frank9755
Cyclist
- Location
- West London
I've been thinking of this for a while and discussed it with a couple of people. The thread on FNRttC syndication has jogged me into action.
This is just an initial outline just to see if many people would be interested. Most likely it will not be until next April or early May (to coincide with the Dutch bulbfields being in flower...)
My first thought is to do something a bit like the Newhaven-Dieppe-Paris trip that a bunch of us did in July, like this:
Thursday
Midnight: meet at HPC for overnight ride to Harwich (maybe an hour or two earlier if necessary to make ferry)
Friday
Arrive in Harwich, have breakfast, then:
9:00am ferry to Hoek
4:45pm arrive, get off and cycle the 12 miles to Delft. Delft is a very pretty city, with bulbfields nearby and many other attractions that I don't yet know about.
Stay over in Delft
Saturday
Early start and ride to Bruges. Its about 110 miles which is a fair distance, but it is completely flat which makes it easier (In fact, if anyone has never ridden 100 miles in a day and wants to, this would be a good opportunity!)
If people have never cycled in the Netherlands it is worth doing - just so you know what to expect when you die and go to heaven! It's very pretty, there is basically a parallel road network just for bikes, when you encounter cars they are considerate, and there are no hills. The only possible fly in the ointment is that, without hills, it can be a bit windy. Belgium is almost as good.
If you've not been, Bruges is at least as pretty as Delft and has more of the most wonderful beer that we could ever wish for, to wash down excellent moules-frites or anything else for that matter.
Sunday
Come home. Plenty of easy options:
1. Eurostar via Brussels.
2. Ride to Dunkirk. Only 42 miles, plenty of ferries to Dover. Takes a couple of hours and the cost is £12.50 (with bike) at the moment.
2a. Detour via Westvleteren. I need to do some more research on this option (Els - are you around...?) but it is not much of a detour and, rest assured, it involves very good beer.
Anyone fancy coming? No binding commitments at this stage as it won't be for 6 months but would be good to know if it is worth doing a bit of organising.
Frank
This is just an initial outline just to see if many people would be interested. Most likely it will not be until next April or early May (to coincide with the Dutch bulbfields being in flower...)
My first thought is to do something a bit like the Newhaven-Dieppe-Paris trip that a bunch of us did in July, like this:
Thursday
Midnight: meet at HPC for overnight ride to Harwich (maybe an hour or two earlier if necessary to make ferry)
Friday
Arrive in Harwich, have breakfast, then:
9:00am ferry to Hoek
4:45pm arrive, get off and cycle the 12 miles to Delft. Delft is a very pretty city, with bulbfields nearby and many other attractions that I don't yet know about.
Stay over in Delft
Saturday
Early start and ride to Bruges. Its about 110 miles which is a fair distance, but it is completely flat which makes it easier (In fact, if anyone has never ridden 100 miles in a day and wants to, this would be a good opportunity!)
If people have never cycled in the Netherlands it is worth doing - just so you know what to expect when you die and go to heaven! It's very pretty, there is basically a parallel road network just for bikes, when you encounter cars they are considerate, and there are no hills. The only possible fly in the ointment is that, without hills, it can be a bit windy. Belgium is almost as good.
If you've not been, Bruges is at least as pretty as Delft and has more of the most wonderful beer that we could ever wish for, to wash down excellent moules-frites or anything else for that matter.
Sunday
Come home. Plenty of easy options:
1. Eurostar via Brussels.
2. Ride to Dunkirk. Only 42 miles, plenty of ferries to Dover. Takes a couple of hours and the cost is £12.50 (with bike) at the moment.
2a. Detour via Westvleteren. I need to do some more research on this option (Els - are you around...?) but it is not much of a detour and, rest assured, it involves very good beer.
Anyone fancy coming? No binding commitments at this stage as it won't be for 6 months but would be good to know if it is worth doing a bit of organising.
Frank
