7 months until my next lads only Euro tour

Yer wing it the best way more adventure to be had don't need anybody to hold your hand or show you the way had some good time over the years had brake downs frames snapped nearly run out of fuel on way to ferry half ltr left when fillled up just do it :wink:

 

Ah, the good old days :wink:

I was like that once. Off the ferry and head south.

These days I book all the hotels in advance and we have the gite already booked for next year!

I only ever did two organised trips, one to the Bol D'Or in 1993 and one to Potes 10 years ago. The Bol D'Or trip was all a bit weird as the group ended up being split into two due to the hotels being in different towns and I ended up "leading" the group in the place I was in as I knew the area and spoke a bit of French. Nice bunch of blokes but not for me I'm afraid.

I rode to Potes and back by myself and didn't socialise too much while I was there. Went out for a couple of rides with some of the guys but in the end was more than happy being by myself. Once again a very nice bunch of blokes but I'm basically anti-social and avoid groups of any kind whenever I can.

Yes, I'm a grumpy old git

 

All this talk of touring has got me thinking of a couple of possible tours I could do.

End of April in 2015 is the 100th anniversary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli in Turkey with a special Dawn parade to be held at Chunuk Bair at the end of April

Its about 1900 miles each way so could be possible but would need a couple of weeks to do it.


Also in July 2016 is the 100th anniversary of the Somme which my grandfather was a part of (aged 16) and was injured by shrapnel so I would really would like to go that and it's not that far away as well.

There is only one problem that I see with these ideas ..... THE WIFE .....

 

I think I prefer to wing it because your stamina for riding varies so much day to day - some days a couple of hundred miles is enough, whilst others you can do so much more (usually a bit dependant on the previous night's entertainment). I think I would feel like I'd cheated myself if I'd booked into a (no, not bloody 'an' - 'h' is not a bloody vowel!) hotel and still had a few more hundred miles left in me!

 

I can see your point but I suppose it depends on where you're going and why. I used to do that but would invariably end up riding too far on the first day! These days I invariably have a destination booked (being a bit old and boring). Although I used to just find hotels along the way I now just book them before in advance using Google Earth and Tripadvisor to check them out .

 

We found in i pad useful.
Over breakfast we'd decide how far and where we wanted to go then book it through booking.com.
It worked very well,giving us some flexibility with the assurance of a bed and hot shower at the end of the day.
The only day we decided to wing it and not book was the only time we struggled and ended up riding until 8.30 at night.

Next year we're hoping to do France about June time and possibly the Picos mountains early September.