FNRttC The Fridays Tour 2016

[redfalo]

But I'd suggest lengthening it by heading more due east from Hook towards Xanten as suggested by @frank9755 then via Dusseldorf to Cologne.

As in http://ridewithgps.com/routes/10792631 = 750km

fair enough. The nice thing about this is that I have recced the route for the first 215 or so km already several times over the last years, as it is my default route of riding to Germany.. This was the latest variant http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=sizhsbwdrrsphjjf It avoids the ferries around Kinderdijk. May have to be tweaked for overnight stop though. I usually stay in Nijmegen, which is 150km from Hoek and hence a bit far. Geldermalsen (100km from Hoek) may be an option but could be too small for a large group.

 

[redfalo]

I think I saw Olaf earlier this evening at our *usual* Westferry riverside spot.
I was too much in-the-zone to say hello

Actually, I did not ride via the riverside today, but used Westferry road and West India Dock road.

 

[mmmmartin]

This poll now has an exciting new option in the voting. Don't say I do nothing for you.

 

[Flying Dodo]

What was so wrong with cycling in Belgium?

What have the Belgiums ever done for us? Given us cobbles and concrete slabs for cycling on, that's what Their cycle paths were as bad as the UK!

Also, it might have been just me, but on the roads we were actually cycling on in Belgium, I thought the driving was more aggressive towards us than the UK. So the country is sadly sandwiched between France - where we're on the the roads but generally drivers were very considerate, and the Netherlands - when we're on cycle paths/lanes but generally get priority.

So perhaps that's why Belgium shows up in a less good way - neither fish nor fowl. If you see what I mean.

 

[theclaud]

What have the Belgiums ever done for us? Given us cobbles and concrete slabs for cycling on, that's what Their cycle paths were as bad as the UK!

Also, it might have been just me, but on the roads we were actually cycling on in Belgium, I thought the driving was more aggressive towards us than the UK. So the country is sadly sandwiched between France - where we're on the the roads but generally drivers were very considerate, and the Netherlands - when we're on cycle paths/lanes but generally get priority.

So perhaps that's why Belgium shows up in a less good way - neither fish nor fowl. If you see what I mean.

Yup. The last tour was the only time I've ever cycled in Belgium, so I defer to Frank's experience, but the bit we did was kinda crap for cycling, either through duff facilities, aggression or cobbles, even though it was enjoyable in other ways. I hate cobbles. I loved France, and have bunged in a couple of French votes. The proper roads plus benign motorists combo does it for me. My fave bits of the Netherlands were the small roads - the day along the Vecht was top notch. The infrastructure generally causes me constant tarmac envy, keeps us unnecessarily in single file, and is beyond infuriating at junctions. But it's almost worth it for the joy of seeing teenagers flirting on bikes, the flotilla of two-wheeled schoolkids getting in the way, and the insouciance of Dutch commuters. Whose bikes are infinitely better suited to it than ours. If it's a Netherlands tour I'm tempted to incorporate Adrian's n+1 plan...

 

[frank9755]

Sounds like you were unlucky with both the routes and the drivers as that has not been my experience.
Didn't you do the canal north from Bruges via Damme?
The concrete sets are very common on cycle paths in the Netherlands. In both countries the paths are designed for utility bikes rather than racing tyres.
Also, in Belgium, if you are a group of something like 15 or more, you are supposed to go on the road.

 

[frank9755]

Update to the update: Eurostar have now, quite sensibly, that there will be no size restriction on bike bags and boxes. Of course, you still have to get bike and bag there and back......

Article on this in the paper today. Cycl federations not happy, urging us to write to Eurostar to complain.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...r-plan-to-make-cyclists-dismantle-their-bikes

 

[velovoice]

The concrete sets are very common on cycle paths in the Netherlands. In both countries the paths are designed for utility bikes rather than racing tyres.

True but the Dutch seem to know how to lay the slabs so that they are level with each other and the 'seams' line up. The Belgians don't. The difference was very marked the moment we crossed over from BE to NL.

 

[mmmmartin]

Article on this in the paper today. Cycl federations not happy, urging us to write to Eurostar to complain.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...r-plan-to-make-cyclists-dismantle-their-bikes

Also @AKA Bob active on Faceache whipping up support for that

 

[StuartG]

@frank9755 is right. The canal side ride from Brugge via Damme is one of the most beautiful imaginable. That's all you can do when you get unforecasted cold drizzle and diarrhoea

I'm surprised at some of the negative comments above. I have found every day on every tour enjoyable - or at least memorable. Even the coach trip back from LonJoG was a small price to pay for that adventure. Certainly better than riding back!

I'm beginning to have doubts about touring by committee. It looks like heading to the LCD rather than the HCF. A bit of benign dictatorship DZ-style looks more attractive to me. The best ride is the ride the leaders want to do. If we don't like we can always fire 'em and get another pair. Till then I want to hear where Hinge & Bracket would really like to do and I'll follow them anywhere - mountains excepted.

 

[mmmmartin]

A bit of benign dictatorship DZ-style looks more attractive to me.

Worry not. Feel free to make all sorts of comments. Some have replied to fridaystour2016@gmail.com and some have sent private messages.
and then:

We will take a decision on 1st December.

 

[velovoice]

@frank9755 is right. The canal side ride from Brugge via Damme is one of the most beautiful imaginable. That's all you can do when you get unforecasted cold drizzle and diarrhoea

I'm surprised at some of the negative comments above. I have found every day on every tour enjoyable - or at least memorable. Even the coach trip back from LonJoG was a small price to pay for that adventure. Certainly better than riding back!

Let's get this straight. I too enjoyed every day of the tour. I would go back to Belgium. But I am not Pollyanna and I'm not shy about saying "this is okay but this is bloody good - let's have more of the bloody good please".

I was just commenting on the fact that as a group we have cycled very successfully in the UK and in Belgium, yet suddenly these places are not acceptable venues for Tours because people don't feel safe. I thought cycling in Belgium was OK, but not perfect obviously - much the same as in the UK and the Netherlands, as it goes.

I agree: the Lowlands Tour was a huge success.
Noting and commenting on the less than perfect bits does not mean particular places are 'unacceptable'. I haven't seen anyone here say they felt that way. It's been about preferences. I prefer cycling in the Netherlands to cycling in Belgium. And that preference has nothing to do with not feeling safe. I simply noticed that cycling in Belgium illustrated exactly the Doomsday prophecies of anti-segregationists: "it'll result in a two-tier system, with the cyclists treated as second class citizens" they cry.

No matter how pretty the scenery, how tranquil the country lanes, Belgium's legal system, fiscal priorities and culture illustrates exactly how that can happen.

I did not feel 'unsafe' or in any kind of danger in Belgium. I simply resented being made to feel inferior, in the same ways as often happens in the UK, especially in the South East.

In the Netherlands on the other hand, no, it's not perfect, yes some of the junctions were a pain. But I felt a complete lack of anxiety, which was sheer bliss and which has frankly never ever been a feature of any cycling I have done anywhere else, at any time since getting back on a bike 6 years ago.

A bit of benign dictatorship DZ-style looks more attractive to me. The best ride is the ride the leaders want to do. If we don't like we can always fire 'em and get another pair. Till then I want to hear where Hinge & Bracket would really like to do and I'll follow them anywhere - mountains excepted.

Stuart, maybe you haven't been paying attention but that is exactly what is going to happen...

 

[StuartG]

We will take a decision on 1st December.

Well if you don't go with the winning option there will be trouble. That's currently option 5. How many times am I going to have to register to keep it there

 

[velovoice]

Well if you don't go with the winning option there will be trouble. That's currently option 5. How many times am I going to have to register to keep it there

Option 5 does not exclude any of the others you know!

 

[velovoice]

Oh no, that is awful. I had no idea that this was how it has been for you.

What can I say, I'm an anxious person. Which was why it was so nice.