Author Topic: ACME goes European  (Read 15362 times)

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #100 on: 30 August, 2019, 04:42:43 pm »
Thanks farfetched

My route is currently 100km for the Saturday, which I am looking to reduce to less than 80km to allow for the museum visit in the morning. I am also looking at a quick loop for the morning, perhaps in the direction of Arnhem, for anybody who wants some extra cycling instead of the museum visit.

My route is the same as yours for the initial bit out of Nijmegen. I thought the little hill would add interest, and street view suggested the area was all rather pleasant.

Eddington: 133 miles    Max square: 43x43

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #101 on: 01 September, 2019, 12:08:14 pm »
The draft routes are available to view. If you have any comments, please do shout or create a new route version if there’s improvements you’d like to make. Note that these are draft, I would hope any amendments can be made over the next few days, and we’ll have confirmed routes by next weekend.

Fri - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30951617
Sat - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31000443
Sun - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31001098

Friday 13th Sept

Ferry docks at 8am. Disembarkment is usually a rapid process, so we should aim to meet at the bus stops where we have congregated in previous years. I’ll explain to newcomers how to get there beforehand, but we should aim to have somebody with you to ensure nobody gets lost. Hopefully we’ll be cycling by 8:30am.

55km - waterfront at Dordrecht - a few bars to chose from, all with outdoor seating looking out across the water
 - arrive about 11am
 - aim for a 30 minute stop

63km - ferry

83km - ferry

99km - Ons Trefpunt - http://www.onstrefpunt.nl - old school cafe, looks superb
 - arrive about 1:30pm
 - lunch stop
 - aim for 1 hour stop

114km - ferry

130km - ferry

138km - De Korenmolen, Blauwesluis - https://www.korenmolen.nl
 - bar/restaurant next to a windmill
 - arrive about 4:30pm
 - refreshment stop
 - aim for 30 minutes

166km - Hotel Courage, Nijmegen
 - arrive about 6:30pm
 - plenty of restaurants a short walk from the hotel, either just along the river front, or across the park

With 4 ferries during the day, I’m expecting we might finish about 1 - 1.5 hours later.

Saturday 14th Sept

The National Cycle Museum ‘Velorama’ is next door to the Hotel Courage where most of us are staying. Assuming that most wish to visit that, the logistics would be:
 - museum opens at 10am
 - €6 entry fee
 - hotel checkout is 11am, so presume we’ll checkout and be able to keep bikes secure until we finish at the museum
 - aim to start cycling at between 11:30 & 12:00

38km - Bar - Herberg D’n Brouwer Eten in Zeeland
 - housed in a former brewery, this place is now a bar and restaurant with hotel facilities
 - could be a nice place for refreshment stop + lunch
 - bike parking outside church opposite
 - plenty of outdoor seating (or indoors, as weather dictates)

80km -  Hotel Guldenberg 's-Hertogenbosch
 - either
  - relax in the hotel restaurant and bar, or
  - take taxis into ’s-Hertogenbosch

Sunday 15th Sept

39km - De Zevende Hemel, Terheijden
 - cafe, opens at 11am
 - aim to arrive at 11am
 - 30 minute stop

68km - Restaurant Bellevue, Willemstad
 - arrive about 1:00pm
 - lunch stop, maybe 2 hours?

69km - ferry - or bridge diversion if ferry not operating

106km - Smaak & Meer, Maassluis
 - good beer selection, plus food

118km - Torpedoloods, Hoek
 - possible option if arriving at the ferry terminal early
 - beer and nibbles


@quixoticgeek - assuming this is pretty much the final plan, let us know which rendezvous point would work for you

Eddington: 133 miles    Max square: 43x43

quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #102 on: 01 September, 2019, 03:35:51 pm »

Fri - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30951617
Friday 13th Sept

Ferry docks at 8am. Disembarkment is usually a rapid process, so we should aim to meet at the bus stops where we have congregated in previous years. I’ll explain to newcomers how to get there beforehand, but we should aim to have somebody with you to ensure nobody gets lost. Hopefully we’ll be cycling by 8:30am.

55km - waterfront at Dordrecht - a few bars to chose from, all with outdoor seating looking out across the water
 - arrive about 11am
 - aim for a 30 minute stop

@quixoticgeek - assuming this is pretty much the final plan, let us know which rendezvous point would work for you

I can be in in Dordrecht for just after 10am. I'll either get the first train I can take my bike on, from Amsterdam, or I'm seriously considering cycling down the night before, bivvying relatively near by (~20km away), and then meeting you all in Dordrecht, depends a bit on the weather.

Day 1 looks most interesting of the 3 from my point of view.

I was wondering how you'd feel about a small diversion from your route at Appeltern:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31002639

It's not any longer, and it would bag me 1 more municipality for the long term challenge...

Am looking forward to this, should be a good day out!

J
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #103 on: 01 September, 2019, 06:01:21 pm »
I was wondering how you'd feel about a small diversion from your route at Appeltern:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31002639

It's not any longer, and it would bag me 1 more municipality for the long term challenge...

That's not a problem ... I've updated the current version of the route. It adds 1.5km to the total distance, but I'm sure we can manage that  :)

Eddington: 133 miles    Max square: 43x43

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #104 on: 02 September, 2019, 10:36:50 am »
Regarding your route for Saturday...

I seriously doubt if the segment Nederasselt - Grave is possible, at least not as its shown.
This is a provincial road N324 without a bike path, the bike path stops at the end of the bridge, you can take right and under the road to Grave or right on
to the pump station and country roads to Velp.

I would suggest the following route ....

    https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31008770

Maybe they have downgraded this bit of road and put a bike path in (they were busy doing this in March), who knows.




Regards,

Alan

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #105 on: 02 September, 2019, 12:30:40 pm »
Thanks for the heads up. I’ll take a closer look at that section this evening

Eddington: 133 miles    Max square: 43x43

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #106 on: 02 September, 2019, 03:54:09 pm »
I forgot to add that its not allowed to ride a bike on most N roads (they are usually 80kmh+) - there will normally be a seperate bike path.
I noticed that google maps routes you correctly for bikes, so does strava. Google sends you to the left and strava takes the road under the bridge down to Grave. Both are valid - mine takes the scenic route and avoids going through the built up area/industrial units.

For what its worth RWGPS seems to think you can ride a bike down this road - as it does at a few other locations in NL where you shouldnt.
Regards,

Alan

Phil W

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #107 on: 02 September, 2019, 06:40:10 pm »
Cycle.travel shows you where the cycle tracks are around there.  Based on open street map data.

bhoot

  • MemSec (ex-Mrs RRtY)
Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #108 on: 02 September, 2019, 08:01:10 pm »
I tried cycle travel for NL routes last year and it was reassuring when it gave me the "right" details for areas that we had already ridden and therefore knew - things like swapping road sides and indicating surfaces, and links between levels.

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #109 on: 02 September, 2019, 08:17:44 pm »
.. mine takes the scenic route and avoids going through the built up area/industrial units.

I've updated the route at that location. When I first did the route I saw on StreetView what seemed to be a bike path continuing just after the right hand turn after the bridge. I can't see that path further down the road so suspect it is not what I thought it was. I have now followed your proposed route, and cut across a little as we can continue with the quiet roads a little further rather than going back to the original route closer to Grave.

Thanks again for the heads up about that issue. I think the reroute is going to be much better ... I've tried to avoid the main roads as much as possible, even when cycling along a cycle path alongside the road they are not much fun. Thankfully the majority of the route is small lanes, a few cycle paths where possible, and limited main roads, generally at the river crossings.

Eddington: 133 miles    Max square: 43x43

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #110 on: 02 September, 2019, 08:57:17 pm »
Cycle.travel shows you where the cycle tracks are around there.  Based on open street map data.

I tried cycle travel for NL routes last year and it was reassuring when it gave me the "right" details for areas that we had already ridden and therefore knew - things like swapping road sides and indicating surfaces, and links between levels.

Thanks both. I've taken inspiration and uploaded the routes to Kamoot, which is kindly highlighting some parts of the route which might be troublesome. Using StreetView I can see some of the 'very minor' paths in some locations might not technically be Fietspad. Should only require some minor updates, which I'll aim to do tomorrow.

Eddington: 133 miles    Max square: 43x43

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #111 on: 02 September, 2019, 09:37:41 pm »
Saturday looks ok now as far as I can see, wouldn't choose to go through Uden myself but I appreciate you are trying to keep the distance down. Would like to join you for a few km and say hello but it's unsure when my puppy's training session starts.

Regards,

Alan

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #112 on: 02 September, 2019, 09:49:52 pm »
Saturday looks ok now as far as I can see, wouldn't choose to go through Uden myself but I appreciate you are trying to keep the distance down. Would like to join you for a few km and say hello but it's unsure when my puppy's training session starts.

We're avoiding the centre of Uden, and the StreetView images of our route show tree-lined residential roads. Might be a bit slower than the out of town roads, but should be a nice variation.

Let us know nearer the time if you are able to ride out, even for a short while.

Eddington: 133 miles    Max square: 43x43

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #113 on: 03 September, 2019, 01:23:26 pm »
Let us know nearer the time if you are able to ride out, even for a short while.

Yes - thanks for that - will do.
Regards,

Alan

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #114 on: 03 September, 2019, 07:29:08 pm »
I've checked each days route in Kamoot, and looked at StreetView for discrepancies. This has led to one or two minor tweaks in each file, just to avoid any issues. The only minor question mark I have is for the ferry at Woudrichem, at 83km on day one. I think I have routed to where the little ferry runs from. I've tried to check but the online resources I can find about the ferry are not very accessible to non-native speakers.

I'm still happy to receive other comments and suggestions. Could I request all feedback by Friday 6th at the latest, and I will then confirm the files as final at the weekend.

Cycle Museum
When I was checking with Hotel Courage about our likely arrival time, I mentioned our intention to visit the cycle museum on the Saturday. They have advised that we can get tickets for the museum from the hotel reception.

Eddington: 133 miles    Max square: 43x43

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #115 on: 03 September, 2019, 09:12:38 pm »
Yes, you are taking the small ferry which is only for pedestrians and cyclists.
In September from 10:30 to 17:00... It doesn't look that big so you might not fit on in one go.

The large ferry leaves from waterpoort at the very top of the Village, this goes every half hour.. however in September it doesn't go to castle Loevestein on Fridays ( only weekends) so you're stuck with the small one.
Regards,

Alan

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #116 on: 03 September, 2019, 09:31:08 pm »
Yes, you are taking the small ferry which is only for pedestrians and cyclists.
In September from 10:30 to 17:00... It doesn't look that big so you might not fit on in one go.

The large ferry leaves from waterpoort at the very top of the Village, this goes every half hour.. however in September it doesn't go to castle Loevestein on Fridays ( only weekends) so you're stuck with the small one.

Thank you for confirming the details. The small ferry sounds perfect, quite an adventure.

Eddington: 133 miles    Max square: 43x43

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #117 on: 08 September, 2019, 03:03:53 pm »
It looks like we are all set. Weather is showing dry, 18-19 degrees daytime temp, and a gentle NW wind.

Routes can be downloaded from:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30951617 - 167km - Friday
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31000443 -   81km - Saturday
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31001098 - 119km - Sunday

Meeting at the Waterfront, Harwich - http://www.waterfrontharwich.co.uk - at 7pm on Thursday. Food from 7:30pm.

I have booked the table at the Waterfront, and have provisional bookings for the hotel on Saturday night. The latter will incur the cost of the room if I don't advise any changes in advance. So please do let me know in advance if there are any changes. The full complement of riders I have noted is:

jiberjaber
Grey Sheep
Tomsk
bhoot
psyclist
TRCExplorer
Sue

Plus QG from Dordrecht for the day.

Eddington: 133 miles    Max square: 43x43

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #118 on: 09 September, 2019, 03:48:47 pm »

As i remarked earlier, i can join you for around 40km on the saturday leg - from the bridge over the Maas to St Michielsgestel would work OK for me.

I would probably wait at the top of the bridge (John S Thompson Bridge)  near the memorial at km 26 , there is a table and bench (see photo below).
You can see the memorial near the flag poles, in the background the road goes off towards Velp.



I wouldnt expect you before 12.30 looking at your agenda - as long as the weather is OK its a nice place to stop.
(without tempting fate it does look ok)
Regards,

Alan

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #119 on: 09 September, 2019, 05:08:16 pm »

As i remarked earlier, i can join you for around 40km on the saturday leg - from the bridge over the Maas to St Michielsgestel would work OK for me.

Oops, missed that, sorry!

That sounds fine. As you say it is safe to assume we’ll not be there before 12:30, although with lunch planned for about 10km further on, I would hope we’ll not be there too much later. We’ll update this thread if there are any changes to the plan.

Eddington: 133 miles    Max square: 43x43

jiberjaber

  • ... Fancy Pants \o/ ...
  • ACME S&M^2
Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #120 on: 09 September, 2019, 09:14:50 pm »
I'm undecided about cycling over to Harwch but if I were to here's the route I would use which is the one we've used most times to Harwich...

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28574925

It starts in Chelmsford, but our traditional meeting point is 'spoons Witham for lunch before the ride over via Wivenhoe for mid-ride refreshments (The Black Buoy) .

Looks like a tailwind to Harwich for Thursday at the moment.
Regards,

Joergen

quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #121 on: 11 September, 2019, 09:42:47 am »


A small favour for those of you coming over from the UK, if you have space in your bag, could you bring some cadbury wispa and/or twirl chocolate bars please?

Cadbury's chocolate is really hard to get over here, and I kinda miss it...

J
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

Oscar's dad

  • aka Septimus Fitzwilliam Beauregard Partridge
Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #122 on: 11 September, 2019, 10:49:35 am »
... The full complement of riders I have noted is:

jiberjaber
Grey Sheep
Tomsk
bhoot
psyclist
TRCExplorer
Sue

Plus QG from Dordrecht for the day.

You seem to have a sensible bunch of companions this year and none who are likely to give you any trouble unlike 2018  ;D

Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #123 on: 11 September, 2019, 11:11:08 am »
I don't know about that.  If Joergen gets on the disco biscuits it could go off big time.

Let me see those hands !

Have a great time all. 

The pleasure of pain endured
To purify our misfit ways

jiberjaber

  • ... Fancy Pants \o/ ...
  • ACME S&M^2
Re: ACME goes European
« Reply #124 on: 11 September, 2019, 12:19:40 pm »
I don't know about that.  If Joergen gets on the disco biscuits it could go off big time.

Let me see those hands !

Have a great time all.
Regards,

Joergen