Cycling Holidays

[AndyCr15]

I guess the other cost is buying the bike box.

If you’re going to go often it’s less of a deal but a big expense for a single trip. Unless you can buy smartly and resell.

Exactly this. I managed to find a second-hand BikeBoxAlan for £200. I've already used it six times (would be about £300 in rental) and I'm reasonably sure I could sell it for a profit when I'm done.

For six trips -

Buying : £200 + £600 flight costs = £800, but £2-£300 of box to sell = £550
Renting Box : £300 + £600 flight costs = £900
Renting Bike : £900 - £1,500 (depending how good a bike you rent)

I'm guessing 3 or 4 trips (maybe even 2?) is probably the tipping point to buying your own box, if you get a good price.

Obviously, one of the benefits of renting a bike is the ease of not having to take apart and rebuild your bike.

 

[Martynt74]

@AndyCr15 Not strictly road based, but this is an event i just saw pop up based from the centre of Alicante towards Busot, the background video gives an idea of scenery. Albeit aimed towards gravel riding

Home - Iron Gravel

irongravel.com

Actually quite tempted to sign up.


On a separate note, whats a general average speed for group riding? My average pace is usually 15-17mph on mainly flatter sections (maybe 1000ft ascent over 10 miles), which a massive drop when bigger hills are involved to around 12-13mph. I've just seen a facebook group ride where they averaged 26-30kph on a 90km ride with 1300m ascent. Given that to me is a pretty big ride and they're lowest pace is my flat pace, i'm wondering how much effort i need to put in to get faster!

 

[Martynt74]

@AndyCr15 Actually maybe you can hold off the Jumilla/Pinoso area, not sure if you saw my post but we're close to buying 40,000m2 of land near here to build. My plan is to stick some container homes on the other end of the plot as rentals (assuming i can get a tourist licence). You can use that as a base

 

[AndyCr15]

On a separate note, whats a general average speed for group riding?

As an organiser of events for people that have never ridden together before (work, not locals) this is the most commonly asked question. Tbf, what you say is flat sounds more like rolling hills. We just went to Costa Daurada with a guy from the Norfolk area, now that's flat! He'd said he generally rode at about 17mph, which sounded good, but then he was the one off the back or even the slower group.

@AndyCr15 Actually maybe you can hold off the Jumilla/Pinoso area, not sure if you saw my post but we're close to buying 40,000m2 of land near here to build. My plan is to stick some container homes on the other end of the plot as rentals (assuming i can get a tourist licence). You can use that as a base

I doubt you'll be ready for next summer though, right?! I might come visiting in years to come though (Maybe we can put together an OCUK trip!)

 

[Martynt74]

As an organiser of events for people that have never ridden together before (work, not locals) this is the most commonly asked question. Tbf, what you say is flat sounds more like rolling hills. We just went to Costa Daurada with a guy from the Norfolk area, now that's flat! He'd said he generally rode at about 17mph, which sounded good, but then he was the one off the back or even the slower group.

I'd say i can cope with rolling hills much better than bigger hills. Same with running for me, if i get a steep hill it kills me, but the gradual ascents i'm generally fine with (or was back when i could run!) I'd say these were fairly typical, obviously pace dropping a bit on the one with double the ascent

Lunch Ride - Martyn T's 30.1 km bike ride

Martyn T rode 30.1 km on Oct 20, 2023.

www.strava.com

Lunch Ride - Martyn T's 27.4 km bike ride

Martyn T rode 27.4 km on Nov 12, 2023.

www.strava.com

Worth noting that this is my riding history since the start of August, so certainly low volume, but with decent weather here i'm hoping to get out 3-4 times a week

I doubt you'll be ready for next summer though, right?! I might come visiting in years to come though (Maybe we can put together an OCUK trip!)

Good point, by all accounts we'll be lucky if we even have planning permission by then

 

[#Chri5#]

We're trying to decide where to go next summer with my local cycle çlub'. We need somewhere reasonably easy to get to and without spending too much money (so driveable or near an airport). We've done Mallorca, Girona, and The Alps (Bourg d'oissane) and are looking for somewhere similar but different.

Off the table are - Switzerland (too expensive), The Dolomites (expensive and a little harder to get to), Pyrenees & Andorra (appears to be harder to get to)

Current ideas are Morzine (near Geneva - we would hire a splitter can and drive there, as we did with The Alps) and Costa Blanca (near Alicante).

Are there any other good recommendations that fit our criteria?

I've previously posted about it but we had a week in Crolles this year. Crolles is in the valley between Grenoble & Chambrey. Two of us drove down with our bikes, the non-cyclists flew into Geneva and got a hire car.

You're right below the Chartreuse regional park which is stunning but very quiet (I described it as the Lake District on steroids but empty). Go south-east of Grenoble and you hit the Vercors regional park, or the Bauges parc the other side of Chambrey

You can still smash the legs away from "big name" climbs, though you are only 50 minutes from Bourg if you want to do any again. I didn't know much about the Chartreuse climbs before I went but they feature in the Dauphine, so plenty of hour plus climbs (for us mere mortals).

I did a solo day as the BIL was broken and in 105km I climbed almost 2600 metres:

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Join Chris and get inspired for your next workout

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[AndyCr15]

I've previously posted about it but we had a week in Crolles this year.

Thanks, looks like a variation on Morzine? (as in, another part of French Alps)

Worth noting that this is my riding history since the start of August, so certainly low volume

I guess that's a factor too. I've done some quicker rides when I know they're only going to be short... and maybe I'm well rested.

I tend not to head out unless I'm going to do 40 or 50 miles as a minimum (aside after work rides before getting dark)

 

[Martynt74]

@AndyCr15

If you end up in the Denia, area, then there's someone plotting one hell of a ride if you want me to keep an eye out for their GPX after the event!

Magnificent 7 - One Day Ride | Siempre Ciclismo

One day epic supported ride - 165km - 3,500m - 7 climbs

www.siempre.cc

 

[AndyCr15]

Funnily enough, I was pricing up long weekends in Spain, just to see how feasable it was to get away from the cold for some rides and Alicante was one of the cheaper flight options

Yeah, can't hurt, thanks.