Luxembourg)

Luxembourg was the start of climbing. Real climbing. I've ridden my motorcycle in the same area but instead of giving slightly more throttle I now had to keep peddling up the long, but beautiful, hills. The trees were replaced with yellow fields and hills as far as I could see. Truly amazing bike-packing scenery. Before I realised I had already crossed the border of France. I'd looked on the map and made Dijon my first big check-point. I would be half way through France and enter the southern part.

Every day before riding I'd roughly check where I would like to sleep that night, and then look for a few campings nearby. Northern France gave me very little choice. I knew the southern part is the more popular vacation destination but campings were very spread out and it took me some longer days than I'd hoped. I did settle nicely in a routine when I was cycling, every day in France would look about the same: 0730: wake up & brush my teeth

0745: Pack up my tent and bags

08:30: Breakfast, usually a croissant from the day before & coffee.

09:00 Cycling starts

15:00 Start doing some small groceries near my campsite for dinner/breakfast

16:00 Arrive at my campsite & inmediately put on flip-flops

16:15: Tent set up & drink my well deserved ''end of day beer''

19:00 Dinner consisting of bread and cheese, pasta, or camping restaurant

21:30 Sleep.

I quickly learned that preparing my tent and bed before drinking my beer was the most productive. I had a place to put all my bags, air out my clothes and then I could fully relax. (also often I couldn't really get up again after sitting down and then pitching my tent became a big drag)

As I went further South the scenery changed. No longer in the foothills of the ardennes, I know had long hills to get over, followed by quick descents. I followed the river Saône through pittoresk villages and sooner than expected I arrived pretty close to Dijon. I never wanted to go through the city but unfortunately, as with every trip, sometimes you have to change your plan. I had ridden for about 95km, lots of hills and I had only 10km left until I would reach my campsite when I heard a loud breaking sound and suddenly my rear wheel felt very unstable: Broken spoke. In the middle of nowhere, around 1430. I didn't have any spare spokes with me and the only bike shop that might be able to help me was in Dijon, 45km more. Left with no other choice I slowed down the pace to keep my wheel from damaging more and I arrived around 1600 in Dijon at the bike shop. Closed. Second nearest bike shop that closed in an hour as across town. Made a quick plan and raced across town to arrive at a open bikeshop that was willing to help me out. (I guess rolling up with bags and a Google translate page helps sometimes)

Stage 3: South France

The last stage of my trip to Saint Mary de la Mer. Everything south from Dijon was better. The people were friendlier, the villages had more things to see and do, I had more places to camp and the weather got sunnier too. The roads became more aware of cyclist and tourists. Instead of gloomy canals I got to ride next to light blue rivers, mountains and endless sunflowers.

Also a big advantage of cycling every day is the amount of guilt free croissants you can eat. I would make sure to always get a few in the bigger towns, always trying to fit them in my bag without crushing them too much. Top tip: If you want the French to like you, do not try to take 6 croissants to go and then try to fit them in a full bag. They will judge you in French. As for camping, the south had campings every 10km, so I could always find a nice one. I'd always just show up and ask for a small place. Never have I been declined, not even when the places were fully booked. You might get some weird looks but as soon as they see your bike they will always make room for you. Another great thing about bike-packing.

The last 150km to the sea are some that I'd like to talk about a little more. Saint Mary de la Mer is a coastal tourist place built on delta land. This means low mangrove like vegetation, no shade and no a very warm wind. Temperatures reached 35 degrees and I have never been more sweaty in my life.

When I arrived in a small town and asked a man watering his plants for some water he immediately asked what I was doing out. ''Cycling to Saint Mary de la Mer from Payes-Bajo!!, Je voudrais de l'eau s'il vous plaît... his response was as expected: Bien sur!!! Tres bizarre,, bon voyage! For the first time this trip I really realised how normal it felt for me to be cycling through different countries and how other people encourage it but also find it a little strange. Or in this case: Bizarre. Arriving at my final destination for the trip I had set out felt very weird. I tried to avoid the tourist hot spots as much as I could but I now had arrived in the biggest tourist camping and town I had seen so far. No authentic French restaurants, large campings with pools, slides and entertainment for the kids. And campervans everywhere. But in that moment I was there. I didn't arrive in a airconditioned campervan, I cycled there from my parents house. A very rewarding swim in the ocean marked the end of my trip heading to saint Mary de la Mer. The two questions that immediately came to mind where: Now what? How do I go back? A new plan was made that night and the next day I set out again to now complete a full lap of France. My own Tour the France!