Bikes on TGV France

Ah, I was looking at the 1000k. I'll pencil it in, in case I've got a spare week :)

Are there routes generally good?

I thought the RAF 500 I did last year was good; occasional "detours" to take you through towns with shops/bars that were open rather than sticking to just the strict "best" route expecting you to find them as needed (which you know in rural France can be challenging at times). Roads were good quality, not too much traffic and they used bike paths where they made sense.

Cheers. I'm still pretty keen on TD but the more I think about it the more I want to just tour it rather than race it (especially given my arm still doesn't work properly yet), so that may leave June free (Jul/Aug best for touring I think).

I've done some events near Valencia but not actually ever been to Valencia so I'm interested in the April Spain thing.

There's also Utopia in early April so you could do a "2 fah"
https://epicos.cc/en/utopia-gravel/

The Gorafe desert is stunning. My missus hasn't been there before so that would be 'new'.

You got a route for that Transiberica? I'm considering heading to my mate's gaff next year to deliver a bike and he lives near Mont Caro. Thought I'd get the ferry to Bilbao and cycle over a few days.

Mine:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/48799585

Not mine:
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/73722493

Piko went further south than me. IIRC I wanted to avoid Zaragoza because bigger cities tend to be slower.

Nice one. Did you camp or stay in hotels? I am presuming you didn't do the full 339 miles in one go.

Good little climb, Mont Caro, eh?

You could ride it in one go but it would've taken me almost 24hrs and event started at night so I generally will still have a quick sleep on the first night.

Just looked... seems 8pm start, I had a non-fatal dirt nap around 4am / 160km mark. Then 350k / 14hrs to top of Mont Caro.

Looking at the photo I took at the top I don't think I agree with you about Caro...

The main thing I remember about Mont Caro is my Di2 dying at the top and needing a bike shop the next day.

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But just look at those views...

E2A: I wouldn't have fancied descending in the dark, mind. That top section is properly sketchy.

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