Author Topic: Show us your favourite local roads  (Read 7132 times)

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Offline Phmode

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Re: Show us your favourite local roads
« Reply #15 on: August 05, 2020, 09:49:11 pm »
I have two of these. The first one is an 8- hour (day)ride, the second one a 4-5 hours (day)ride. Are rides in (respectively) Northern France and "Flanders Fileds" included ?

In the spirit of Rae's idea, I would be happy to travel.. perhaps next year with all the current crap going on. Count me in!

Offline TomK1300s

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Re: Show us your favourite local roads
« Reply #16 on: August 06, 2020, 08:07:26 am »
B974 Banchory to Fettercairn (over cairn o mount )

Might do that one on Monday while we are up there for the Applecross run.
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Offline sudolea

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Re: Show us your favourite local roads
« Reply #17 on: August 06, 2020, 10:53:05 am »
In the spirit of Rae's idea, I would be happy to travel.. perhaps next year with all the current crap going on. Count me in!
(you'll need a -free- MRA account to view the routes, I am afraid ...)

The first one, the one I'd call the "Flanders Fields" ride,
https://www.myrouteapp.com/routetrack/open/3599261
is a 4 to 5 hours (round-trip) ride I also used as the base of a ride I helped organise for a Flemish biker forum. A calm day's ride of around 200 km. Every year, I ride a variation of this route which passes along quite some WWI places of interest. To mention some of them :
- the Irish "peace park" in Mesen (Messines might ring a bell better)
- a pass in the vicinity of the "Dodengang", a frontline where soldiers of the former opposite sides could see the white of each other's eyeballs, creepy to imagine,
- the lock complex (correct English I hope for the Flemish "sluizencomplex") in Nieuwpoort from which quite a surface of the WWI battlefield was flooded
- quite some military graveyards of different WWI Allied Forces (one of which is Tyne Cot),
- 2 of the 4 German WWI graveyards in Flanders, one of which might ring a bell by mentioning the name "Käthe (Kate) Kolwitz", a German female artist of whom a very expressing statue of a parent couple mourning their (own) son lost in the war is present on that graveyard (in Vladslo)
- the crash field of Guynemer (a French WWI air hero) and a pass along the stork statue pointing in that direction - this could "à la limite" be extended to include Von Richthofen's (a German WWI air ace) crash field in Wervicq-Sud (France), located close to the Belgian-French border. As a former Air Force man, I was keen on looking up both of these locations quite precisely.
- a pass through Menin gate (de "Menenpoort") in Ieper... not at 8 o'clock in the evening, though... you may know exactly why  :-X

And then
https://www.myrouteapp.com/nl/info/route/3599262
which is a "heavier-loaded" day's ride (500 km, about 8 hours of non-stop riding). Can be shortened a little if desired. Whenever I have a full day of free time and the weather forecast is good, I ride my next iteration of this ride mostly along the Northern-French country roads. At nearly every new iteration (I just rode my second iteration of this year last Tuesday) I exclude roads which are less to my liking, and include roads which I think are better suited to my desiderata, which are : to be able to ride roads as far as possible free of civilisation (villages, cities), and hence as much as possible free of the speed traps coming with it. Apart for some 100 km on highways, at the exit, I'm immediately in the fields for the better part of the trip.
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Offline Grumpy jase

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Re: Show us your favourite local roads
« Reply #18 on: August 06, 2020, 12:45:11 pm »
I think this is great idea, and I would be happy to host a ride or 2 around the wilds of Exmoor or Dartmoor, both of which are easily reachable for me.

Sadly, I'm still a little way off retirement, so for me it would have to be weekends, and with an upcoming holiday and other commitments, I'm not sure that I can fit this in while the weather is still decent.  I'm happy to keep this in mind, and if we have a decent Indian summer I can perhaps post an invite late September or something for the spring.

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Offline richtea

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Re: Show us your favourite local roads
« Reply #19 on: August 06, 2020, 01:18:01 pm »
I'm happy to lead a ride out from the south Midlands/ north Oxfordshire area.

My normal haunts are Warwickshire, north Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and, of course, the Cotswolds.
Also very occasionally into Wales or down to Wiltshire, but they tend to be more than half a day.

I can manage any day except Sunday (and just temporarily in August - not Fridays).
« Last Edit: August 06, 2020, 03:07:06 pm by richtea »

Offline raesewell

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Re: Show us your favourite local roads
« Reply #20 on: August 06, 2020, 02:18:02 pm »
I think your second route Philippe would need to be cut down to about 200 miles or a bit less. 200 miles is a comfortable days ride with coffee and lunch stops. After all this is supposed to be a pleasure ride and not an endurance test  ;D

Offline Phmode

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Re: Show us your favourite local roads
« Reply #21 on: August 06, 2020, 02:32:11 pm »
After all this is supposed to be a pleasure ride and not an endurance test  ;D

You never said that... ::)

Offline sudolea

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Re: Show us your favourite local roads
« Reply #22 on: August 06, 2020, 03:50:05 pm »
I think your second route Philippe would need to be cut down to about 200 miles or a bit less. 200 miles is a comfortable days ride with coffee and lunch stops. After all this is supposed to be a pleasure ride and not an endurance test  ;D

I thought I was staying on-topic, as the topic was about "favorite local roads"  8)  Given the fact that I already twice (this year) rode a variant of that ride out might mean it really is my favorite road :)  Apart from one fuel stop, one sandwich stop and a couple of other rest stops in between, it's a good day's ride. Apart from enough time (which I have plenty of), what more could I need ;) That long one was not exactly setup as a group ride out ...

By which I didn't mean to say I don't want to lead a ride out around Flanders Fields if there's interest in it, as this shorter one may also be feasible as a group ride out. Good weather is my main concern. Maybe it's better to wait until after these corona-times, but thereafter, everyone is welcome !
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Offline raesewell

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Re: Show us your favourite local roads
« Reply #23 on: August 06, 2020, 04:14:04 pm »
Did someone say you were off topic? Anyway it seems it could be feasible after the pandemic calms down. Are you likely to have Sabine as pillion  :D

Offline richtea

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Re: Show us your favourite local roads
« Reply #24 on: August 06, 2020, 05:19:02 pm »
I exclude roads which are less to my liking, and include roads which I think are better suited to my desiderata, which are : to be able to ride roads as far as possible free of civilisation (villages, cities), and hence as much as possible free of the speed traps coming with it.
> desiderata
Fabulous word! Much better than the English equivalent.

... I'm immediately in the fields for the better part of the trip.
No! Stay out of the fields and keep to the tarmac.

They both look great rides to me. After Covid, we'll have to pop over.

But first, the vital question: do you have proper (champange type) cider like the French? ;D
Good light fragrant cider is rare over here.

Offline raesewell

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Re: Show us your favourite local roads
« Reply #25 on: August 06, 2020, 06:28:00 pm »
I know cider is important to you Rich so we will give you special dispensation to take your own  ;D in the absence of a suitable local brew.

Offline flatfour

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Re: Show us your favourite local roads
« Reply #26 on: August 06, 2020, 06:29:48 pm »
I would be very interested in the short route around the WW1 Battlefields. In normal years, I always take part in a "war walk" in France or Belgium and, in recent times, that has been extended as far as the Baltic Coast to look at sites where the V2 was developed (Peenemunde) and Berlin to view the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie and so forth.

On some occasions we have made this into an aerial tour, landing at airfields used in both wars and often finding some interesting reminders of those times that only the local people seem to know about.

Anyhow, please count me in!

Offline sudolea

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Re: Show us your favourite local roads
« Reply #27 on: August 06, 2020, 07:23:46 pm »
Did someone say you were off topic? Anyway it seems it could be feasible after the pandemic calms down. Are you likely to have Sabine as pillion  :D

I guess I'm too bad a rider for that, she never ever rides with me   ;D

> desiderata
Fabulous word! Much better than the English equivalent.

To be honest, I thought it was a correct English word to use ...

...
On some occasions we have made this into an aerial tour, landing at airfields used in both wars and often finding some interesting reminders of those times that only the local people seem to know about.
...

Well, on some occasions you might be disappointed about how little some locals know about WWI events. I mentioned the crash site of Von Richthofen in Wervicq-Sud (the French part of the Franco-Belgian town Wervik) - IIRC it was his one-to-last crash/landing. Well, while I was looking, with a detailed map, for the precise crash (/landing) location, I asked to a local farmer if he knew about it, and where it had been exactly on the field I pointed at. He looked as if I was pulling his leg, and didn't seem to believe what he was being told. He clearly hadn't heard anything about it.
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Offline richtea

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Re: Show us your favourite local roads
« Reply #28 on: August 06, 2020, 08:36:00 pm »
> desiderata
Fabulous word! Much better than the English equivalent.

To be honest, I thought it was a correct English word to use ...

Ah, it's Italian, and has 5 syllables. We make do with just two: 'desire'.
Much less less exotic!

Offline Matt

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Re: Show us your favourite local roads
« Reply #29 on: August 07, 2020, 01:25:15 am »
I would be very interested in the short route around the WW1 Battlefields. In normal years, I always take part in a "war walk" in France or Belgium and, in recent times, that has been extended as far as the Baltic Coast to look at sites where the V2 was developed (Peenemunde) and Berlin to view the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie and so forth.

On some occasions we have made this into an aerial tour, landing at airfields used in both wars and often finding some interesting reminders of those times that only the local people seem to know about.

Anyhow, please count me in!

This sounds great!
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