The lavender fields was the “it” for me! What I love about the longer rides on the tours is that they’re over a 6 to 8 hour period, not just get on and ride (which is what I do at home, with a 15 minute break for hydration) - I’ll inspire you with the itinerary (and yes, this one is a boat/bike, so no continual packing, just float along while enjoying the countryside). Tour: Provence - Camargue: Cycling through Wild Nature
We did five or six days in Provence @justamom. There was a fairly steep climb to Gordes, I think, and a climb of about the same elevation to Roussilon (but not as steep a grade IIRC). These are in the other direction from Aigues Mortes. We did have the mistral winds, which can be a little scary when you are going downhill at a high speed. There is a big climb to Mont Ventoux, which we did not try. Most everyone else had e-bikes except for us and some hyper-serious cyclists (very fit guys in their 30s).
1 Like
…isn’t on the itinerary - I checked 2x
If you are going to Aigues Mortes, you won’t go to Roussillon, Gordes or Mont Ventoux. According to Google Maps, there is a pretty decent climb on the way to Aigues Mortes but I wouldn not trust Google Maps cycling in France. At one point, we twice tried shortcuts suggested by Google Maps cycling. Once, the road became a trail with a chain across it that turned out to be through a gypsy camp. I think the road was called Rue des Gypieres. The second time, it was a great bike bath that ended abruptly in a drop into a pit of rocks.
Are you renting e-bikes? We had never done that until our subsequent trip in Japan and we would not have been able to climb the mountain in the middle of the island to get to our ryokan or at the very least would have been very unhappy doing so. We rented Specialized Vado road bikes. You could barely tell they were road bikes by looking. Great bikes. (We own Specialized road bikes without power that are very good but getting a little long in the tooth). We have since rented others and they were nowhere near as good as the Specialized Vado.
Oh, just looked it up. Mont Ventoux is often on the Tour de France (known as the Giant of Provence) and was in this year’s Tour de France Femmes (my indoor biking company Zwift was the founding and presenting funder of TdFF). I have done climbs like that in my youth but would definitely skip today. Roussillon and Gordes were plenty challenging without e-bikes.
Yes, the tour includes e-bikes, I don’t ride analog anymore. On the 2 previous tours all but 1 used e-bikes, and the guy that didn’t said it was his last - I love my e-bike. I never use the throttle, so I’m getting the exercise without the grunt work! This is my girl, I call her Loocy, as in she’s got some ‘splainin’ to do (I’m a huge Lucy fan)
3 Likes
I love my regular Specialized but bought a bike rack when I got my new car this past year that can handle two e-bikes as I assume that is where we are heading.
1 Like
That trip sounds really amazing, @JustaMom! The wine tastings, history, nature, etc.! And not too expensive!
Inspiring me to pull out the Trex road bike I just bought off FB Market and get some mileage in!
2 Likes
@JustaMom, that is a pretty good price for that trip, I would think. Have you traveled with that company or heard good things about them? (Although it says, “Legal notice: Boat Bike Tours is not the operator of this tour; this is a so called ‘partner tour’. Tour operator is: Girolibero, Vicenza, Italy”.")
I talked with ShawWife about trying a barge trip and she’s game. I’ve been conversing with my AI health and fitness agent. I train almost every day indoors and it keeps trying to dissuade me from longer rides or steep climbs (I actually like climbing). I asked if it would reocmmend against the kind of bike trips we’ve taken in the past and it said, “No. Training indoors on a Zwift bike is much more demanding than cycling IRL – you can’t meaningfully coast whereas a significant amount of time is spent coasting” (though I think Zwift is training me against that) and it wants me to get a good e-bike like the Vado-Specialized. So, we will definitely try one of those trips.
No, I’ve not gone out with them, I’ve gone 2x with Boat/Bike Tours, although my most recent, in Tuscany, last month, was actually Island Hopping - who I learned has merged with Boat/Bike Tours.
I’ve seen videos by Girolibero and their barge Caprice looks fine to me. The price is very good when you consider all that it includes, and not having to do the work to make it all happen.
1 Like