MooN

1 hour ago, XTreme said:

Same with my report yesterday @Pedro

So who’s generating more traffic...?

So, I'm working up a route. anybody know if bikes are subject to congestion charge in central London?

 okay I just looked it up 

12£50!  I think they can stick that up there where the sun don't shine, here's half a dozen tourists that will not be visiting central london.  I'd be interested to know how they'd trace and charge a foreign plate though, especially post brexit...

On 23/05/2020 at 09:48, XTreme said:

Why don't you think of Southern Spain?

April/May and September/October are not too hot.......and you could schedule it at the same time as @Pedro's Meet.

Here's the comparison......

Or........

No brainer as far as I'm concerned!

None of us speak the language

it's too hot

it's full of bloody foreigners

I get sunburnt

but apart from that...

I've never been interested in the south, never wanted to sail the med either, gimme the baltic I'd go, i'd love to visit furter east and north into europe but spain or italy... not my thing mate.

200ish k run out around the back lanes of the "Puisaye" region of Burgundy this afternoon, no pics cos I couldn't be arsed...

ok, I'll try and answer seriously:

I don't for one instant believe that visas will be needed for schengen residents to enter the uk ( mostly cos the shengen area would reciprocate in kind, but also because it wasn't that way previous to the borders opening in '92. The Uk never signed or ratified the schengen agreement of 1985 but still didn't need visas there is no reason for that to change) It will be neccessary however to have a valid passport whereas previously a national identity card was sufficient, this is already in place. 

The insurance question will deend on brexit negotiations and agreements, there is no real need for this to change, it's just that the uk will have to negotiate with each individual country rather than being able to use a blanket "EU" agreement. but obviously one of the many details that we will need to ;ook into before comitting.

Free mobile roaming... umm... I am old enough, so you certainly bloody welll are! to remember a time before mobile phones existed and I certainly don't need one, if the cost is prohibitive then we'll manage without. 

as for why they want to do a uk trip, the reasons are various;

There is a certain fascination within the french psyche with Britain, and all things British. we are reputed to be a little odd, quirky, individualist, not to say bizarre and god forbid, gentlemanly!  these are obviously stereotypes but the idea is there. This particular group find themselves with the possibility of exploring a foreign land in the company of a native, who will help them, or so they believe, avoid any "faux pas" or communication problems, who is used to riding on the wrong side of the road and all the other anomalies that make us "so British". 

the French are, on the whole not a very adventurous people, and don't need to be as they have beaches and mountains galore in their own country and if they feel the urge to go abroard then french polynesia or Mayotte enable them to get exoctic whilst remaing at home within their own administrative framework. Posibly more importantly thir language is not universal, where ours is. 

 The pyrenees belong to them, as do the alps, the jura, the massif centrale etc etc and have already been done forwards, backwards and inside out. They have no interest whatsoever in going into Germany ( forgiven yes, but not forgotten...) other than to have a go on the autobahn. I have singularly failed to spark any interest in a run to the nurburgring for example. 

dunno if that makes sense

2 hours ago, BusBoy said:

Enjoying the lockdown On the upside we live in a woodlands so I took the  boy in this morning looking for sling shot Y's Grabbed a couple, turned them down and made a couple of slingshot catapults with the lad. Taught him how to aim etc and the admonition not to shoot birds, cats and dogs  and let him loose.  His sister didn't hang about and scarpered and he's been entertaining himself in awe of the power in his hands.

Also noted a new badger set, so they've moved or we are up to 5 sets within a couple hundred yards of the house.

oh come on... cats are fair game... I used to know someone who even had some recipes... 

4 hours ago, Buckster said:

He has been in France too long. There are a number of words that come to mind  but "pufta", "boner biter" and "turd burglar" are not PC anymore so let's not blacken the name of our old friend (and indeed the friend of any guy who winks at him in a public lavatory), Moon, the bum loving cunt.

3 hours ago, XTreme said:

What Buck said!

I am treating you two with the contempt you deserve.  I did mention that I know nothing of the uk between London and the south coast heving never set foot in the area. Brighton is simply a name of a known coastal town that the frogs might have heard of...

11 hours ago, boboneleg said:

Your plan sounds doable Chris although I've no idea why you want to go to Brighton, it's just full of queers standing around on the beach with thongs on .

Cheddar gorge is nice but might be a bit of a let down compared with the Gorge du Tarn, Verdon etc

I would be more than happy to guide you around the Cotswolds and Bath.

having a local guide would be top banana mate, I might just take you up on that, obviously depending on timings and availabillity etc, but I'd give you plenty of warning. 

it's less embarrassing being seen climbing out of the back of a sheep...

I rest my case...

Just now, XTreme said:

There's a glaring omission there @MooN

I don't think this image has ever been more fitting!

please don't think I didn't think about welsh whales, but the really pretty bits that I know are just that bit too far to e a comfortable ride and fit in the timescale.  ( and going from Burgundian civilisation to Swansea would be too much of a culture shock...)

57 minutes ago, boboneleg said:

I'm sure, I mean they're basically a VW nowadays but you know that for blokes of a certain age 'Skoda' is just a precuser to taking the piss

you know the difference between a skoda and a sheep...? 

i have a "medium to long term project" on the go which has been motivated by a number of people from the club here ( we're no longer oficially a club) begging me to organise a bike trip to the uk. it's still in the primary planning stages and obviously all depends on such variables as covid, post brexit regs, funding etc etc so I'm still at the stage where I'm looking for info. scenery and decent biking roads is what were looking for

we'll be 4 or 5 bikes, well used to riding together. if all goes according to plan there'll be 2 of us speaking fluent engrish and 4 or 6 having no clue.

it's basically going to take a day riding each way to and from the UK. If we had 3 days in the uk, where should we ride? my fave places are all too far to ride comfortably ( north yorkshire moors, Lakedistrict, scoland) so I'm trying to find some southern england riding but I don't know the area between london and the south coast at all so any suggestions sould be welcome from people who know the area...

I thought something like:

hastings, brighton,  Bath.

 day 2 bristol, the cotswolds ( castle combe, stroud, stow on the wold, moreton in marsh) stratford on avon, Banbury, chipping Norton and finishing in or near Witney cos my family live there.

following day witney, south of oxford, central London ( are bikes exempt of congestion charge?) and back to folkstone, pushing on down to Arras for the night.

any must doo roads or must see thingys around that sort of route? 

Ta

south downs national park?

dont have any road tax to pay here...

no mot for bikes neither...

 just sayin like...

8 minutes ago, XTreme said:

You're not going to hide like you did in 2005 when I went past? 

I will if he's in a bloody transit van like you were..

2 hours ago, XTreme said:

Something to keep in mind Chris!

@Buckster is going to ride from Scotland! He could hook up with you in Auxerre!

However, it's unknown at this time whether he'll have a camera in his possession. 

not convinced I like the phraseology of that, given what the murricains thnik "hooking up" involves   but I could be a waypoint on the way south for anyone foolish enough to want to ride down from the uk...

interesting project, see how it evolves

welcome in, bloke or otherwise... 

welcome 

Bonjour, welcome... 

'ey up, welcome in

I was about to say " Oxford! that's near my family..." but then saw oxford CT which I guess is in the US somewhere  ( Conniticut?) and definately not near my family at all...  but welcome anyway 

3400km round trip for me, the bike would do it. could I? dunno.  logistically, if I no longer have a job i'd have the time but not the resources, if I still have a job, possibly... it would depend on so many variables that simply can't be answered at the moment, but the idea is almost as attractive as you lot aren't.