FNRttC The latest news on The Fridays Vi(v)a Colonia Tour......

[jiberjaber]

I was impressed with Eurodespatch's facilities at St.Pancras. Work stand for re-assembly. Wash basin for dirty hands. Big box of bisons marked help yourself. A few tools, a track pump, and a litter bin would have made it perfect.

Me too, very helpful chap to.

 

[kimble]

Team 12.00 boat has not yet entered Dover harbour. There are already long queues for the car deck. The English are mad.

They've got a traffic jam to participate in.

 

[User169]

I was impressed with Eurodespatch's facilities at St.Pancras. Work stand for re-assembly. Wash basin for dirty hands. Big box of bisons marked help yourself. A few tools, a track pump, and a litter bin would have made it perfect.

Free bisons?

 

[Andrew Br]

Made it to Strood quicker, we think, than the buses.
We're now on a whizzy train to St Pancras.
The Euston Tap is calling.

 

[kimble]

Made it to Euston and am now crammed into an Edinburgh train that leaves 20 minutes sooner than my cancelled one.

 

[StuAff]

Team 1200 is finally on a moving train. Ferry late in, we were absolutely last off, as precious motor vehicles must join their jams ASAP, the inept bike paths out of the port and to Priory station negotiated, and the next train to Charing Cross was late. Will miss next less-slow train home, might now be back home at seven. FFS.....

 

[srw]

Free bisons?

Tiny bisons roaming free in a box on the train, explaining why there's no room on the train for undismantled bikes

 

[kimble]

I reckoned the bike route out of the port worked quite well as advance warning to foreigners what to expect in the rest of the UK

 

[Andrew Br]

The Euston Flyer. There is beer
In other news, Palace are beating Stoke.

 

[mmmmartin]

Indeed. The noon ferry group, all very experienced at English cycling, were astonished at how utterly crap it was. Being gestured towards the gate with the No Bicycles sign was a bonus, and greatest of all was the way by which we were directed to *not* go through customs. Mind you, it was pretty obvious exactly where the responsibility for the cycle path changed from the Dover Port Authority to the local council because we were sent up a one way street the wrong way, on the wrong side of the road while the pavement could easily have been designated as shared use. Mind you, finding the cycle crossing point officially closed, with the traffic lights turned off, as we tried to cross the dual carriageway full of huge lorries was the real icing on the cake.

 

[mmmmartin]

the bike route out of the port

There is a special circle of hell reserved for the people who took national cycle route 1 over the white cliffs of Dover on a steep gravel path with barbed wire fences on each side

 

[Andrew Br]

We've moved on to the Euston Tap and we've got a table outside. It's really rather pleasant.
We're now deciding what to get to eat on the train. Ham and cheese sandwiches are unlikely to figure.

 

[mmmmartin]

Ham and cheese sandwiches are unlikely to figure.

Careful, this sudden change in diet could make you ill.

 

[jiberjaber]

Big thankyou to Olaf & Gordon for making this tour happen.

Quite sorry I couldn't complete it to the last day. Here's all the stuff I took pictures of during the time I spent with the tour:
https://goo.gl/photos/eC7jJypyWDcLCxvD8

Flythrough of the routes we used (up till I left on Thursday) might be of interest to see what was where relative to the riding we did.

Fridays Tour D0 Chelmsford to Harwich:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjoQ4sdHjwQ


Fridays Tour D1 Hoek to Tilburg:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwU4lk7QGLc


Fridays Tour D2 Tilburg to Venlo:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDu01fgMsMc


Fridays Tour D3 Venlo to Koln :

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlX2SjmM0uE


Fridays Tour D4 Koln to Aachen:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WIKUusYhRc


Fridays Tour D5 Aachen 200km DIY Audax:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP7nt6kgbE8

D5 (Grand Prix de Wallonie):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHGM8029KAM

Hope everyone has a safe return home from the ferry !

 

[Hill Wimp]

There is a special circle of hell reserved for the people who took national cycle route 1 over the white cliffs of Dover on a steep gravel path with barbed wire fences on each side

That's why us locals just use the train