FNRttC The Fridays tour 2014

[mmmmartin]

We're home. Cofee at Gatwick. Flying with a bike is a nerve-wracking experience. Wrapping them, going to a different terminal to check-in, then handing over the hold bags, then back to the other terminal to hand the bikes in, then going back to the other terminal to check in properly, and finally queuing in a sweaty shed with - no seats - 300 others was a stressful three-hour nightmare. I had to show my boarding pass five times, and gordon's boarding pass was also on my phone so we finished up explaining 10 times what was going on.
Then we saw them unloading the bikes.
They came through on the carousel, to our horror, but apart from a small bash to Gordon's front brake, after half an hour an filthy hands, they were fine.
Frankly, I would have preferred to ride back.
Alex sat next to someone who vomited four times.

 

[ianmac62]

Well done, all of you!

It's not just the flight but it's the worrying all the time between
booking the flight and and making the actual journey too.

Brilliant daily journal. Really looking forward to the trip!

 

[redfalo]

Great stuff! Can you give us an idea of the total milage? C And what's the village after which the traffic got sticky? I think I fancy cycling the whole thing, and would like to have a look at the route. So GPX tracks would be highly appreciated.

 

[mmmmartin]

yes i will supply gpx tracks for those hard riders who want to do the whole thing.
further details will follow when i have had a chance to catch up with myself

 

[Gordon P]

Great stuff! Can you give us an idea of the total milage? C And what's the village after which the traffic got sticky? I think I fancy cycling the whole thing, and would like to have a look at the route. So GPX tracks would be highly appreciated.

We covered 740 kms - you will probably do a bit less as you won't have to circumnavigate car parks & other interesting locales in the same way as we did (sometimes).
Hourtin is the place after which the traffic got heavier, although no heavier than I ride regularly on the Epping Road (but it may be heavier in June? Dutch camper vans etc). The problem is that from Soulac you either use a windy bike track near the coast; the roads we went down (after Hourtin to Carcans, Brach & picked up a good bike path at Sainte Helene; or undulate through the Medoc vineyards, which I'm sure would be the best but would take considerably longer (it took us 7.5 hours from Soulac to the hotel at Gare St Jean, going fast but with some breaks to eat & admire the human scenery in towns: moving average 22.4 kph for the first 88kms from Royan, including the visit to the bike shop).

 

[mmmmartin]

admire the human scenery in towns

 

[mmmmartin]

GPX tracks available for download on the conversation. A film should be up there later, via YouTube. Admittedly a badly edited and poorly-produced film, but it should an idea of how The Recce went and what The Real Thing might be like.

 

[mmmmartin]

it is up there but very poor quality and i am trying to upload one that would be much clearer

 

[AlexB]

A few comments on kit. I think you need 28c tyres at least. Some of the paths are a bit rough. I think 23 or 25c would give a pretty rough and uncomfortable ride. Likewise, this isn't a good ride for fancy low spoke count wheels. I got pretty sunburnt at one stage and rode with arm warmers and 3/4 length leggings to keep the sun off. This combination might get pretty hot in June. Chasing down some lightweight sun protection coverings might be a good idea.

 

[dellzeqq]

What tyres would Mr DZ use?

23s. I did all kinds of off-roading on those old 16 spoke wheels. My personal feeling is that if you have a light bike you can put a bit more weight on the pedals and a bit less on the saddle and take the impact out of the ups and downs.

 

[mmmmartin]

About half the cycle tracks were made of tarmac in better condition than many English roads - after all, there are no frosts in the south and there is no motorised traffic so the tarmac is not damaged by much. The other half were crushed roadstone, which drains very well. One was horrid and the bikes became filthy, so we won't be using that one. Someone light might find 23 tyres OK. What tyres do you have on the light bike?

PS slightly better version of the film now linked from the conversation.

 

[mmmmartin]

That looks like the right decision. Have a look at the badly-made film and take a close look at the surfaces, I tried to show what we'll be riding on. The worst surface is also a completely flat former railway line that winds its way through some nasty steep hills, so we felt it was worth the penalty of not being tarmac (It's also out of the wind because of the trees, and will be in the shade if it is scorchio.). At one point where there there had been maintenance machines trundling back and forth and we had to walk for about 10 metres - that was the worst surface we ever saw. It seems to me that 25s on a light bike with a tiny, minute rider, will be fine. And the bit where we did 30k in an hour (there's a bit of it in the film - it's gently downhill for miles) will be brilliant on the road bike.

 

[wanda2010]

I'll stick with 23s on the 'big' bike on the basis that my 650c wheels survived with 23s last year. I'll double up on the tubes as a precaution.

 

[StuAff]

That looks like the right decision. Have a look at the badly-made film and take a close look at the surfaces, I tried to show what we'll be riding on. The worst surface is also a completely flat former railway line that winds its way through some nasty steep hills, so we felt it was worth the penalty of not being tarmac (It's also out of the wind because of the trees, and will be in the shade if it is scorchio.). At one point where there there had been maintenance machines trundling back and forth and we had to walk for about 10 metres - that was the worst surface we ever saw. It seems to me that 25s on a light bike with a tiny, minute rider, will be fine. And the bit where we did 30k in an hour (there's a bit of it in the film - it's gently downhill for miles) will be brilliant on the road bike.

Good-oh. I will be on the Viner. 25mms + full carbon trumps 28mm + aluminium. As good as the Trek is (and it's very good indeed) it doesn't have quite the same comfort level.

 

[Andrew Br]

28mm for me; it's what I have on both of my "fast"* bikes.
Give it a couple of years and the peleton will be on 28s.
I'm way ahead of the curve.
They'll have discs as well .

Helen will be on 25mm and she also has those quaint rim-brake thingies.
I'll be carrying the tools and pump and I'll be dropping back to the team car to get water and gels; it's written into my Domestique's contract.

* Yes, yes, I know.

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