Mike and Carol Bedard       

Cycle Touring Equipment (for middle aged novices)

This is a not so brief outline of the basic cycling equipment you should have for an unsupported (i.e., no "sag wagon") cycling tour in France. I am assuming that:

• you will NOT be camping (we did that when we were younger) but rather staying in hotels or "chambres d'hôte" (Bed & Breakfasts);
• you have not had much experience in cycle touring (nor in European travel);
• you are coming to this experience in your "middle years" (as we did).

The Bicycle

As a minimum requirement, you will need a 15 to 27-speed bicycle for the tour. This would mean that your bike would be equipped with a "granny" gear (i.e., a third small chain ring at the crank set) for hill climbing, a necessity for cyclists our age. Check the bike to ensure that it is equipped with "braze ons" which are fittings incorporated into the bicycle frame which allow you to bolt on the accessories you need like pannier racks and water bottle cages. For France (or England, Germany, Holland, Belgium), don't choose a "mountain" bike (VTT - "vélo tout terrain" in France) unless you're planning to do some off-road cycling. The high rolling resistance of the tires and smaller diameter of the wheels make them significantly slower. You'll be rolling into town long after everyone else has arrived (unless you are willing to pedal almost 5% faster all day). (Of course, if everyone in your group (be it one, two or more) is riding a mountain bike there is no problem!) For Portugal or Greece or some former Iron Curtain countries (and I might add Corsica after our experiences there in 2003), you might consider the all-terrain bike, but with road tires. Don't choose a "racing" bike with its narrow tires, short wheel base and high gears. The rougher secondary roads and cobbled village streets of France could mangle the fragile alloy wheels and damage the high pressure tires as well as give a very rough ride, transmitting every little bump through the responsive frame to the rider. Instead, look for a touring bike or a "hybrid" bike with its longer wheel base and larger, lower pressure tires. If the front fork on the bike and the wheel rim aren't wide enough to accommodate at least a 700x32 tire, you're looking at the wrong bike.

Gears

The number of gears on the bike is not as important as the gear ratios (the relative sizes of the front chain rings and the rear sprockets). Unless you're young (we are not!) and strong , your "granny" gear (the smallest ring at your crank set where the pedals are) should have no more than 28 teeth -- 24 in hilly country. (We've had 24-tooth "granny" gears since our first tour in the Pyrénées and in preparation for our trip to Corsica in 2003 we moved to a mountain-bike style micro-drive with a 22-tooth "granny".) The largest sprocket in the rear cassette should be no less than 28 teeth -- 32 (or even 34, as we did before we went to Corsica - a good decision!) if you're planning to cycle in mountainous country. Don't let the guy in the bike shop talk you out of this! He's young and strong! The rear derailleur must be of the "long cage" design in order to be able to accommodate the wide range of gears needed. Check with your bike shop to make sure you have the right combination since some low-end derailleurs cannot handle the wide gear range. And learn to use all the gears you need. Cycling is almost always a nearly effortless exercise. If you find you are pushing a higher gear, change gears so that you're spinning your pedals at your own preferred cadence. If it gets too easy, gear up again. Cyclists who like to push "top cog" because they feel they're getting more exercise are in the wrong sport. If you want to push hard, join a gym and work the weights.

Handlebars

I have finally abandoned the dropped style of handlebars that I have used all my cycling career and have adopted the straight bar like the ones on mountain bikes. My wife made that change many years ago. We have added bar-end grips to the straight bars allow extra riding positions. In either case, add stiff foam rubber grips or grips with a "gel" cushion or at the very least "fat wrap" handlebar tape to exposed sections of the bars and bar ends for more hand comfort during long hours of cycling.

Frame Size

For detailed information on fitting the bike frame to your body, check out Peter Jon White's excellent web page at www.PeterWhiteCycles.com/fitting.htm.

Seat

Invest in a decent saddle. Considering the number of hours you spend sitting on it, it's money well spent. Get a touring style seat, rather than the narrower "racing" style. (A two day, 350 km ride on a narrow saddle a number of years ago convinced me!) My current seat and its predecessors have been 'gel' seats and I have no complaints. Many cyclists swear by the Brooks leather seats (which require a 'break-in' period). Brooks aficionados are actually a bit fanatical about them. (I have heard that Brooks saddles may no longer be available.) There are different shapes of touring seats for men and women. Make sure you have selected the right "sex". No matter how appealing it may seem to be, don't use one of those gel seat covers -- they're too large and you'll bruise the insides of your thighs (as a friend of mine will testify).

Seat Position

This is how I've set my saddle position. (Experiment to find your own most comfortable settings.) The tip of my saddle is a hair higher than the back. When I am seated on the seat with the pedal at the bottom and my instep on the pedal, my knee is slightly bent.

Stem Length

The 'stem' is the horizontal piece of metal between the handlebar and the 'headset' at the top of the front 'fork'. The longer it is, the farther forward the handlebar is. If you have chosen an appropriate bike frame size for your body, the stem will be neither very long nor very short. For me, when I am in my normal riding position, my back is nearly at a 45 degree angle. You must find your own best position, but be careful not to be too upright nor reaching too far forward.

Wheels and Tires

As mentioned above, narrow "racing" rims and the slick, small high pressure tires that go with them are poor choices for touring. Choose more substantial rims and lower pressure tires (around 500 kPa, or 75 psi) for a more comfortable ride and fewer flats. (Because of the hours spent riding each day, comfort becomes the primary consideration in setting up a bike. That's why you should choose a longer wheelbase frame, a good quality touring saddle, padded grips on the handlebars, bar ends on the straight handlebars and bigger, lower pressure tires.) Choose metric sizes for your wheels and tires (e.g., 700x32 or 700x35 or even 700x38 rather than the US size 27 x 1.25). If you are using the 27" rims and tires, you should consider bringing a spare tire with you since you won't find a replacement tire in France for the US size and the metric 700 won't fit on your rim. For the sake of comfort, I wouldn't use a tire smaller than a 700x32, but a 700x35 or 700x38 would be even better. Remember, you are touring, not racing, so you don't need the lower rolling resistance that a smaller tire provides. Have your wheels built with strong DT spokes. Fully loaded and climbing a hill, you'll be putting a lot of strain on your spokes and replacing broken spokes is always difficult and inconvenient. Prevention is the best cure here. If you start the trip with new (or nearly new) "rubber", you're unlikely to experience any flat tire problems as long as you keep the tires inflated to the correct pressure. (Maintaining proper tire pressure is very important. If your tires are under-inflated and you hit a pot hole or a curb you might get a 'snake bite' puncture - two holes where the inner tube was severely pinched between the curb and the rim. Also, under-inflated tires tend to slide backwards a bit when you brake causing the inner tube to fold over on itself inside the tire. The tell-tale sign of this is a crooked valve stem.) I prefer rims and inner tubes with Presta style valves rather than the familiar automobile style Schräder valves. All the cyclists and cycle shops you encounter will have pumps for the Presta and I find it easier to fill the tube with the Presta hand pump than the Schräder. (You won't always have ready access to a service station air pump.)

Fenders

They're really "mud guards". If you don't have them and it rains, you'll wish you did.

Panniers and Racks

You'll need a rack mounted to the frame behind the seat to carry your panniers. Don't skimp on this item. It's going to be carrying everything you own for the whole trip! Try to find one with three struts supporting the platform if you can. Blackburn makes a very good model. Make sure you get one that fits your bike since most of the ones in the shops are for mountain bikes and may not fit the full sized frame of a touring bike. The panniers you hang on this rack will carry everything you'll be using for the entire trip. Make sure they're a good size. The "Cordura"-style nylon fabric found in most models is quite substantial and somewhat water resistant (although if you restrict your cycling to the area south of the Loire river, rain shouldn't be a problem from May 1 till October 1 - "normalement"). Front mounted "low rider" racks and panniers are very stable but are usually small compared to the rear bags. My wife and I have both front and rear racks on our bikes. Due to her knee problems I carry all four panniers on my bike but in an emergency (e.g., broken spokes on my bike) we have the capability of moving all the bags on to her bike. It's happened once or twice so it's been a wise decision. We're all alone out there! The panniers, stuffed together inside a sack, make up one of your two allowed pieces of luggage for the flight. For most air carriers, your bike is the other.

Pump

You'll need at least one pump in your group. Make sure that the pump is compatible with your valve style. (See "Wheels", above.) The mini-pumps are not really satisfactory for anything but emergency roadside repair. Airline personnel have an appalling understanding of basic physics and insist that you deflate the tires before shipping them on the aircraft. They believe that in the slightly lower pressure luggage hold the tires might explode. It would never happen but they don't believe it. As a result, when you disembark in Europe, you have to manually re-inflate your tires in the airport so get the largest pump that you can easily and safely attach to your bike.

Mirror

I toured the Finger Lakes, Cape Cod, Niagara and twice to France without one and I can't imagine now how I survived. It could be a life saver. I like the kind that's held on with a Velcro strap so that I can easily remove it for safekeeping when I leave the bike. (I've seen a few people with the little "dentist mirrors" that attach to the helmet. One good thing about those is that you must wear a helmet to use the mirror!)

Water Bottles

You'll need at least one water bottle mounted on your bike frame. The taller bottles are better for touring - in fact essential in southern France. I strongly recommend that you carry two bottles as my wife and I do. In summer, at 35°C (95°F) in Provence, I'll go through six bottles full per day!

Lock

The 'D' shaped Kryptonite (or copy) lock is the most secure but is very heavy and may not fit on your frame because the normal storage space is taken up by your two water bottles. A coiled cable combination lock (or key lock - but carry a spare key!) is probably a better idea.

Helmet

If you don't have one, get one and wear it! The most serious cycling injury is a blow to the unprotected head. Here is one case where prevention isn't just the best cure, it's the only cure. No matter how experienced a rider you are, no matter how agile and athletic you are, in an accident you can be on the pavement in the blink of an eye. And because it can happen at any speed at any time, wear a helmet every time you ride! While they may seem hot (they're not - and they provide protection for your head from the hot Mediterranean sun), may mess up your hair and seem an unnecessary expense, they're much cheaper than a well-appointed funeral. You'll no longer draw attention from the French as we did when we first cycled there in 1984 because helmets have become much more commonplace there. Since all of the riders in the Tour de France now wear them for most stages (and some for every stage), they have become de rigueur on the roads, particularly among younger cyclists. In our last five tours we have seen twice as many cyclists with helmets as without. I have a friend who calls a cyclist's decision not to wear a helmet "Darwinian selection" - opting out of the gene pool. (Many cyclists who refuse to wear helmets would never consider playing ice hockey without a protective cup in their jock strap. It makes you wonder about their priorities.)

Gloves

Cycling gloves have padded palms and fingers cut off. They're more for protecting your hands if you fall than for providing cushioning on the handlebar. Besides, the D-shaped tanned area which forms on the back of your hand is très sportif!! We now use Specialized brand gloves that have extra gel padding on the "heel" of the palm to minimize numbness caused by the pressure on the handlebar. They work pretty well.

Handlebar Bag

You'll need something to carry your purse, camera, map, etc., for easy access as you ride. I would recommend the convenient to attach and remove clip-on style.

Tools

The best way to ensure that you have all the tools and expertise you will ever need to handle any emergency roadside repairs is to always travel with someone who has all the tools and expertise you will ever need to handle any emergency roadside repairs. That's how my wife has managed to cycle tens of thousands of kilometres without ever carrying so much as a patch kit. However, failing having your own personal mechanic, you will need, as a minimum: a patch kit; 3 tire "irons" for removing the tire; an adjustable wrench; a screw driver (check your bike to see which kind(s) you'll need); small needle-nose pliers; hexagonal Allen keys to fit the various spots on the bike; black plastic electrical tape for emergencies. (When I blew a tire on a Sunday one year, we covered the hole inside the tire with a piece of a sock and then wrapped the black tape around the outside. I rode the last 75 km into Toulouse on the last day of the trip like that!!) I also carry a chain-breaker (luckily - needed it in Normandy in '95 and again in England in '96 - same chain. I finally installed a new chain before our '97 tour); a couple of spare spokes (the correct size - tape them to one of your seat stays on the bike); a spoke wrench (the right size); chain lubricant (and a rag); spare nuts, bolts and washers which are copies of every nut, bolt and washer on your bike (including those odd little nuts & bolts that hold the fenders on to the fender stays); hand cleaner. We also always carry a spare inner tube each since it's easier to change the tube than to fix a puncture on the road - you can repair it at leisure in the evening. Park's 'Cool Tool' has a compact but unfortunately just barely adequate collection of many of the above tools. Finally, remember that most medium sized towns in France have a bike shop, all, it seems, with capable and friendly technicians.

Shoes and Pedals

There are shoes made especially for cycling. There's a stiff sole inside to protect the bottoms of your feet during long sessions of pedalling. While these specialty shoes are not necessary, make sure the shoes you do bring have a stiff enough sole to offer similar protection. If you choose to use the SPD pedal system you must have shoes that are compatible with that clipless system. I finally decided in 2001 to switch over to that system after resisting for many years. However, after 5 falls, one of which destroyed my helmet (see "Helmets" above! I can't stress their importance enough!!), I realized that I was never going to remember that I was clipped into the pedals each time I stopped. So I have returned to the old "rat trap" style of pedals and clips.

Shorts

Most of us are long past the time when we look great in Spandex (if we ever did) but the shorts in that style are very comfortable, perfectly suited to the activity, and dry out very quickly if it rains. If you choose to wear regular shorts, make sure the inseam is long enough to protect the insides of your thighs from the saddle and be wary of anything with prominent seams like denim cut-offs.

Sunglasses

They'll protect you from unfriendly UV rays and they'll keep the bugs and grit out of your eyes as you speed along - and you'll look cool!

Computer

How else will you know how fast you're going and how far you've gone?