The Raid Pyrenean

mattdavies

Ladies, Gents, I'm looking at a challenge for next year and was thinking of the raid Pyrenean. I did the JOGLE last year and this year we had our first baby (which is a challenge in sleep deprivation). I've been granted a weeks pass and the raid fitted this perfectly. My question is has anyone done this? What company did you do it with? I'm open to other challenging suggestions.

nickwill

I did it with Marmot Tours in 2008.
http://www.marmot-tours.co.uk/Road-Cycling-Holidays/raid-pyrenean.html
My blog account is here:
http://lakescyclist.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/raid-pyrenean-september-2008/

A wonderful ride and a great company to do it with. I'm off to ride the Raid Alpine with them in July this year.

mattjc

A wonderful ride and a great company to do it with. I'm off to ride the Raid Alpine with them in July this year.

I'm also doing the Raid Alpine with them in August this year with about 12 clubmates, would be good to hear your experiences when your back Nickwill

Thanks

Mat

skinsey

I also did the RP with Marmot Tours, a little more recently (September 2010), and can vouch that they're just as good / friendly / organised as ever. Brilliant trip - some of the best moments, days and descents I've ever had on a bike!

bigpikle

off to do it with them in Sept this year

nickwill

Bigpikle wrote:

off to do it with them in Sept this year

You won't regret it. Have a great time!

cookiemonster

I'm booked in with them for the June RP

rdt

skinsey wrote:

I also did the RP with Marmot Tours, a little more recently (September 2010), and can vouch that they're just as good / friendly / organised as ever. Brilliant trip - some of the best moments, days and descents I've ever had on a bike!

Skinsey, I see you're in Macc. Where did you fly from, and how was the travel? Cheers.

skinsey

@rdt: I flew from Stansted to Biarritz, and then back from Girona to Stansted, both with Ryanair. I really hadn't wanted to fly with Ryanair because of their reputation, but they had the most convenient times and routes, and were on time both ways. The lack of legroom hurt on the way back after all that climbing though!

Because I was with Ryanair I chose not to take my own bike, hiring one from Marmot instead, as did about 7 of the party of 19. That worked out ok, but on the other hand there were 4/5 people on my flight who had taken their own bikes, and Ryanair didn't screw up.

It was worth driving from Macc to Stansted for me because of the convenience of the flight routes and times. I stayed in a hotel down there the night before to de-stress things further, and have to say the whole experience was pretty smooth. Happy to answer any more specific questions.

nickwill

As above, I went with Ryanair in 2008 and flew from Stansted. A long way from Kendal but convenient in other ways. I took my bike and had no issues.

rdt

skinsey wrote:

@rdt: I flew from Stansted to Biarritz, and then back from Girona to Stansted, both with Ryanair. I really hadn't wanted to fly with Ryanair because of their reputation, but they had the most convenient times and routes, and were on time both ways. The lack of legroom hurt on the way back after all that climbing though!

Because I was with Ryanair I chose not to take my own bike, hiring one from Marmot instead, as did about 7 of the party of 19. That worked out ok, but on the other hand there were 4/5 people on my flight who had taken their own bikes, and Ryanair didn't screw up.

It was worth driving from Macc to Stansted for me because of the convenience of the flight routes and times. I stayed in a hotel down there the night before to de-stress things further, and have to say the whole experience was pretty smooth. Happy to answer any more specific questions.

Thanks for that.

Pikey Air to Biarritz definitely makes sense, else it's a long way from Toulouse to the start. It's a bummer that Manchester, being the largest airport outside of London, has no routes for any of Marmotte's tours (Alps, Pyrenees, Corsica).