Croydon - Nice

Ted Edwards

Unbelievably I have suddenly found myself, at the age of 57, retired. However given it is earlier than I had intended I am not going to find not going to work that easy so I will need to plan something for the Spring to look forward to and to get my mileage built up for my planned trip.
I know Paul at Bikesplus has done this trip so if your reading this advice please Paul.Thats not to say that I wouldn,t welcome advise from everyone else that can offer it.The initial plans I have are to cycle to Dover from Croydon so does anyone have any views on whether that is achievable in a day or not and what route should I take.To keep costs down I want to try and camp and break this up with limited nights in cheap hotels.I intend to use my Roberts Audux with 25mm tyres,does anyone have any views on that !
Does anyone have any views on the route that I should take from Calais and whether I am being too optimistic in aiming to cover 50 miles a day for 2 days and have a days rest before I start again. I,m in no hurry. My God it is sounding great sitting here writting this but will it be more difficult than I think it will be.All and any advice would be welcomed.

andyrock

G'day Ted,

In 04' I cycled London to Dover in three days and used the Sustrans Cycle route no.1 which was great as there were pubs and rough campsites along the way.

Cheers,

Andrew

jay_clock

ted, you are a lucky sod - enjoy it.

Time is not of the essence. I would plan to take 2 days to Dover to break yourself in. I am assuming you are someone who does cycle a bit already and for a 50 miler is not a horrific thing to contemplate?

The north east bit of France is not the most stunning, but still can be very nice. March could be cold damp and misty.

Distance to the ports you could be just as well off going to Portsmouth (or Dieppe). If you go to St Malo you have cut off the Cotentin peninsula, although the diagonal to Nice may be longer.

If not already done so, get onto www.crazyguyonabike.com and read up on other people's trips

I used to live in Nice and it is a lovely place, partic outside July and August. In terms of overall route you can go over the Alps or down the Rhone Valley. The latter avoids the bigger mountains

www.viamichelin.com is a useful site too.

If you need cheap (VERY) hotels the Formule 1 chain are dirt cheap, modern and basic. Premiere Classe are a bit better (own bathroom) - they are always out of town. If you do use them, go to one of the better hotels next door (eg Campanile) for the buffet breakfast - still good value and ideal for the hungry cyclist

Bonne route!

Ted Edwards

Thanks Jay & Andy for your advice, most welcome. My dear old wife has only just learnt about my plans and bless she thinks going on my own is a real risk and I may get way laid, mugged or anything so I have until Spring to convince her that I am a big boy now and that France really is not that dangerous,. Roll on spring.

orienteer

Sounds like the right direction

jay_clock

My dear old wife has only just learnt about my plans and bless she thinks going on my own is a real risk and I may get way laid, mugged or anything so I have until Spring to convince her that I am a big boy now and that France really is not that dangerous,.

I am off to NZ for 3 weeks on Saturday and am having the same problems with my daughters.... cycle touring is a really safe past-time.... My other choice was Mexico, so NZ was the "easy" option for them to accept

pneumatic

If, by the time you get to the head of the Rhone you are feeling fit and confident, I would STRONGLY recommend that you turn left and pick up the Routes des Grandes Alpes. It is what bicycles were made for:

http://www.routedesgrandesalpes.com/pag ... /index.php

wallabyhunter

Hey Ted Edwards. Congratulations on your adventure

I am wondering how to get from Lancs to the south coast, then to France. I will watch with interests for replies to your question. I was thinking train/car (relatives) to south of London then Bike from there.

I have 3 months owing me from work (long story) I arrive i UK June & head south from there!

Wife has given up worrying except if I cycle in the dark! So 3 months away are about the limit of my leave pass! I like the idea of F1 hotels, better than YHI , but I will also take light weight camping gear just in case.

Sustrans Cycle route no.1 sounds good "pubs along the way"! sounds bril (thanks Andyrock) I'll check it out

Like you say, I can't believe how I am looking forawrd to it, like a kid at Christmas! Have fun

gb

paul_smith_srcc

Although I have indeed ridden Channel to the Med we ended up near Nimes not Nice. To cycle to Dover from Croydon is a lovely ride, although my tour started in Dover I have ridden it on a number of occasions, your schedule of 50 miles a day will allow a scenic route over two days to Dover from Croydon.

Carrying Camping equipment of an Audax bike with 25mm tyres will be pushing the capabilities of that style of bike. Generally an Audax bike is set up more for lightweight touring, although with care it can be done, I have myself done it but even in that picture you will see that I was at Paddington Station, that load was not carried from Lands End to John O'groats, it was was purely to get me to and from the tour start and finish, I would not have risked the whole route with that load on that bike. It is starting to be a bit ‘Russian Roulette’ for many, most will use a more robust set up with larger tyres and more robust wheels for example when carrying that size of load, many will even chose a bike with a more stable geometry, like a Hybrid or touring specific bike like a Dawes Galaxy.

Paul_Smith
www.bikeplus.co.uk

Ted Edwards wrote:

Unbelievably I have suddenly found myself, at the age of 57, retired. However given it is earlier than I had intended I am not going to find not going to work that easy so I will need to plan something for the Spring to look forward to and to get my mileage built up for my planned trip.
I know Paul at Bikesplus has done this trip so if your reading this advice please Paul.Thats not to say that I wouldn,t welcome advise from everyone else that can offer it.The initial plans I have are to cycle to Dover from Croydon so does anyone have any views on whether that is achievable in a day or not and what route should I take.To keep costs down I want to try and camp and break this up with limited nights in cheap hotels.I intend to use my Roberts Audux with 25mm tyres,does anyone have any views on that !
Does anyone have any views on the route that I should take from Calais and whether I am being too optimistic in aiming to cover 50 miles a day for 2 days and have a days rest before I start again. I,m in no hurry. My God it is sounding great sitting here writting this but will it be more difficult than I think it will be.All and any advice would be welcomed.

andrew_s

Paul_Smith SRCC wrote:

Carrying Camping equipment of an Audax bike with 25mm tyres will be pushing the capabilities of that style of bike. Generally an Audax bike is set up more for lightweight touring, although with care it can be done

Most of my camping tours have been on an audax bike (Thorn Audax mark 0, Thorn Audax mark 1 (Classic) and now a Longstaff).
a) Use the fattest tyres you can fit (28mm in my case)
b) Try to carry a decent proportion of the weight in front low-riders
c) Don't worry if the bike handing feels a bit weird at first - you get used to it after the first couple of days. Until then stay in the saddle rather than standing too much.

One of the trips was over the Routes des Grandes Alpes too.

paul_smith_srcc

700 x 28c is what I would use as well if possible when heavy touring on an Audax bike, to an extent a tyre acts as a protective bumper for the wheels, although 28c is only slightly bigger than 25c it all helps especially in this case, a Roberts Audax I would have thought would just about cope with a 28c, if so I would definitely recommend doing so.

The fact that Audax bike will not be quite as stable under load is indeed something you will quickly get used to, in reality it is the wheels that may suffer. Touring wheels will generally use a slightly heavier strong rim, use 700 x 32 tyres for protection and also often many will use an ATB hub with 135mm spacing as apposed to 130mm of a normal road bike hub.

Paul_Smith
www.bikeplus.co.uk

andrew_s wrote:

Paul_Smith SRCC wrote:

Carrying Camping equipment of an Audax bike with 25mm tyres will be pushing the capabilities of that style of bike. Generally an Audax bike is set up more for lightweight touring, although with care it can be done

Most of my camping tours have been on an audax bike (Thorn Audax mark 0, Thorn Audax mark 1 (Classic) and now a Longstaff).
a) Use the fattest tyres you can fit (28mm in my case)
b) Try to carry a decent proportion of the weight in front low-riders
c) Don't worry if the bike handing feels a bit weird at first - you get used to it after the first couple of days. Until then stay in the saddle rather than standing too much.

One of the trips was over the Routes des Grandes Alpes too.