The Vélodyssée in Brittany

A perfect first cycling holiday in France (with cheats!)

The Vélodyssée (Eurovelo 1 or EV1) is the major cycleroute down the West coast of France. Surprisingly it begins in the UK rather than France, in Cornwall and Devon, for those wanting to trace the whole route, and finishes on the French – Spanish border after 1200 kms. Unlike some of the Eurovelo in France the vast majority is on dedicated cycleroutes and also relatively flat being based on canal towpaths, old train routes and the flat West coast beyond Nantes. Read on!

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Central vs Hub motors on an E-Bike for cycle touring

What Electric Bicycle is best for a Cycling holiday?

Introduction

Over the last few years I've been staggered by the increase in the number of electric bikes touring in France. Last year (2019) I guess that perhaps 50% of the bikes that stayed at our campsite – either touring through, or on the back of camper-vans - were electric and at Breton Bikes we've had more and more demand for them.

Read more: Central vs Hub motors on an E-Bike for cycle touring

Stiffness in bicycle frames

Holy Grail or Fool's Gold?

About 30 years ago as we set up our cycling holidays company in France I was looking to have my first custom touring frame built. Of course I wanted the best and was taken by an article in one of the Cycling Magazines about a new Steel frame tubing made by 'Reynolds'. The article was headlined - “What's Stiff and has Purple stickers on it?'” Apart from the rather pathetic phnar, phnar attempt at humour the article persuaded me to have my new frame built of Reynolds 653 tubing – the subject of the magazine article.

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The Heart of Brittany

An undiscovered paradise for cycling.

When you think of Brittany it's the spectacular coast that springs to mind – and rightly so. With a longer and more varied coastline than the rest of France put together, it manages to fill an entire episode of the BBC's 'Coast' series. This is the area that gets the publicity, where the vast majority of tourism takes place and which inevitably features on just about every Brittany postcard.

The result is that inland Brittany has been largely ignored by the holiday feature writers – and yet what a mistake! For the heart of Brittany is one of the best places in France to take a cycle-tour.

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Carradice bar-bag - perfect for cycling holidays in France?

Review of Carradice 'Carradry' Handlebar bag

Manufacturers website - https://www.carradice.co.uk/bags/handlebar-bags/carradry-handlebar-bag
Cost £50

Introduction

For those not familiar with these reviews I run a company doing cycling holidays in France called Breton Bikes. I generally only review equipment that I've bought several sets of and used in our hire fleet. Why? - Sample size. Just because you've bought an item and it fails badly doesn't mean that every other example isn't absolutely perfect – if you've had a great experience that too means little if loads of people have had something fail. In the case of the Carradice Carradry frontbags I bought 20 and used them in the hire fleet – what follows are my, and my customers views on how they performed...

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A newcomer to cycling in france gets hooked

Life In A Pannier

A short article by James Ellis

As I laboured up the hill with the wind driving into my face, sweat mingling with the rain that dripped down my neck, listening to my breath rasping with each aching push of the slippery pedals, I couldn’t help but think:

‘Damn, this is good!’

Read more: A newcomer to cycling in france gets hooked

Why I hate remote controls

Nothing to do with cycling - and everything to do with one of my pet hates;-)...

I hate remote controls. They're generally a tacky bit of plastic which I don't need and have to pay for. The kids pinch them to play 'mobile phones' with (which doesn't matter unless it's a review item), they all look the same and they imply I haven't the energy to get up to turn a knob. But worst of all they are starting to become indispensable.

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A Historical view on cycle touring and photography.

Choosing a camera for that tour in France...

Snap! Photography and Cycling.

Note - This is a very old article (as you'll realise the minute you start reading it) because it is almost all based around 35mm photography! It's amazing to think that it sounds like it was written 50 years ago and yet was current just 15 years ago - the pace of progress. As it stands it's of historical interest I hope and for the few fanatics still into 'real' photography it's still all true!

Read more: A Historical view on cycle touring and photography.