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Charge through France by e-bike

After watching the world’s most famous cycle race and dreaming of riding through France’s wine country, Gyan Yankovich hits the road with an electric spring in her step.

The writer travelled at her own expense.

When I first told friends I would spend five days of my European holiday cycling, I was met with a mix of surprise, confusion, and genuine encouragement.

I am, after all, no cyclist. But the allure of fresh air, French wine, and sunflower fields (as well as the enthusiasm of my partner and friends) convinced me.

Oh, and did I mention there was also the promise of a hill-conquering ebike?

The headlines are dominated by the rise and rise of the electric car and also of electric bikes, as sales boom around the world.

In New Zealand, about 75,000 units were imported last year, up from 23,000 in 2017.

Ebike enthusiasts contend that they can encourage more people, perhaps like me, to exercise – and even embark on a cycling tour of France – ease traffic congestion and reduce vehicle emissions.

In France, I would join a burgeoning twowheeled movement of devotees of all kinds of cycling, propelled by the green-led Paris 2024 Olympics that has seen the French capital transform itself into a Gallic Copenhagen.

Having just watched the final stage of this year’s Tour de France in Paris, I felt more motivated than ever. I would be riding from one of France’s most famous wine regions, Bordeaux, to the famous pink city of Toulouse. Most of the journey, which crosses the cobblestones of French communes and past countless vineyards, runs alongside the Canal de Garonne, an idyllic tree-lined waterway known for its bike path.

Day one: Bordeaux to La Re´ole, 68km

Fresh from the two-hour train from Paris, we catch an Uber to the outskirts of Bordeaux to meet Norbert, the owner of O2Cycles, from whom we are hiring our four bikes. Norbert is a character and shows off the power of our ebikes, jumping on one himself to do a lap of the car park.

‘‘The turbo is crazy,’’ he says, in a thick French accent, taking us through the settings. Michael and Mark, who spend many mornings running together, have opted out of the ebike experience, choosing to stick with traditional bicycles instead.

We pack our panniers with essentials and hand the rest of our luggage to Norbert, who will meet us when we return to Bordeaux by train in five days.

While the weight of our ebikes takes some getting used to compared to the guys’ light bikes, whatever impracticalities arise are more than made up for whenever Nikitah and I face an incline.

The bikes have four settings – turbo is the highest – and we take our time clicking between them all, coasting between eco (the lowest) and tour (a touch more powerful, but without the same oomph as the sport and turbo) most of the way.

I have been warned this first day will be the hilliest of the trip as we navigate the roads leading out of Bordeaux, eagerly waiting to get to the famous bike path. Eventually, we find our way, spotting the first of the green signs that line the cycling route to Toulouse and beyond.

As we move off the country roads, the fields of hay bales that line the path become vineyards and we spot what looks to be a winery, a short detour off the path. We ride to Chaˆ teau La Freynelle, trepidatiously knock on the large wooden door and meet Jade, who welcomes us inside for a tasting.

We learn that the vineyard recently passed into the hands of its first female owner, who swiftly painted the concrete floor of the chateau a bright pink. Of the five wines we taste, it is the owner’s favourite, a cabernet sauvignon that we all love.

We admire the field of wildflowers that grow outside the chateau, then head back to the bike path. The day goes quickly as we get used to the bikes and climb hills looking forward to the promise of rolling down the other side, my bike’s digital speedometer hitting 50kph at one point.

The roads are quiet and by late afternoon we make it to La Re´ ole to check in to La Parenthe` se in the heart of the sleepy commune.

Despite the ebike, my legs feel like jelly, and I imagine how much more pain I would be in if I had been tasked with taking on all those hills without it. I am adequately tired, but not completely exhausted, which I am grateful for on day one of the trip.

We meet Lucie, a kind French woman who runs the bed and breakfast, which has gorgeous bedrooms, high ceilings, and a neat back garden. She tells us the only restaurant open in La Re´ ole tonight is an Italian pizzeria a short walk away.

I am not sure whether it is the thrill of having made it through our first day or the effort of riding almost 70km but the basic restaurant, with its plastic tables and chairs, is a pure joy.

I am sure my pizza, complete with thick bubbling cheese and layers of roasted eggplant, wouldn’t quite get an Italian chef’s tick of approval, but it is a meal I would continue to talk about for the next five days.

Day two: La Re´ole to Tonneins, 45km

After a wholesome breakfast of pain au chocolat and a fresh baguette, served with a selection of jams and orange juice, we farewell La Re´ ole,

propelled by the promise that we will finally see the Canal de Garonne today. We ride past sunflower fields, stopping to admire flowers with heads bigger than our own.

Eventually, it reveals itself. Tall trees line the canal, which sparkles with the reflection of the overhanging greenery. We start to see more fellow cyclists, most greeting us with a wave and a friendly bonjour as we pass.

We rarely spot another ebike, but zoom past cyclists sweating in their head-to-toe Lycra.

Lucie had told us about a lookout near Meilhansur-Garonne, so when we see a sign directing us up a tall flight of stairs, we stop.

From the top, we see vineyards, orchards, and kilometres of French countryside across the other side of the canal.

Continuing along the canal, we pass under and overbridges, as the bike path moves from one side to the other. Eventually, we leave the Garonne to ride through golden cornfields towards Tonneins.

Once in the town, we stop for a drink at a local bar, reaching the part of the trip where people speaking English is no longer an expectation.

We check in to Studio renove´ dans le centre ville and cook a simple pasta for dinner, joking about how much Italian food we are eating on a tour of France, before getting an early night, our ebike batteries charging beside our beds.

Day three: Tonneins to Saint Jean de Thurac, 58km

The thrill of cycling through fields of sunflowers doesn’t get old. We are travelling with our panniers packed with our haul from a local grocer: French cheeses, ripe tomatoes, and a baguette that comically pokes out of one of our bike bags.

Feeling ambitious, we decide to make a detour in search of more wine. We stop first at Les Vignerons de Buzet wine store and, after sampling a couple, we ask if there are any wineries nearby and are told about a nearby chateau that has the staff’s favourite rose´ .

We have time to spare, so wind up the hills to Domaine de Versailles, a winery run by a woman named Helene, who doesn’t speak English.

Despite our language barrier, we taste (and buy) her rose´ , give her dachshund a lot of attention, and enjoy our lunch in the shade outside her home.

Full of wine and cheese, we still stop at an orchard, buying apricots, peaches and nectarines. It is a day of great detours and we have read a night at Domaine du Noble is well worth the time it adds to the journey. To say it is grand would be an understatement. We pull in on our bikes, just as the sun begins to set, and admire the country house with its trailing rose bushes and wooden shutters.

Day four: Saint Jean de Thurac to Grenade, 79km

We cycle to Moissac, a small commune an hour and a half ride from Domaine du Noble. Over cobbled streets we admire the series of quaint French shopfronts on either side. There are more places to stop along the canal today, and we shop for lunch supplies, then direct our bikes into a park and order fresh juices from a stall, taking our time to enjoy them in the shade.

A little way down the road we spot a bus that has been converted into a cafe and order frites, followed by ice creams.

Along this portion of the canal there are many locks and we stand close to the water, watching as a boat enters and waits while the water levels empty and fill, before it can continue its journey.

We arrive in Grenade, another small commune, just an hour’s drive from Toulouse.

At Villa Le´ opoldine, we park our bikes on the lawn behind the mansion as we freshen up before heading to a local bar.

Day five: Grenade to Toulouse, 39km

After the snaking Garonne, we let Google Maps guide us on a cross-country route towards Toulouse.

We ride through what appears to be private farmland before taking a barely-there path through trees and returning to our beloved cycleway.

There are goats wandering the road ahead of us and we suddenly feel far from the hills of Bordeaux.

Riding into Toulouse feels like reconnecting with the real world. There are people on the streets and bustling stores and restaurants. We grab a table at Le Sherpa, a crepeˆ rie, and enjoy our first and only meal in Toulouse before we get the train back to where we started.

We pile our four bikes on the train to Bordeaux, thankful we arrived at the station early. We watch as more cyclists board and find no spot for their bikes, then leave to find another carriage with more space.

Norbert meets us at the station with our luggage, we farewell our beloved bikes, and promise him we will be back in France soon.

Until then, I can’t wait to show my incredulous friends and family videos from the trip, then plan our next ebiking adventure. – traveller.com.au

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2022-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282110640618936

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