I will be taking my unicycle and expecting to do as much riding as I can. The week on the canal looks to me to be the perfect chance to get a lot of riding in without affecting everyone else.
I figure that while the boat is floating from one spot to another, I can ride to an agreed pickup point further on. And, if the times are easy to meet then I can get to do a heap of extra time wandering and exploring while everyone is doing sudoku, quafing bergundy and eating croissants.
So, to those with experience on the Nivernais Canal, French canals generally and the Bourgogne area generally, I would value informed opinion on
- the general proximity of the bike routes to the canal - it will be nice to see much what everyone else is seeing.
- A 15km leg on the canal is likely to be how many kms on the bike route?
- What is riding like in the area like wrt to track/road condition, elevations, ease of NOT getting lost (I don't speak French). Do they have pedestrian type paths, or am I gonna have to hit country roads a lot?
- and anything else that may be relelvant
Canal transport seems to be pretty slow so the distances look very moderate and the times generous. Sort of 10-15km water legs each day over three or four hours. These distances are a fraction of what I do anyway. And climate should be fine for a Perth-ite. I'd very much expect that the countryside will be very flat as well.
BTW I am advised that we should fly the boxing Kanagaroo on the boat in order not to be confused with poms which French seem to have issues with. I understand that Canadians fly their maple inorder to not be mistaken for yanks.
(I will, of course, still be getting to make up much wanted distance with everyone else who will be biking to and from the moorings anyway.)