the Fridays Tour 2014

[dellzeqq]

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.

Camping would be an option, but not the only option. The thing is - people who didn't fancy camping in Scotland might go for camping in Spain - and the presence of a paid cook/van driver might make the camping easier on both the legs and the budget.

 

[ianrauk]

That looks like a brilliant route. May have to throw my hat in the ring for this one.

 

[redfalo]

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

Generally speaking, I am fine with both tour options but would prefer a moving-on tour in 2014. Normandy was very very nice, but I found the cycling more challenging (= more enjoyable) on LonJOG. I think the change of scenery and the feeling of getting closer to a goal is very nice. As far as I'm concerened, we don't need a chef. And a van is pretty handy but from my personal point of view not strictly necessary even on a moving tour. (I guess most people will disagree on that one)

In terms of Stuart's suggestion to hire bikes at the destination: That's possible of course, but I would not fancy it at all. I love riding my own bike :-)

 

[StuartG]

And can we lose the use of the word 'wimps' please @StuartG - that might be how you see yourself, but it's not how I see my lack of climbing ability.

My apologies TMN. Words mean different things to different people, something I so often forget ... has AH forgiven me yet over the p-word?

 

[martint235]

I assume all bike hire places carry the full range of frame sizes, down to the very smallest. Not all of us are average-sized, male, strong cyclists you know. 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.

This would be my concern but from the other end so to speak. None of my bikes are what could be termed an average fit.

 

[srw]

I'll post a picture at some stage of the only tandem I've seen for hire recently. It might work for a 5-mile saunter...

 

[PaulRide]

I've been discussing bike trips with Mrs R over the last couple of days and her reaction to DZ's itinerary was:

(a) to check that this was in addition to, rather than instead of, the ride to Paris that she'd like to do next Summer; and

(b) to say that it sounds like an excellent idea, not least because she would then not feel guilty about going on a Baltic tour with her choir in May.

I'd be interested to know what options for accommodation and long-distance transport start to emerge. I'd be keen to be able to ride my own bike on such a trip, and could cope with camping, particularly if there's a support van of some sort.

 

[dellzeqq]

Paul - I keep trying to dump the Paris ride and this might indeed be the last one

as for bike hire - unless you're going to Mallorca or Dartmoor, it's not worth even thinking about. Hence the van with the cook.

 

[dellzeqq]

That's great news, but Susie is not the best barometer for cyclists like me any more. And can we lose the use of the word 'wimps' please @StuartG - that might be how you see yourself, but it's not how I see my lack of climbing ability.

she's no kind of barometer - she's an intelligent observer able to make judgements based on her knowledge of the Fridays

 

[ianrauk]

Bike hire - no
Van & cook - yes

 

[dellzeqq]

I'm looking at Channel Ports to La Rochelle/Bordeaux with Martin. A shade more bucolic, but possibly less dramatic - albeit that we could hug the western coast down to La Rochelle.

The Irun to Girona (I've been playing with it) trip would allow Doctor Mark and friends to loop northward, adding perhaps forty or fifty miles to a day and crack a few passes. That might interest you, Ian. At the moment the basic ride comes in at about 412 miles over six days. Susie is keen to do a recce (if you pick a stretch of road pretty much at random and go street view it's pretty compelling stuff) so we'll see if we can get it done this autumn

The basic thing is the money. I'm alert to people's concerns on this. One or two people did LonJog on £300 plus grub (£95 for the coach, about half that for the van, and maybe £25 a night for accommodation). I'd have thought Normandy was a bit more expensive. Northern Spain would be more expensive still, but it's a question of how much more expensive.

Accommodation isn't that expensive. I'm closing in on the van hire, and the driver/chef would probably set us back about £20 each. It's hiring the coach down and back up that's the difficulty.
http://www.lumbier.es/es/visitenos/dondedormir/object.aspx?o=3243
http://www.lumbier.es/es/visitenos/dondedormir/object.aspx?o=3244

 

[PaulRide]

Paul - I keep trying to dump the Paris ride and this might indeed be the last one

Just to clarify, the Paris ride of which she spoke was our own family pootle rather than the Fridays version.

 

[dellzeqq]

Just to clarify, the Paris ride of which she spoke was our own family pootle rather than the Fridays version.

sorry - I misunderstood
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr...,3,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,13,17,18,19,20,21&t=m&z=13

 

[rvw]

I'm looking at Channel Ports to La Rochelle/Bordeaux with Martin. A shade more bucolic, but possibly less dramatic - albeit that we could hug the western coast down to La Rochelle.

S&I - with heavier tandem, laden - took, IIRC, two weeks from De Panne to Bordeaux. S can probably still find the routes, if that would help, though we included various tweaks which added time (mainly to avoid hills, but also a detour to visit the Ile de Noirmoutier, which was my French exchange location). One thing we nearly got very wrong was around Le Mans - one day later and the race would have closed several roads in our direct path!

 

[rvw]

Oh - and there is one little D road (the D9? @srw needs to confirm) leading down into La Rochelle which is positively suicidal. It's a nice, narrow, straight road which means that the thundering HGVs can see far enough to overtake each other - right into the path of an oncoming tandem...