Get on your bike for six of the best around France

I was 12 when I passed my Cycling Proficiency Test. Thirty- something years later I took to the saddle again...to pedal through France's Dordogne region.

This was a six-day cycling holiday made easy, thanks to a specialist company that does everything bar the pedalling.

On Inntravel's Inn- Active holidays - inactive is just what they're not - they organise everything... the ferry, the maps, the bikes, even moving your luggage between hotels.

My 15-year-old son Nick is a mad-keen cyclist. He took along his own bike - an Orange Clockwork model - and slept with the front wheel in his bedroom "for security reasons". But even he was impressed with my hire cycle, a 21-gear model I collected in Souillac.

This was the start of our odyssey on wheels. We arrived early enough to enjoy an afternoon in this delightful market town, and settle into our enormous room in the Hotel Grand.

Dinner in the hotel restaurant set the high standard for the rest of the trip - walnut salad, goose pate, breast of duck, goat's cheese, chilled red wine, and cassis sorbet with yet more wine.

This region of South West France is famous for its pate de fois gras. Mention cruelty to geese and the French look at you as if you're two crusts short of a baguette.

The picnic lunch was a splendid selection of salads, cheese, meats and fruits. Nick couldn't spoil the aerodynamics of his cycle so I strapped the pannier to mine.

Advice for born-again cyclists: If, like me, the nearest you've been to a bike for ages is watching the Tour de France on telly, get in some practice BEFORE you leave.

Muscles are rediscovered and toned. And you realise that a man's saddle is not designed for a woman's bottom, and vice versa. I bought my own saddle, plump and soft, and it made all the difference. Another essential is a pair of proper cycling shorts. They can cost pounds 30, so I economised with a pair of liners for half the price.

They're padded in all the right places to prevent chafing in all the wrong places.

A safety essential is a helmet. Mine, in purple to match the Lycra shorts, was light and well-ventilated - and fortunately never put to the test.

Day One was the hardest.

We set off in the heat of mid-morning, pausing to picnic on the banks of the Dordogne at Belcastel.

We had chosen the longer of the two routes, via the "hanging town" of Rocamadour.

It was a big mistake. Thirty tortuous miles - many of them uphill - had me thinking mutinous thoughts, such as: "Shall I hitch a lift with the luggage van?"

We learnt our lesson, and for the rest of the trip took the shorter option, averaging 20 miles a day.

This left time for swimming, wandering round chateaux (Castlenau is really unmissable), and exploring the cool caves.

Or simply lying in sprawling fields admiring the sight of sunflowers, soaring kites and paragliders swooping off the cliffs. Delightful...

ELIZABETH HIGGS

FACT FILE

A seven-night half-board cycle-package with Inntravel, of Hovingham, York YO6 4JZ (tel: 01653 628811) costs pounds 555 p.p. The price includes Dover-Calais ferry crossing with Stena Line. A useful guide is the AA Essential Dordogne, pounds 4.99. Further information: French Tourist Office, 178 Piccadilly, London W1 (tel: 0891-244123).

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