The Fridays Tour 2012

[dellzeqq]

I take the point about Barcelona to Pisa not offering the option of 'dropping in'.

I'm not sure how expensive it would be. Fares from London City to Barcelona are £82, and fares from Florence to London City are about £90. Thurso to London starts at £145 unless you go to Inverness and fly.

The thing about Barcelona to Pisa is that every single day is a real event. Whether it be Girona (an option for the start) to Perpignan, or Agde to Arles you'll see great stuff and ride on great roads. I'd have trouble selling Lands End to Launceston or Launceston to Bridgwater, and the traffic from Bridgewater to Moreton in the Marsh would be as intense as the traffic through Nice.

Maybe I should have kept schtum until I'd made up my mind. Sorry, all.

 

[StuAff]

Flying with bikes is going to be expensive, one way or another. BA still take bikes as part of regular checked baggage allowance, Easyjet charge an extra £30..as for Ryanair...no. Just no. Frank has far more confidence in airport baggage handlers than I do, and in any case I'd rather have best bike for that kind of tour. Which means buying or renting something like a Bike Box Alan, no way I'd be taking any chances with my pride-and-joy. Either that, or taking a folder (haven't got a 20" wheeler at the moment, but hopefully sorting that soon), which still would need either a dedicated case or a big suitcase with lots of packing, and still would incur baggage charges. Oh, and wherever you are, you've got the bother of getting all this bulky stuff to and from the airport.

Easyjet from Inverness to Luton or Gatwick can be as little as £12. It's a couple of hours drive to the airport from JOG.

 

[StuAff]

I'd have trouble selling Lands End to Launceston or Launceston to Bridgwater, and the traffic from Bridgewater to Moreton in the Marsh would be as intense as the traffic through Nice.

Not to me, and traffic is traffic....

 

[srw]

I (or we) would be more likely to join an informal group tour that one organised by a professional organisation, but apart from the route there are several important decisions to be made:

• Supported or not? Support adds to the cost (and you need to find driver and vehicle) but means riders don't need to carry cuddly toys and make-up (and such fripperies as clean clothes, washing kits and shoes)
• What sort of accommodation? A lot of views have been expressed already. I fall firmly into the luxury end of the market - others may prefer budget travelling. A route that enabled individuals to stay in the sort of accommodation they prefer (which, really, means a route which ends each day at a major population centre) would be more widely attractive.
• How "group" will the tour be? A big peleton or a bunch of individuals vaguely travelling together - or something in between or more fluid?

For what it's worth, I'm with Dell on the idea of Barcelona to Pisa (or, as I prefer to think of it, Gaudi to the Leaning Tower, via the Romans) as being a journey rather than just a trip - although I might aim for Siena because I prefer the place. Something similar could be done in the UK, but it wouldn't be LeJog.

My only experience of cycling in Southern France is along the coast road from Perpignan to the Spanish border. There is only one road other than the highway, so it's busy. As Frank points out, if you can go a little way inland you're more likely to find quiet roads than if you stick religiously to the coast.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

not sure I'm as enthusiastic about distant continental start and finish points, especially those involving flying as I would be about distant UK start and finish points...

Frank's idea of starting out from blighty has its appeal...

But I can't figure out how one single minute of lejog or jogle in the company of the fridays could ever be accurately described as boring.

 

[Aperitif]

not sure I'm as enthusiastic about distant continental start and finish points, especially those involving flying as I would be about distant UK start and finish points...

Frank's idea of starting out from blighty has its appeal...

But I can't figure out how one single minute of lejog or jogle in the company of the fridays could ever be accurately described as boring.

It 'augurs' well to be a bit of a 'holey' experience. (No names. No pack drill, Greg)

 

[StuAff]

But I can't figure out how one single minute of lejog or jogle in the company of the fridays could ever be accurately described as boring.

Hear hear! The most important thing about FNRs is not the destination, nor even the route, it's the people you're with...


Ferry strikes me as a much more sensible option for any continental trips. But then I do live within two miles of a port!

 

[dellzeqq]

in no particular order

my plan for LEJoG was that each stopover would have a hotel, B+B and campsite within reach. That's not so difficult to do in England and Scotland, although Tow Law was causing me some grief.

my plan for Barcelona to Pisa would have been decent sized town to decent sized town, but I know nothing about camping in France.

Support would have to pay for itself in that people would think it worthwhile contributing their share, and some people might opt for camping some nights in order to help make it worthwhile. But, in a general way, a ride of less than twelve is not going to have support.

My intention was that it would be pretty groupy. TECs, that kind of thing.

There are LEJoGs and LEJOGs. My LEJoG would be the best ever. Honest. No hacking through Bristol. No wandering through bloody Shropshire. No messing with Lancashire. No meaningless going against the grain of the road network in south of Scotland. LE-Launceston-Bridgewater-Moreton-Gunthorpe-York-Tow Law-Jedburgh-Glenfarg-Kingussie-Dornoch-JoG. Lots of pretty bits, not much in the way of towns (Leicester and Edinburgh would be the biggest) and one horrifyingly hilly stretch of about 60 miles to prove you've done it. Some of it worries me, particularly the A429 (the A68 is a known quantity), so I'll have to go back and have a look.

Coast route

- My route from Girona to Perpignan is stonkingy fabuloso. And has very few cars. Check out the D13.
- Percy has advised that the bit around Antibes should be given a miss.
- There are bits of coast road near Agde that have a mega look about them.

People. Exactly. Point taken. But somebody needs to organise it so that it's like a holiday. If it's a grim struggle down roads that are unresearched in pursuit of accommodation of dubious pedigree then it's not a holiday. If I gave up almost two weeks of my annual leave to join some muppet on a jaunt that turned out to be horrible, I'd be pretty sicked off about it.

 

[StuartG]

There is a proliferation near each major town of B&BHotels, Premiere Classe and even my beloved F1 motels.

B&B in particular is a great compromise on price and quality. En suite and bigger rooms than F1 and if shared between two (and you could squeeeze the bikes into the room) probably costing around 20 euros each. Worth considering if only for the washing and an escape from any inclement weather. It also means you can travel much lighter than camping.

A chance to keep the ride pannier free

 

[StuartG]

Oh and free wi-fi too so CycleChat compatible. http://www.hotel-bb.com/

 

[frank9755]

I know nothing about camping in France.

It's easy. Easier than the UK. Most towns have a municipal campsite. Even small towns and large villages. The price is from €4-8 and they are generally excellent. The cheaper ones are not necessarily any less good than the more expensive ones. They do fill up in August but should be ok in June.



There are also private ones but they tend to be bigger, more expensive and have more 'facilities' like swimming pools and other areas for children to make lots of noise - basically aimed at the family market.

 

[Sketchley]

I'd love to do LeJog at a reasonable pace. Would prefer not to have to carry all the gear in Panniers, so some support would be preferable and I'm more than happy to chip in on cost. Hotels preferred to camping as well.

 

[frank9755]

Simon,

You have probably realised this already, but it just dawned on me that starting in Spain would mean that people would need to have helmets...

 

[StuartG]

But not necessarily have to wear them: http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3814

 

[StuAff]

One point that's bewildered me...assuming that it's going to be abroad for a moment, what's the plan for getting the bikes safely to and from the start/end points? If there's no support vehicles of any kind, that would mean either somehow stuffing (a small quantity) packing materials into bags/on racks, or..I have no idea. A CTC bike bag and a few bits of cardboard to protect any bike (let alone a carbon one!) doesn't sound like a good idea to me, baggage handlers aren't renowned for TLC. As I've noted, I'd want a proper bike box or bag..but not exactly possible to carry that on the bike.
It would be a very grim cycling holiday if a bike gets broken...