Biking Bordeaux and the Atlantic Coast: The Villages, Vineyards, Beaches, Bike Paths & Best Routes

By Steve Wartenberg

Come along as we cycle through the hilltop villages and vast vineyards of Bordeaux, and then head west to the beach resorts of Lacanau and Arcachon. We’ll ride by the ruins of the castles in Budos and Villandraut, wander the steep stone streets of the medieval village of St-Emilion. We’ll head north and marvel at the Blaye citadel and take the ferry across the Garonne to visit Mouton Rothschild. Then it’s on to Arcachon and the wondrous sand dunes at Pilat. Bordeaux is perfect for cycling … so, what are you waiting for.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Says Publishing
• Release date: Nov 13, 2018
• ISBN: 9780985190293

Book preview

Biking Bordeaux and the Atlantic Coast

The Villages, Vineyards, Beaches, Bike Paths & Best Routes

By Steve Wartenberg

Version 1.0

Copyright © 2018 Steve Wartenberg The Steve Says Cycling Series

All rights reserved

ISBN: 978-0-9851902-9-3

Introduction

It was important to get off to a good start on my epic biking-Bordeaux adventure.

OK, important might be a bit of an overstatement. It’s helpful, a good omen … and much better than the alternative.

This bridge is shit, said the guy from O2Cycles. Don’t take it.

We were at the designated meet-up spot in Bordeaux (the city), in front of one of the four Ibis hotels located within a couple hundred meters of the Gare St-Jean train station. And yes, that’s a lot of Ibis hotels. And yes (again), many people try to check into the wrong Ibis.

I had just received my rented Cube, an all-carbon, German-made bike that had a rack on the back for my panniers. The O2Cycles guy asked where I was headed, and I told him across the river, onto the bike path.

There are two Bordeaux bridges in or near the center of town that cross the wide Garonne River: the Pont St-Jean, right next to the train station, and the Pont de Pierre, a kilometer or two north, along the water. I guess along the water isn’t necessary when describing the location of a bridge.

The Pont de Pierre (bridge) is beautiful, the O2Cycles guy said. You must take it.

He was right.

The Pont de Pierre is a beautiful bridge for cycling, and there’s a bike path from the train station and along the river the whole way. Bordeaux is one of the most bike-friendly big cities in all of France, with paths all along the Garonne, bike lanes on many of the streets and hundreds of people on bikes.

I crossed the Pont de Pierre, followed the river south and found my way onto the Roger Lapebie bike path.

This was the great start I had been hoping for, on what turned out to be a 21-day, 1,050-mile trip through the wine regions of Bordeaux and the beach-resort region of the Arcachon Bassin on the Atlantic Ocean.

I had debated for months whether to tour Bordeaux or the Dordogne River region. I’ve cycled the Dordogne before, twice in fact, and it’s great. Really great. I’d only been to Bordeaux once, to cover the Tour de France in 1988, and didn’t do any cycling. Didn’t see much of the city other than the train station and the press tent.

In the end, I decided it was time to cycle a new region. Plus, I like wine. And from what I had heard, there’s lots of wine in Bordeaux.

It took less than 100 miles for Bordeaux to win me over.

I have to admit the pleasures of Bordeaux are a bit more subtle than they are in Provence and the Loire. Ah, but once I got a feel for the place, for the vast vineyards and hill-top villages, for the bike paths and quiet country roads, the ruins of once-majestic castles, and the endless miles of pine forests and beaches along the Atlantic Ocean, well, I was hooked.

Bordeaux is now in my pantheon of favorite French cycling destinations because…

*The rides were scenic, and often included bike paths. There are more bike paths in this region than anywhere else in France I’ve cycled, and the combination of bike paths and quiet country roads make it easy, safe and enjoyable to get around.

*I was able to map out fantastic day-trip rides from the towns in which I stayed multiple nights.

*Learned a lot about Bordeaux wine, including the fact that you can