the Fridays Tour 2014

[MarkA]

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

I was never invited to see your privates in the bath

Just sayin'

 

[dellzeqq]

http://goo.gl/maps/aDkUL for London to Gelsenkirchen, Soest and Berlin

 

[mmmmartin]

As for Spanish hotel charges
In January from Gib to Madrid I paid €40 per night for a twin room pretty much all the way. Even a working men's hostel in a working class town was that price. In a very ppor town we paid 35 I think and once paid 50 for a really posh place inc breakfast. The Ibis at Madrid airport was €60 per night. Not sure what the Pyrennees foothills would charge.

 

[MarkA]

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

This looks very tasty, and the option of extensions into the hills has me positively salivating in anticipation. I do like hills, just in case nobody noticed.

 

[srw]

Our routes to Bordeaux are in the first link in my sig - but accommodation is hit and miss. There's one small hotel (and presumably a campsite) every 20miles. Bordeaux's a decent destination in a way that La Rochelle probably isn't.

 

[Aperitif]

Bike hire - no
Van & Nicholas - yes

FTFY

 

[redfalo]

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

oh no, please don't. It's really one of the best rides in the portfolio

 

[redfalo]

http://goo.gl/maps/aDkUL for London to Gelsenkirchen, Soest and Berlin

oh yes, looks good.

If there isn't football involved, there is no need to go via Gelsenkirchen though. I instantly see the point about Soest of course. I would recommend going north of Gelsenkirchen and cutting down to Soest south east of Dortmund (something like this, what I have ridden with Katharina last year: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=eiisqblpcarmnqih) This avoids going through the German equivalent of the midlands.

This is the way Mice and I took last November to Gelsenkirchen.
http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=avppallzcfbxqmtk

 

[redfalo]

http://goo.gl/maps/aDkUL for London to Gelsenkirchen, Soest and Berlin

Here is a brief itinerary of how this route could look like. http://goo.gl/maps/8rglg

All cities for overnight stays have youth hostels, where a bed (in a 6 to 8 beeded room) costs about 30/35 Euros (=26-31 Pounds) including breadfast. Youth hostels also offer rooms with 2 to 4 beds these days, and all cities are big enough to have real hotels as well. Some days might appear a bit long, but it's mostly flat.



Day 1 - Friday
night ride to Harwich

Day 2 - Saturday
get on the morning ferry in Harwich, which leaves at 9am, and arrives at Hoek of Holland ferry port at 5pm
Hoek of Holland to central Rotterdam - 20 miles ( a lovely traffic free ride btw)

Day 3 - Sunday:
Rotterdam to Kleve – 81 miles

Day 4 - Monday:
Kleve – Lünen – 70 miles

Day 5 - Tuesday:
Lünen – Paderborn via Soest – 60 miles

Day 6 - Wednesday:
Paderborn – Goslar 88 miles

Day 7 - Thursday:
Goslar to Magdeburg – 60 miles

Day 8 - Friday
Magdeburg – Berlin – 88 miles

Regarding a recce: Gordon and MMMartin already expressed their interest. I could do an extended weekend.

 

[mistral]

As for Spanish hotel charges
In January from Gib to Madrid I paid €40 per night for a twin room pretty much all the way. Even a working men's hostel in a working class town was that price. In a very ppor town we paid 35 I think and once paid 50 for a really posh place inc breakfast. The Ibis at Madrid airport was €60 per night. Not sure what the Pyrennees foothills would charge.

How did you cope with all the scrofulous peasants?

 

[Tim Hall]

Dellzeqq, in addition to Redfalo's input, I reckon Auntie Helen could provide useful stuff about riding from the UK to Berlin. It seems she does it every other week. (slight exaggeration for effect).

 

[dellzeqq]

hhmmmm.... I'm not sure about Kleve. The residents of Soest haven't forgiven them for this

"Wisset hochgeborener Fürst, Herr Dietrich von Moers, dass wir, Bürgermeister, Rat, Gilden, Ämter, Bruderschaften und die ganze Gemeinheit der Stadt Soest, Eurer Lande, Leute, Untertanen und aller derjenigen, die Euch untergeben sind, Feind sein wollen. Und wir entsagen Euch in und mit diesem Brief, weil wir den hochgeborenen unseren gnädigen lieben Junker Johann, ältesten Sohn von Kleve und von der Mark, lieber haben als Euch und die Eurigen, und wir wollen deswegen gegen Euch und Eure Leute unsere Ehre verwahrt haben.“

 

[Gordon P]

Regarding a recce: Gordon and MMMartin already expressed their interest. I could do an extended weekend.

I'm agnostic about what, how & where, partly 'cos I think together we can sort something brilliant out whatever, & partly as (sadly) I may not be available to come along next June as an antipodean trip is on the cards.
However I am up for a recce although not this autumn & November is probably too late! Anywhere anytime next spring until end of May.

 

[redfalo]

hhmmmm.... I'm not sure about Kleve. The residents of Soest haven't forgiven them for this

"Wisset hochgeborener Fürst, Herr Dietrich von Moers, dass wir, Bürgermeister, Rat, Gilden, Ämter, Bruderschaften und die ganze Gemeinheit der Stadt Soest, Eurer Lande, Leute, Untertanen und aller derjenigen, die Euch untergeben sind, Feind sein wollen. Und wir entsagen Euch in und mit diesem Brief, weil wir den hochgeborenen unseren gnädigen lieben Junker Johann, ältesten Sohn von Kleve und von der Mark, lieber haben als Euch und die Eurigen, und wir wollen deswegen gegen Euch und Eure Leute unsere Ehre verwahrt haben.“

History, again.

English: http://www.zum.de/whkmla/military/15cen/soestfeud14441449.html
more extensive version in German: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soester_Fehde

This is the first time I've heard about that, BTW.

 

[redfalo]

Dellzeqq, in addition to Redfalo's input, I reckon Auntie Helen could provide useful stuff about riding from the UK to Berlin. It seems she does it every other week. (slight exaggeration for effect).

Here's Helen's blog post on her 2012 trip from Berlin to the big smoke (done in 17 rather than 7 days, tough) http://www.auntiehelen.co.uk/berlin-to-london/