a list of previous trips
year count description
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1993 1 Downhill to Nice (Strasboug-Nice)
1994 2 Italy, met the Gibsons
1995 4 Eastern Townships Jenifer's Bordeaux
1996 6 Downhill to Nice, best trip Caves Conques Carcasonne
1997 8 Valley to Vista Italy, the met Reids
1998 10 Scotland Dordogne (Marg got bit)
1999 12 Mountain Magic (Stressa) Champagne
2000 14 Downhill to Nice Auvergne
2001 16 Tale of 2 cities Vienna to Munich, Italy
2002 19 Ireland, Pyrennes Outback (NE of Toul;ouse)
2003 22 NZ, GrapeEx, Normandy
2004 24 Alsace (with TDL) Picos (23), Provence (24)
2005 28 Mexico(25) Quebec(26) Shadow (27) Barcelona (28)
2006 32 New Mexico (29) Orient Express (30) HawaiiCV (31) Hawaii with Gabriola(32)
profiles of participants:
http://www.tourdafrique.com/orient/2006/2006_riders.htm July 27 British Airways flight to Paris via Heathrow, check in was a breeze, nobody in line July 28 Arrived in Paris after excellent trip over on British Airways to find that my BIKE was missing..... now that is what I call a problem. At least the BA baggage people knew my luggage was missing since they had a list where my name was included July 29 after a totally sleepless night fretting about my missing bike, it showed up by 2PM...WHAT A RELIEF!!! The group of 19 met, + staff got together in the lobby to go over the basics. The group seems pretty old, kind of my age, and quite a range of cycling experience. July 30 (Day 1) to August 1 Paris, France to Chaumont...... 305Km over 3 days July 30 Cycled as a group around Paris (Notre Dame, EiffelTower Arc de Tromphe) for 90 minutes, then 104.4Km to Provins camp site. Started to rain as we put up tents. Dinner was pasta and ratatouille, ... not badJuly 31 Cycled 78 Km to Troyes campsite, got in around 12:30. Cloudy but no rain. All meals are provided on cycle days, so far they are adequate enough but pretty slim on the protein side of things, actually diner tonight was much better: couscous with merguez sausages Aug 1 Cycled 104 Km to Chaumont, for two nights (rest day in between) in a Best Western. About half the group is totally camping, and the other half is so-called COMFORT which means staying in hotel 2 nights after 3 cycling days . Aug 2 Our first REST day, a night in the hotel before; as welll as the night of the rest day ... Chaumont is a pretty small town, and a fairly cloudy cold day. although we hear about the hot weather in North America.Had diner with 6 guys in town ... passable, but not great.
Aug 3 to 6 Chaumont France, to Colmar France
Aug 3 Cycled to out to join the camping crowd at the camp site, had breakfast with them, and 89Km on to ? (whereever it was) spaggetti was excellent Aug 4 Cycyled 85 to Sauluxure, had buritos in the camp shelter, and there was a one-person band who played one song Aug 5 Cycled only 66 Km to Colmar, up to 1139 m and it was raining and cold,... very unpleasant. . they made arrangements so we could eat our lunch (brought sandwhichs) in a restaurant at the top of a ski-hill,...I was shaking so much from the cold I thought I would lose control of the bike. On the other hand cycled from Munster to Colmar 20K at close to 40 Kph on essentially flat land ..seemed like a breeze. bought a new bike lock at cycle store and a bottle of Hennessy at LeClerc Aug 6 Rest day in Colmar, ...mostly rainy, but did the Unnterlider museum in the morning, a glass exposition, .... pretty good I suppose... but I find 90 minutes of a museum more tiring than 100 Km of cycling. Had a party with about 6 in Donnies room.... then went for pizza and a beer, group of 11.
Aug 7 -Aug 11 Colmar France, to Ulm Germany 317km over 4 days
Aug 7 Cycled into Germany, onto Friberg ...only a 50K ride. Friberg is a pretty big town and Im pretty sure Ive been here before (when I was doing SAP training for CIL Aug 8 Cycled Donaushengen (source of the Danube) dinner: beef...very good Aug 9 Cycled to Sign?___, dinner Chicken (Miles thought he was buying fish) Joe from Australia had a fall and broke the derailler hangar on his Canondale. He later found one (just by wild luck) at a shop in Ulm at 19 Euros Aug 10 Cycled 114 Km Ulm, kind of crappy weather. So far the directions to find the lunch spot have not worked that well...today 14 out of 20 people couldn't find the lunch spot. Cycled back to the camp-group to have dinner with them, knowing that Miles camp dinners are usually pretty damned good, .... he does a great job. Staying at the Movenpick, a beautiful quasi-deluxe hotelAug 11 Rest day in Ulm. Bought a can of degreaser and brush at an impressive bike store ... so will clean my bike, ... which it is in bad need of after so many rainy days. Aug 12 cycled to Donausworth, but made the biggest blunder of all the participants since the begining. I in all confidence ( I was following the cycle signs but on the wong bloody river) went 29 K in the wrong direction, so by the time I retraced to the begining in Ulm it was 12:30 and I still had 105 Km to do. When I finally got the destination there was a round of applause for the idot.
Aug 13 (Sunday) Cycled to Eichstatt, 70K a short day, and it started to rain as we putting up our tents, things were pretty boring but the fact we had a bonfire helped a lot. Have taken to drinking gin with a bit of vermouth, but the fact there generally isnt ice is a bummer. Dinner was fish, and a excellent vegetable dish. Walked to town with Peter, Gergu Jenn and Lili for a beer , ,.... not bad and least kept awake till 10 pm. Being provocative (to Gergu) I told Peter and Gergu that in my humble opinion, that in terms of contributing to the "overall success" of the trip ....Miles, the cook, earned ...... 5 stars ....Shanny, director, earned ...3 stars.... Peter, mechanic, earned ..... 2 stars.....Gergu, photographer, is still preparing to earn stars (smile).....the following is text responding to David who kind of keeps an eye on my house till Sept 27, and said the flowers were dying:
"yes I turned off the water main at my house, ... so the auto-irrigation is not working. I realized the plants would die, ... but that was my decision. I gave Anton a schedule of about every 2 weeks for cutting the grass, ...and he seems conscientious, or more likely after the $30 per time.
"Background on water turn off :.... On June 16 weekend when I went to Ottawa the toilet cover was off and the valve mechanism failed and flooded water for as much as 3 days with 2 inches in the basement .... no lasting damage ..... but that's why I turn off the water main.
Maybe I give the wrong impression, but the dinner meals are really quite good, and the breakfast and lunches are rather basic but good enough. I notice there´s a lot of wine consumed maybe 20 bottles amongst 20 people. The last couple nights (for 1 rest day) have been at the Movenpick, which is pretty classy, and the buffet really quite good, ...rest days are at our own expense dinner 15.90E at the Moovenpick plus wine"Aug 14 (Monday) cycled to Kelheim, 85 Km, and rather uneventful, except that Lili had four flats and ended up walking her bike 6-8 km or so to the campsite, and thats despite Peter´s help in solving the flat problem. For the Comfort tour it was a reasonable hotel. That afternoon there was German folk dancing in the central square. That night Joe, Shar, Donald and I had dinner in a typical German restaurant.... lamb shanks , excellent, .... and we all agreed.
Aug 15 (Tues) rest day in Kelheim, not exactly a great place to have a rest day, kind of a boring town even if the stores were open ( today is a catholic holiday and all the stores are closed). Fortunately there was a beer festival with a midway, German umpah band etc,..... so no too bad. 7 of us (Angis Devona Edie Sharon Shar Donald and I went to a beargarden and had dinner (Deer and Pork Ragout excellent). Big fuss witht he waitress who felt one of the particiapnts hadnt paid in the divied-up bill. Donald paid the 13.6 euros just to settle the matter, not sure that´s fair.
Aug 16 (Wed) cycledto Straubing 90Km, a city which has the second largest beer festival in Germany. The downtown core is quite impressive, and the campground is very good, ... not crowded.
Aug 17 (Thurs) had a fairly bad fall after lunch, skinned my knee, elbow, wrist-hand, back,....looked awful,... but once the blood was washed off, it didnt look so bad. Joanne had anti-bacterial wipes, Donald had some spray liquid bandage ... I´ll have to get some. The wounds are all kind of superficial, except the hand, which still hurts!!! so that I cant change gears without getting off my bike. I was with 5 others when it happened, ...a 90 degree sharp left turn on paved bike path, with some yellow sand right on the corner and my bike slipped out from under me, the first serious fall I´ve had EVER. I tried to slow down when I saw the sand, but not successful. Have switched to voka and bitter lemon, since gin is hard to find. Took 2 tylenol ultra and slept well enough, considering the pain in my hand. Finished reading Bill Bryson´s "Neither Here nor There" in audiobook format,....like all his books very good,.... and in this case very topical.
The destination instructions were sketchy (as is common) and had to cycle extra 18k after a 90k day,... quite a piss-off. The poor maps-instructions are my only real complaint with Tour d´Afrique. Shanny is just reading last year´s directors notes, and doing the best he can, but it´s inadequate.
On the other hand :....It was warm 33C and sunny, ..so cycled without a shirt, ... as is my wont.
Aug 18(Fri) cycled 100 km into Austria to Linz ... a big city, for a rest day tomorrow, staying in the Ibis hotel. Somehow I missed lunch, my mistake, and not appreciated by the guides, ... since they like to check you off.
Aug 19 (Sat) rest day in Linz, much bigger than I remembered.
Aug 20 (Sun) cycled to Griel, good camp site (but close to traffic, ....but I sleep in all conditions), sunny, ate 3 scoops of ice cream since thats all there is to do in a town this size on a Sunday. I´ve come to realize that a rest day on a Sunday is bad .... everything is closed.
Aug 21 (Mon) cycled to Krems to a kind of "Ma and Pa" campsite, about 100K with my return to Krems, because too much time at any campsite is just plain boring. Krems was quite charming, and I relize my german accent is non existent, but Im surprised that when I say a simple word like danau( equals Danube), or Rhodensdorf (the town) they look at me like I´m crazy. Or they dont know the direction to the Danube, .... what else have they got to keep track of?
Aug 22 (Tues) cycled to Vienna for a double rest day, then a single ride day for another rest day in Brataslava, in SlovakiAug 23 (Wed) rest day, took a city bus tour incl schonnbrun, much like I remember in 1961, pretty impressive. Went with 14 others to a Mozart concert, very good but very touisty Aug 24 (Thurs) went and saw the Lippenzanner horse practice in the Spanish Riding School..... not bad. This evening we have a group dinner at the Ibis hotel for Rick who is leaving as planned, but wife is staying. Bought 2 new Coontiinentals 700 x 25c at ľč euros each, first store in 6 that even acknowledged that the size existed. I suspect I wont even need them, but like the security of knowing I have them. Aug 25 Fri Rainy again ... for most of the day... for a riding day to Bratislava.... Bratislava is indeed different, too soon to form an opinion, fair bit of english by young people. 7new riders have joined. Crossing the Austrian Slovakia border was a breeze, and for me the begining of the interesting part of the trip. Changed 30 euros for about 1150 SK, called ...crowns... I think. Finding the hotel wasnt easy at the time, but afterwards didnt seem so bad. Almost at the end of the riding I understand that Donald, from San Francisco, was hit by a car coming out of a driveway, at slow speed, and hit to the ground, ... no cuts scrapes etc but Donald seems maybe slightly dazed, .... but seems generally alright. His bike has some damage, Im told its a bent fork and the rear wheel wont rotate well.
Aug 26 rest day in Bratislava, sunny warm beautiful day. Unfortunately there was thiervery at the camp site, jackets and such, and Michael, a friend of LiLi had his bike stolen from in front of Tesco ... a big supermarket. The bike was locked too. Aug 27 Sunday ninety km to Gyro (or soemthing like that) ....nice day. Donald took the train to Budapest, and was intending to have bike shop owner in San Francisco send a new fork by UPS to Budapest since we couldnt find one in Brataslava. The campground was a bit primitive,.... and for me showed the communist influence, maybe when first built, the showers toilets were OK , but twenty forty years later are in bad shape, no shower heads for example. Aug 28 Monday, cycled one hundred ten km to Ksy???gom, nice day, good campground. Tomorrow on to Budapest for a two day rest day. Aug 29 Tuesday woke up to the sound of rain on my tent at 4 am, so it was a discouraging start taking down the tent in the rain, but wet or not,.... into the tent bag it goes. Had trouble finding the camp site, Romai, ... but locals were anxious to point me to the bridge name where the hotel was. Hotel is a Mercur Metropole, four star, for 3 nights .... so got into the hotel 3 hours before the others, ... big deal. Met Donald on the street waiting for his bike ( hed taken the train after the crash in Brataslava, and is going to have it repaired in Budapest rather than ship fork frőm USA. Budapest is pretty ipressive, especially as you cycle in along the Danube.Aug 30 Wednesday, a rest day in Budapest, ...took a 3 hour city tour, ... good for an overview I suppose, but too much promotion of their other trips. Kind of a cold blustery day, so hoping things warm up. Get the impression that the communists for 40 years (or whatever) did nothing for Hungarian architecture, ... the old stuff is great, the new stuff is grim. English is fairly commonlly spoken by young people, seems more common than say German..
August 31 Thurs, a second rest day in Budapest. Not very nice weather, but on Sat it is supposed to get quite a bit warmer. Went to the Gelbert Hotel swimming pools and baths, ... supposed to be a famous place, ... spent a grand amount of 65 minutes, ... a cant imagine spending three hours, which is the point where you get no refund. Afterwards had lunch and went on a half hour tour of the opera house (just passing by), also supposed to be famous. I took the french language tour because the Englishh group was so big. Bought a pair of worn-looking jeans at C&A ( an English store I thinkl) because its so bloody cold. Cindi was caught by the subway police, and had to pay fine, said she was "innocent", ... just like all the people in jail all say they are innocent. Dinner at Mokka with Shar and Eddie, Tapas ... not that good and very pricey, 10,000 Florint, about 50USD. Sept 1 Fri Cycled out of Budapest in Group ride. I fell in a grate right up to the axle, did a head over heals, Sherri said it was very dramatic and could have been serious (bent wheel), but in fact ... no serious damage Sept 2 Sat best day weather wise, about 112 km. Chicken leg for dinner, ... very good. Campsite we were headed for was not available due to some festival, so went back about 5-10 K to another, ... not a bad site.
Sept 3 Sun A 128km day. Donald self-locked himself in the toilet, .... and we considered leaving him there. Crossed a small river in a ferry and some bo-hunk Hungarin with a pot belly actually pushed Sue's bike along with his bumper.... she was furious. Jen and Joe (the Aussies) were detained at the Romanian border till they get visas, ...staying at some hotel near the previous campsite. Australia is a land of convicts, ...what else could be the reason? In the central square of Timisora was approached by two young guys (probably roma gypsies) who seemed unreasonably interested in my bike. Two police offficers scared them off, ... I confess I didnt realize they were up to no good till the police threatened them.
More Trivia (.... as if the above wasnt trivial enough)
yes Ive heard about the "mayonnaise" shot on Johannne Audys site (link beleow), ... they (Johanne and Lili) think it´s so funny, I don't know why.
I´ve taken not that many shots (compared to some), but I should try to see if I can use my reader Some have suggested if I used gloves I would not have hurt my hand ....maybe so, butI never use gloves, .... I like the "free" feel of bare hands, .... except if its cold. My left hand is getting better daily and I can change gears with out getting off my bike now. The thing about having liquid bandage or antiseptic wipes ON YOU (or saddle bag) when you fall, .... they are useless if they are in your luggage. The wipes are needed because one picks up a lot of grit, .... they say that if a hospital attends to a bike fall , they use a wire bush (or something like it) We have arrived in Vienna today Aug 22 at 1:00 PM and there are 7 new riders joining us, plus one new staff (a woman, a van driver), and 9 more riders joining in Budapest. For me the trip is now getting more interesting, up to Vienna Ive done it before, whereas Slovakia, Hungary etc will be all new.
Good photos etc .... See Johanne Audy's site (Johanne is a professional web designer) http://www.johanneaudy.ca
small point its kind of fun observing how different english speaking countries use different words. EG:....Joe, the aussie, said he "stacked" his bike, means he crashed his bike.
statistics:
9 Canadians
6 Americans
2 South Africanss
2 Australians
1 Dutch
1 Brit
(1 more female than males)
4 Guides (all men) , 2 Cdn, 1 Hungarian, 1 Pole,
4 youngish 27 44 and 46, .... the rest are all old farts like myself, and one lady is about 75 ( we figure)
What´s new for 2007- The Silk Route
I am now aware of a new trip Tour DÁfrique trip planned for 2007 called "The Silk Route". from Istanbul to Beijing. Now that I see how Tour D´Áfrique operates on the Orient Express (Paris Istanbul) I am fairly confident that I´d be happy enough with "The Silk Route". To be sure it is more basic than Cycleventures, and the camping dimension would not appeal to the cream-puff crowd. The current trip is 50% hotels, 50% camping whereas the Silk Route would be almost all camping, and some so-called bush camping at that. "Bush" camping from what I gather is more or less just stopping at the side of the road, so there would be no water other than what we bring with us, ... so that means no showers. . The trip starts in Istanbul and goes through Georgia, Turkistan, and various other "*** stan" countries and into China and the Gobi desert, without going into Mangolia.... and is planned for summer of 2007, say 8000 miles over 3.5 months. Miles, the cook, says that most of the roads in China are paved and really quite good. I was asking Shanny, the tour director, what bike would be good. He felt my current Litespeed would not be appropriate. Shanny works at ´Dukes´ in Toronto, a fairly high end bike shop and said that the Specialized "Stump Jumper" say 2500 CAD would be a good choice. Steel (repairable) would be preferred, but aluminium would be OK. So, .... it´s not a sure thing .... but I think I´ll probably do it .
Daily Routine:
About 3 out of 4 days are riding days, and the 4th day is a rest day where meals are on your own.
Meals:
Breakfast is usually porridge with chunks of dried fruit. with brown sugar and milk. Some davs it´s cold cereal and 2 hard boiled eggs Lunch is served from one of the vans about 55% along the way of the route, and so far has always been sandwiches, eg tuna or ham. If you want a 2nd sand which you can make it yourself from peanut butter and bananas. Dinner is the big meal, generally a one pot affair, eg risotto with duck, couscous with merguez sausages, or spaghetti with meat sauce. Also a big pot of salad. So far, the evening meals have been the highlight of the Orient Express organization..... much better than I would have expected. I think I´ve liked the camp meals clearly better than the restaurant meals. The cook Miles is from BC and works in a fancy restaurant in Montreal. Mileage per day has varied quite a bit, only 60 some days, but I guess 80-90 km is more typical.
Distance, % climbs and other statistics .... from Johanne Audy's site
http://www.johanneaudy.ca
August 12 to 14 Ulm, Germany Kelheim, Germany 260Km
August 16 to 18 Kelheim, Germany Linz, Austria 297Km
August 20 to 22 Linz, Austria Vienna, Austria 253
August 25 Vienna, Austria Bratislava, Slovakia 85
August 27 to 29 Bratislava, Slovakia Budapest, Hungary 265
September 1 to 3 Budapest, Hungary Timisoara, Romania 354
September 5 to 6 Timisoara, Romania Baile Herculane, Romania 226
September 8 to 11 Baile Herculane, Romania Bucharest, Romania 425
September 13 to 16 Bucharest, Romania Varna, Bulgaria 413
September 18 to 20 Varna, Bulgaria Kirklareli, Turkey 289
September 22 to 24 Kirklareli, Turkey Istanbul, Turkey 234
