FNRttC The (not the) Fridays Tour of the Low Countries 2015

[AlexB]

Bruges has an excellent youth hostel which is within walking distance of the city centre. Stayed there with the famy a few years ago.

 

[StuartG]

Bruges has an excellent youth hostel which is within walking distance of the city centre. Stayed there with the famy a few years ago.

Sadly for the more discriminating visitor Bruges no longer has a Formule1. Some people remember where they were when Armstrong landed on the Moon. I remember where I was when Sven Eriksson's England thrashed Germany 5-1: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/1515667.stm

OK @redfalo Germany have beaten us so many times since. But it is of no consequence to that night of blissfulness matched almost by one of the most beautiful cities on this planet.

 

[rvw]

Looks very good - the first bit covers some of the same general area where we started our Belgium-Spain lark a few years ago. I thought I'd be able to suggest a really nice hotel near St Omer, but unfortunately it's a bit too far off the route (and expensive, and in the middle of nowhere so doesn't have options for those who don't want expensive... ho hum).

 

[frank9755]

Pleasant route, MMM. Some thoughts.

It may be a tad short for a full week. You could easily add on a few small detours to take in things like Ypres, the Kinderdijk windmills, Delft, etc, while staying under 80-100km per day.

The Bruges-Hoek section is almost exactly what we did. It is stunning - and it would be good to break it over two days. Can give some detailed thoughts on it as some point.

Why not stay in Dieppe the first night? It's a lovely town and its so much more pleasant to just roll off the ferry, find the hotel, have a shower and get changed rather than having to get on the bike and ride after a day sitting around on the ferry. I understand why Simon did it - to reduce the distance to Paris the next day - but there's no such issue here.

The other option is to do an evening ride down and get the overnight ferry. I've done that a couple of times. Dieppe is deserted when it lands but heading through the empty villages in the night and waiting for the sunrise, and for the boulangeries to open, is really special.

 

[StuAff]

we avoid the busy coastal route - which can be bloody windy as @StuAff knows from his ride back this May.

The problems on that were mostly self-inflicted, that bridge apart......

 

[velovoice]

All of the options up until Adrian's genius idea sounded a bit too, I don't, troublesome in one way or another. This, however, is genius. Will see how much persuading @Flying Dodo requires (as we're doing Simon's French thing in May as well).
Sorry if this is upthread but roughly what dates are under consideration?

 

[StuAff]

Ahem.....

All of the options up until Adrian's genius idea sounded a bit too, I don't, troublesome in one way or another. This, however, is genius. Will see how much persuading @Flying Dodo requires (as we're doing Simon's French thing in May as well).
Sorry if this is upthread but roughly what dates are under consideration?

This is most definitely not a tour organised by the Friday Night Ride to the Coast. It's just a bunch of friends going together on a series of rides - and I am not leading it. There might be a recce of the route, which I might go on if I am free. After the recce, those on the ride may, or may not, choose to follow the route found by the recce. You will book and pay for your own accommodation. You will pay for your own food. You can stay in any hotel you wish to. If there are enough riders to make it viable, there might be a van that might carry your luggage. If not, you carry your own luggage.
You will need to have a date in mind. Some people need to book their holidays in November and December for the following year - those employed by the police and the post office spring to mind, So: here's a date: we leave on the evening of Friday September 11 and return the following weekend. You'll be back at work on the Monday morning. (I can't really do anything in the spring as I am in Patagonia for two months and in the summer PBP will be at the front of my mind.)
Vote as often as you wish. Hotels in Germany and northern Europe tend to be pricy but that tour should be brilliant.
At the end of this someone has to make a decisoon as to where the tour will go. Then you can decide if you want to sign up for it.We might have a van in support, which might have a driver. At this time, everything is up in the air.
There is no limit on numbers. BUT the only criteria is that you must have taken part in one FNRttC.

Over to you, peeps...............

 

[StuartG]

BeNeFran has many attractions and I would sign up for it. It would be easier less hard to organise. But something within me pines for a more adventurous ride. To places I've never been before and unlikely to without the comfort, organisation and camaraderie of The Fridays. Somewhere that looks just a little too far until you've done it.

Isn't that our raison d'etre?

 

[frank9755]

... but that doesn't take long to get to and is easily accessible by trains that take lots of bikes!

 

[StuartG]

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."
I wasn't thinking of going quite that far but you get the message?

 

[velovoice]

Ahem.....

Thanks, Stu!

 

[StuartG]

Well, no, it's not everyone's 'raison d'etre' - have you read the exchanges upthread Stuart? Why not do the Spanish trip if you want a challenge - the route's there and has been recced for you.

Aha - you skipped over my posts supporting you that as well as being hard it might not be accessible to us all. That, in translation, means you and me.

That is not the same as taking us to new and faraway places. Do you differ from the consensus that Friday stalwarts can do 100km a day on flat or rolling roads at conversational speed? That if you string these together over 8 days that gives you a radius of 800km/500 miles? If you draw an arc from the channel ports it gives you the range of possibilities. If you are going to cycle back, as in BeNeFran, then it halves the arc. That's a different sort of ride to LonJog and Caen-Bordeaux. I guess its a difference reflected in the 2013 Brix Tour. That was nice but I just yearn for something a bit more adventurous. May not be more mileage or harder to ride but it takes you out of familiar territory.

 

[velovoice]

Do you differ from the consensus that Friday stalwarts can do 100km a day on flat or rolling roads at conversational speed?

I wouldn't say that any consensus exists on that. I am prepared to accept that it may be true for some, perhaps even the majority - but with a lot of conditions and caveats beyond what you name here.

That if you string these together over 8 days that gives you a radius of 800km/500 miles?

This is where it begins to fall apart...

 

[StuartG]

I wouldn't say that any consensus exists on that. [100km/day]

Ahem, the whole point of The Fridays was to do just that or more on a night ride. The first few, for many of us, may have been difficult but the people who come on the Tours are mostly regulars who have got used to that and can do it for a whole week. That was AFAIK DZ's plan to maximise the accessibility of the rides yet make them a little challenging.

Are you suggesting we should reduce it or increase it?

 

[StuartG]

What exactly are you arguing about Stu? If the latest suggestion's not challenging enough for you, are you offering to organise an alternative? (And the 'ahem' is a bit rude to be honest.)

Re Emily T - I'm not sure I should apologise for something unintended. But I do detect, I hope mistakenly, you are being a bit personal about this.

To go back to the beginning. As I said I would be perfectly happy to do BeNeFran. @mmmmartin is seeking to judge if he can build a consensus around a particular ride. Some are obviously enthusiastic about this ride. I was waving a flag to see if there was support for a 2012/2014 type tour. Well nobody has yet to flock to the flag but is it necessary to tear it down on sight?

I think I made my position on alternative rides quite clear back up this thread so I'm mystified why you are appearing to be divisive on this.