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  • Cycling in Brittany
  • olddog
    Full Member

    Off to Southern Brittany for a couple weeks later in the year. Mainly for surfing, but also taking bikes.

    Are there any good off-road options people are aware about? Memory suggests it is very flat by the coast, but a bit more hilly inland? Doesn’t have to full on, me and Mrs OD are quite happy bimbling from ice-cream to café to bar. Anything like the big network of off-road cycle paths in the Vendee?

    Ta

    OD

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    Where are you going surfing in Southern Brittany ?

    A few threads on here on cycle paths etc, have a look at vttfrance.com and uttawaga.com also go into tourist offices as the local vtt maps tend only to be available from them, they are not posted online.

    olddog
    Full Member

    Probably start off on the Quiberon peninsula, it picks up all the swell, being all west facing an all, but breaks are just average beach breaks and don’t hold a swell much above 4ft. If it’s good prob check out La Torche and maybe the beaches near L’Orient, they are pretty wedgie from memory, but uber-competitive.

    I’ll check out VTT france – thanks

    There is an really soulful break, right on the tip in the west too – really chilled locals and always really clean when I’ve surfed it, But a bit of hike from where we will be.

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    Interesting, West side of Quiberon would have been one guess. My experience is the coast generally shelves quite rapidly and perhaps doesn’t face the right way so I wondered where you where going. I have sailed around all of that coast quite a bit. Lovely part of the world.

    Have a look a geportal.gouv.fr and switch on IGN maps, you may have to do a decent amount of self sourcing for routes.

    olddog
    Full Member

    Thanks.

    Brittany gets plenty of swell and different breaks work of anything from W and SW. I’ve never been and there be no swell at all – unlike Devon! Apart from La Torche and a couple of other spots it’s not as good as the SW corner of France, but that is only judging by World Class French standards. In UK it would be swamped with surfer, but because it’s France it’s generally pretty relaxed and not too busy as everyone goes to the big name resorts further S.

    I like it because it’s laid back and as you say a lovely part of the world. Reminds of Cornwall/Devon I remember from when I was a kid – and an easy drive … not to mention top cider, cheese, galletes and susage made from sheep intestines if that’s your thing…

    Shelving steeply is good, means the swell hits with more power and breaks harder and faster 🙂

    timb34
    Free Member

    This any good?

    http://www.blavet.com/IMG/pdf/carte-circuits-vtt.pdf

    There seem to be a few FFC VTT sites around there – they can be a bit mixed (i.e. dull trails) but usually provide a good starting point for getting out and starting to know an area a bit

    More info here : http://sitesvtt.ffc.fr/trace-vtt/

    olddog
    Full Member

    Excellent – ta

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