Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Rides and Touring => Topic started by: Blodwyn Pig on 16 November, 2023, 10:39:48 pm
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After a successful weeks Tandeming in the Loire Valley based around Blois this year, next year we fancy the Dordogne area. Not touring exactly, but day rides, from a base. Never having been to the region, looking for suggestions for a base, lively historic town, quirky bars, live music, velo routes along rivers , nothing too major in terms of climbing, ( no Col bagging). Any suggestions.
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I lived in Périgueux for a year, many years ago, and think it is a thoroughly lovely place. Depending on when you're going, keep an eye out for the Fête de la musique - annual one day event where *everywhere* in town has music! It's some time in June, I think. My only cycling was commuting, mind.
I also spent a lot of time, also in the late 90s, a bit further west in the neighbouring Gironde and always wished I had a bike.... less touristy, very beautiful, and loads of vineyards :)
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A good while ago we took a bike ride along the Dordogne, ostensibly from the source to the sea. 1988, I think.
If memory serves me correctly, the terrain was too much up in the Auvergne and we jumped a train to get further down river.
I recently unearthed some old phots of the trip, that was lost in the mists of time.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrlqjbGMU5C/?img_index=1
I remember Sarlat being very lively, happening, and pretty. Maybe that would be a good place to start?
I also remember ordering a dish on a restaurant overlooking the river that tasted amazing. I thought it was fillet steak it was so good and I was veggie at the time so non-plussed. Turns out that it was fresh local ceps fried in butter garlic and parsley. If you are down that way please have some for me!
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I lived in Périgueux for a year, many years ago, and think it is a thoroughly lovely place. Depending on when you're going, keep an eye out for the Fête de la musique - annual one day event where *everywhere* in town has music! It's some time in June, I think. My only cycling was commuting, mind.
I also spent a lot of time, also in the late 90s, a bit further west in the neighbouring Gironde and always wished I had a bike.... less touristy, very beautiful, and loads of vineyards :)
21st June every year. Well worth experiencing: bands and buskers everywhere, great atmosphere. Haven't seen it in Périgueux but did do one year in Thiers, when we overnighted there on a BCMF. Lovely.
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I was in Agen during their festival this year - it was a ghost town due to the heatwave with practically everything closed down. The weather broke on the Friday and it appears that practically every band that had been due to perform during the week took up a position on a street corner. Glorious.
My experience of cycling in the Dordogne and Loire this year is that it is substantially easier to find reasonably flat routes in the latter. The terrain of the Dordogne is a good deal more ruffled. Route plans down there pretty much always involve making a choice as to when to encounter something brutal. It is beautiful though.
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If you want flat in the Dordogne you need to head west towards Libourne or Ste-Foy-la-Grande. If you go towards the Corrèze border it is seriously lumpy although very beautiful. I prefer Bergerac to Périgeux but it has the disadvantage that leaving the river valley means climbing. More nice wine and little vineyards, Montbazillac to the south, Pécharmant to the north but they're on hillsides! Guidon OTP knows a bit about cycling in this part of the world. Touring here would be a different experience to the Loire valley.