the Fridays Tour 2014

[StuartG]

2012 was great. 2013 was great but different. 2014 - a hybrid?
Say 4 days getting somewhere, 4 days there, 4 days back. 1 vehicle for excess luggage. Cherbourg to La Rochelle is around 300 interesting miles. And you have already recced the first 30

Other sea crossings are available ..

 

[Tim Hall]

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

Not sure about Summer Holiday though.

It was either Summer Holiday or Les Vacances de M. Hulot. And if I'd cast Dellzeqq as Jacques Tati we'd never hear the end of it.

 

[AKA Bob]

Me and the Brompton are ready!!!!!!!

 

[mmmmartin]

Sorry, @AKA Bob you are now officially Too Fast Onna Brompton

 

[wanda2010]

Currently sick with a 'welcome to the UK' lurgy but still able to wield a pen and use the keyboard. Where do I sign? Maybe I should get Mark to take me on a hills training course .

 

[redfalo]

http://goo.gl/maps/Bkl1g ?

This would surely be a stunning ride, and I would probably be in. However, it might be a break in terms of "inclusiveness", which is one fantastic feature of The Friday's. I guess many people would be scared to sh*t and be turned off in advance. That's fair enough if the idea is to keep numbers low, which makes logistics easier.
London-Harwich-Hoek of Holland-Berlin would be much duller in terms of landscape, but might attract more people. From the coast it's about 450 miles. From Calais (which would keep ferry costs low) it's about 570 miles. In both occasions, it could entail a real night ride to the ferry port. Easyjet runs tons of flights to Berlin, you can take the train (via Cologne and Brussles, bike has to be boxed).
Hotel costs in Germany are not that over the top. You should be able to get a double for about 120 Euros, and youth hostels are much cheaper (they don't require group bookings anymore these days).

If there is a significant chance that this ride makes it on the short list, I'm happy to help with the planning and looking at the options.

 

[dellzeqq]

I don't know of anybody who was put off by Normandy as a destination.

In a general way, people might be put off by the cost, the terrain or the weather. I suppose they might be put off by a lack of interest in the part of the world the tour goes to.

The big issue with northern Spain is the cost, and that depends, critically, on the journey to the start and the return from the finish. That's what I'll be attempting to sort in the next week or so. On every other front it's a great holiday - the countryside is beautiful, the towns and villages are striking, the roads are easy and the weather in June is likely to be congenial. The big thing for me is that organising on the road would be easy-peasy. The low traffic levels, the lack of traffic, the consistency of the roads would make my life much more relaxed. Thirty five people across Edinburgh - nightmare. Fifty people from Pamplona to Jaca - piece of cake.

 

[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.

that takes us to the really big decision. Do we want a tour based on one place, or a moving-on tour?

And if we had a moving on tour, would the van with chef be worthwhile? It might make it easier to camp if the climate was decent

 

[srw]

camp

You two may be in search of times lost, but really - there are limits!

The big advantage of LonJoG was that there was a big range of accommodation available, from fields with taps to 5* luxury B&Bs. The big advantage of Normandy was that the accommodation was stupidly opulent for a bargain basement price.

If people have somewhere they feel comfortable sleeping (whether that's somewhere they can easily afford or somewhere they can stretch out and have a long hot shower) the riding becomes so much easier.

 

[martint235]

You clearly didn't see quite how small my private bath was.

Surely anything larger than a teensy, weensy thing would be a waste??

 

[rvw]

You clearly didn't see quite how small my private bath was.

He did see how small our private hip-bath was! I think our gite the previous week, in Brittany, probably cost about the same, and the entire house there was smaller than our room at the chateau.

I'd second srw's point about camping - some of you may have noticed that he's not at his best first thing in the morning even in a comfortable place...

 

[mmmmartin]

A Spanish recce would not be as simple as a French recce. And fewer Fridays speak Spanish than speak French. If you think my French was bad, you ought to hear my Spanish.

 

[StuartG]

In a general way, people might be put off by the cost, the terrain or the weather. I suppose they might be put off by a lack of interest in the part of the world the tour goes to. The big issue with northern Spain is the cost, and that depends, critically, on the journey to the start and the return from the finish.

There is also the time/cost element getting to/from Spain. Boat/coach turns a one week trip into two. Flying with one's precious steed is inconvenient, a worry and a cost.

On Utah Beach we met a bunch of Canadians who had rented their Giant road bikes in Ireland. We could do the same in Bilbao. Only about £100 for a week here: http://www.cycling-rentals.com/equipments/bikemodels - probably significantly less if we could negotiate a multiple deal. No worries, just find the cheapest flight from your local airport and assemble at designated bar, collect and ride ... If we hired a van for a week it could take luggage and return the bikes back to base. People would still be free to bring their Compags or Bromptons of course ...

 

[StuartG]

To be honest I have enough trouble getting up hills on my own bike that was bought and tweaked to fit me, let alone on some hired clunker that's too big.

I have the same worry as you except we are looking at full scale mountains - not hills!

I think it goes without saying that this tour would not attract us wimps without some guarantee on maximum gradients countersigned by Agent Hilda in neat Calvados ... and that is key - are the Fridays to remain a broad church to encourage cyclists of any age or athletic ability to extend themselves to 70/100 mile rides at no more than conversational pace?

 

[dellzeqq]

I have the same worry as you except we are looking at full scale mountains - not hills!

I think it goes without saying that this tour would not attract us wimps without some guarantee on maximum gradients countersigned by Agent Hilda in neat Calvados ... and that is key - are the Fridays to remain a broad church to encourage cyclists of any age or athletic ability to extend themselves to 70/100 mile rides at no more than conversational pace?

take it from me - if it's not do-able by a broad range of people then I wouldn't want to do it. And therein lies the merit of the recce ride - whether it be the first two stages of LonJog or all of Normandy, I had confidence that it was pitched right because Susie thought it was pitched right. That's why we didn't pursue Barcelona to Nice - it was too tough with too much traffic.