The Fridays tour - Normandy 15th-22nd June
- Thread starter dellzeqq
- Start date
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StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
srw
It's a bit more complicated than that...
Yes and no. I like cooking. And TC cooks very well. But having someone else to do it (and the shopping) would have made life easier.
srw
It's a bit more complicated than that...
And before I give up for the evening, here are a shedload of photos, including the complete set of long-lens shots from Cri-Cri. I hope they're visible publicly.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97979230@N08/sets/72157634283478153/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97979230@N08/sets/72157634283478153/
mmmmartin
Random geezer
Improved? A bit, but not by much.
We would have to pay extra, per head, for a van hire and crossing on the ferry. About a tenner a head, perhaps, so not much. If this chef is not A Friday there might be a wage involved? Plus accommodation, obvs.
But.....some folk - perhaps a dozen? - would have not been able to use the van as they might have gone for crossings on other routes or other days. Would the chef have had to get a van - full of bags he had not packed, officer - on to the ferry? And into France, Monsieur Gendarme.
Leave these logistics aside.
The big advantage would have been for those who own light bikes they did not use in Normandy because they needed to carry luggage, so had to spend the week on heavier bikes. This is a huge factor to consider. But it would not have affected more than a handful of people. Adrian and Charlie yes but who else? But they would have still needed to get luggage to London, and home from London afterwards. Not much good for someone in Manchester, obvs.
BUT the great advantage would be a feast each night. What's more, a COMMUNAL FEAST....
However, this means we would have missed the two CriCri evening meals. And we would surely have not have dined to such excess on Friday (did you see what Dellzeqq did on Friday with The Fridays?) at the special huge lunch stop. Nor at other lunch stops. So lunches might have been less of an event.
To sum up: a small improvement.
Idea: put someone on a train to Portsmouth where they hire a van, drive it empty to London, fill it with luggage and their own bike, drive to Portsmouth with the luggage, leave it at the port, and return the van to the Portsmouth van hire company and ride their bike to the ferry.
If someone had a suitable vehicle perhaps we could do the same and just pay for it to be parked in a secure place for the week.
I think luggage was a big problem for a small number of people and a small problem for a large number. For those who had a rack and the small Ortlieb panniers it was a minor issue. Rucksacks worked well.
As for improving on the food cooked at the chateau, it would need to be very good to do that. And some of those meals were knocked up with leftovers so cost a pittance. For Struggling Pensioners - and others - this was v good.
We would have to pay extra, per head, for a van hire and crossing on the ferry. About a tenner a head, perhaps, so not much. If this chef is not A Friday there might be a wage involved? Plus accommodation, obvs.
But.....some folk - perhaps a dozen? - would have not been able to use the van as they might have gone for crossings on other routes or other days. Would the chef have had to get a van - full of bags he had not packed, officer - on to the ferry? And into France, Monsieur Gendarme.
Leave these logistics aside.
The big advantage would have been for those who own light bikes they did not use in Normandy because they needed to carry luggage, so had to spend the week on heavier bikes. This is a huge factor to consider. But it would not have affected more than a handful of people. Adrian and Charlie yes but who else? But they would have still needed to get luggage to London, and home from London afterwards. Not much good for someone in Manchester, obvs.
BUT the great advantage would be a feast each night. What's more, a COMMUNAL FEAST....
However, this means we would have missed the two CriCri evening meals. And we would surely have not have dined to such excess on Friday (did you see what Dellzeqq did on Friday with The Fridays?) at the special huge lunch stop. Nor at other lunch stops. So lunches might have been less of an event.
To sum up: a small improvement.
Idea: put someone on a train to Portsmouth where they hire a van, drive it empty to London, fill it with luggage and their own bike, drive to Portsmouth with the luggage, leave it at the port, and return the van to the Portsmouth van hire company and ride their bike to the ferry.
If someone had a suitable vehicle perhaps we could do the same and just pay for it to be parked in a secure place for the week.
I think luggage was a big problem for a small number of people and a small problem for a large number. For those who had a rack and the small Ortlieb panniers it was a minor issue. Rucksacks worked well.
As for improving on the food cooked at the chateau, it would need to be very good to do that. And some of those meals were knocked up with leftovers so cost a pittance. For Struggling Pensioners - and others - this was v good.
SaLQ83
Active Member
Personally not really. The trick is to pack what you really will wear to reduce weight. As for food, it was amazing and those who cooked did a great job so thanks to the Claude, RVW, SVW, Jim, Liz, Clive, Diane and to the Fab Helen for cooking all the lovely meals for everyone.
Also the recce team did really well finding some great places for us to have lunch and dinner so thank you for that.
SaLQ83
Active Member
A week of laughter, cycling, eating and overall a great company. Caught up with old friends and bonded with new ones. Loved all the rides, and to top it all teamed up with a few others and decided to cycle 90 miles from Brix to the ferry port near Caen visiting some landmarks en-route organised by @Olaf on our return
Thanks to all my lovely housemates for the lovely company and enjoyed getting to know to you all. Thanks to TC, Alice, and Helen for the lovely cooking, Wanda for playing the lovely funky jazzy music, and @Agent Hilda for making sure everyone was alright in the house.
@Andrew Br, Helen, Alice & Luke it was pleasure getting to know you all and hope to see you soon. (@Andrew Br - don't worry you're still part of the team
)
Smiled a lot whenever I saw @GVSAM7 enjoying his freedom on the road and whizzing past us as if he was car, and I absolutely loved riding my Purple Rain on the quiet French roads.
To the recce team (@dellzeqq, Gordon, @Agent Hilda, @Mice, @mmmmartin) - you did an amazing job finding all the good spots for us to visit so thank you so much.
Last but not least to @dellzeqq you really are gifted at what you do, so thank you so much for getting everyone together and for another successful touring holiday brilliantly organised. It was ab-fab.
Thanks to all my lovely housemates for the lovely company and enjoyed getting to know to you all. Thanks to TC, Alice, and Helen for the lovely cooking, Wanda for playing the lovely funky jazzy music, and @Agent Hilda for making sure everyone was alright in the house.
@Andrew Br, Helen, Alice & Luke it was pleasure getting to know you all and hope to see you soon. (@Andrew Br - don't worry you're still part of the team
)Smiled a lot whenever I saw @GVSAM7 enjoying his freedom on the road and whizzing past us as if he was car, and I absolutely loved riding my Purple Rain on the quiet French roads.
To the recce team (@dellzeqq, Gordon, @Agent Hilda, @Mice, @mmmmartin) - you did an amazing job finding all the good spots for us to visit so thank you so much.
Last but not least to @dellzeqq you really are gifted at what you do, so thank you so much for getting everyone together and for another successful touring holiday brilliantly organised. It was ab-fab.
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
srw
It's a bit more complicated than that...
And, I should say, a joint effort. And before anyone tells me - I know that one of my lenses needs a good clean!
srw
It's a bit more complicated than that...
For that matter, a large car (or even not so large a one) swallows a surprising amount of stuff. If the rule was "pack no more than you could (at a pinch) carry on your bike onto the ferry" even a CMax could cater for the luggage of a couple of dozen.
Or, working the other way round, if we'd* packed light and done a bit of light cycle surgery (pedals off, handlebars round, wheels off) we could easily have got the tandem, the Brompton and two solo bikes inside. Stacking carefully there would probably have been room for a couple more in the boot, three or four hanging off the tailgate and (with the loan of roof bars) three or four on the roof.
I wouldn't want to drive that lot more than a couple of hundred yards, and it would require an awful lot of trust in the driver and the stacker, but it wouldn't be impossible to drive onto a ferry like that.
I haven't done the research to work out the relative economics of the different methods.
*I'm laying money on how long this takes to get corrected.
ianmac62
Guru
- Location
- Northampton
Brilliant, TMN!
velovoice
Veteran
- Location
- Between the City and the Sea
Chapeau, TMN! 
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