Brittany - the draining of the Lac de Gueledan

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bretonbikes
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Brittany - the draining of the Lac de Gueledan

Post by bretonbikes »

Hi All

I know a lot of people tour in Brittany so I thought I'd give a heads-up for the draining of the Lac de Gueledan next year. I've not found much in English on the net so I've put up a page with some links to videos and pictures. Personally I'm fairly worried it'll cost us rather than gain customers - a beautiful lake replaced by 10 kms of mud but who knows! But it'll certainly be worth a detour and as it's on the V6 cyclepath many of you will go by it without realising what's going on. The 'plug' is pulled in February and it'll be 'dry' by the summer - personally I'd expect the best time to visit will be as late as possible as the ground will have firmed up - rumour has it they may do son-et-lumiere, rock concerts etc in front of the dam, I'm not convinced but I'll update if anythng like that goes on. Of course the time to come will be Saturday 11th because then you can see the end of the Mur-de-Bretagne stage of the TDF - the hill at the end is a 2 km 10%-15% that catches quite a lot of cyclists out:-) As it's our change-over day I'll not be able to see it :roll:



Anyway page is here, and as always if anyone wants free advice let me know... http://www.bretonbikes.com/generalartic ... ledan.html
38 years of cycletouring, 33 years of running cycling holidays, 8 years of running a campsite for cyclists - there's a pattern here...
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al_yrpal
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Re: Brittany - the draining of the Lac de Gueledan

Post by al_yrpal »

Cycled Pontivy, Mur de Bretagne, Guingamp before but missed that lake, sounds very interesting, thanks for the alert.

Al
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bretonbikes
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Re: Brittany - the draining of the Lac de Gueledan

Post by bretonbikes »

al_yrpal wrote:Cycled Pontivy, Mur de Bretagne, Guingamp before but missed that lake, sounds very interesting, thanks for the alert.

Al


It is very very pretty when it's full an only a km from the cyclepath, but when the path is well leaved it's easy to miss!
38 years of cycletouring, 33 years of running cycling holidays, 8 years of running a campsite for cyclists - there's a pattern here...
boblo
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Re: Brittany - the draining of the Lac de Gueledan

Post by boblo »

Are they refilling it? We're reasonably local to you and it; Lanrivain.
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simonineaston
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Re: Brittany - the draining of the Lac de Gueledan

Post by simonineaston »

Thanks for the heads-up, BB - Good tip too re the TdF - now where's me diary...
S
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bretonbikes
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Re: Brittany - the draining of the Lac de Gueledan

Post by bretonbikes »

boblo wrote:Are they refilling it? We're reasonably local to you and it; Lanrivain.


It's due to be refilled winter 2015/16 so you've only got the one chance...
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MrsHJ
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Re: Brittany - the draining of the Lac de Gueledan

Post by MrsHJ »

I noticed the climb up Mur de Bretagne coming from the east - it felt steeper than that!!. The 8 year old very stoicly walked it in a very hot day. At least we didn't miss the turn to the campsite like the rest of the family. I bet the campsite isn't very happy about this.
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Re: Brittany - the draining of the Lac de Gueledan

Post by bretonbikes »

MrsHJ wrote:I noticed the climb up Mur de Bretagne coming from the east - it felt steeper than that!!. The 8 year old very stoicly walked it in a very hot day. At least we didn't miss the turn to the campsite like the rest of the family. I bet the campsite isn't very happy about this.


That isn't actually the steep bit! Sorry to disappoint;-)
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MrsHJ
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Re: Brittany - the draining of the Lac de Gueledan

Post by MrsHJ »

bretonbikes wrote:
MrsHJ wrote:I noticed the climb up Mur de Bretagne coming from the east - it felt steeper than that!!. The 8 year old very stoicly walked it in a very hot day. At least we didn't miss the turn to the campsite like the rest of the family. I bet the campsite isn't very happy about this.


That isn't actually the steep bit! Sorry to disappoint;-)


No worries, I've done plenty of HC climbs, the perception changes massively when cycling with the kids. And no doubt in a few years they'll be going up everything and I will be left far behind.

What's the purpose of draining the lake?- aha, just read your link, mechanical repairs.
RichardPH
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Re: Brittany - the draining of the Lac de Gueledan

Post by RichardPH »

Slightly off-topic, but the prospect of viewing the drained lake was appealing. Started to plan a trip using Brittany Ferries Portsmouth - St Malo but came across a snag, the cycle spaces on the outbound ferry were full, odd really because they were still taking bookings for the same trip in a car, plus the three bikes we would need to take if necessary.

None of the ferries I've been on have any special arrangements for bikes, and when I asked Brittany Ferries why this was the lady on the phone wasn't sure so she went off and asked. The reply was that it "didn't fit their cost model" or words to that effect. In other words they'd rather I took a car and paid twice as much.

I wrote to their customer complaints but have not received a reply.

Any experience of this from others, also any suggestions for getting their attention?
ChrisF
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Re: Brittany - the draining of the Lac de Gueledan

Post by ChrisF »

MrsHJ wrote:What's the purpose of draining the lake?- aha, just read your link, mechanical repairs.

Apparently it's done every 40 years. I was cycling in Brittany during a very hot August in 1975 and saw this big lake on the map. Ideal for a swim, so I thought, so off I went 20 miles to get to it. You can imagine my feelings when I saw it empty :cry:
Chris F, Cornwall
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Re: Brittany - the draining of the Lac de Gueledan

Post by bretonbikes »

quilkin wrote:
MrsHJ wrote:What's the purpose of draining the lake?- aha, just read your link, mechanical repairs.

Apparently it's done every 40 years. I was cycling in Brittany during a very hot August in 1975 and saw this big lake on the map. Ideal for a swim, so I thought, so off I went 20 miles to get to it. You can imagine my feelings when I saw it empty :cry:


In theory this will be the last time as they will be installing equipment that will allow the turbines to be maintained without draining the lake as the effect on local water supplies etc causes considerable difficulties.
38 years of cycletouring, 33 years of running cycling holidays, 8 years of running a campsite for cyclists - there's a pattern here...
dodger
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Re: Brittany - the draining of the Lac de Gueledan

Post by dodger »

RichardPH wrote:Slightly off-topic, but the prospect of viewing the drained lake was appealing. Started to plan a trip using Brittany Ferries Portsmouth - St Malo but came across a snag, the cycle spaces on the outbound ferry were full, odd really because they were still taking bookings for the same trip in a car, plus the three bikes we would need to take if necessary.

None of the ferries I've been on have any special arrangements for bikes, and when I asked Brittany Ferries why this was the lady on the phone wasn't sure so she went off and asked. The reply was that it "didn't fit their cost model" or words to that effect. In other words they'd rather I took a car and paid twice as much.

I wrote to their customer complaints but have not received a reply.

Any experience of this from others, also any suggestions for getting their attention?


I have written in the past (2013) to Mr Bevens, whose job I forget, but possibly Commercial director. This was on a similar theme regarding why it costs more to take 4 bikes than if you take a car with 4 bikes and people. He said they were "going to review their pricing structure and were committed to green ideals" etc.etc.
Don't know if they have reviewed it, but it's always been as if bikes are very, very low on their list and only tacked on as an afterthought.
At one stage you could only book 1 bike at a time, even if there was a party of 20!
Can't see what their problem is as there is plenty of space for bikes, especially in odd corners.
Good luck!
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Re: Brittany - the draining of the Lac de Gueledan

Post by bretonbikes »

dodger wrote:
RichardPH wrote:Slightly off-topic, but the prospect of viewing the drained lake was appealing. Started to plan a trip using Brittany Ferries Portsmouth - St Malo but came across a snag, the cycle spaces on the outbound ferry were full, odd really because they were still taking bookings for the same trip in a car, plus the three bikes we would need to take if necessary.

None of the ferries I've been on have any special arrangements for bikes, and when I asked Brittany Ferries why this was the lady on the phone wasn't sure so she went off and asked. The reply was that it "didn't fit their cost model" or words to that effect. In other words they'd rather I took a car and paid twice as much.

I wrote to their customer complaints but have not received a reply.

Any experience of this from others, also any suggestions for getting their attention?


I have written in the past (2013) to Mr Bevens, whose job I forget, but possibly Commercial director. This was on a similar theme regarding why it costs more to take 4 bikes than if you take a car with 4 bikes and people. He said they were "going to review their pricing structure and were committed to green ideals" etc.etc.
Don't know if they have reviewed it, but it's always been as if bikes are very, very low on their list and only tacked on as an afterthought.
At one stage you could only book 1 bike at a time, even if there was a party of 20!
Can't see what their problem is as there is plenty of space for bikes, especially in odd corners.
Good luck!


Brittany Ferries believe that they make their money from car passengers in cabins. They don't want pedestrians (which is why they allocate most cabins to car passengers) and they don't want cyclists. It's frequently cheaper to take a car and 4 passengers than 4 foot passengers. A friend even offered to go onto the car deck and mark out a car-sized space so that he could get 'vehicle' pricing but they wouldn't have it. I've had this argument with them many times - they are clueless...
38 years of cycletouring, 33 years of running cycling holidays, 8 years of running a campsite for cyclists - there's a pattern here...
brianleach
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Re: Brittany - the draining of the Lac de Gueledan

Post by brianleach »

Not wishing to hijack the thread but it may be the particular day/time of the crossing you were hoping to book on. I've already booked a crossing on that route with a bike to see a stage of the TDF. However last year I got more or less the same response when trying to book a return crossing from Bilbao to Portsmouth. In the end I had to use the Santander route.
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