Well the Tour De France passes our door again in 2009!!! Can Lance Armstrong do it after being out of competition for over 2 years, for an unbeatable 8th time its going to be a Battle Royale. Well if you want to do your own Tour De France in 2009, then Calais to the Pyrenees from Saturday 2nd May for 9 memorable days in France is a must this will be a pyreneescycling.com promotion.
We will be arriving in Calais on Friday 1st May for an excellent ride through France, for all those who rode this year 2008 will testify. This years route see us taking a more easterly route through France, taking in the legendary Arenberg forest on day 2 and through Champagne and into Burgundy to sample a little of the local Vin Rouge and maybe some of the famous local chicken and Dijon mustard. We will be cutting back towards home in the Pyrenees through a northerly route of the Massif Central and back through the Gers and hopefully our first glimpse of the Pyrenees for 9 days. The route starts and finishes are based around larger towns this gives us a little more scope for the number of riders we may have in 2009 we will not be using large hotel chains preferring to stick as we did in 2008 to smaller family run hotels.
This is again a not for profit Tour and based on Last years price will be around a minimum 5 persons at 550.00 euros this is for Bed and Breakfast and will include a service vehicle, fuel and driver which could be less based on the amount of people taking part, due to the vehicle and fuel and driver costs being shared on a pro-rata basis.
This year we will be asking that the driver of the support vehicle will be paid for, including their evening meal. This is based at around 50.00 euros per person based on 10 persons taking part in the event, the sum of 500.00 euros will be divided pro-rata, 11 persons taking part then the extra becomes 45.00 person so on so forth. Any monies left in the kitty can at the end of the ride be shared equally between the riders or can be put into the evening meal fund the majority can decide.
Enough of the expense side down to the nitty gritty the Route for the Calais to the Pyrenees 2009 our very own Tour De France are as follows distance details have not yet been added but expect to ride a minimum per day of 130 kms and a max of 175kms our average speeds in May2008 where between 15 – 18 mph.
Day 1 Saturday 2nd May 2009 Calais – Orchies
Flat with the occasional flyover a little foray into Belgium for some “Flemish toothpaste” no room for compacts or 27 tooth sprockets here…..
Day 2 Sunday 3rd May Orchies – Soissons.
Another flat day but watch out for those cobblestones through the Arenberg. This is no Sunday in Hell.
Day 3 Monday 4th May Soissons – Troyes.
Lumpy bits throughout the day, but look out for the Champagne half way through!!!!!
Day 4 Tuesday 5th May Troyes – Dijon
Mustard Sauce with Chicken on the Menu tonight???
Day 5 Wednesday 6th May Dijon – Moulins
We now start cutting across France in a Westerly direction some hidden climbs today compact chainsets maybe required.
Day 6 Thursday 7th May Moulins – St Flour
A medium mountains day all those with a 27 will have the right idea.
Day 7 Friday 8th May St Flour – Albi
Another big day across the Massif Central.
Day 8 Saturday 9th May Albi – Mirande
Hey we can see the mountains from here.
Day 9 Sunday 10th May Mirande – Bareges Col du Tourmalet
Same hotel as 2008 maybe? We will not be riding the 10km straight road to Tarbes we will find a different route, to the Tourmalet……
Well there it is the Route for the Calais to the Pyrenees 2009 as I said previously the finishing points may not necessarily be the major towns but smaller provincial town’s just outside.
All you have to do now is tell me you would like to participate and get training, although we will be using it to kick start our fitness levels for the coming season of cycling with pyreneescycling.com
