What Else Can You Do On Our Website?
Few things occupy more of a cyclist’s thoughts than hills. They can hurt; we certainly spend a lot of time on them, cycling slowly upwards; all our best views are from the top of hills, and the most exhilarating moments are flying down them.
The Mapometer tool allows you to look in detail at the climbing profile of each of our tours. So I’ve chosen three examples that I thought would interest you.
i. The Loire Valley.
The Loire valley has the reputation of being pretty flat, and I certainly claim that it’s the flattest of all our tours. But a look at the profile of the week suggests a series of short, sharp peaks.
Here is the first clue for the unwary – have a look at the scale on the left hand side. We never go above 150 metres throughout the whole week, and the total climb for the week is under 1,000 metres. If you’re not keen on climbing, you’ll be quite safe in the Loire.
ii. The Dordogne, Day 2.
Anyone who has cycled the Dordogne with us will remember the climb up to Domme (12Km), and the climb away from Domme (15Km).
The whole day is less than 30 miles long (48 Km), but a look at the last 18 Km explains why the 2nd half of the day is a bit tougher than it looks on a map. Note that the penultimate hill, the little village of Payrac, is actually the highest point of the day at almost 300 metres.
The total climb for the day is almost the same as the climb for the whole week in the Loire Valley. Any of us who have cycled them both don’t need Google Maps to tell us that!
iii. The Bordeaux Winetrail, Day 6.
This really illustrates the importance of checking the scale!
On the last day of our Bordeaux Winetrail we cycle through the médoc, much of which is land reclaimed from the sea, so you’d expect it to be very flat. And yet there appear to be 2 reasonably significant hills, at 12 Km and 40 Km.
But check the left-hand scale – we never once reach 25 metres! Our biggest fear should be big waves, not altitude sickness!
Where next?
If you want to check out the detail of any of our bike tours, go and have a look. From our homepage , just click on ‘Bike Tour Itinerary’ beneath any of our tours. Then click on any of the distances at the end of each day to follow a link through to the detailed map of that day.
