Cycling on the greenway is good. Getting off the ground and taking your time is better. When the So Vélo, which connects Marmande to Casteljaloux via the old railway line to Mont-de-Marsan, was inaugurated in July 2023, its users could pedal and admire the landscape for 27 km… but that was all. To give even more appeal to this new tourist facility which allows you to join the Canal des deux mers cycle path, which goes from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, and the Scandibérique, which links Norway to Saint-Jacques-de- Compostela, it was necessary to propose some adjustments.
This has been done on the Argenton side, on the Landes de Gascogne part of So Vélo, or in Gaujac and Samazan, in Val de Garonne, where two picnic areas have been created. In Samazan (the most complete area), just opposite the old station, there are picnic tables, deck chairs, a children’s play area, a drinking water fountain, bicycle racks. , a terminal for recharging the batteries of electric bikes and even a quick repair workshop for the unlucky ones whose tires have encountered a thorn from one of the many acacia trees which line the greenway.
Each rest area has a sign that summarizes the services available on site.
J.-CW
Bike diagram
Not to mention the educational panels which make it possible to interpret the environment in which tourists operate, recalls Dante Rinaudo, vice-president of Val de Garonne Agglomération (VGA) in charge of Tourism. “It’s an investment of 180,000 euros,” explains the mayor of Tonneins. Compare this with the million euros annually that the intercommunality is investing until 2027 as part of its cycling plan to develop the practice of cycling in the region (inter-district road in Marmande, connection between the station and the college Germillac in Tonneins…), notes Jacques Bilirit, the president of the Agglo, who adds that “other developments will arrive after the summer”.
J.-CW
In Samazan, opposite the old station, there is a battery charging station for electric bicycles and a bicycle repair workshop, which allows you to repair a flat tire in particular.
“We are also counting on the emergence of private projects, such as taverns or accommodation, to develop the greenway,” adds Dante Rinaudo. In any case, the equipment has found its audience. The counter installed at the So Vélo outlet in Thivras (Marmande) “flashed” 8,016 passages (pedestrians, bicycles, etc.) in both directions between January and March 2024; in Samazan, it is 5,500 over the same period. Figures reflect a majority of use for leisure, even if the inhabitants of Val de Garonne are starting to use it to get to their place of work (and in particular in the Samazan activity zone).
J.-CW
Picnic table, water fountain and work by land art specialist Julien Mouroux await tourists in front of the old Samazan station.
J.-CW
A covered table has been set up in case of precipitation.
J.-CW
A play area for children has been set up in Samazan.
So Vélo celebrates on May 26
May is bike month. And to celebrate it, VGA is organizing an afternoon of cycling festivities, from Filhole in Marmande towards the greenway. Meet at the Plaine skate park at 3 p.m. for a bike ride with the Slowfest collective (DJ, clowns and percussion) towards the Samazan rest area. On site, concert, plant graffiti workshop, discovery of very special bicycles, flower bicycle competition… Program can be found on valdegaronne-tourisme.fr.
