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Worth taking an mtb or just folders?
Thinking about staying near St. Giles Croix de vie but it all looks pretty flat with perhaps the odd forest. Any experience of this area?
I've just come back from near there - I took my hybrid in preference to my Rumblefish. Was deffo the right choice - its pretty flat.
btw - hello all - long time lurker, first time poster.
Just back from there. There's some nice trails around Lac du Jaunay - not sure about the rest of the Vendee. I took a road bike as well, and mostly used that. Cross bike would be just about perfect, there seems to be a fair amount of gravel tracks to use as well.
My parents lived nr La Rochelle at Chaille le Marais, it was all dead flat. I think it was a bit more hilly inland beyond Fontenay La Comte.
What sort of surfaces are they on the whole-would we get away with folders on the coastal trails?
This is what you need for family holiday type cycling ... you should be able to see pictures of the type of terrain.
[url= http://www.vendee-tourism.co.uk/thematic-files/Cycling-in-vendee ]Cycling in the Vendee
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and
The French tourist boards in the Vendee and the Charente (next department down) have loads of good cycle route info.
A couple of the stages of the Tour VTT were in the Vendee - Mortagne sur Sevre and Sainte Suzanne. Both far from flat and some pretty cool trails too.
Near the coast it's pretty flat, hardish sand and gravel in my experience, as usual in France a decent number of people out on road bikes, more so that mtb'ers. You can have a look for some routes on this site [url= http://www.utagawavtt.com/randonnee-vtt-gps-search ]link[/url] by selecting vendee.
Ile de Re is very nice and worth a trip, likewise a ride around Normoutier if that's convenient. Ile d'Yeu is quite unspoilt, accessed by ferry.
The forest next to Vouvant/Mervent, has some great trails through it.
As mentioned above, lot of the trails are wide and open and are great for cycling with the family.
Sounds more like it's mtb terrain than folders then-paulx-thanks for the route info. May be better than I expected.
If you click on the IGN map option you can get the detail of the tour of Ile d'Yeu. It's not the fanciest of islands in terms restaurants etc but has a very nice coastline (I've done a sailing race around it) and some good beaches.
[url= http://www.vttour.fr/topos/port-joinville,1957.html ]Tour Ile d'Yeu[/url]
We were there in June. There are some nice tracks around Rocheserviere - the tourist offices have maps.
Marie poitevin inland waterways, not mountain biking but pleasant relaxing cycling. A hybrid would do. Coulon the town, good campsites all round. Inland from La Rochelle. But like I say def not mountain biking.
La Tranche sur Mer on the Vendee Again not mountain biking but cyclists really taken care of, trails all over, ESP to the gorgeous beaches through pine trees etc. Ice cream parlours pretty ok too.
+1 for Mervent Forest. Lots of quality singletrack.