Road Cycling - North to south of france

Hello, this is my first post here and am an amnatuer when it comes to bikes!! :D

A few friends from university are hoping to raise money for a great friend of our who was sadly paralysed totally last year after a fall skiing. The plan is to cycle from Le Harve to somewhere in the south of france.

At the moment we are all unfit and drink far too much :beer: HaHa things will have to change!!

Can anybody recommend a decent bike to buy to do this a a very low cost? Should I use a Mountain Bike, Road bike or a hybrid?!?!

Any other advice about what to take and sponsorship would be useful too...

Thanks. :)

FRANCE! Oh, I love bicycling in France. Do it by all means. France has a wonderful bicycle trail system.

Get a road bike. Hey, get a Peugeot. They are French and you stand a good chance of getting it repaired easier when you are in France. Good luck finding a "Made in France" Peugeot, though. Like most bikes, Peugeot are now mostly made in Taiwan or China. French made Peugeot are coveted (I have two French made Peugeot and love them).

May I suggest that you travel from South to North; that is from the mountains to the sea. You will be flowing naturally in a downward direction that way.

I'll second the road bike suggestion but think north to south is the better bike route. If you are going Le Havre all the way to the Med. Sea, the elevation gain is going to be zero (i.e., sealevel). I think So. France is generally hillier than No. France so you'll be able to ride yourself into shape if you start in Le Havre. I don't know what the winds are like but wouldn't be surprised if they wre generally out of the NW (which would also be helpful).

If you stay away from Paris and the other major cities, I think you'll find most Frenchmen very friendly. It helps 'tho to at least try to speak a little French. I've found that if you make the attempt, it'll be greatly appreciated. Of course, maybe it's appreciated more coming from an American. ;)

i've been dreaming about riding completely across france myself. anyone here done very long rides? I planned a trip to walk across france this summer but went to spain instead to play with hot air balloons. I figured 600 miles coast to coast. Anyone ridden coast to coast in france? did you ride trails, small roads, paths along highways?
et mais oui, c'est bon si on parle au moins un peu de francais.
-brent

Cheers, thats food for thought! I can speak enough french to get by pasque je suis un idiot d'Angletterre!! HaHa

I like the idea of Peugeot Bikes, but do you think any company would sponsor us with cheap/free bikes? I have a friend who works for Orange bikes but I don't know if they do road bikes.

Really excited about it France is great, especially their wine and cheese and of course Kronembourg!! I've had mixed oppinions about whether to get a ruck sac or saddle bags for the bike. What do you think?

Definitely go out and get a set panniers. to hang on the bike. You want to keep the center of gravity as low as possible. Also, divide the weight between front and back. I think the rule of thumb is 30/70 front-to-rear or 40/60. I don't remember exactly. Is CTC still around in the UK? I'm sure that they have tips/suggestions for touring.

BTW, what type of touring are you doing? Camping, hosteling, inn-to-inn, or what?

Camping and hostelling I think. What is CTC? Thanks for all you help guys its great. :)

CTC = Cyclists Touring Club

For some reason their link --- http://www.ctc.org.uk/ --- returns a blank page. They have a number of regional branches that run their own websites. Try a Google or Hotbot seach on "Cyclists Touring Club" and you should get some additional URLs.

Try and get a copy of 'Fatman on a Bicycle' by Tom Vernon, it's a very funny account of his trip from North to South France. Out of print but easily found second-hand on www.bookfinder.com , www.addall.com etc.

Richard