Tour planning

[Wowbagger]

I haven't planned a proper tour for a few years, if you discount the Dutch one that Jan and I cancelled in August as a result of Aunt Phyllis's demise. I'd quite like to resurrect that, but in the current microbe-infested climate I think a fair few people might be a bit less Vrienden op der Fiets than usual.

I quite fancy doing something in June, and I'm contemplating just setting off to France with a bike and camping gear. Of course, it's all dependent on what happens over the next 3 months whether it's even possible, but it's the sort of thing that can be done very spontaneously.

Anyone else interested in That Sort of Thing?

[Canardly]

The idea appeals hugely but........

[Wowbagger]

The idea appeals hugely but........

I accept that there are lots of reasons why this might not happen but we can make a late judgement depending on factors at the time.

[Kim]

The idea appeals hugely but........

+1.  It went quite well last time.

I'm giving serious consideration to the WHPVA championships in July - see if I can lose to the Germans again for Old Blighty, sort of thing.  Hinges on a lot of the same factors, with a side-order of troublesome logistics (to do it properly, I'll probably need to use a motor vehicle), but if that's a goer, it takes priority.

[andrewc]

Interested, but obviously depends upon events.  Even if the plague does not afflict us personally, we should be cautious about traveling in case we infect others in transit:

[Regulator]

I was planning to do the Camino Portuguese at the end of May/beginning of June.  I've decided to push it back to July - hopefully by then the worst of Covid19 will be over.

[mzjo]

Where in Europe - do I understand northern France as a possibility? Could be interested - I've never done one of these trips with forumites. Going foreign might require a bit of domestic negotiation but France isn't foreign for me.

[andrewc]

Overnight ferry to Le Havre, follow the Seine to Monet's place at Giverny then double back to the coast ?   A truncated version of my 2018 trip  Re: Le Havre & onwards   Hopefully without the rabies scare.


Or ferry to Dunkirk then over the border to Belgium & some decent beer.  Ypres, Bruges & Ghent ?

[Canardly]

The Pas de Calais plain as viewed from Eurostar on the way to Lille looks worth an explore as its dead flat and bypassed by the rue d'anglais and therefore unspoiled. I seem to remember a conversation on these lines when travelling to Avignon a few years back. Rodeberg and Zwarteberg on the Belgian border are very picturesque but hard cycling work methinks. I lived in Ieper (Ypres) for four years and know that locale well.  Calais/FDunkerque are a bit fraught for cyclists I hear due to camps etc. I don't know what the latest situation is. Unfortunately I cannot contemplate being isolated in France for an extended period of time due to domestic dependencies.

[Speshact]

May be interested. Lots of holiday plans for this year, all up in the air now of course!

[mzjo]

It might be wise to hold fire on planning anything too elaborate for june, at least for France. We might still be in lockdown (or if out of it UK might well be in it, being a bit behind everyone else). Case of deciding to go at a moment's notice if the borders are open!

[andrewc]

Yes, no point in booking any tickets at the moment & lots of travel insurance firms are refusing to issue new policies.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Entries for PBP Audax at the end of June go in by the end of March. Bordeaux-Paris 600 UAF a fortnight earlier has already been entered. Tickets to be sorted closer to the date.

Frankly, I’m more worried about the Highlands 1000 and Aussie 1200, both in May. There is a fair chance that I could be quarantined the whole time I’m in Oz and the UK could be in lock-down.

[mzjo]

Entries for PBP Audax at the end of June go in by the end of March. Bordeaux-Paris 600 UAF a fortnight earlier has already been entered. Tickets to be sorted closer to the date.

Frankly, I’m more worried about the Highlands 1000 and Aussie 1200, both in May. There is a fair chance that I could be quarantined the whole time I’m in Oz and the UK could be in lock-down.

The FFCT (FF velo) has officially banned all open events and advised the same action for club events and activities. From now on it all depends on unknowns about the evolution of the epidemic as to when regular activity can restart. Judging by plans for school closures it could be 3-4 months.

[Wowbagger]

Well this thread hasn’t aged well, has it?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Indeed.

The UAF are looking at running both Bordeaux-Paris 600 UAF and PBP Audax 1200 around the same dates in 2021.

The Highland Fling 1000 BRM won’t be held before Autumn at best and the Sunshine State 1200 has been cancelled.

[Hot Flatus]

I'd already booked a ferry to Calais in August for a repeat of last years odyssey to Liguria, but I think there is next to no chance of it happening. Even if domestic restrictions are lifted by then, I'm not convinced that international restrictions will be.

[mzjo]

I think september might be possible as far as France is concerned. We should be past the worst of it by then. If not it will probably be obvious enough in august to abandon plans in plenty of time. I will book some time off for the first week in september (I have to ask two months in advance) so if anyone wants to plan anything for then I'll be in (assuming I'm still alive). It could even be a celebration of life after the apocalypse.