Biscarrosse

In the Landes Department, just, of France Biscarrosse is, almost, a sand dune amongst many dunes. Given its proximity to the sea, it may seem odd that lots of holiday makers spend their time at the lake, which is, by repute, the largest in France.

It might also be said that our campsite is also one of the largest. It has a vast number of mobiles, mostly on reasonable sized plots. Most are empty at the moment except at the weekends but in 2 or 3 weeks the site will be heaving with the summer arrivals. Fortunately, we will be at home!

Since we arrived here it has been reasonably warm with plenty of sunshine. And, as we came here to cycle, so we have cycled. Day 1 was a brief excusion, hoping to find a cycle path along the lake. It does seem that France has, and is putting in a lot of money into these routes. This particular path is not yet finished but does provide a safe and secure route for all cyclists. However, one of the issues with such paths is maintenance. As the depth of the surface is quite limited, one often finds root growth causing serious bumps which cannot always be seen. They pose a risk to cyclists as they could easily throw one off of the bike and/or damage the tyre. Nevertheless, we had a great ride through the dunes and eventually reached a main road.

My second ride involved another path that took me from Biscarrosse towards Mimizan. I did not get to Mimizan as it was about 50 kilometres away but the path, again, when I could find it was good. But that again is a problem. Sign posting is not always clear or even present. Furthermore, one can suddenly find that the path ends; Just like that, as Tommy Cooper might say. It can be very frustrating. And this path was like that. However, where it existed it was good; a firm surface, clear and straight.

Finally today I decided to go for a longish ride. Yesterday Meryl and I cycled to a nearby town, Sanguinan, about 12 kilometres away and we did that at a very gentle pace. Quite pretty with lots of campsites and boats and a few shops. Today I wanted to go to Arcachon which meant circumnavigating the lake. Whilst flat the path wove its way northwards and it seems to have been rather further than the road mileage suggested. As I reached what I expected to be a main road running west-east the problems began; signposting disappears. Even a map and a chat with two French cyclists does not solve the problem especially as they suggest a route which turns out to be back on myself. Eventually, I follow common sense, find the cycle route and the main road and make it to my turn off.

The route home was fine if cycling along a straight road for 15 kilometres is good! But I made it home and felt reasonably pleased with myself. Three hours and 20 minutes on the bike!