Via a PM, a site subscriber approached me, asking if I could assist him with a route from Calais to Lloret de Mar and a different return route. I am not usually that keen on creating personalised routes for people’s holidays, not least as I am not them and I know nothing about them, except that they ride a motorcycle. Mix in that, if it is to be done vaguely properly, it is not a five minute job. This one was a bit different, interesting in that it had some challenges, including:
1. The return route should be different enough from the way down, so as to justify riding it.
2. The A to B journey, Calais to Lloret de Mar is near enough 800 miles, if you go the obvious way to the west of Paris and down. Less obvious perhaps is the way back.
3. There was not a great deal of flexibility in the time available to complete either leg of the journeys, made more difficult as the return has to cater for an additional 200 miles on the last day, between Folkestone and the fellow’s home.
4. There had to be (in my opinion at least) enough ‘give’ in the route to allow a decent enough ride but not so little that one delay might throw the whole lot into jeopardy.
5. The time periods available were:
Outwards: Two and a half days. An early start, rolling off the train on the first day, to arrive at the final destination mid-afternoon, on day two and a half.
Return: Three days, but there’s the need to add in the additional 200 miles in the UK.
This is what I came up with:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bdlg63csna45fmp/WIP - Calais to Lloret de Mar 2.GPX?dl=0
The purists will moan, “Mate, you’ve put motorway in it!”. Yes, I have. Why? There are several reasons, including:
I am never entirely sure what ‘early’ means. To me, that might mean anything from five AM through to nine AM, a four hour spread. Putting motorways in builds some slack into the proposal.
If the Chunnel has significant delays in its schedule, the possible four hour spread increases. Rolling off the train at a planned early start time of say eight AM, might become 10 AM, two hours lost whilst standing still.
Avoiding motorways entirely to concentrate on N and D roads, bumps the mileage up but leaves the time available unaltered. Anything between 250 and 300 miles a day only on N and D roads is OK as a rough rule of thumb, when catering for unknown riders. Potentially over 350 to 400 is pushing it, unless you know the people pretty well. It is, after all, the chap’s holiday and he’ll probably still want to be married when he arrives.
Even though France is big, it is not always crammed with ‘Great, must do, roads, mate’. Sometimes the N or D road does nothing more than run parallel to the motorway, simply because the geography of the land dictates it has to be that way. The French build their motorways at great expense for a purpose; sometimes it’s just to get bods off the dreadful N and D road. You might as well get on the motorway for say, 50 or even 100 miles, as the lesser road quite possibly has no redeeming feature, other than to cater for blind obstinacy. Even the famed Michelin ‘green roads’ are not always a perfect indicator. Yes, they might be scenic, if your idea of scenic is village after village after quaint village, when you really want to be trundling reasonably quickly towards Lloret de Mar, to arrive mid-afternoon. If it’s not, then you might be in for a disappointment and some frustration.
I’d be grateful if members of UKGSer (particularly anybody familiar with BaseCamp / MapSource) could have a look at both routes. I don’t think I put any goat tracks into the routes and (I hope) was careful enough not to have some crazy jaunts up the wrong carriageway, requiring a U-turn and much cursing. If I have missed something obvious (yes, it misses the Millau bridge) sing up, I won’t be offended. Just make sure that the suggested alteration(s) still allow the total journey to be completed within the strict timeframe, without some crazy daily mileage or the poor fellow arriving at two AM to find his hotel (wherever that is) firmly closed, the biker friendly owner snoring loudly.
Thank you.
1. The return route should be different enough from the way down, so as to justify riding it.
2. The A to B journey, Calais to Lloret de Mar is near enough 800 miles, if you go the obvious way to the west of Paris and down. Less obvious perhaps is the way back.
3. There was not a great deal of flexibility in the time available to complete either leg of the journeys, made more difficult as the return has to cater for an additional 200 miles on the last day, between Folkestone and the fellow’s home.
4. There had to be (in my opinion at least) enough ‘give’ in the route to allow a decent enough ride but not so little that one delay might throw the whole lot into jeopardy.
5. The time periods available were:
Outwards: Two and a half days. An early start, rolling off the train on the first day, to arrive at the final destination mid-afternoon, on day two and a half.
Return: Three days, but there’s the need to add in the additional 200 miles in the UK.
This is what I came up with:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bdlg63csna45fmp/WIP - Calais to Lloret de Mar 2.GPX?dl=0
The purists will moan, “Mate, you’ve put motorway in it!”. Yes, I have. Why? There are several reasons, including:
I am never entirely sure what ‘early’ means. To me, that might mean anything from five AM through to nine AM, a four hour spread. Putting motorways in builds some slack into the proposal.
If the Chunnel has significant delays in its schedule, the possible four hour spread increases. Rolling off the train at a planned early start time of say eight AM, might become 10 AM, two hours lost whilst standing still.
Avoiding motorways entirely to concentrate on N and D roads, bumps the mileage up but leaves the time available unaltered. Anything between 250 and 300 miles a day only on N and D roads is OK as a rough rule of thumb, when catering for unknown riders. Potentially over 350 to 400 is pushing it, unless you know the people pretty well. It is, after all, the chap’s holiday and he’ll probably still want to be married when he arrives.
Even though France is big, it is not always crammed with ‘Great, must do, roads, mate’. Sometimes the N or D road does nothing more than run parallel to the motorway, simply because the geography of the land dictates it has to be that way. The French build their motorways at great expense for a purpose; sometimes it’s just to get bods off the dreadful N and D road. You might as well get on the motorway for say, 50 or even 100 miles, as the lesser road quite possibly has no redeeming feature, other than to cater for blind obstinacy. Even the famed Michelin ‘green roads’ are not always a perfect indicator. Yes, they might be scenic, if your idea of scenic is village after village after quaint village, when you really want to be trundling reasonably quickly towards Lloret de Mar, to arrive mid-afternoon. If it’s not, then you might be in for a disappointment and some frustration.
I’d be grateful if members of UKGSer (particularly anybody familiar with BaseCamp / MapSource) could have a look at both routes. I don’t think I put any goat tracks into the routes and (I hope) was careful enough not to have some crazy jaunts up the wrong carriageway, requiring a U-turn and much cursing. If I have missed something obvious (yes, it misses the Millau bridge) sing up, I won’t be offended. Just make sure that the suggested alteration(s) still allow the total journey to be completed within the strict timeframe, without some crazy daily mileage or the poor fellow arriving at two AM to find his hotel (wherever that is) firmly closed, the biker friendly owner snoring loudly.
Thank you.
