I’ve ridden bikes since I was 17 - most of them pretty shit (CZ… say no more) but now I have a decent 600 (ignoring ignition system faults) I fancy a little run out to france with an overnight at a camp site and a run back.
I know it’s still a little cold so perhaps we should wait a month (at least 'till next pay day!) but does anyone else fancy it? Late April early May - big gang of us heading out for my first blast over the channel?
I can’t think of anything more fun that a large gang of bikers turning up at a camp site with more booze than is legal in many American states and not moving till a large fry up the following morning… I’ll cook.
It’s sort of a pre-curser to my pan UK 2 week tour I plan in the Summer
would love to do that but have just about burnt up all my brownie points at the moment! however if any of you decide to hit france hard or go via france to the alps heres a great hotel I used a couple of years ago http://www.coldebussang.com/en/frame-presentation.htm
the owners are very bike friendly and the area (the voseges) has some superb biking roads.
Looking through the LB Crews picture spread of their jaunt over the canal has got me interested so dates and times to be decided then I,ll say Im keen !!
I went in may and although the weather was good most of the time there were a couple of torrential downpours ( the worst typically down to dover) when you get into the voseges you are quite high (1500m) so the temp can drop and the rain can have a white crackley consistancy, on the other hand the sun can be glorious! as to sports bikes ? I’m sorry not my scene (too old too fat too keen to do 500 miles days :-))but I would have thought any 600 plus sports bike would be more than enough as long as you can get some sort of luggage to stick to it . THe roads to the area can be either motorways (boring but gets the journey over quickley ) or A-roads through Belgium Luxembourg and France.The old A-road to Luxembourg is a peach.once in the voseges the roads are mostly single carriageway with some serious corners,within 500m of the Hotel there are some linked hairpins that will get your tyres squealing ! another attraction of this area is its position on the best(in my opinion) route to the swiss alps,we rode from Calais to Luxembourg (day1) wobbled to the hotel (combination of the commitments concert,bofferding lager and my buddies inability to ride properly after a night out!)(Day2) and from there to the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland for lunch followed by a ride through the alps on country rds and into France (day 3) through France (day4) and home ! the photos show we did’nt use touring or sports bikes and the last shows the little known but essential fittment to Buel bikes to prevent the engine breather spewing oil over the rear tyre again (100 miles at altitude at 100mph did’nt sit well with the Buel)the best bike to take? the one thats outside of course! the area can be reached in a long day or 2 easy days and has got to be worth a look.
well there is a four day weekend heading this way for easter, i need to sort out my passport when i get paid so possibly yeah its summin id love to do keep us posted days and times
Groovy - was thinking of avoiding the bank holiday weekends because it’s horribly busy and the ferries tend to cost more… but then you get more time over there I guess.
Would people rather one of the bank holiday weekends? It’s not really a problem…
from the experience that we had with the day trip, I reckon mate, you are better off picking a date yourself.
Set the date,
research the prices,
if people are interested they will book.
end of the day, doesn’t matter if you go with 2 bikes or 20 bikes.
trouble with the last trip, everyone put their two cents in and made it one big confusion. in the end a last minute job with a set date, and the bravest showed up and had a great time.
would be cool to see another CBF on a ride out, gets lonely surrounded by sexy sports machines. When you have a date and crossing set. Let me know!
The weekend away will be from Saturday 29th April to Sunday 30th April - leaving very early (06:00) and coming back late (21:00) - we’ll be travelling on the EuroTunnel as the ferry prices where very high (cheapest I could get was £30 and that was leaving even earlier and coming back even later).
The EuroTunnel price is £26 return.
I’m suggesting we meet at the Ace / and or the Train Terminal and once in France I’m happy to be lead to the best place for a decent ride and an overnight stop.
I’ll be buying some booze on the way back, as well as on the way out! And of course we’ll have to buy some breaky stuff!
Whenever I planned trips I’ve tried to find the perfect “medium” and it doesn’t always work. Plan a date that suits YOU, and work around that.
I’ve done a number of trips to France over the last few years, and one I can thoroughly recommend is a long weekend in the Alsace/Vosges region. It’s 375 miles from Calais, so you have some serious riding to do on Friday and Monday, but the roads between Epinal & Colmar are fantastic, food is great and the beer is good too.
Yeah you’re right I’ve decided I’m definitely going away that weekend - my dad is up for it - I guess when we get closer to the date we’ll see if anyone else wants to come - otherwise I’m off on me tod with me dad - which is no bad thing!
I’m gonna get a few more miles under my belt before I attempt the wrong side of the road again, i’m afraid Matt. And i’ve also got my head back in books so i’d feel to guilty being away a whole weekend!
Hope it goes fantastically and amazingly well…have a great time and take even better pics!
you were good the last time, a diesel spill would get any of us.
This was the first trip for me to france by bike and I made no mistakes, but I wasn’t leading, LOL
I can’t book until closer, but I am still interested. Just thought though, if you quote ‘classic bikes’ to P & O you get a £20 return dover - calais before May and not including bank holidays.
I had a vouchure with my london bike show ticket, which said it on.
