Having discovered that chez Wapping will be isolated and marooned between the Thames and the Olympic dignitaries' special reserved car lanes along The Highway, I have decided that escaping London may well be a very good idea.
Going to France looks to be a cunning plan, so this is what I propose:
Likely dates: Friday 27 July- Sunday 12 Aug 2012 and probably a day or two either side.
What to do: A lap of France, in a broad anti-clockwise circle, starting and ending at Calais.
What to see: I will endeavour to create a list of some of the main 'must sees' in France, outside of Paris*
Will we be able to see them all and everything else? Probably yes and no, depending on the time taken to get between them. For instance, we could perhaps 'see' the Millau Bridge by riding over it..... and one quick photosnap.... but probably not spend hours and hours wondering at it. Or we could 'see' the standing stones at Carnac in Brittany or the top of Mont Ventoux in Provence the same way, but definitely not on the same day. Or we could stand for a moment or three on the bluffs of the Normandy beach head, or pass by Chartres cathedral, or a bastide in the SE corner, or go down Le Mans' famous Mulsanne straight, or visit the South African army's memorial in Picardy but definitely not take in all their museums, too.
I guess the real underlying intention is to 'see France' for itself as a country and how the scenery really changes from day to day. We can all always go back to see something again another day after all.
How far? It's a long way, definitely north of 3,000 miles. Inevitably there will be some long distance days, too. But, I will try to be reasonably sensible; if it makes sense to hit perhaps 150 miles on a motorway to avoid multiple hours on not particularly good or interesting lesser roads, I'll take a motorway.
There will be no off-road sections and nothing (I hope) that could not be done on a GS, an R1, a Harley or Hornet.
Where to stay? Well, there's a question. I fancy staying in Logis or similar private hotels. Nothing really fancy but reasonably decent. I will need to map the route out and then try to line the hotels up, which will be my first task. The hotels will limit the number of spaces available, for sure.
Will there be days off? Yes. It's a long way. I will try to do, two or three days riding, two days off....two days riding, two days off..... or something like that. For example, one of the big gorges (we cannot do them all, sorry) may well take a day - so we would 'see' the gorge as we rode along it - but I could try to line the end of the day up to leave us within sensible striking distance of the top Mont Ventoux for the next day, then have a day off in Provence. That sort of thing. Similarly, if we went down into the Camargue, we could have a day off paddling at the seaside in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, perhaps? In short, it's a broad canvas to paint on.
Cost? France is not cheap and (unless the euro weakens) it isn't going to become so, suddenly. But, I do not want to spend a fortune. So if we can work a way to save some cost with a bit of self-help or make do, I will do it.
Who will it be suitable for? Anyone who can ride a motorcycle. It will not be a race but we will need to press-on and there will be some longish days. The good thing about France is that lots of it does link up by motorway or major roads. So, if anyone struggles they can always dive out for a bit. There is definitely no shame in at all, not least as it may well be hot on some days. I don't want anyone to feel that they are letting anyone (or themselves) down, not least as there are definitely no medals or prizes.
On riding days, we will probably need to be on the road wheels rolling by nine AM latest or we may well spend the day chasing our tails.
How will we know the way? I will do Mapsource Garmin routes for each day but we will all need a decent map or two, too.
Any house rules? This is not a professionally organised jaunt, nor do we need to make it one. But we will be going a long way and will be away for a while. We are all, near enough, grown up and can probably help each other by helping ourselves if something goes wrong. Look at it as maybe eight bods, each going 3,000 or more miles. That is 24,000 man miles, or once around the earth. Something might happen. I propose we have a basic central list (everyone will have a copy) of individual's Travel insurance, Breakdown recovery and who at home to contact in a real emergency. Fingers crossed, we will not need to look at it.
Other than that, a half decent sense of humour and a vague sense of direction should be enough..... All of the Tossers who have been kind (or sucker) enough to participate on other Wanders would all fit the bill, admirably.
How many bikes? Let's say a minimum of four to make it worthwhile. Six or eight would be good. Pillions are welcome. The biggest limiting factor may well be hotel rooms. First come, first served.
Is it a definite? Yes, as much as anything still a year or more away can be.
Any questions? I have loads........... but am happy to help.
Richard
PS I have done it before, but didn't stop to look at too much.
*Though it might be fun to ride past the Eiffel tower, of course.
Going to France looks to be a cunning plan, so this is what I propose:
Likely dates: Friday 27 July- Sunday 12 Aug 2012 and probably a day or two either side.
What to do: A lap of France, in a broad anti-clockwise circle, starting and ending at Calais.
What to see: I will endeavour to create a list of some of the main 'must sees' in France, outside of Paris*
Will we be able to see them all and everything else? Probably yes and no, depending on the time taken to get between them. For instance, we could perhaps 'see' the Millau Bridge by riding over it..... and one quick photosnap.... but probably not spend hours and hours wondering at it. Or we could 'see' the standing stones at Carnac in Brittany or the top of Mont Ventoux in Provence the same way, but definitely not on the same day. Or we could stand for a moment or three on the bluffs of the Normandy beach head, or pass by Chartres cathedral, or a bastide in the SE corner, or go down Le Mans' famous Mulsanne straight, or visit the South African army's memorial in Picardy but definitely not take in all their museums, too.
I guess the real underlying intention is to 'see France' for itself as a country and how the scenery really changes from day to day. We can all always go back to see something again another day after all.
How far? It's a long way, definitely north of 3,000 miles. Inevitably there will be some long distance days, too. But, I will try to be reasonably sensible; if it makes sense to hit perhaps 150 miles on a motorway to avoid multiple hours on not particularly good or interesting lesser roads, I'll take a motorway.
There will be no off-road sections and nothing (I hope) that could not be done on a GS, an R1, a Harley or Hornet.
Where to stay? Well, there's a question. I fancy staying in Logis or similar private hotels. Nothing really fancy but reasonably decent. I will need to map the route out and then try to line the hotels up, which will be my first task. The hotels will limit the number of spaces available, for sure.
Will there be days off? Yes. It's a long way. I will try to do, two or three days riding, two days off....two days riding, two days off..... or something like that. For example, one of the big gorges (we cannot do them all, sorry) may well take a day - so we would 'see' the gorge as we rode along it - but I could try to line the end of the day up to leave us within sensible striking distance of the top Mont Ventoux for the next day, then have a day off in Provence. That sort of thing. Similarly, if we went down into the Camargue, we could have a day off paddling at the seaside in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, perhaps? In short, it's a broad canvas to paint on.
Cost? France is not cheap and (unless the euro weakens) it isn't going to become so, suddenly. But, I do not want to spend a fortune. So if we can work a way to save some cost with a bit of self-help or make do, I will do it.
Who will it be suitable for? Anyone who can ride a motorcycle. It will not be a race but we will need to press-on and there will be some longish days. The good thing about France is that lots of it does link up by motorway or major roads. So, if anyone struggles they can always dive out for a bit. There is definitely no shame in at all, not least as it may well be hot on some days. I don't want anyone to feel that they are letting anyone (or themselves) down, not least as there are definitely no medals or prizes.
On riding days, we will probably need to be on the road wheels rolling by nine AM latest or we may well spend the day chasing our tails.
How will we know the way? I will do Mapsource Garmin routes for each day but we will all need a decent map or two, too.
Any house rules? This is not a professionally organised jaunt, nor do we need to make it one. But we will be going a long way and will be away for a while. We are all, near enough, grown up and can probably help each other by helping ourselves if something goes wrong. Look at it as maybe eight bods, each going 3,000 or more miles. That is 24,000 man miles, or once around the earth. Something might happen. I propose we have a basic central list (everyone will have a copy) of individual's Travel insurance, Breakdown recovery and who at home to contact in a real emergency. Fingers crossed, we will not need to look at it.
Other than that, a half decent sense of humour and a vague sense of direction should be enough..... All of the Tossers who have been kind (or sucker) enough to participate on other Wanders would all fit the bill, admirably.
How many bikes? Let's say a minimum of four to make it worthwhile. Six or eight would be good. Pillions are welcome. The biggest limiting factor may well be hotel rooms. First come, first served.
Is it a definite? Yes, as much as anything still a year or more away can be.
Any questions? I have loads........... but am happy to help.
Richard
PS I have done it before, but didn't stop to look at too much.
*Though it might be fun to ride past the Eiffel tower, of course.
So, I think we may well skip the one in Corsica 
