Wapping's Wanders 2013 - 23-31 August 2013 - Annecy

Thanks for all the planning, I'd be pulling my hair out (if I had any) trying to put this together. Excellent idea having a kitty for the coffee stops en-route.
 
Sounds great. I've passed through Charlie Mez a number of times so it will be interesting to stop and have a proper look.

I'll probably be a solo rider most of the trip, meeting everyone else for beer & food of an evening.
 
Cheers, chaps :thumb2

I haven't stayed in C-M either, just passed through it in assorted directions. I have tried to stay at the Pelican (a bizarre name) but it's always been full.
 
Excellent Richard - looks good.
Many thanks for your work on this.
Peter
 
Yes let me second that!!

Just looking forward to the trip now

Byron

:thumb2
 
Suggested routes down to Doussard

I have created six sets of routes, two for each leg of our three-legged journey down to Doussard, via St Omer and Avallon.

The green routes, 1, 2 and three are the suggested routes. From St Omer, I have routed us down the motorway to J11 of the A26 at St Quentin. I toyed with the idea of leaving at either St Pol or Cambrai. Either option would work, I am just mindful that we have 300 miles to go, so erred a little on the side of caution. It would be easy to amend the route if and as required. In effect it's the reverse of a route I often take, up from Dijon to Calais, so I know it works.

The magenta routes are the direct alternatives

I have taken the liberty of adding several fuel and cafe stops I have used before. As they are 'Favourites' they should appear in the 'favourites' option on any half decent Garmin device. I used to have a large batch of cafes and the like out and around Annecy but they got lost in a PC crash a few years ago. This trip should be a good excuse to re-mark some more.

It is a Garmin Mapsource file, hosted on Dropbox.

I will do up the suggested days out and of course our suggested return routes ASAP.

Richard

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14126843/Annecy final.gdb

PS I may well bring a small laptop with me, loaded with reasonably up-to-date mapsets. If anyone wants to carve their own routes out, be my guest.
 
Thanks everyone for your mobile no's all now received.

Will set about the return legs, shortly.

Richard
 
Will set about the return legs, shortly.

Return legs completed from Doussard to Dijon to Charleville-Mezieres to Peronne....

I am starting to go cross-eyed (trying to keep them simple, but still bring in some half decent roads) so I'll finish them off tomorrow.
 
Outward and reurn legs completed...

The suggested return legs are now done, in red.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14126843/Annecy final.gdb

The alternative decimal pointed route numbers are the same journies, simply calculated using the 'Get me from A to B' method.

Getting from Annecy to Dijon is not easy, not least as the Rhone valley and Lyon get in the way. I tried routing us under Lyon to avoid motorways entirely but it's over 400 miles, which (though rideable) might be tedious in a larger group. The compromise to skirt above Lyon on the motorway seems sensible and it's near enough a route I have used before.

Within reason, all of the routes can be shortened or lengthened to suit.

i will now tidy-up some suggested routes for our days in Doussard and our one day in Charl=Mez. I'll probably create then in a separate file.

Richard
 
Possible ride for the free day in Char-Mez

This is a (shortened) 190 mile version of a ride I did a couple of years ago, adapted from a route in Michelin's '80 Virees a moto' book.

It works OK.

It is a loop: Ch-Mez > Givet (50 miles) - have cup of coffee > Bouillon (60 miles) have lunch > Ch-Mez (80 miles) back for canapés.

I have drawn it clockwise but it would work the other way around, too. Again, I have added some Favourites that may come in handy.

I had to compress the file into a folder, in order not to exceed the site's upload limits.
 

Attachments

  • Charleville-Mez - A 200 mile ride to Givet - Bouillon and back.zip
    52.7 KB · Views: 151
I had already made some possible routes out from Annecy / Doussard, which just need tidying-up.

I was just leafing through John Hermann's book of Alps roads, when I tripped over this one, which looks quite good. Hermann has it down at 250 km's but I think it's further.

Either way, it takes in some of the best Col's in the area, for sure. These include:

l'Iseran (2,770m) - One of the highest in the Alps

de la Forclaz (1,150m)

de la Madeleine (1,980m)

du Glandon (1,950m)

I haven't been down that way for about ten years, so it would be nice to see them again.

Good for any sticker collectors :thumb2 Me? I do fridge magnets.... Knives fly out of the drawers :eek:
 

Attachments

  • South of Lake Annecy (John Hermann).zip
    69.8 KB · Views: 169
Parking....

Someone, I forget now who, asked me what the bike parking arrangements will be at the various hotels. So, here goes:

(1) Ibis St Omer. I have used this hotel several times. It’s a popular overnight stop, so the small car park (gated) does get crowded and you cannot reserve a space. I usually have some degree of luck persuading the girl on the desk to cordon off an area for us under cover, not least as it makes more room for other guests’ cars. She promised to see what they can do; I can only take her at her word. Wessie is arriving ahead of us; if he could see what the form is and / or use his manly charms on the front desk we may be in luck.

One tip. If we get in first, take a bit of care how we park up. It’s not unknown for bods to get boxed in by other guests’ bikes, who then sleep until about noon the next day! Bikers, ya gotta luv ‘em. Seven bikes will probably occupy two car spaces, so that’s EUR 16, whuch we can pay out of the kitty.

(2) Avallon. I have never been to the hotel but I understand from the receptionist that they have a gated car park.

(3) Doussard. Never been there. The owner will make a lock-up garage available. I am not sure if there is a charge (I didn’t ask) but again, we can meet it out of the kitty. Again, it may be a communal garage, so try to make sure you are not boxed-in by a snoring HD rider from Dusseldorf when it comes to setting-off.

(4) Ibis Dijon. I have stayed here. The hotel does not have an integral car park, though (from memory) there is a municipal underground car park right outside. I recall it was fine.

(5) Ch-Mez. I have not stayed at the hotel, though it seems to have a car park / garage. Usual, ‘Don’t get boxed-in’ rules apply.

I will bring a very simple cable lock. Good enough to lock two bikes together and / or the bike to something. Will it survive an attack? Not any better than I would survive the over active attentions of a Great White shark! Sensibly, France is not full of bike thieves, any more than the UK is, so basic will probably do. If anyone really, really, really wants to have a 300 kg 1600 GT away they will, not matter what.

It’s this one: http://www.abus.com/eng/Mobile-Security/Bike-safety-and-security/Locks/Coil-cable-locks/Numero-1300

It’s combination lock, which save having a key to lose, reasonably strong and not bulky.

One of the most useful things I have ever bought is one of these:

http://www.abus.com/eng/Mobile-Secu...ecurity/Locks/Special-locks/Combiflex-Pro-202

It is excellent for just looping through a helmet, running through a jacket sleeve or whatever, then through somewhere on the bike. As it’s a combination lock and above all simple to use, you DO use it. How many times do bods wander off leaving their helmet ‘in sight’ when having a coffee and then don’t keep it in sight while they natter to their mates? Lots, is the answer. How many get nicked? Not a lot, I admit but I don’t want to be the one if I can avoid it.
 
Great route

I had already made some possible routes out from Annecy / Doussard, which just need tidying-up.

I was just leafing through John Hermann's book of Alps roads, when I tripped over this one, which looks quite good. Hermann has it down at 250 km's but I think it's further.

Either way, it takes in some of the best Col's in the area, for sure. These include:

l'Iseran (2,770m) - One of the highest in the Alps

de la Forclaz (1,150m)

de la Madeleine (1,980m)

du Glandon (1,950m)

I haven't been down that way for about ten years, so it would be nice to see them again.

Good for any sticker collectors :thumb2 Me? I do fridge magnets.... Knives fly out of the drawers :eek:

Just uploaded the route to mapsource and checked it out in the John Hermann book. You are certainly a route planner `par excellonce' excuse my French in a Welsh accent. I would certainly like some stickers to go on my deer antler, black thorn, silver embossed 2 meter long walking stick
regards
Byron


:clap:clap
 
We stayed in Doussard last year with canvas holidays 2 mobile homes works out cheaper than tenting it !!
 
Kitty

Hi Richard,

As this is trip is now fast approaching, have you decided how much we should all put into the kitty?

I can paypal you this or give you it in cash if you prefer?

Tom
 
Hotel in Annecy / Doussard deposit etc

1. Wapping
2. Iand46
3. Byron
4. NeilDD
5. Tommymoto
6. Wessie
7. Yorkie
(8 & 9 Iand & Bernie, separately)

Hi, everyone

I have been doing a bit of book keeping vis-à-vis the hotel in Annecy where we are staying half-board (bed, breakfast and evening meal) at a fixed price.

We have seven single rooms at EUR 98 per night for four nights = EUR 2,744

We have one double room at EUR 146 per night for five nights = EUR 730

TOTAL EUR 3,474 (plus a room tax of EUR 1 per night / per person)

Some time ago I paid a deposit of EUR 1,000 on behalf of all of us, which I have divided up pro-rata according to room cost and number of nights.

If you could each let me have EUR 110 in cash when we meet that will clear your individual shares of the deposit. I would like it in euro currency, please.


There will then be a balance to pay of EUR 98 X 4 nights = EUR 392 less your EUR 110 deposit = EUR 282 plus a room tax of EUR 1 per day per person = EUR 286 when you leave.


This excludes any drinks or ‘extras’ we have.

I will talk to the hotel about how we are to pay the balance and / or any bar bills etc. In a perfect world I will ask the hotelier that each person pays their balance on departure, that way if you have any drinks, nibbles, porn channel TV, dodgy hookers (of any persuasion and genus) you can charge them to your room. That will save us all having to sit down with a water cooled calculator on the last morning sorting it all out, when all we really want to do is be heading towards Dijon.


Any problems, you know where I live.


Richard
 

Attachments

  • deposit breakdown calc's.pdf
    85.4 KB · Views: 165
Noted.

Glad I remembered the hotel in Doussard is half board...
 


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