Conference noted::bicycle

    
    Neat idea.  Is it limited to 10 riders?
    
    Coming from Dover (yes?), I'd avoid Greater London altogether,
    staying south of the M25, and north of the coast.  I'd have to
    look at a map to see if that is possible.  Certainly the ridges
    run that way (east-west) in Surrey and Sussex, so that's an advantage.
    In come in "under" Basingstoke, rather than from above (A30).
    
    My attempt some years ago to bike out of Dover was not entirely
    a restful experience - just in that peninsula you'll find not many
    roads going in your direction, but it is possible to avoid the main
    road (A20?).  I remember going through Tunbridge ... but again will
    have to check the map.
    
    -john

       Hi Sally -- 
       
       On a trip last month from Brussels to a town just outside Calais
       last month, it was really aggravating to be using a four-wheel
       Peugeot and not a two-wheeler.  For those who have never been to
       that part of the world, it is a recreational cyclist's heaven:
       green farmland with small towns every few kilometers, with
       occasional gentle and rolling hills to break up the flat terrain. 
       
       Anyway, we took the back roads from Ieper, and they seemed
       reasonable for a cycle tour: 
       
	       - N308 from Ieper to Poperinge
       
	       - D948 from Poperinge to Cassel 
       
	       - D11 from Cassel to Bourbourg
       
	       - D2/D229 from Cassel toward Calais.  (We only went
                 as far as Offekerque, about 10km from Calais.)
       
       The D2 and D229 west of Bourbourg is especially nice, as it
       passes along a series of canals.  
       
       Traffic on these roads was light (on a weekday in October), with
       the possible exception of the D948 from the French-Belgian
       frontier to Steenvoorde (lots of trucks on that part, for some
       reason). 
       
       --Mr Topaz

    	I can't help with the route, but I'd like to suggest a planning 
    procedure:  Make sure and drive the route at least once! Better yet,
    drive it two times:  1) Before you finalize the route and put anything
    on paper (maps, route instructions, etc), and 2) A week or so before
    the ride, to spot last minute construction and plan suitable detours.
    	I know, this will involve about 1200 miles of driving, but if the
    route is good and the event becomes an annual happening, you will reap
    the benifits for years to come. (The one-way last minute sweep should
    be done every time you ride it.) (I once drove over 600 miles to set up
    a 100 mile ride in my area, but my club has used parts of that route
    for the last 8 years. Reap what you sow.) - Chris

Thanks a lot John and MR Topaz (?!?) for the suggestions for the route. 
Please keep them coming....

John,
The reason that I decided on 10 riders, was that the larger the group gets the
harder it will be to organise things (such as accommodation on route) not to
mention the costs. Also, We will be competing with each other for sponsorship
and therefore our net profit (money that goes to charity) will take a nose
dive!!! Whereas at the moment (9 of us so far) there is no danger of that.

- Are you, by any change, volunteering to join us??????
  (We're still looking for the 10th rider!!!)



Chris,
Thanks a lot for your tips. I had intended to drive the route before finalising
it but the idea about driving it the weekend before the tour sounds very
sensible.

    I'll join you if I am wafted to Europe or England around that
    time.  It sounds neat!
    
    I'll also look at my maps this week.
    
    -john
    
    PS: Mehr wat??

    The map indicates that the best, most direct (ruler-straight,
    in fact) route is the rail line over Ashford.  How did they manage
    that?  High explosives?
    
    The best I can come up with is Dover to Folkstone, then along the
    coast to Hythe, the B2067 to Tenterdon, then Haywards Heath either
    via the ever picturesque Royal Tunbridge Well, or southward via 
    Heathfield and Uckfield.
    
    From Haywards Heath: via Billingshurst, Petworth, and Midhurst
    to Petersfield, up the A325 to the B3006 to Alton (former home
    of Jane Austen) up the A339 to Basingstoke.
    
    Peterfield is a bit tricky and trafficked, with the A3, but it's
    about the same via Haslemere.  
    
    Have you thought of ending up at Winchester?  Ever so much more
    charming than Basingstoke.
    
    Have you already been researching a route?
    
    -john
    
    PS: Any comments on this, Rod?

    Re .6:
    
    John, if you say that's a good route, I believe you. Your knowledge of
    Southern England is a lot better than mine! 
    
    The only comment I would make is that for my own tours and longish
    rides I try to stick to C-roads wherever possible. Even B-roads here
    can be very busy, and A-roads are guaranteed to be awful. Plotting a
    C-road route can be a tricky business and is liable to add a good few
    miles to the journey, but the rewards are quiet roads and glimpses
    of rural backwaters that look like paradise after the squalor and
    aggression of modern urban life.
    
    
    Rod

    
    Rod, I'm not familiar with the whole route I suggested, and had
    to make some guesses.  I agree with you ... though, mind you,
    population density has a big affect on road-loading.  An A-road
    in Caithness (sp?) is virtually a sheep-trail, whilst a C-road
    inside the M-25 can be pretty miserable.  (Better the A9 to Wick
    than the B4009 in Berks/Bucks.)
    
    Anyway, my logic was to stay away from the major population build-up
    ("Ballungsraum") around London, etc.  And, I agree with you about
    C-roads, and the trade-off (quietude versus forward progress) is
    as you describe ... but for me the C-roads are very frustrating -
    you seem to take 2-3 times as long to get the same crow-fly distance,
    and exhaust yourself into the bargain.  Arrrgh.  (In South Carolina
    they have deserted roads that go on for miles without being crinkly
    or ornery.)  The C-roads that are Roman roads (some in Hampshire near
    Winchester, for example) are a good comprimise - exhausting, but
    straight and deserted.
    
    I'll be interested to see what our Belgic researchers turn up,
    with my suggestions or otherwise.
    
    -john

Hi Guys,

I'm back again!
I'm afraid,  I haven't managed to do much work towards the route finding. I have
spend a little time researching the Brussels-Calais part of the route. As far as
South of England is concerned,  I'm afraid,  I'm only familiar with the Motorway
routes!! 
I  have to agree with  what you said about  avoiding the major  roads but at the
same time trying NOT to  pay for it in miles. If others in the party are half as
bad as I'm they wouldn't want to cycle an  inch more than they have too!!! Other
thing to  consider is that, we have one or two vans with us so we have to ensure
that the route is also driveable.
I will for  definite  get the  Main land  Europe side of the route  organised in
the next 2 weeks  as I intend to  drive the  route in my way to  England for the
Christmas  Holidays.  I'll  let  you  know about  my findings and on  the  final
decision on the route.
What  I've  been  busy with so far  (NOT to mention the four letter  SWEAR  word
W*O*R*K)  is  to organised  financial  backing  and  support  for  the  project.
So far the Belgium  Sport and Social Club has been very  enfusiastic and I think
we can expect to see lot of support from them. 
I'll  be speaking with the  Financial Marketing manager of Digital Belgium later
on this week  and one of these  days I'll  be able to get hold  of the Financial
Marketing manager of UK.  P&O Ferries will be left for later when I have got the
main sponsors sorted out.
UNICEF were  VERY  happy to  hear that they are the benefactors and they will be
in  touch to organise the publicity  plans and to provide  enough information to
enable us to decide WHAT we will donate to WHICH of their current projects.

Please  Keep your Suggestions,  Hints  and  Helps coming in.  Thanks a Million.
  Sally.

PS. John, How are you  getting along with  organising your special leave (eh??)
          so you can join us?!?!

    	Sally,  You should think again about having John ride with you.
    He'll probably do it in 2 days (or maybe one long day!) and make all
    the other riders feel kinda inadequate/wimpy.
    	Hey, I know what you can do! Have John drive one of the vans. Leave
    it at the end of the day's ride and ride back on the route 'til he
    meets the group (probably about the 1/4 point). Then turn around and do
    the route again. That makes him ride 1.5 times as much as the rest and
    be a pathfinder, as well. (And, if you make him start out at 4:00 AM,
    he might get a bit tired after a few days, too.) - Chris  :-) :-) etc

    
    Thanks a lot, Chris!   :-)
    
    -john

    I thought it was about time that I filled in everyone about our event.

    We  (six untrained hopefuls) started out at Digital office in Brussels
    on one SUNNY Sunday afternoon in July and cycled on to CSC Basingstoke
    arriving on the following Friday afternoon after having covered 450Km.
    
    We had an excillent trip. But the best news of all is the fact that we
    have managed to raise over �4000  (mixed currencies) (the exact amount
    is as yet  unknown as we are  still  collecting money and also we have
    found that some  of our sponcers  have  left  the  company / country).

    I  will post  another reply once I know  where the  money is going to.


    Sally.