Cycling in France

by Sheldon "Cyclotouriste" Brown

La Belle France is Paradise for the touring cyclist.
This page consists of links to other pages and sites
that may be of use to cyclists contemplating a trip to France.

Sheldon Brown's French-related Material

See also my personal France page for more links and photos.

Sheldon Brown's English/French Bicycle Dictionary

Le Vélo-Dictionnaire de Sheldon Brown

Sheldon Brown's article about older French bicycles.

Cycling in France by Sheldon Brown, with comments from Tandem@Hobbes Advice to Americans visiting France.

In 1989, with my daughter and son (for his 6th birthday) , we made an overnight tour to Chartres on two kid-back tandems.

Now: videos about PBP and links to several PBP pages. My wife, Harriet Fell, rode the 1975 Paris-Brest-Paris...read all about it!

Tour Reports:

Jim Balter's Tour in Normandy and Brittany

Mike Bedard on touring in France for cyclists "d'un certain age."

Tourmalet the Hard Way--Geoff Husband of Breton Bikes tells all!

Don LaVange's Loire River Valley Tour

Edward Lipman writes about his month in Provence, August 1996

Robin Reid answers questions about her French tour, July 1996

Paul Smee and Ann French toured Normandy and Brittany in 1995.

Judee & Art Wickersham's tandem camping tour, September, 1995

Karen S. Zukor's tandem tour in France in June, 1996

General Information on Touring in France (and elsewhere.)

Bicycle Outfitter Single and Tandem Rentals

Cartovelo Cycling Maps

Loire Valley Bike Breaks

Cycling in the Pyrenees (now an archived page) Watch the climax of the Tour de France!

Cycling in France, 1908
Excerpts from Thos. Cook's 1908 guide book relating to cycle-touring.

George Farnsworth has a substantial site on transporting bicycles on trains, planes, etc. Travel with Bicycles Air/Rail/Other (page now archived)

Charles Hansen's syllabus on preparing for cycle touring in Europe.
Based on his course taught at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education

Q. May (http://www.mayq.com/)

Trento Bike Pages--France The Trento Bike Pages provide information on cycling in Europe and the Mediterranean.

Tour de France Live

Commercial Tour Operators:

Breton Bikes Cycling Holidays
A commercial company providing organized cycle tours in France, specializing in Brittany and Normandy. This site has good general touring info, as well as commercial material.

Vélo Transatlantique
A commercial company providing organized cycle tours in France, specializing in tandems.

Ciclismo Classico France tours

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Copyright © 1996, 2008 Sheldon Brown