FNRttC The Fridays' Tour, 2018

[StuAff]

There are two people on this recce: one is 71 years old. The other is me.

How hard can it be?

Depends how much liquid carb-loading you've done beforehand.

 

[Gordon P]

71 years old

73 in June

 

[Gordon P]

Day 2 done. Monday is market day in Pont L'Évêque so we headed there along a flattish road, quite busy for France until a side road leading to the Autoroute. We explored a hilly option into the town - pretty, rural, nothing like yesterday's gradient but a long drag for a glorious descent.
Market interesting but surprisingly not particularly cheesy, not like Dutch cheese town markets. Coffee!
On to Cormeilles mostly along a fast road. Chain gangs may form.
In Cormeilles we propose booking a tour of the largest Calvados distillery: €2 for 1½ hours incl. tasting.
Good route back to Lisieux.

 

[Gordon P]

Worth noting that you will need 2 water bottles, appropriate gears and minimum 25mm tyres - some road surfaces have less than 100% integrity

 

[srw]

Don't forget that tomorrow and Thursday are public holidays.

 

[Gordon P]

public holidays

Good point well made.
As part of the service we offer to our public, which includes sampling apple products including cider, Tarte aux pommes and Calvados, we are testing our national holiday survival skills as The Tour begins on Bastille Day

 

[StuartG]

minimum 25mm tyres - some road surfaces have less than 100% integrity

Ooops. My Condor won't take anything bigger than 23mm ... but they have coped with all @mmmmartin's comedy off-roads so far. Shirley you haven't found a satirical one?

 

[StuAff]

Ooops. My Condor won't take anything bigger than 23mm ... but they have coped with all @mmmmartin's comedy off-roads so far. Shirley you haven't found a satirical one?

I know there have been a few tweaks to the model over the years, but only clearance for 23mm? Is that with mudguards fitted?

 

[Nick Saddlesore]

Mine is the same. It's a Condor speciality, no clearance and toeclip overlap in all sizes.
Anyhow, fat tyres are just a fashion statement.

 

[StuAff]

Mine is the same. It's a Condor speciality, no clearance and toeclip overlap in all sizes.
Anyhow, fat tyres are just a fashion statement.

I ran 25mm on my Squadra, with no problems....

 

[Andrew Br]

Anyhow, fat tyres are just a fashion statement.

Perhaps that's why you're saddle sore.

 

[StuAff]

25mm....that's a long way from being fat these days. The 35mms on my Litespeed are skinny compared to some!

 

[Moodyman]

Perhaps that's why you're saddle sore.

Indeed. You should have heard him on a recent canal path ride.

Looking for the nearest road he was.

 

[Gordon P]

Alex joined us today from the night boat Portsmouth-Caen. As today was Victory Day - a national holiday - and the first day of the tour is also a national holiday, Bastille Day, he checked opening times for food shopping. The results are better than you feared and will be shared in due course.

We started the Recce at 1, but as it's a national holiday traffic conditions are completely not as normal.

Houlgate was very busy. Apart from one testing climb early on it will be the descents that are memorable. And the countryside.

 

[StuAff]

Alex joined us today from the night boat Portsmouth-Caen. As today was Victory Day - a national holiday - and the first day of the tour is also a national holiday, Bastille Day, he checked opening times for food shopping. The results are better than you feared and will be shared in due course.

We started the Recce at 1, but as it's a national holiday traffic conditions are completely not as normal.

Houlgate was very busy. Apart from one testing climb early on it will be the descents that are memorable. And the countryside.

Point of order: no-one in France calls it Bastille Day. C'est La Fête Nationale. Didn't know that myself till recently. Splendid news about shopping.