A one-off Wander... maybe targeted towards beginners... 6/7 July

Wapping

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Oct 21, 2005
Messages
78,764
Reaction score
3,526
Location
Wapping, London
One with a difference....

A train out on Saturday 6 July around noon

A train back on Sunday 7 July around 19:00

One overnight stop on Saturday night, south of Cambrai.

Sunday spent coming back up to the north French coast.

A mixture of roads.... A bit of m'way, some N (national) and mostly D (county)

ALL DEPENDENT ON ME GETTING SOME ROOMS!!

HOW MANY BIKES / PILLIONS?? It really does depend on the availability of rooms, I hope to know by Sunday. I would imagine four (including me).

I will definitely look at booking my train ticket, not least as I can always transfer it to another date if I hit the buffers on the rooms front.

Richard
 
Booked my train ticket....

Departure: Saturday 06 July 11:50

Return: Sunday 07 July 18:50


Now to find a hotel :eek:
 
Hotel booked - Saturday 06 July

http://www.hotel-le-florence.fr

I have reserved:

Three single rooms (one gone, already)

One double room

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Le...=-oNAnXJDWliz6qiIaihXyQ&cbp=12,246.69,,0,6.34

For northern France, St Quentin is not a bad town, reasonably well placed to fit with the idea of taking a later train over on the Saturday lunchtime. It is also well placed to take a scenic route back to Calais for the slightly later train on Sunday.

Trip should be good for? In no particular order:

(1) Any 'Beginners' out there.

(2) Anyone really who wanted a reasonably relaxed weekend in France.

We can ride some half-decent roads, for sure.

Richard
 
If I may I would like to join you on this.

Not a beginner but a relaxing day in France looks good

Karl
 
Sold to karlp :thumb2


Three single rooms (two gone, already)

One double room


===

Given a bit of notice I MAY be able to alter the reservation. If anyone would like to come and it appears the rooms have gone, ping up interest and I'll do my best.

Richard
 
Hotel Beatus at Cambrai is superb :thumby:

:beerjug:

Thank you for that, Micky.

Cambrai, for me is stuck between somewhere and nowhere. Either leaving the motorway at the old favourite of junction 8 to head south or jumping back on to go north.

I will though add it to an ever growing list of tips.
 
Sorry we can't join you on this one but we'll be flying back from Cefalonia that weekend :Motomartin

Maybe next time :thumb2

Andy & Jen
 
Sold to Essex man :thumb2

My daughter went to Brentwood School, so I know it's not all bad :D

Richard

One double room left.....
 
Suggested routes

We are crossing on the 11:50 = 12:50 frog time
40 minutes to cross = 13:30 off

DAY ONE

I have created three alternatives, all in Mapsource, hosted on Dropbox.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14126843/July ride 12;00 start at train.gdb

1. A26 M'way to St Pol junction 5. Then via Albert / Peronne to St Quentin. This is my prerence.

1.1 A26 M'way to Cambrai junction 8. Then via Bohainne to St Quentin

1.2 A26 M'way direct to St Quentin junction 10. This is the default fallback in case of problems only.

DAY TWO

I have created two alternatives, both leading back to Cap Griz Nez, then to the Chunnel.

2.1 St Quentin to Peronne

2.2 Peronne to Hesdin

2.3 Hesdin to Cap Griz Nez

2.4 Cap Griz Nez to Chunnel

OR ALTERNATIVELY

2.1 St Quentin to Peronne

3.1 Peronne to Auxi le Chateau

3.2 Auxi le Chateau to Cap Griz Nez

2.4 Cap Griz Nez to Chunnel


I think this is my preferred choice

We have got plenty of time on Sunday so I may have a look at a third alternative, too.

Richard
 
Third alternative created.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14126843/July ride 12;00 start at train.gdb

This takes us across from Peronne to St Valery on the Baie du Somme. Then across country, picking up the A16 at junction 31 (I think it is toll free to use at this point northwards) leaving at junction 36 to run up to Cap Griz Nez.

4.1 Peronne to St Valery

4.2 St Valery to Cap griz Nez

This is the longest alternative of the three options.... Get's my vote, though at over 300 miles it will mean setting off at 09:00 from St Quentin.

If we ran short of time, it's reasonably easy to pick up the A16 further south and / or miss out the sat leg to Cap Griz Nez, simply by staying on the motorway. Definitely doable one way or another.
 
All systems go.....!!

The hotel booking is reconfirmed.... Not least as the hotel is FULL!

Wanderers are:

Wapping

Robin (as a stand in for KarlP)

JohnTaylor54

sdk72 and SWMBO

====

Unfortunately KarlP had a family problem that meant he was unsure of making it. Very generously he gave up his slot to accommodate Robin :thumby:

As the trains are full, Robin is on a later train.

13:20 out - We are on the 11:50 - That's an hour and a half gap. I will see what I can do to work out where we might meet up. If it's not practicable, we will see him at the hotel.

19:36 back - We are on the 18:50 - That's not a problem.

====

What else?

Usual stuff, really:

  • Full tank of fuel when getting on the train, please. That way we at least all start even.
  • I will amend the route very slightly to take us through the petrol station, straight after coming off the train. This is not a fuel stop. It's simply to ensure we are all together.
  • I will send everyone my mobile number; send me a timed text if you have a problem getting to, onto or off, the train. It's not unknown and it's by no means certain that we will all be in the same carriage, particularly if the train is full. We can wait in the petrol station for anyone to catch-up, as we have done before. It's a social ride after all.
  • I will be in the reception hall thing in good time before departure. See you there. I won't be on a GS (of any description) and may well take my HP4.
  • The longish range weather forecast looks OK. The weather I can't change, no matter what. Don't assume that it will be dry.....
Richard
 


Back
Top Bottom