the Fridays Tour 2014

[martint235]

If you just let me rustle up your confession - 100% genuine, of course, you can sign at the bottom.

Here's a pen you can borrow. No, I do want it back you thieving git.

Oh yes, it's gone lunchtime so you're awake now!!

 

[Wobblers]

Oh yes, it's gone lunchtime so you're awake now!!

There's not much call for originality in your job, is there Martin?

 

[martint235]

There's not much call for originality in your job, is there Martin?

No point over-egging the omelette is there? Efficiency and re-use is what it's all about.

 

[velovoice]

You two wanna get a room??

 

[Wobblers]

You two wanna get a room??

I'm not too sure that would be terribly wise...

 

[Tim Hall]

Hmmm. If I start murdering all the family now I might just be able to get enough time and space, unimpeded by their various crises, to make it.

I'm seeing a blend of "Kind Hearts and Coronets" with "Summer Holiday".

 

[srw]

According to the chap in seat 61, Girona 0944 arrives at St Pancras at 1939. OK, taking a bike might be an issue, but this is where vans score.

 

[StuartG]

I've driven the bit between Olot & Andorra. Its bleak magnificence was unforgettable but I wouldn't ride it. Altitude and the long slow climbs without a hosterly for many many miles will be a pain if too hot, cold, windy or wet. Which means it may be a cunning plan by our leader to reduce the average age of the tour (by the end if not the beginning). Great for the young and hearty and worth it just for them. Why not divert to Figueres between Olot & Girona to sample Dali's excesses? Or go down and visit Milton Keynes does Venice (Empuriabrava) if you want to enjoy the Med?

Maybe a softer variation towards the latter half for the wimpy hearts to end in Barcelona or Tarragona/Reus?

Would there be a sag wagon to rush helmets to the scene of any police interaction?

 

[Dogtrousers]

I'm seeing a blend of "Kind Hearts and Coronets" with "Summer Holiday".

First Paul Temple, and now Kind Hearts and Coronets. You display excellent taste.

Not sure about Summer Holiday though.

 

[thom]

As a casual observer of these trips, I have to ask the question, why stop at Girona when the med is so close ? There are various classic coast to coast routes - going from Atlantic to Med through the Pyrenees is one of them.
There is quite reasonable airport access from thereabouts - Barcelona or Perpignan are within a couple of hours on the train I think, but that Mediterranean coast is really beautiful and worth investigation.

 

[mmmmartin]

It would be 50% more hilly than Normandy if Charlie's comment on the other thread is correct. However there would be no opportunity for a day off. Each day would have to be ridden. Unless there was a very special van.

 

[dellzeqq]

the real hazard on the road up to Envalira is not altitude or cold, but special offer electrical goods and exhaust fumes. The new tunnel would make it a good deal more pleasant, in that it would take the traffic away. I do accept, though, that running through Figueres would be a lot of fun. The road from Figueres to Girona is not suitable for a group ride, though.

Girona is a fabulous place to end the ride. A Grade 1 party destination with lots and lots of accommodation and a cheap airport nearby. One could go on to the coast at Tossa del Mar and then go down to Blanes and then on to Barcelona Prat by train.

 

[dellzeqq]

It would be 50% more hilly than Normandy if Charlie's comment on the other thread is correct. However there would be no opportunity for a day off. Each day would have to be ridden. Unless there was a very special van.

the roads in Northern Spain are fantastically well graded (the only exception I can remember is between Bilbao and Vergara). They have to be to take trucks carrying stone. Driven by men who have brandy for breakfast. Whoops!

I've an e-mail that suggests that Donostia/San Sebastian might make a better bet, and I'm persuaded.

http://goo.gl/maps/Npzsn por ejemplo

 

[mmmmartin]

Certainly my experience of riding Gib to Madrid in January was that the roads are indeed well graded, with long gentle inclines. Good surfaces, too. Polite drivers.

 

[dellzeqq]

once again, I'm open to persuasion on anything and everything. I think I should say though, that the SFNY dream is over. I looked at you lot in Grosville and thought 'would you really spend a month on your own, risking life and limb, for megabucks when a week with Los Viernes (or Die Freitags) is as good as it's ever going to get?' Somebody told Susie that this last week was the best holiday he or she could remember, and I confess I'm moved by that kind of crap, and also by the photographs that Stephen took in Chez Cri-Cri.