Bike packing is one of the best ways to see the world at a leisurely pace. I tried my hand at it for the first time last year for a brief two-week journey. This kind of travel is, by no means, a walk in the park. You need to bring along a lot of heart, a lot of grit, and a lot of toilet paper. All jokes aside, an 800km biking journey sounds daunting for someone who had never done it before. We had two weeks to complete the route itself plus all the sightseeing. As far as experience goes, I have done longer climbing trips and camping trips before. I do have some knowledge of camping and camp cooking, which both came in handy. Additionally, I had a veteran biking with me on this journey. These knowledge and experience are essential, but the most determining factor of your trip success is your mental fortitude. As many famous and greats have said, the key to taking on a big challenge is to break it down into manageable chunks. So, let me break it down this for you so you might consider trying bike-packing or bike-packing our route next time.
Route and planning:
Our journey started from Southeast of Paris to Fontainebleau, then followed the canal of Briare/EuroVelo 3 down to the Loire River at Briare. Finally, we traced the Loire River down to the Atlantic and the beach using EuroVelo 6 route. EuroVelo website had decent information, so we knew half of the trip we will be off the biking pavement. I would also recommend using the app called “bike map.” As of summer 2019, the information was well presented and up to date. On the app, you can choose well-paved lanes, or off-road.
The Loire Valley biking route is well established and mostly marked. Even though the direction of the route follows the river, do prepare for some hill climbs. The Loire Valley biking route guides through many of the vineyards in the valley. Sounds wonderful, the downside is that there is a quite a bit of uphill to climb when approaching a vineyard. If you choose to do some wine tasting, be very careful, drunk biking is very dangerous. If you drank some wine, try to nap it out by the many picnic spots around the area.
We only rode on highway or freeway on the first day out of Paris, which was to be expected. I would highly discourage you from bike beside vehicles if you can; sometimes, they don’t see you very well.
Equipment
This is where you should really think ahead and do some research. My bike was a 60-Euro second-hand city bike with somewhat of a broken handle. On the other hand, my partner’s bike was a two thousand-Euro basher designed for bike-packing. Because of his bike, I could get away with a worn-down bike and lighter weight. I had two panniers that can carry 40L or 25kg combined, and a handlebar bag. My partner’s bike had two back panniers total 50L, and two front panniers total 20L. We couldn’t have finished this trip with his two front panniers carrying our food cans. My bike was not designed to carry a heavyweight on wheels in addition to carrying me. With the extra panniers, your bike’s balance and maneuvering changes. Additionally, over-bearing the bike will greatly increase your brake distance and increase brake failure. Preventing braking failure and keeping the right balance are probably the most important reasons that you want to keep your gear as light as possible. Brake failure is highly deadly without a specialized braking system and careful handling of your bikes. Whatever you do, just remember to bring your bike into a certified shop for a check-up before your trip.
We each had a broken tire during the trip. Because we didn’t check out gear correctly, my tire change was almost impossible if not for the help of a kind stranger near Fontainebleau. This brings me to the important topic of the gear list. Below is a rough list of what we brought to our trip. Keep in mind we biked between towns, not complete wilderness for 2 weeks; thus, we could resupply with ease. This will not be the case if you expect to be out in the wild for a week.
Cooking rice 
Standard dinner
Gear list between 2 bikers total (not exhaustive) be sure to reduce in half on some items if you are traveling by yourself
| Bike gear | Clothing and toiletry | Personal gear |
| Bikes x2 Helmets x2 Tail flags x2 Back reflectors x4 Front lights x4 Waterproof Phone Mount x2 Panniers x6 (110L total, 4 of them are waterproof) Back tire bike rack x2 Font tire bike rack x1 Handlebar bag x1 Water bottles x6 Bike lock x2 Bells x2 Mud fenders x4 (2 front, 2 back) Pannier rain covers x2 Long elastic bands x4 (to secure things like a tent to your bike)1L Water storage x2 (added later on due to the heat) Tire fix tool kit x1 Chain fix tool kit x1 Duck-tape x1 roll Foot pedals x2 Small Glue x2 Cash Heart and bravery x loads | Sunglasses x4 Long sleeves x2 Quick-dry t-shirts x4 Biking shorts x2 Casual pants x2 Flip flops x1pair Sandals x1 pair (make sure you can bike with them) Gym/biking shoes x2 pairs Female underwear x3 Male underwear x2 Sports bra x2 Bug spray x1 Sunscreen x2 Rain poncho x1(my partner didn’t like ponchos) Quick-dry towels x2 Period product of your choice Drying line x1 Clothing pins/food pins x10 Toilet paper x 3 rolls | 2-person tent x1 Hammock x1 Footprint for tent x1 3 season lightweight sleeping bag x2 Inflatable sleeping mat x2 Inflatable mat fixing kit x1 Inflatable camping pillow x2 Lightweight camp cooking set x1 Camping plates x2 Small coffee mug x2 Utensil set x1 Swiss Knife x2 Small canister fuel x2 Portable camp stove x2 Ground coffee x2 Coffee cooker x1 Loose leaf tea x 1 small box 3 days worth of food for 2 people Tabasco x1 Salt x1 Pepper x1 Lighter x2 Tough sponge x2 All in one soap x150 ml Trash bags x 1 roll Phone x2 Portable solar charging panel x1 Phone charging cable x3 Head torch x2 Batteries x 6 |
Weather
We lucked out, encountered one of the hottest summers France had seen for some time. A few days were 42 Celsius(107 F) air temperature, and god knows how hot the ground or pavement temperature was. The treads on the bike tires were literally melted and reshaped by the heat from the ground contact. This is quite dangerous as the treadless tires make it hard to be stable on non-pavement roads. You must be really careful when to bike. We tried not to bike midday; however, the late afternoon pavement is too hot due to the more prolonged exposure to the sun. Another way to keep cool is to wet your shirt with cold water. Don’t worry, with the heat and the wind your shirt will be dry in 20 minutes.
Rain is not so much of a concern. If you are wearing a poncho, as I did, be sure to tuck it in well. Flying ponchos can obstruct the view of the bikers’ or drivers behind you on the narrow road; it can also cause snagging, breaking your poncho. As for shoes, I wore sandals during heavy rain because I really hate wearing wet socks the next day. Even though the weather was hot, when it rained, it still rained for quite a while. We camped on the grass where it got damp with the rain; thus, clothes wouldn’t dry very fast. This is something to think about when you bike; your washed socks might not be dry the next day. I have heard bikers put the socks in their sleeping bags to dry their socks faster. I tried it, though the result is mediocre at best. It might have been that I didn’t do it properly. Either way, I would recommend using sandals for biking in the rain.
Lodging and camping
We alternate between wild and paid camping. Even though France is a highly dense and populated country, there are still places where you can find wild camping spots for free. Though be careful when you are close to town. In one town, we had a sweet old lady shelter and vouch for us so that the city won’t kick us out for wild camping. Ask the local citizens, and they usually try to help. As always, it won’t hurt if you can speak a bit of French.
Alternatively, you can stay at the many hotels along the way. Because the route we chose (or French biking/hiking routes in general) connects towns, you should have a decent time finding places to stay. Gite is another good option when visiting the French countryside. A gite is equivalent to a countryside cottage which you can rent out. You can find these everywhere in France. I don’t know if they do one night stays, so the best way to use the gites as a base of exploration to the surrounding areas. Pick an area you are interested in and stay with it for a few days to a week.
Get in shape
I cannot emphasize this enough. This does not mean you need to be a marathon runner to attempt trips like this, though being in shape increases your trip enjoyment quite a bit. Start exercising the day you start planning the biking trips. Luckily, before this biking trip, I was on a week and a half long climbing trip, so I was in decent shape. However, this did not prevent sore legs or painful gluts. Most of us do not bike 5-6 hours a day, so your body will need to adjust no matter how many exercises you do. Ellipticals are probably the best. Couple that with some strength training. Consult with a Profession to get a training plan ready. Remember, you need to bike through the sandy paths with all your equipment on your bike, so get a bit more muscles won’t hurt.
Another thing is that you should try to bike around with your bike and weights in your panniers. The key is to get used to the balance if your bike with weights and practice gear-shifting for climbing the inevitable hills.
Safety
To make sure vehicles can see us, we each had a flag behind our bikes to signal our presence. You can also wear a high visibility yellow vest for additional safety. The places we chose to stay felt decently safe. If you are attempting this route on your own, bring some sort of safety alert with you in case of emergencies. Be very careful when sharing a road with vehicles. Loire Valley is a wine district, and there is a good chance that many driving around might have drunk some wine already. This applies to the bikers as well. Some of the cyclists are bike touring the vineyards. They are pretty easy to spot as they tend to bike extremely fast downhill or swirling around slowly. Both actions are very hazardous with a weighted bike.
