The main goal is cycling in the Gers but it is much more : 4 french departments of Occitanie are visited: Haute-Garonne, Gers, Tarn-et-Garonne and Lot-et-Garonne.

Here is the route: Toulouse, Levignac, Sarran, Laréole, Mauvezin, Saint-Clar, Lachapelle, Auvillar. Valence-d’Agen.

First bit : Toulouse to Lareole (48 km)

To exit Toulouse, it is pretty ok with the big cycle paths which have thrieved last years. It is a bit tricky when leaving the city with busy streets where cars can speed even if there is not too many.

Quickly, after 15km, we are on small roads, steep climbs but short.
The route leads to Sarran, a circulade of the Gers which has timber houses and a nice Coffee book shop where it is nice to have a break reading books, eating a tartine!

Next stop is le Château de Laréole, a renovated castle with concerts and entertainment on August weekends.

Second part: Château de Lareole to Lachapelle (42 km)

Next village is Sarran, a circulade of the Gers which has timber houses and a nice Coffee book shop where it is nice to have a break reading books!

Cologne and Mauvezin are the next crossed villages with both nice medieval market hall.

Saint-Clar is on the road next, it host another picturesque market hall.

Lachapelle is in the Tarn-et-Garonne. Is it built on a rock. The Chapelle and the ancient templar castle are one of the Highlight of the ride. The Commanderie was built by the templar knights and the chapelle which was in the castle is since the …th century belongs to the village.

Third part : Lachapelle to Valence-d’Agen train station via Auvillar (21 km).

From Lachapelle, Auvillar is just 14 k away and mainly downhill. Ovelooking the Garonne river (and the Golfech nuclear plan in distance) the village is a center of potery art and every year a major national potery market takes place.

After all these km, we reach Valence-d’Agen to take the TER back to Toulouse. 10€ to 18,80€ depending of the time of the day. One hour ride. Book your ticket on sncf connect and your bike (for free) on velo serein.fr . Bookings for bikes are mandatory between July 1st and August 31st even on TER train. Conductors can be consilliant if tere are not too many bicycles on the train but it is better to have a booking, it is free.

Check the train schedule and prices on sncf-connect .

You can rent a bike from bikerentalfrance for this adventure, contact us to book your rental bike

L’article Day trip: cycling in the Gers from Toulouse (and More!) est apparu en premier sur Bike Rental France, Toulouse, Pyrenees, Tarn.

Toulouse and the Tour de France.

The city was numerous times stage start or finish start of the Tour de France since the 40’s. Stages would usually come from the Pyrénées to end in la « ville rose » or vice et versa. Other races like la ronde de l’isard, la route du Sud or le MIDI libre went through the town too.

Toulouse, a cycling friendly city

There are numerous bike shops in the city and the suburb, many bike paths and car drivers are more and more aware of cyclist (they keep yelling at them time to time even if they don’t run over them!). Les toulousains use their bikes a lot either for communting during the week or sport on weekends.

Toulouse start of rides towards cycling heavens

Toulouse is in the middle of several areas which are perfect for cycling, good roads, good mountain bike tracks, scenic roads in the countryside…

South of Toulouse, the Pyrénées are not far, about 2h drive for the Tourmalet! But you have a quick access to Hautacam, Luz-Ardiden, Aubisque, Andorra…

The canal du Midi and latéral à la Garonne is also a quieter way for the recreational cyclist, it leads From Bordeaux to Sète, via Agen, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Narbonne…

Spain is not far as well, Girona is 2h30 drive away and Barcelona 3h30. That gives plenty of option for epic rides via the Costa Brava

Bike Rental Toulouse : Map of Area

How to access to Toulouse?

The train station in Toulouse is gare SNCF Matabiau

Aeroport International de Toulouse – Blagnac

Autoroute du Sud de la France

We deliver your rental bike in Toulouse for free. Contact us for a quote for your rental bike delivery.

L’article Toulouse cycling hub in Southwest France (Bike rental) est apparu en premier sur Bike Rental France, Toulouse, Pyrenees, Tarn.

Cycling with goals is always more motivating, espeacially in winter when outside temperature is closed to 0°C . Winter is this time when everything slows down and I had time to do other things than working! So I decided to go visit a friend who settled in Marseille recently and of course it was clear that it would be bikepacking from Gaillac. There are several ways for cycling from Gaillac to Marseille, one which is popular is going to Toulouse, then following the Canal du Midi until Sète and finally riding the Camargue area and reaching Marseille. I thought this one was a bit too flat so I went for the scenic one through the south of Massif Central, la Lozère and the Provence.

Gaillac to Millau

On sunny Sunday, I started with 1°C toward Albi and the Tarn Valley (Vallée du Tarn). There is no trafic on winter wednesday in this area. The itinerary is quite challenging for the first stage to Millau, with 125 km and 1500 m of climbing in the last 40 km. With a light light loaded bike, it is easy to cruise at a good pace along winding roads. Arriving in Millau at night, that was a perfect Day 1.

Millau to Uzes

Day 2 is another story. The weather was not dry at all with rain the first 50 km. Anyway, I had to go, I was well equipped and the rain was not so heavy, just enought to be completly wet after a hour !<br>I left Millau toward Meyruies through les gorges du Tarn and les gorges de la Jonte. After a break in Meyruies and a sundance which didn’t work, I kept going, climbing near the Mount Aigual. With snow and fog, that was an epic ride. Going to Anduze and reaching Uzes was accomplished with dry tarmac.

Uzes to Massalia! Conclusion of riding from Gaillac to Marseille.

Even if the destination is at see level, the route to Marseille is not flat at all. With the day with 1000m of climbing will be great ride with sun all the way. The scenery changed drastically. I crossed villages typical of Provence like Tarascon, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence or les Beaux-de-Provence. Finally arriving in Marseille was easy, I flew down to the city before sunset. I was happy!

L’article Cycling from Gaillac to Marseille est apparu en premier sur Bike Rental France, Toulouse, Pyrenees, Tarn.

Day 1 : Gaillac to Lagrasses

After a short bus ride between Gaillac (50 km northeast of Toulouse) and Castres to skip 70km of asphalte, we crossed Castres quickly to reach the foothills of La Montagne Noire on the N112 in Caucalières. We immediately starded to climb via a nice road for a couple of kilometers. Then we rode on narrow gravel paths, quite steep in the forest. Sometimes we had the sun of the coming spring, the temperature is not very high.

Then we went on wider paths, the ones which lead to the wind generators on top of the Montagne Noire.

Once we got on the crete, some nice descents took us to the valley and Trebes where we crossed the national road N113. The last kilometers to Lagrasses to ride were on pavement. In Lagrasses, we bumped into Gaëtane who is a part of the french cyclist association “Elles font du vélo” and who also runs the local craft beer business www.labrasseriedelagrasse.com. She offered us a nice welcome pack “Beer + Cycling cap”. Thank you Gaëtane.

Day 2 : Lagrasses to Ille-sur-Têt

The next day, the serious stuff was on the menu: big rocks, big elevation, technical descents, bike walking… We pushed the bikes and bodies to the limit and our minimalist winter prep did the job helping us go over all that! Bikes were great, well balanced with the bikepacking gear. We arrived in l’Ille-sur-Têt quite exhausted but happy. Bikepacking from Gaillac to Girona is definetely a real adventure.

We made a quick stop at Caminade, a french frame builder.

Day 3 Ille-sur-Têt to Girona (Catalunya)

I was by myself, Damien pulled out because of a sore knee due to the intensive previous day. I had to go 170 km and 1800m of climbing in the first 70 km to cross the Pyrenees. The rain has been my companion all day. I was glad to be a minimum fit, and that the bike was fast and comfortable (the Massi Team GR grx). Moreover my load was not too heavy. I was pushed to the limit with rain, cold, wind and long distance. Riding with a one-by-crankset was new for me. It worked well almost everywhere. I was a bit limited going downhill with a 40×11 but when I had to climb steep rocky sections, the 40*46 was wonderful.

I unplugged my brain and just spinned!

In the end, this first 3-day-adventure was a blast, with a great route by Damien, with breathtaking sceneries, efficient bikes and some physical challenge before spring.

(Not for self: if I am cold, tired, with pouring rain, when I ride by a train station, I just have take the next train. No need to be a hero!)

You can rent a bike from us in Toulouse and drop it in a different location like Girona or Barcelona. Contact us for a quote.

L’article Bikepacking from Gaillac to Girona just before spring est apparu en premier sur Bike Rental France, Toulouse, Pyrenees, Tarn.