Second May Bank Holiday Wander, Friday 23 May to Monday 26 May

[paintman]

Could you please resend the email Richard.

[email protected]

Mind you it may yet be pointless because as usual I am having problems with the replacement 550 from Garmin, brought new maps but they will not unlock despite several conversations with Garmin where they have sent new unlock codes which won't work.

 

[Pooh bear]

help!!! just about to throw the Garmin 550 out the window!. went on to map install but none of my maps are there? So I can put on SD card. Do I have to install each separate part of Europe from the Garmin Express site to the computer and copy to Map installer??? Thinking I may just buy a paper map. I am not techno phobic but this is silly Pooh

 

[Wapping]

Hi John

I must have typed your email address in incorrectly.

Will remedy this evening.

Paula, battle on! If you are as stuck as a stuck thing, I'll drive up to Colchester to have a go at fixing it. It's really difficult to do down the phone as the download / install periods are several hours.

 

[Pooh bear]

Are bless you Richard but that won't be necessary. Will play around with it for a while then if no luck I'll give up and go for a run now it's cooled down x

 

[Wapping]

I have a spare place if anyone is interested...

Richard

 

[iand46]

help!!! just about to throw the Garmin 550 out the window!. went on to map install but none of my maps are there? So I can put on SD card. Do I have to install each separate part of Europe from the Garmin Express site to the computer and copy to Map installer??? Thinking I may just buy a paper map. I am not techno phobic but this is silly Pooh

Paula, you need to get your maps on your PC first. sent you a couple of PDF's via email that should help using yet another Garmin program "MapUdater"

Richard's offer of one to one help sounds good though.

 

[lrosales]

Excellent job Richard!! Much appreciated!!

Maps loaded, numbers saved and tank full, now I have three days to learn french...

Leo

 

[Wapping]

Still one spare place.....

 

[Wapping]

Hoorah! Order emerges from chaos....

Paintman, you should now have the suggested routes and the spreadsheet with everyone's mobile numbers. My apologies for somehow dreaming you up a completely wrong email address.

I have heard from Paula that she seems to have loaded her maps AND the routes onto her 550 AND been on a run, is there no stopping the girl? My thanks to iand46 for his help etc.

Irosales has put some petrol in his bike, which is a very encouraging start. He's well ahead of me, as my bike is loitering away across London, awaiting new tyres.

I STILL HAVE A SPARE PLACE..... I will hold this open until Wednesday evening if anyone would like to join us.

 

[paintman]

My apologies for somehow dreaming you up a completely wrong email address.

Please don't apologise, this is entirely my fault, I seem to be able to put some kind of hex on anything more complicated than a pencil and paper. It exasperates the ever tolerant Mrs Paintman, remote hexing though is a brand new development.

 

[paul08]

Still one spare place.....

Richard

If you still have a spare place, then I would be interested in riding down from Köln and meeting up with you at the Cheval Rouge in Sainte Menhould. I am assuming that you are staying there 3 nights (Fri, Sat & Sun) and returning home on the Monday.
- obviously I would not need the hotel in St Omer on the Thursday night.

Alternatively, I can arrange my own accommodation and still meet up with the group. Please let me know if this is okay with you

 

[Wapping]

Hi Paul, that's great.

I will add you to the Cheval Rouge, three nights, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

I will circulate you with the contact details etc.

Richard

 

[Wapping]

Jaunt now back at fully subscribed.

 

[paul08]

I will struggle with loading the routes onto my nav V as i am currently without a working Basecamp. But am sure I can keep up and follow others!!

 

[iand46]

I will struggle with loading the routes onto my nav V as i am currently without a working Basecamp. But am sure I can keep up and follow others!!

Ask Richard nicely & I'm sure he'll share the routes via Bluetooth.

 

[lrosales]

Hi Paul,

I have the maps on my nav V so I can share them once we meet. Are you going from Cologne?

 

[paul08]

Hi Paul,

I have the maps on my nav V so I can share them once we meet. Are you going from Cologne?

Yes, i will be coming down from Cologne. Do you know what time you lot are expecting to get to the hotel?

I have about 360km to do, but no decisions on route yet. I could come via Aachen and Liege (a couple of options, both of which would be about 50% motorway. Or, and this is my current favourite, a jaunt down through the Eifel to Bitberg and then Trier, through Luxembourg and on via Verdun. Looking at the maps, I am guessing that this route will duplicate some of the ride-outs planned by Richard.

Have to check what maps I have etc etc and also think about what I will ned to take.

See you in France!!!

 

[Wapping]

I would guess that we will be at the hotel somewhere between 17:00 and 18:00.

We were earlier last time but with a smaller group and a shorter sandwich lunch. Lunch on the way down is tricky as nowhere really fits time-wise. I am tempted to make it a sandwich affair again. The small bakery in St Omer won't be able to cope with our mass onslaught, so it will be on the hoof somewhere.

Routes for when we are there we can sort out.

 

[dc2100k]

Hi Richard,

What items do we need to bring specifically for traveling in France? GB sticker? Breathalyser? Warning Triangle??? Which of these can these be picked up at Folkestone/Calais?

Do you think it advisable to bring V5, Insurance Docs, License counterpart, etc? Hoping to travel minimally for this, ie. no panniers or anything like that.

James.

 

[Wapping]

These are the only MUST have documents, which you are well advised to have with you when riding your bike:

Insurance certificate
V5 registration document
Driving licence, both parts
Passport

It says you should have a GB sticker or GB type number plate. Up to you.



Good ideas are:

Spare set of keys (not kept locked in pannier)
Basic map
Mobile phone, activated for foreign usuage, voice and text
Charger for phone, preferably with a plug that fits a French socket. A basic adaptor will do.
Credit / debit card
Some local cash, euro denominated
Dark visor / sunglasses
Waterproofs
Sense of humour
Basic security, disc lock or similar
Breakdown recovery insurance
E111 card
Personal Accident / Travel insurance