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

[frank9755]

Would you like to make a specific suggestion, Stuart? Then people can give it a thumbs up or down.

 

[velovoice]

I was about to reply to StuartG's comment but I see TMN and Adrian have made the same points, in fewer words.

 

[StuartG]

Would you like to make a specific suggestion, Stuart? Then people can give it a thumbs up or down.

The poll gives the greatest support to @redfalo's ride. That is the biggest thumbs up. The issue is that, as planned, it is significantly more than the 100km/day average which would, for some of us, be a bit too much. We could still do that and us weaker riders could decide whether to forgo it or struggle. Personally I would prefer to struggle but maybe it could be shrunk a little - either by varying the destination or starting from another point to make it more inclusive.

 

[Haitch]

If you get anywhere near Amersfoort (20km northwest of Utrecht) give me a shout and I'll make lunch for you. That should be more than enough challenge.

 

[velovoice]

The new suggestion wasn't an option when I voted. I for one would withdraw my vote for the German ride (which I made on the principle that it would probably get amended as time went on) and vote for this one instead.

Same here.

 

[redfalo]

here's an idea

http://bit.ly/1r4KfJ1

about 500k - not including the nightride from Newhaven, so not an "eyeballs out" tour. Night ride to Newhaven, easy ride to Neufchatel to a decent hotel in the town or to the B&B about five miles away that I have used annually for about 10 years. Avoiding the busy coastal road to the north-west of Dieppe - I rode that in September and it's tedious and busy. Then we turn inland and follow a river valley - I think this is the route followed by The Lovely @swarm_catcher when she does the DIY 200k audax by GPS to her parents' house in Belgium. Then we cross Belgium, and the odd kinks in the route take us to Ostend, which is much more interesting and scenic than you would think, but we avoid the busy coastal route - which can be bloody windy as @StuAff knows from his ride back this May. Then we see Bruges, which is lovely with canals and old stone buildings etc etc. Into the Netherlands and along the coastal dykes which have things called "cycle paths" but anyone who has ridden in the UK will laugh at the term - these are as wide as a busy UK road and banned to all traffic except bikes and maintenance lorries. We pass some enormous pieces of machinery in the dykes, used to control the water levels. You soon see why the job of water engineer in the Netherlands in so important. The strange kink in the route takes us to the museum set up after the floods in 1956 in which 3,000 people died. The buildings of the museum are housed in some concrete cassions left over from D-Day and they were towed across the North Sea and sunk in the gaps in the dykes to keep the floods out. Many countries of the world rushed to help by building houses and those houses are still there today, called "Norway Street" etc etc. I've been there and it was really interesting, Worth a short detour. Then we go along more dykes through the countryside and return on the Hook of Holland ferry to Harwich. Amsterdam is a bit of schlepp and the ferry from Esbjerg has closed - there are rumours of it opening again but only rumours. So we can't bank on it.
This should be an interesting tour, not hard with lots of hills so if you want that you may prefer to follow Simon's tour from Irun to Girona.

Thoughts please - the more critical the better - the "hallelujah chorus" is no good.

I like the idea of a ferry port to ferry port ride very much. You don't lose days for getting to the start of the ride and back, and don't have to worry about stuff like train strikes, bike reservations and so on. Martin's route could easily be made a tat longer, either by going through Kinderdijk (but also through Rotterdam, which is generally fine), or by making a bigger loop through Flanders. I rode from Lille via north of Brussels to Germany this summer, and was really surprised how lovely Flanders is. Logistics are easier, and given the flatness of the landscape and relatively short days, one would not need a van, which helds costs down and eliminates an important risk (van man's illness). Moreover, the ride may be structured in a way that people only do the first weekend and take a Dunkirk ferry back to England.

I suggest we forget about the Berlin ride. It requires daily distances bigger than some people fancy doing. More importantly, getting back without a van is very difficult for a group of more than 4 to 6 riders, due to the limited number of bike spaces on trains.

 

[mmmmartin]

Poll changed with added choice of exciting and delightful flat ride with excellent wine and beer through pretty villages and across massive dykes with wonderful cycle paths. You can change your votes, you know.

A few thoughts.
Unworry about logistics, I'll sort that. If it can't be done I'll say so and the idea will be dropped.
This Dieppe-Hook idea seems to have caused a flurry of enthusiasm, I can see why. It's interesting and not difficult. The cycling will be good and varied.
A confession: I thought the Bordeaux-Med idea would attract those from this year who wanted to complete the ride, it seems not to have done so in spite of the obvious fact that the weather will be good. It would be good riding, nice hotels, not too pricey, mostly flat, and easy logistically for riders who would fly down on cheap airfares while the bikes went in the van. The trouble with this trip is that you must have 20 people putting £100 each into the jury to make the van possible and there might not be that many.
The Berlin ride is a good idea, but getting the bikes back needs the van. Same problem.
This ferry port to ferry port ride is easy to organise and covers interesting ground. It seems to tick all the boxes. I understand @StuartG and his search for a challenge: he can go in front when we cross those dykes into the teeth of a north-easterly gale. That'll teach him :-) :-$
Let's see what responses we have.

 

[redfalo]

a detour via Arras and a visit of the new WW1 memorial could be interesting: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-eu-29991019

 

[Andrew Br]

Bordeaux-Med got my vote (and that of HelenS and CathyG) but the current favourite suggestion sounds good as well.

 

[StuartG]

Boredeaux-Med got my vote (and that of HelenS and CathyG) but the current favourite suggestion sounds good as well.

Paris - Med is doable in 8 days ~ 850km. Form an orderly queue at St Pancras

 

[Andrew Br]

It's a typo (now corrected) in my original post, not a reflection on Bordeaux .

 

[Flying Dodo]

I like the idea of Dieppe to Hook.

Interestingly, only today I had an email advising me of a cheap Netherlands map for my GPS, so it must be a sign. With the French map I bought last month, and taking account of the overlap in coverage into neighbouring countries, it means I only have a tiny gap around Ostend to Bruges in the middle of Belgium. And Belgium's not big, so not much chance of getting lost.

 

[BalkanExpress]

I like the idea of Dieppe to Hook.

Interestingly, only today I had an email advising me of a cheap Netherlands map for my GPS, so it must be a sign. With the French map I bought last month, and taking account of the overlap in coverage into neighbouring countries, it means I only have a tiny gap around Ostend to Bruges in the middle of Belgium. And Belgium's not big, so not much chance of getting lost.

Ostend to Bruges is straight along the side of the canal, even I would struggle to get lost

 

[mmmmartin]

Yebbut..... on the first of the @swarm_catcher rides we turned south while following the canal and it was only when I realised the sun was coming up in the west (which is wrong) that we were heading south instead of north west. So even we managed to go wrong.

 

[redfalo]

Yebbut..... on the first of the @swarm_catcher rides we turned south while following the canal and it was only when I realised the sun was coming up in the west (which is wrong) that we were heading south instead of north west. So even we managed to go wrong.

I think @AKA Bob and I did the same mistake on the second Flemish NRttK.