Vendée mornings – a series of circular rides from Camping La Garangeoire, near St. Julien des Landes in the Vendée, France. Whilst camping for nearly 3 weeks this August, I tried to go out most days before breakfast, fuelled by a slice of brioche before starting and an occasional cereal bar on the way round (and occasionally failing to pass patisseries...). Bike used was a near-standard Pompino, fixed using 48-18 gearing. The rides are in no particular order; most were about 25 – 30 miles, apart from a 47-mile loop around Les Sables d’Olonnes. Should you wish to you should be able to follow the routes on a Michelin road map of France, or Michelin map 316 Local (Loire-Atlantique, Vendée).
The Vendée in western France has gently rolling hills (and some not so gentle), small river valleys, bocage field systems (lanes, ditches & hedges) and salt marshes near the coast. Because of the hills, most rides are like permanent interval training sessions. Very few of the roads have any appreciable traffic, and most are well surfaced. From my experiences, Vendée club cyclists don’t seem very happy in their chosen sport; they ought to come here for a cycling trip to find out just how good their conditions are. I reckon that, on average, I was passed by a car (with loads of room) every 5 miles...
Tent - Martinet – Maché – Apremont – La Chapelle Hermier – Tent
The way to Martinet starts with a rolling downhill to the river and then up, no warm-up so it’s a slog. The rising sun makes this tricky, and I need a hat as well as sunglasses. Past the well-tended vegetable gardens into Martinet and left at the church towards Aizenay, left at the crossroads and up to the D6, a main road from the coast. It takes a good while to cross. Just over the road I spot a older cyclist on an old 10-speed Gitane racer, who was on the phone. I stopped and asked if he had broken down, but happily no. We had a chat in French about the cycle way (sentiers des velos) we were standing by, an old railway from La Roche sur Yon towards the coast; lots of stops, he said, but good for all that. He was intrigued by the Pompino (French blue, of course) and fixed was an eye-opener for him. We bid each other bonne route, and headed off the the same direction (me a bit faster) to Maché. In the main square was a village wedding with the happy couple about to go off by tractor & trailer, and all & sundry in their finest, a great scene. West to Apremont, a town with a large castle-like chateau (as opposed to a large house-like chateau) built on top of a vertical bluff. Steep on the way in, but I’d been there before so knew what to expect. South out of town dragging up hill for some way, eventually passing over the D6 again, through La Chapelle Hermier and frantic downhill to finish. Trangia on for coffee. Lovely.
Tent – La Chapelle Hermier – l’Aiguillon-sur-Vie – La Chaize-Giraud – Brétignolles – Brem – Vairé – Tent
West to the coast today, with another longer drag uphill to start the day, but in a different direction; at least the sun isn’t in my eyes. Bike shop found on the coast road in Brem, selling KTM cycles; not seen them before, but had lusted after their motorcycles in the past. But like Kawasakis should be lime green, I’m not sure why you would have a KTM in any colour other than orange? Also a replica CSC team bike (used, I've forgotten the make) for 5400 euros... how much was it new? Plenty of standing stones (dolmen) around this part of the coast, and there is a celtic influence in ancient stonework.
Tent – Martinet – Beaulieu-sous-la-Roche – Venansault – La Génétouze – Aizenay – Coex – La Chapelle Hermier – Tent
Grey. Drizzle. Time to test the Montane gilet, then. Through Martinet to Beaulieu, as its name suggests a nice place with a pretty tree-lined square. Through Venansault and out to pick up the sentier de velo, turning left towards Aizenay. It’s very well surfaced, about 8 feet wide and obviously an old railway. There are give way signs where it meets farm tracks (although French farmers hide themselves well) and stop signs & staggered barriers to slow bikes at road crossings, but otherwise flattish and fast. It veered into a forest track on the way into Aizenay, but with 23mm tyres I took to the road. Eventually found the track again through careful map-reading, and followed it all the way to the D6 near La Chapelle Hermier, and home. Signs say that there are 800km of cycle tracks in the Vendée, but many are not suitable for thin tyres, and I saw quite a few mountain bike groups clearly doing a trail route. Montane Velo gilet let some drizzle in round the zip, but otherwise kept my body warm & dry all the way round.
Tent – Martinet – St. Georges de Pointindoux – Ste. Flaive des Loups – Les Clouseaux – Landeronde – Beaulieu – Martinet – Tent
Turned out nice again. Turned right after Martinet onto straighter road to St. Georges de Pointindoux, and through to Ste. Flaive des Loups. Good old Ste. Flaive may have rid the village of its loups, as I could see none on my way through. Nice place, as well. Carried on through towards Nieul le Dolent, but turned left just before the village to Les Clouseaux (“not now Kato, now is not ze time”) and headed uphill. At the rise, a peloton of 60-odd riders coming the other way, all sorts of shapes, ages & jerseys, no numbers, some chatting and many dour faces, but not much speed, easily below 20mph. I wave but get no reply from anyone. Hey ho. Another few hundred metres, and another peloton of about 50 riders. I wave again, but no acknowledgement from any and apparently no fun either. Sod you then, I’m enjoying myself.
Tent – La Chapelle Hermier – Coëx – St Révérend – Commequiers – Apremont – La Chapelle Hermier – Tent
Another fine day, so uphill to La Chapelle Hermier and across the D6 nearly to Apremont, turning left towards Coëx. I tried another part of the bike routes, but it turned out to be a small road with no traffic but lots of gravel, okay for mountain bikes but slow for me. Signs in Coëx a little tricky, and I’m still not sure where I went wrong, but I ended up on the D6 west to St. Gilles. Not as bad as I thought, so I put my head down and wound the bike up. At one point in the field next to the road was an enormous eagle about 5 metres from the road; I’m sure if I’d stood next to it, it would have come up to my thigh... I took the next right turn to St. Révérend, and then found a old working windmill and bakery that we had been to a few years ago, where you can go inside the windmill and they start it up, and the whole thing comes alive and shakes & squeaks. On to Commequiers, where I eat & drink by the war memorial and read of up to 9 members of families being killed in the Great War; the effect on these villages must have been huge, and every village has one such memorial. Thoughtful, I head back, taking the road to St. Maixent and turning left to Apremont. I had seen signs for jambon a l’ancien, and had visions of a sizeable local butcher making hams in a back room; the reality was an enormous meat processing & packing plant in the middle of nowhere... Out of Apremont on the long straight, slightly uphill drag to the D6, I saw yellow & white jerseys in the distance, and I pushed to catch up. Over the D6 were two older map-reading members of the Velo Club de St. Gilles, one on a Look, one a beautiful carbon Colnago. They smiled & said bonjour (at last!) and a few seconds later were with me. So I pushed on, and the train flew to La Chapelle Hermier, where after a quick chat about roues fixes & velos des piste they turned for the coast with a cheery wave.
Tent – Martinet – St. Georges de Pointindoux – Ste. Flaive des Loups – Le Girouard – La Chapelle-Achard – La Mothe-Achard – Martinet – Tent
Another ride out south, but without the miserable pelotons. Turning right out of Ste. Flaive des Loups took me to Le Girouard, a climb up to a small village with an odd brick-built chateau. After a drink & cereal bar break, I joined the road again, and was negotiating my way down the other side of what seemed to be a gorge on a pockmarked road when I was overtaken by two roadies with a swift “Bonjour!”. At the bottom, the downhill turned immediately into an uphill; one rider went on, and I ground past the second on the way up, surprising myself with enough breath for “Pardon, seulement une vitesse!” They sat on my wheel for a couple of flat kilometres at about 22mph, then I signalled right at a T-junction and they said they were going that way too. We turned and rode along discussing the Pompino and fixed riding; they understood my French, but I don’t think they really understood the bike... The fast bloke helpfully told us as we started up a long drag that there was another afterwards. Merde, alors. We parted in La Mothe-Achard with a wave, and a little more entente cordiale.
Tent – St. Julien des Landes – Vaire – Ile d’Olonne – Forêt d’Olonne – Les Sables d’Olonnes – Port-Bourgenay – Talmont St. Hilaire (nearly) – Ste. Foy – La Chapelle-Achard – La Mothe-Achard – Martinet – Tent
The big one – well, big for me, and before breakfast. I took our usual route to the beach near Olonne-sur-Mer, then turned left through the forest to Les Sables, where the Vendée Globe round the world yacht race starts and ends. Guess what? A huge marina with expensive boats, but a nice old town. Out along the corniche to Port-Bourgenay, past lots of holiday developments, golf course, holiday homes, etc., not my kind of thing. Turned left inland towards Talmont St. Hilaire (good motor museum, they even have a plywood chassis Costin –Nathan), but cross the busy D949 and carry on past. Turning left towards Ste. Foy on the D109, a small gaggle of teenage club cyclists come past, very serious with no smiling or greeting. They must have gone into Talmont and out again, as I met them again (stonily on their part) as I came to the main road through La Chapelle-Achard. After the hill out of the village flattened, they sat on my wheel. After a minute, I thought about feet in circles and concentrated hard on technique. The speed rose to 24mph and stayed there for half a mile or so, and the sound of chains through derailleurs went away; I looked round to see them a long way back, easily dropped by a middle-aged overweight asthmatic on a fixed wheel. Blimey. I hoped for their sakes they were on a strict training ride, but surely a little bit of fartlek is allowed? They looked so miserable that I wondered what they got out of it. Home for two coffees; well, I deserved it.
Tent – La Chapelle Hermier – Apremont - Les Habilles – St. Paul-Mon-Penit – Maché – Martinet – Tent
Down into Apremont and up through the town to the top. Took the wrong road that petered out into nothing, so I turned round and tried again. From the church at the top of the hill I took an innocuous-looking road down, but round a corner it turned to a 1-in-5 with a T-junction onto the main street at the bottom, and a shitty surface. On the drops, I squeezed the brakes as hard as I could and tried to backpedal; I stopped about ¾ of the way down and got off to walk... There must be something better than standard On-One cantilevers. Another steep road up along the chateau was negotiated at the stately pace of 7mph, and out towards Challans, down a steepish fast hill into a river valley and the same up the other side. Turning towards St. Paul-Mont-Penit and after about 5 miles from Apremont, I saw a sign to Apremont saying it was 4km away... A long, gravelly, recently resurfaced drag to St. Paul enlivened by the sight of an animal sat in the middle of the road; this turned out to be a hare which bounded along in front of me in the ditch, and then faster in the road before turning into a field. Back through Maché (no weddings today ) and Martinet to breakfast.
Can't wait to cycle in France again.
