Hi all. Will drop everyone an email with details shortly. Need to sort out a few things, cars going out and payment. I'll do it next week. Andy R and GWD I've messaged you to get your email addresses so we can deal with passports/money etc off the forum. Will be at club night tomorrow from about 9 pm if anyone has any questions, wants to chat about routes etc.
Here are updated bike routes to get there. Hopefully, you are able to export them to your Garmins. We'll need all the bleeps and beeps we can get to navigate through winding Kent. It's not like straight and obvious, like Norfolk.
Having a PICNIC moment and struggling with downloading etc. Simply can't work this out on Garmin. I own a very basic Edge 500 and need TCX files. Can somebody email me the GPX files and I can use GPSies to convert.
Just a quick heads up. I logged into P&O to recheck ferry booking for Thursday. Booking now says 20.15 departure on the Pride of Kent arriving 22.45 My original confirmation email has 19.15 departure. Might be worth checking your own booking on line. Will call P&O tomorrow.
For those riding to Diksmuide. Just contacted P&O and the 19.15 crossing has been cancelled. I was automatically put onto the later ferry. We can get any ferry + or - 4h the original booking. Earlier ferry is 18.35 which might be doable.
All - Neil and I will meet you at the Cromer junction (we're heading over from Stevenage, so a bit less distance to cover). We'll get there for 7.45am.
any chance of gpx files for Belgium Stef? will check tomorrow night. my old map is not in the live map box. will seek out the archive box in the loft. cannot see why I would have archived that one.
We are all back safe and well from sunny Flanders. Another successful club trip to Belgium. I look forward to the next one.
Half of us set off on Thursday from the Tuns with a mission to ride there. Fantastic conditions for September saw us get most of the way through Essex incident free. Off roading though an abandoned airstrip aside. Blooming google maps. When we met Andy and Neil en route, they had collided with each other and had a bit of a tumble. Sadly, Andy got to Brentwood and conceded on his recent knee injury and bailed out on the day.
It sort of started to fall apart a bit then. Vince had 3 punctures and a miscommunication meant we stranded him in Tilbury for some time before doubling back. Some of us missed the tilbury ferry and had to wait for ages chatting to the toothless mad locals. I did see a dolphin/porpoise though. Then me and Vince got detached after a food stop at Gravesend. We'd covered just 65 miles in 6 hrs as we went deep into Kent and had to go for it a bit thereafter.
The quiet lanes route through Kent delivered a vehicle light solution. The price to pay was several very, very steep switchbacks. 20%+. Wth panniers. We needed all our gears. Kent itself is a bit dour. But gets very pretty in the last miles. We made the late ferry from Dover on the dot of the official closing time for a very gentle journey to Calais with Pints of Stella Artois and 8,000 German school kids. 142 miles @ 15mph. 6,000ft.
The next day we left the hotel Meurice and glided the 50 miles, 77ft, to Diksmuide along the concroad lanes and canal paths. We met the others in Diksmuide town square and prepped for the afternoon ride to Dunkirk.
We had a relaxed tootle north past the trench of death and into more lanes and war history to the beach for coffee and beer. It is nice to chat to other members of the club you don't get to see much of and catch up.
In the evening we visited Ypres, a pretty town really, for the poignant Last Post, played there pretty much every day since the 1920s. Then to Skelders Bar back in Diksmuide. It's really good there and given a new lick of paint as the Bierhuse. Beer of the trip for me was the Westmalle Trippel but there were many contenders.
Saturday was our big 100 miler attack on the Kemmelberg and monts Noir, Cats and Cassel. The iconic Kemmelberg has been repaved but still a brute up and down. We follow a large part of the Gent-Wevelgem Classic and it's nice to see all these pro names on your Strava segments. Lunch on top of Mont Cassel was brilliant in its food quality and ramshackle service that reminds us how we've all gone city minded and expect everything to run like costa coffee.
We then stopped off in pretty Bergues for almond and chocolate croissants and outrageous buns and ice creams and local beer Chti. The run in was into a famously fierce headwind. We all did well to share the pain. In sight of Diksmuide tower, Will popped off to take the sprint.
A good evening meal courtesy of Bruno at the hotel Vrede and standard madness in the bar, with kebab and chips.
Sunday was our ride to Tyne Cot cemetery in Paschendale. Very sobering and all unimaginable and hard to take in the scale of history there. But important to do now and then. And then a burn up along the canal from Ypres to Diksmuide. MC is showing extraordinary TT strength. Lunch and back into the cars through the tunnel and home with Belgian chocolates and a box of cheap beer.
Thanks to everyone for good times on and off the bike. Cheers to Stef for organizing, herding cats and for driving, along with Tim and Andrew. Hard luck Tim and Andy for limited riding with illness and injury.
There's much talk of CCA trip action in 2017. We have a good mix of people in the club to ensure they're always fun. Watch out for when the next one appears and go.
Thanks for all the organising Stef. Great company and such a nice place Dimsmuide and the new hotel. Shame I didn't get to ride much and hope I don't spread the lurgy to anyone else. Enjoyed hanging out in Isengard!....
Thanks Stef, great trip. Really needed some time off and this was a great way to spend it. Great company, good riding and lots of amazing things to see. I don't know whether my body is knackered or just hungover still...
Thanks to Stef, from me too, for organising this great trip.
Perfect weather, great company and fantastic fun on and off the bike.
Not sure if we spent more time pedalling or refuelling with the excellent and varied malted recovery drinks produced by Belgium's master brewers?
Yes a great trip, really enjoyed it. 190 miles for those who drove over. At least double that for those who rode over. Thanks to Tim and Andrew for driving, and everyone for contributing - a great group both from a cycling and social perspective. Sorry that Tim and Andy couldnt do all the rides due illness/injury.
Thanks for the surprise birthday celebration, and thanks for some very well paced considerate riding on the front from the stronger riders - especially Saturday afternoon - kept the whole group together at a great pace until a few miles from home.
Great weather and scenery too. Oh and the beer and food were pretty good too... though not sure about the meat moustache...
From me too, thanks very much Stef for organising, Tim for driving and all for your excellent company. I was posing in front of the blue rabbit to show how the colour exactly matched the CCA blue. I had forgotten that I was not wearing club kit - and that was only Friday afternoon!
Super CCA trip - thanks to Stef and Martin for organising. Need to thank the drivers too: Tim, Andrew and Stef.
Riding out was fun but next time I'll apply for a TUE to get me over the Kent Downs. Good to finally ride the Kemmelberg and think of all those cycling greats that have done battle there. Wasn't too difficult after 20miles of easy riding but would be a whole different ball-game in a 270km pro race. Enjoyed Mont Cassels most - the Department du Nord in France looks particularly nice for cycling and worthy of further exploration.
Off the bike stuff good too but have to admit to preferring the cooking lager. Hopefully that doesn't disqualify me from future trips. JP
My thanks also to Stef and Martin for the seamless organisation. Great routes, just download, select and 'go-ride'. The trip to Dover was a tough day but gave an interesting contrast to the other very flat days.
As with Paris-Nice last year, the weather was certainly very kind to us and although I can't say I enjoyed the cobbles, overall it was a fantastic experience.
I look forward to riding with you all again sometime soon.
Comments
Will drop everyone an email with details shortly.
Need to sort out a few things, cars going out and payment. I'll do it next week.
Andy R and GWD I've messaged you to get your email addresses so we can deal with passports/money etc off the forum.
Will be at club night tomorrow from about 9 pm if anyone has any questions, wants to chat about routes etc.
Here are updated bike routes to get there. Hopefully, you are able to export them to your Garmins. We'll need all the bleeps and beeps we can get to navigate through winding Kent. It's not like straight and obvious, like Norfolk.
Ashwell-Tilbury
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/13580460
Gravesend-Dover
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/13580485
Calais-Diksmuide
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/13580808
What do you think we'll need for the o/n stop in Calais? Looking to pack as light as possible to keep up with Vince!
I don't use a Garmin (Bryton for me), and I'm having trouble with the links above. Please can someone email me the .gpx files for Martin's routes?
Cheers,
An excited Andy R! Looking forward to it now.
Simply can't work this out on Garmin.
I own a very basic Edge 500 and need TCX files.
Can somebody email me the GPX files and I can use GPSies to convert.
JP
I logged into P&O to recheck ferry booking for Thursday.
Booking now says 20.15 departure on the Pride of Kent arriving 22.45
My original confirmation email has 19.15 departure.
Might be worth checking your own booking on line.
Will call P&O tomorrow.
JP
Just contacted P&O and the 19.15 crossing has been cancelled.
I was automatically put onto the later ferry.
We can get any ferry + or - 4h the original booking.
Earlier ferry is 18.35 which might be doable.
JP
See you all at the Tuns, leaving 7.30am.
Or, when passing Cromer and Ardeley Farm approx 8am.
Here is a crude route sheet I made for the Gravesend-Dover bit. It might be of interest;
https://we.tl/qiOgCAKNgS
I've packed an emergency tyre [GP4000] for us all. And I have 3 boot patches.
I think that's it. Looking forward to catching up with everyone at Diksmuide on Friday.
Martin 07977 652 247
Time to fit the panniers...
Andy
‘t Withuis
Grote Markt 33
8600 Diksmuide
TEL +32 (0)51 50 69 55
my mobile is 07889688487
Also will email final details shortly.
Have a great ride over tomorrow/Friday morning. See you in Diksmuide.
Half of us set off on Thursday from the Tuns with a mission to ride there. Fantastic conditions for September saw us get most of the way through Essex incident free. Off roading though an abandoned airstrip aside. Blooming google maps. When we met Andy and Neil en route, they had collided with each other and had a bit of a tumble. Sadly, Andy got to Brentwood and conceded on his recent knee injury and bailed out on the day.
It sort of started to fall apart a bit then. Vince had 3 punctures and a miscommunication meant we stranded him in Tilbury for some time before doubling back. Some of us missed the tilbury ferry and had to wait for ages chatting to the toothless mad locals. I did see a dolphin/porpoise though. Then me and Vince got detached after a food stop at Gravesend. We'd covered just 65 miles in 6 hrs as we went deep into Kent and had to go for it a bit thereafter.
The quiet lanes route through Kent delivered a vehicle light solution. The price to pay was several very, very steep switchbacks. 20%+. Wth panniers. We needed all our gears. Kent itself is a bit dour. But gets very pretty in the last miles. We made the late ferry from Dover on the dot of the official closing time for a very gentle journey to Calais with Pints of Stella Artois and 8,000 German school kids. 142 miles @ 15mph. 6,000ft.
The next day we left the hotel Meurice and glided the 50 miles, 77ft, to Diksmuide along the concroad lanes and canal paths. We met the others in Diksmuide town square and prepped for the afternoon ride to Dunkirk.
We had a relaxed tootle north past the trench of death and into more lanes and war history to the beach for coffee and beer. It is nice to chat to other members of the club you don't get to see much of and catch up.
In the evening we visited Ypres, a pretty town really, for the poignant Last Post, played there pretty much every day since the 1920s. Then to Skelders Bar back in Diksmuide. It's really good there and given a new lick of paint as the Bierhuse. Beer of the trip for me was the Westmalle Trippel but there were many contenders.
Saturday was our big 100 miler attack on the Kemmelberg and monts Noir, Cats and Cassel. The iconic Kemmelberg has been repaved but still a brute up and down. We follow a large part of the Gent-Wevelgem Classic and it's nice to see all these pro names on your Strava segments. Lunch on top of Mont Cassel was brilliant in its food quality and ramshackle service that reminds us how we've all gone city minded and expect everything to run like costa coffee.
We then stopped off in pretty Bergues for almond and chocolate croissants and outrageous buns and ice creams and local beer Chti. The run in was into a famously fierce headwind. We all did well to share the pain. In sight of Diksmuide tower, Will popped off to take the sprint.
A good evening meal courtesy of Bruno at the hotel Vrede and standard madness in the bar, with kebab and chips.
Sunday was our ride to Tyne Cot cemetery in Paschendale. Very sobering and all unimaginable and hard to take in the scale of history there. But important to do now and then. And then a burn up along the canal from Ypres to Diksmuide. MC is showing extraordinary TT strength. Lunch and back into the cars through the tunnel and home with Belgian chocolates and a box of cheap beer.
Thanks to everyone for good times on and off the bike. Cheers to Stef for organizing, herding cats and for driving, along with Tim and Andrew. Hard luck Tim and Andy for limited riding with illness and injury.
There's much talk of CCA trip action in 2017. We have a good mix of people in the club to ensure they're always fun. Watch out for when the next one appears and go.
https://m.imgur.com/gallery/EbXJE
Perfect weather, great company and fantastic fun on and off the bike.
Not sure if we spent more time pedalling or refuelling with the excellent and varied malted recovery drinks produced by Belgium's master brewers?
Thanks for the surprise birthday celebration, and thanks for some very well paced considerate riding on the front from the stronger riders - especially Saturday afternoon - kept the whole group together at a great pace until a few miles from home.
Great weather and scenery too. Oh and the beer and food were pretty good too... though not sure about the meat moustache...
Riding out was fun but next time I'll apply for a TUE to get me over the Kent Downs. Good to finally ride the Kemmelberg and think of all those cycling greats that have done battle there. Wasn't too difficult after 20miles of easy riding but would be a whole different ball-game in a 270km pro race. Enjoyed Mont Cassels most - the Department du Nord in France looks particularly nice for cycling and worthy of further exploration.
Off the bike stuff good too but have to admit to preferring the cooking lager. Hopefully that doesn't disqualify me from future trips.
JP
As with Paris-Nice last year, the weather was certainly very kind to us and although I can't say I enjoyed the cobbles, overall it was a fantastic experience.
I look forward to riding with you all again sometime soon.
James