Cycling "off piste"
The joys and hiccups of cycling in and around Marseillan Town
Marseillan has brilliant facilities for cyclists!
Our town has made a conscious decision to support cycling in and around the area, with dedicated cycle tracks (known as "Pistes Cyclables" in French) ensuring we don't have to share the roads with the circulating flow of routine traffic. Bicycles are legally allowed on regular roads too, of course (if we so choose) as long as we ride with consideration and follow the rules of the Highway Code.
Whoever designed the layout for the new cycle routes to take us off the pedestrianised Port was not a cyclist. "Les pistes ne sont pas cyclables!"
Throughout the town you can see blue signs denoting Shared Paths with a 20km/h speed limit, and these have worked well for years.
On a larger scale, purpose-built tracks have been added to the east and north, giving easier access to Le St Barth seafood dinery and La Bellonette domaine, as well as to our neighbouring towns of Mèze and Pomerols. These paths run through calm and tranquil local countryside with glorious views stretching in all directions.
The town's investment in cycle care stations, with everything from spanners to tire levers attached to the sturdy air pump stands, shows the consideration extended to local two-wheeled-transport enthusiasts. Everything needed is there, for an on-the-spot repair to help keep moving. If you can't fix it yourself, you can always go to "Artimon Cycles" harbour-front workshop, at the Marina behind the prestigious Chateau du Port restaurant. The friendly, helpful owner not only repairs bikes, but also hires out both bikes and e-bikes, and from time to time has bikes for sale, too.
Marseiilan Plage has its own outlets offering daily rental of e-bikes, for those based at the busy seaside resort just 5km distance from Marseillan town. With the only "hill" worth mentioning being the incline up and over the railway line, human leg-power is generally adequate to take you in and out and round and about, on a network of level tracks and cycleways.
Certain riders have chosen to ignore these freshly painted directional arrows on the revised cycle route, inviting what can only be described as "an accident waiting to happen". As this was the argument for introducing these new restrictive rules and illogical paths, it all seems slightly counter-productive. Granted, a handful of reckless high-speed 'bike riders and trottinette users were not always respectful of the distracted public (and occasional long-leaded dog walkers) in the shared spaces. But really! If the Powers That Be could please just get on a bike and ride the ride, rather than simply walk the walk, that would be most helpful.
Cyclists are generally an adaptable, friendly and flexible bunch, willing to respond to climate and conditions for the pleasure of enjoying their fresh-air and exercise lifestyle. But when the "Off Piste" options are poorly maintained and potentially dangerous, we could be excuse if - in time - we become more than a little Piste Off!
With all due praise for everything that makes cycling in Marseillan a daily joy, I do have to share a confused gripe here, now, however. Whilst understanding the need to restrict wheeled access to the Port area of town during the busy summer months, and appreciating the polite signage recently introduced to be sure we all know the rules, sadly my conclusion has to be ...
The paint was barely dry on the white one-way arrows before the question aroses, "So how are we supposed to get back ?"
Coming from the long-establish shared cinder track along La Belle Scribote into town, this new route takes us off the merely-three-year-old, perfectly functionable divided footpath. We are now diverted onto a narrow strip of road originally designed purely for cars, with neat little parking spaces adjacent. The only return route available requires us to negotiate the bumps and potholes of the service road running between the Noilly Prat distillery buildings. Which can be pleasant, if "the angel's share" of the maturing vermouths in the open courtyard fills the air ... but that is the only perk. It's a scruffy and badly patched stretch of road, in need on a new surface and new line markings.
