How can I persuade my friends we need to be in Bourg on 23rd

RyanBrook

Hi guys,

This July was orignally going to be spent cycling in the alps with a friend of mine in his camper van with two of his friends. However one of them dropped out and the other wasnt a very keen cyclist anyway so we decided to change our plans and now the two of us are goin on a road trip. My friend has invited two of our old flat mates from Uni. As we were now longer spending a week in Bourg I said It would be a good idea to be in Bourg for the 23rd June for the big stage finishing at Alpe d'huez. They have two weeks from Friday 18th whereas I have 10 days. I came up with this route:

Friday 18th Manchester – Calais – Luxembourg
Saturday 19th Luxembourg – Black Forest
Sunday 20th BF
Monday 21st BF – Geneva
Tuesday 22nd Geneva – Bourg D’oisans STAGE 17
Wednesday 23rd Bourg D’oisans – Lake Garda or Genoa (by the coast).
Thursday 24th Lake Garda
Friday 25th LG – Munich
Saturday 26th Munich – Prague
Sunday 27th Prague
Monday 28th Prague – Amsterdam
Tuesday 29th Amsterdam

Thinking they can go to Paris or wherever from there. The route is obvioulsy jam packed but I think it takes in some great places and the journies between each destination arent too bad apart from Prague to Amsterdam.

Last night the three of them met to discuss my route and decided they didnt like it and they wanted to change it to

Manchester - Luxembourg - Zurich - Venice (few days by coast of near Venice) - Prague for a few days (I leave from Prague) then they go to Amsterdam.

I have no idea why we would want to go to Zurich or Venice. Hardly seem like places for four lads to go. I think whether you are a cyclist or not Bourg d'oisans will be a fantastic place to be around the time of the tour. Plus we have our camper so dont need to worry about finding accommodation. What do you guys think about the two routes? And how can I sell it to the non-cyclists?

Thanks

celbianchi

couple of things -

1) Get your schedule right. if you arrive expecting to see the stage on Tue 22nd they will batter you as the stage is Wed 23rd for the D'Huez finish

2) For the non cyclists, hanging out on the dutch corner having a few beers waiting for the race might float their boat.

3) A tour stage finish on ADH is one of the great sporting spectacles in the world and has to be experienced.

RyanBrook

My mistake I meant to put the stage 17 by the 23rd. I do realise the stage is on the 23rd hence the thread title. Plan was to spend the tuesday cycling (walking for them) and enjoying Bourg doisans. I've been to the alps twice but have never seen the tour de france pass through.

iga

Hmmm, you're not giving yourself much time to actually see anywhere, one day in the Black Forrest and one day in Prague is your lot in 12 days. Although it is sometimes better to travel than arrive that's typically not the case when your belting down autoroutes.

Anyway, the way to pitch it is you'll agree to Venice if they agree to Bourg d'oisans. Be aware though that just cos you've got a campervan doesn't mean you'll be able to find anywhere to park it and sleep overnight legally. AdH will be hoaching, there's a thread in Race about where to go on AdH you might want to read.