Profit free tour in france. Top to bottom

Hi

This trip is a profit free cycling venture for road bikers. We make nothing. But myself and the 2 support staff go free. Made up of 2 support riders and 1 support driver with vehicle. 8 ride days and one rest day after day 3. Average of 130-140k per day. Nice paces with a little team work here and there on the flats for fun. Start date between 5 and 9th of September.

Some sums for you.

You will need 9 nights accom’ at 50 Euros per room for 2 = 25pppn. Add 6 pp for breakfast. These are the ACTUAL averages. I have worked them out so don’t worry. And there are no grotty stopovers. Nice Logis De France hotels and the odd private one.

My ideas for lunches are that we all put in 3 or 4 Euros pp and the sv goes ahead as we set off each day to get le bread, le ham, le cheese and the other le’s to make a great buffet style lunch at some beauty spot. I have many folding chairs and a foldaway table to make it pleasant. If it were to rain one day we will play it by ear. The climate is very good at that time of year.

In the evening you are of course free to eat when and where you like. It would be nice if we all ate together though. The 3 organisers will eat at the hotel (for the most part) as it is easier and they do nice food. We are also keen to support small family run hotels. So, you can spend 8 Euros to 30 Euros (or more). Up to you and your budget. Let’s assume you average 15 pn. Now you have a daily figure of 49 Euros pppn. Round that up to 50 to cover water during the day. The sv will buy and hand out drinks/snacks as required. It will still be very warm so expect to drink 4 litres or more on any given day.

So, 50 x 9nghts = 450 divided by 1.10 (ex rate that may improve) = £410. You settle up your own bill every day so that we don’t handle your money. There are no kickbacks to us. These are family run hotels and we would not take one if it was offered. You normally have to stay 3 nights in a Logis DF to get better rates anyway.

Add to the above the following. 3 support staff for 8 nights (I will explain the one less night later) @ 165 = 1320. Hotel, breakfast and eve meals. Add fuel and tolls @ 260 = 1580 in total.

So, if ten of you go we have a figure of 158 Euros pp for the trip costs. Remember, this gets you an sv to carry all bags and the bike box for return trip and shops for lunch to keep costs down. Two support riders to help jolly things along and ensure all are safe and well. At the end we get you to the airport at Perpignan too. We are happy to take up to 16 and thus this 158 figure pp will reduce.

Trip starts at St Malo early in the morning. Best idea is to get the ferry to St M and get off and ride that day. Or you can get there the night before and stay local. Ferry gets in early and you need a cabin for plenty of rest. We used to do it years ago every year. You will need your bike box and a bag of clothing. Not too big a bag though! We will have spares including wheels and even a spare carbon bike!!

We take three ride days to get where we live in France. Near Limoges. Now, the above allows for you to stay in a hotel near us for 2 nights as we have a rest day on day 4. The 2 other support staff pay nothing as they stay with me and you ARE NOT CHARGED A PENNY FOR THEIR STAY HERE. You have a choice, at this point, to stay here at my home for 18 Euros per night with breakfast included (otherwise 31 at the hotel) or go to the hotel. I will not be in the least offended if you choose a hotel. But we can’t do it for nowt at our place. My wife does B&B and it would normally be 60 for a room. We can take 10 in the house and a few on mattresses in the converted barn.
Either way I invite you down to ours for a BBQ on the rest day evening and the cost for that is on me!! So…….money saved there.

Trip calls into or near: Craon (south east of Rennes) Thouars (SE of Angers) La Souterraine (West of Gueret) Riberac (SE of Angouleme) Grignols (viathe vinyards of St Emilion), Boulogne sur Gesse (gets hilly now), Tarascon sur Ariege and Perpignan. You can fly home to the UK from Perpignan. As you will see, we finish by catching the tail end of the Pyrenees. A couple of tough days there. They are shortened to 122k and 138k respectively.

I have ridden 90% of the intended route. I can safely say that I will take you down miles and miles of quiet roads and lanes.

To ensure a place all we ask is for a £50 deposit towards the support staff fees. The balance you can pay on day one or at the end of the trip. You pay for your food and board as you go. The £50 is fully refundable to you up to a month before the start date and we hope we can fill the spot.

If it works……………I am happy to do more. Crossing the Pyrenees for example. From Santander (in Spain) to Perpignan.

Helmets a must and get insurance too please.

Regards

Pascal (Irish born)