Quick Trip Report / Pino Rental in France

[head honcho]

Just got back from 10 days in France of which we spent 4 cycling in the Loire Valley on a rented Pino from https://www.rent-a-pino-tandem.com/   We had originally planned to make this trip in the summer and take our Pino but life got in the way.  I wanted to travel to the Champagne region for the centennial observance of the end of World War One where one of my great uncles fell in combat.  So we mixed a few days in Paris, a few days of cycling, and a few days of history and remembrance.  

As for the cycling, we took a train from Paris to Blois and met Igor from Rent-a-Pino at the train station. Igor's company, LocaPino, has a fleet of 8 Pinos.  Along the Pino, he provided waterproof panniers and appropriate rain gear for the stoker (poncho, rain pants and shoe covers).  I had brought my own rain gear.  Turned out we would need the rain gear.  He kept our suitcases and items we didn't need for the biking portion of the trip.    In four days of cycling,  we covered about 150 miles. Traveling from Blois to Saumur,  visiting sites at Chambord,, Clos Lucy,  Chenonceau, Chinon, Tours,  Fontevraud Abbey,  Villandry and ending our ride in Saumur.  Our original ambition had been to make it to Angers but weather and pace kept us to a shorter distance and more modest pace.  As for the weather,  we had cool temperatures and persistent cloudy skies with occasional rain.  The terrain was mostly flat with modest hills along the Loire river through vineyards, farmland and villages.  We deviated at times from the Loire Velo Route but discovered that Google Maps was unreliable for serviceable cycling routes, especially through farming areas after rainfall.  

We did have the bad fortune of two rear flats on same day.  Igor had provided a spare tube, tube repair kit and mini pump.  After the first flat,  I inspected the tire interior and couldn't find the source of the puncture.  The mini pump wore our arms out getting the tire back to a decent pressure but we were able to get going again on the way to Clos Luce.  A few miles after the first flat I felt the squirmy feeling of a very low tire and discovered the second flat.  This time, I used the repair kit and still could not find any apparent object or defect in the tire that might have caused the flat.  We contacted Igor to seek his advice and he said he would come to meet us and replace the tire and tube.  We were able to make it to Clos Luce where, true to his word,  he met us, replaced the tire and tube and also drove us on to Chenonceau as we had gotten way behind schedule that day.  

On our final day of riding, Igor met us where we traded the Pino for a rental car.  At that time,  Igor showed us where he had found a sharp sliver of rock that was embedded in the tire that suffered the two flats.  We've never experienced a flat on our Pino in almost 5 years of ownership (though we did have a bead separation on our rear tire).    .  

As for the cost for the 4 days, it was about 500 euro which, while not inexpensive,  was quite reasonable considering the level of service and convenience we experienced.  Since we weren't riding the whole time,  we avoided the hassles of transporting and storing our Pino during the voyage.  We also were able to ride a more recent model of the Pino than our personal bike, with the newer style seat and the new timing chain system.  I very much liked the new timing chain routing as it seemed much less troublesome than the system installed on our 2013 Pino.  I didn't ride in the stoker position but my partner said the new style seat was different without declaring it better or worse than the one on our personal Pino.  

If you want to travel to France and ride a Pino without taking your own,  I highly recommend Locapino.  Prices vary depending on the specifics of your itinerary so you will need to contact the company with what you would like to do. ( Note:  Igor says that most of his clients are families and he can equip his rental bikes with the child crank system)