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I’m riding the Eurovelo 3 from Paris to Bordeaux, and after a couple of rough days battling the heat I’m finally looking forward to reaching the highlight of the whole trip, The Loire Valley. And to finally get some shade from the trees lining the river. The Loire By Bike trail offers some spectacular and varied stretches along the Loire river, with everything from singletrack sections to easy flat gravel sections. It also goes through some beautiful small towns as well as remarkable architectural wonders. This might be the best day of the whole trip!
Bike:
Kona Sutra
Bike Bags:
Ortlieb Handlebar Pack 15L
Ortlieb Frame Pack 6L
Ortlieb Seat Pack 16,5L
Clothes:
Adidas Adilette Flip Flops – https://amzn.to/40eKFyQ
Craft Core Enduro Jacket
2 Forclaz Merino Wool T-Shirt
Nike Mens Dri-FIT Short Sleeve Polo Shirt – https://amzn.to/3j2aq1w
Padded MTB Shorts
Columbia Silver Ridge Convertible Pants – https://amzn.to/3jalGfE
2 Pair of Socks https://amzn.to/40dU4H6
Merino Underwear – https://amzn.to/3XRU9hZ
Merino Wool Buff – https://amzn.to/409sYkd
Giro Fixture Mips Helmet – https://amzn.to/3XKHsoZ
Science In Sport Water Bottle – https://amzn.to/3WLLsV9
Northwave Cycling Shoes
Sunglasses
Cooking Gear:
Sea To Summit X Mug – https://amzn.to/3Hg7GJ1
Light My Fire Spork – https://amzn.to/3Dncn2J
Wine Bottle Opener 😉
Tools:
Lezyne HV Bicycle Hand Pump – https://amzn.to/3lHxnJc
Park Tool VP-1Vulcanizing Patch Kit – https://amzn.to/409NhOC
Crankbrothers M19 Multi-Tool – https://amzn.to/3j0A86D
Squirt Long Lasting Dry Lube – https://amzn.to/3iWqYIf
CTC Plastic Bag + packaging
Inner Tube – https://amzn.to/3Dq1oFP
Bike Lock – https://amzn.to/3HHcWqs
Toiletries:
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Shaving Gel
Mach 3 Razor – https://amzn.to/3j2bYsm
Contact Lens Case
Travel Schampoo bottle
Camping Equipment:
Naturehike Cloud Up 2 Tent – https://amzn.to/3aA1MTp
Sea To Summit Collapsible Backpack – https://amzn.to/3RvanLP
Aegismax UL Down Sleeping Bag – https://amzn.to/3BVCStv
Aegismax Nano 2 Ultralight Sleeping Bag – https://amzn.to/3RcZcqR
Sea To Summit Reactor Insulated Sleeping Bag Liner – https://amzn.to/409RLVs
Nemo Tensor Insulated Sleeping Pad – https://amzn.to/3Y98qGC
Nabaji Microfibre Towel L – https://amzn.to/3Y3KDbh
Electronics
Samsung S20 – https://amzn.to/3Y544jR
Dji Mavic Pro Drone – https://amzn.to/3FKsVBk
GoPro Hero7 Black – https://amzn.to/3JoetTC
Canon G7X Mark II – https://amzn.to/3XO7lnY
Zoom H1N Recorder – https://amzn.to/409ewZA
Rode Smartlav+ Lavalier – https://amzn.to/3RcZcqR
2 Anker PowerCore 20000 mAh – https://amzn.to/3JpPxvg
Bag Of Cables and Extra Batteries
DISCLAIMER: This description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! This helps support the channel and allows me to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for your support!
34 Comments
That canal and aqueduct section into the Loire Valley looks stunning dude 😉 A very special place
That was a fantastic day and it did look very hot. Thanks for the video and take care, Al
Awesome Mike!!! Your videos have a great story, beautiful scenery….and make me smile. 😊 Thanks for bringing us along!!!!
Great video Mike! I’m in my 70’s and I don’t do well in the heat so I totally get where you’re coming from with the heat! I’m enjoying seeing France!
It looks like it was a beautiful ride and journey, minus the heat. I bet it would have been so nice to stop and take a dip in the public water rest area. Maybe they don’t have those in France. I have no idea. Looking forward to more videos. Be well and enjoy the journey.
So beautiful. I would have been tempted to stop in every small village for coffee/wine/baguettes, etc.
I did some cycle touring in Southeast Asia some years ago, and I found one of the best strategies for heat was to place a small, thin hand towel over my head (under my helmet), letting it hang down the back of my neck. The evaporation of the sweat from the towel kept my head noticeably cooler, and the towel also shaded my head and neck more efficiently. It wasn't stylish, but it worked.🙂
I also found that a baggy, long-sleeved light cotton shirt seemed cooler to cycle in than a T-shirt. It reduced my exposure to the sun, and the slight flapping of the loose material in the wind felt more comfortable than a tighter fitting shirt.
Loving the series 👍 And the views, man! So nice. Good job on filming and capturing them too 🤌
Nice leg of your trip Mike. When you're in France and looking for water if you see a cemetary you'll find a tap with water. If it's not drinkable it will be marked up 'Non potable'. I've never found one marked like this, most come from the mains water supply and are drinkable.
Agree about the heat here, it was almost unbearable and going outside was like going into an oven.
Thanks for the video
That small branch on the road almost took out your GoPro! Yikes! Those low riding shots look great though!👍
Very nice mike!!! Thanks…i still wait the video you go north cape…or you stopped😂
Unfortunately this is NOT a heat wave Mike. This is the new normal during European summers. Climate change is real. Better get some light, white arm sleeves like the ones Van Duzer use. Or your old age skin will regret it in a couple of decades.
Hi Mike, excellent movie, as usual. One question though, which app did you use to find the public (outdoor)water faucet…?
Mike, I found while riding through the Canadian Rockies last summer during a super hot spell (110 F) that if I soak my shirt in that luke warm water in my water bottle it keeps me cooler than if I drank it. It is amazing how much cooler you feel with the wind from cycling blowing on that wet shirt. Love your videos
Thankyou mike for letting us share some more of your travels, heat makes everything harder work, i know i live in spain and in the summer months things get quite tough.
Have a great trip my friend, it's Michael here from Mississauga Canada 🇨🇦
There is a potable water app for your phone?
Beautiful scenery. Thanks for sharing this with us. Glad you figured out how to beat the heat by riding early.
Yes!! Ítalo remind me a bit my last june tour from Toulouse to beziers along the canal du midi. So nice 😊
Thanks Mike! Great video!
Great video Mike, enjoy the hot weather 🤪.
We are waiting for storm Ciaran to hit here in Southern Ireland 🇮🇪 Lots of rain due.
Glad you had a beautiful day! The ride looks stunning and charming. Thanks for enduring the heat to share this with us.
I love your Videos, keep it up.
This tour looks Incredible.
Great video. How do you like this bikepacking gear over the typical bike touring paniers setup?
Thank you for sharing, Mike! I have great memories of the bike tour I did last year in France. Part of it was on the Loire a Velo, from Nantes to Orleans, which was the best part of the trip, I think. The towns, the castles and the views are just incredible. It was a wonderful experience… By the way, I know your are friends with Darren Alff, and we have not known anything about him since he stopped making content. I wonder how he is doing. Is he well?
I just sub'd, enjoy watching your videos plus I'm considering buying the Kona Sutra SE. Looking like you've put on many miles with that bike and it's standing up like a champ! I'm deciding on a 54 or 56cm. I'm in the middle according to the charts. 5 10"
Enjoyed while cycling on my indoor bike on a rainy day in Hertfordshire 😊
Good Good
1) how many kms do you ride in a single day?
2) how long before you stop and get down for a short break? Because of the saddle pain.
Hi Mike, beautiful video! Hey, I have two questions:
What kind of App are you using to find Drinking Water?
And why are you navigating with your phone? Does the Garmin not do that?
So epic! France has so many nice things to offer 🚴🚴
Enjoying your France videos. I'm researching how to extend my traditional bike-packing setup into a hybrid bike-pack/tourer setup with minimalist bags or frames so I can carry a warmer/bigger sleeping bag and puffy and have good storage for food. Strapping supermarket plastic bags to the top of my handlebar bag in 2019 was a good workaround, but not ideal. The Ortlieb Forkpack 5.8L is on my radar as I already use an Ortlieb handbar and seatpack and give them a score of 8/10. Have you found the Fortpacks satisfactory? Trying to avoid any rack or bag that is too heavy duty too keep the weight from escalating.
Also considering the Tumbleweed Mini Pannier Rack over front and rear wheels and if the Forkpack can be attached to them, so I can use four Forkpacks if I wish or load my four (yes four) 1L bottles at the rear if I move them from the front forks to the attachments available on the Tumbleweed. I may also replace my non-waterproof bespoke framebag from Alpkit with the Ortlieb roll-top framebag if it fits snugly in my frame. I give the bespoke Alpkit framebag 8/10 rather than 10/10 because it is not waterproof and I think it could have been made a little wider to give me a little more storage space. Unlike other vloggers who have reported problems with zips on their own framebags, I have not had any problems with the Alpkit zips. They are excellent zips.
Just realised my new setup could cost me an eye watering 600 dollars for an extra 24L of storage, so I can see why people max out on pannier and bag setup if they are thinking in terms of Litres per dollar. But I know the weight of a setup is absolutely key, either for the fit and healthy competitive racer bike-packer (which I am not) or the unfit and go-slow bike-packer such as myself. Keeping the weight down means I am still even in my physical condition able to cycle up 17 degree hills. There will be many many 10+ degree hills on the 5000+ mile trip I am now planning and in training for.
100F heat vs mosquitos? It took me maybe 3 weeks out of 9 weeks to fully settle into the bike-packing life-style in 2019, so you do well to settle in over just 2 or 3 days.
The part along the Briare Canal is really nice, I did it one evening in July in the other direction, getting to Montargis at about 9 pm. There was hardly a soul on it, just a few dog walkers.
My girlfriend and I cycled along the Loire in 2022 during a heatwave in August. We went from Orleans to Nantes where it is possible to hire bikes at one end and drop them off at the other – i wish more cycle companies could do this arrangement. What a beautiful trip.
Yup, I did subscribe because I saw you on Ryan Van Duzers channel
Great work👍👍