Spring Cycle Tour 2003

Hotel: Les Arcades De La Bourse, 1-3 Arcades de la Bourse, 76200
Dieppe, Tel: +33 (0)2 35 84 14 12

After enjoying such a good time on the 2002 Dieppe tour, interest was high in this year's trip, run on a very similar format at the same time of year. Matt and Colette Swift did all of the work in putting together the trip and making all arrangements, then Matt had the bad luck (again!) to have to go into hospital in the week preceding the tour, so had to pull out. Bad luck Matt - I am sure you will make up for it at this year's Mountain Bike Tour (due late Sep / early Oct 2003). The format for this trip is a long weekend, up early for the ferry on the Friday morning, parking the cars at Newhaven, then travelling as foot passengers with our bikes to Dieppe. The Hotel des Arcades is in the centre of town and is a one mile ride from the ferry port. Then three days of riding (with the Saturday usually including a long ride up to 100 miles), before getting the ferry back on the Sunday afternoon. Nineteen White Oakers and their friends booked up for the trip, with a big range of experience, age and ability. The 7:30am ferry meant 5am starts for most of us but everyone made it and we were on our way. After Steve Taylor's tour debut in 2002 on his Litespeed, the gauntlet had been well and truly thrown down and this year's tour saw the appearance of some serious carbon and titanium kit. Made to measure bikes and carbon tri bars, seemingly fashioned by aliens in wind tunnels were this year's must-have items. There were also some fit characters along, the overall standard of riding having picked up considerably this year. After a minor disagreement with the staff on the car deck over the tying down of the bikes (a bit like leaving your only child with a childminder who has a slight resemblance to Fred West, at least for some of us), we were soon up in the cabin drinking tea and watching safety videos for the two hour crossing. The usual wibbly wobbly ride to the hotel followed and, thankfully, nobody fell off. We put our bikes in the shed alongside the hotel, checked into our rooms and aimed for a quick turnaround so that everyone could get out riding on those lovely French roads.

The forecast for the weekend was mixed, and mixed was what we got, though day one was pretty good. We rode out of town as a group and headed along the coast towards Varengeville. Beautiful. And the courtesy of French drivers to cyclists is a fantastic - less hooting, more friendly waving. The group stuck together well, re-grouping as necessary and stopping for a coffee stop in the sunshine. A bit of Cippolini-style pushing was required to keep everyone going and we all got home safely and ready for dinner at the hotel. A quick trip to a local bar and one pint later, everyone was ready for bed. Anything that was not tied down in the bike storage area mysteriously disappeared overnight, including water bottles and a track pump. Hmmm. I guess there is a lesson for us there. The Saturday is the traditional "big day out" of the trip and it also happened to be Paul Atkinson's 40th birthday and my 33rd. There had been some heavy rain overnight, which was continuing into the morning, so enthusiasm for the long ride was not all it might have been. About twelve of us did set out, many with the Ironman race coming up in July, so keen to get the miles in. We set off towards Bully, Sarah heading home in a taxi from Torcy-le-Grand with unrepairable tyre problems. The weather cleared up during the morning and we rode through beautiful country, millions of bluebells carpeting the woods, heading for our lunch stop at Neufchatel-en-Bray.

The planned split did not happen, with everyone deciding to go for 80 miles. Lunch of steak hache and chips, followed by coffee and crepes was enough to stoke everyone's engines. We even found a bike shop on the way out of town to get a replacement tyre for Warren. And the sun was out again. The afternoon's route covered new ground, most of it stunning and on great roads. A great tempo was reached and most of the afternoon flew by. On arrival back at the hotel, some of us decided to top up our mileage to top the 100 mile mark for the day, so we headed out on a 20 mile out and back along the coast (well done Jel, Helyn, Alex & Paul). Saturday night was a fairly quiet affair for such a big birthday, but Helyn made us a fantastic cake and we did find a sort of dungeon bar for our "one pint and you're zonked" celebration.

Sunday's ride was good, again covering some great new roads. The group split early to allow the slightly slower group to cut home via a café and the rest of the bunch rolled through the French countryside. The rain came back again and forced us into retreat mode and we headed back into Dieppe to complete 60 miles for the day, some of us helping others with punctures and generally keeping it all together. Home for hot showers and a hearty lunch in the town, then off to the ferry for an 18:15 departure. All in all, a great tour. Matt & Colette were missed, as you would expect, Matt for his organisation and experience, Colette for her "Miss Whiplash" peloton policing - roll on next year. I think everyone learned (at least) a bit about riding in a bunch, as well as putting in some useful miles. A good time was had by all - a great trip.

Roll on April 2004.

Guy

The Sunday crew