Cycle Nuts

May 2001 (2)

Amiens – Quick Resume

For the second time running, the city of Amiens made us very welcome. The weather was once again in our favour – not as hot as last year – just a bit of a wind on the first day, but otherwise very acceptable indeed.  As last year, the Ibis Centre Ville was our base for the short holiday, and apart from the Bar being permanently closed I have no complaints. Having the use of one of their conference rooms as a ‘bike’ room worked well.

New this year, was the Coach to transport the party out and back from Amiens. Convenience was the word here; we all departed the LATCC car park on time at 1000 on the Thursday and returned bang on time at 1500 on the Sunday. My thanks to Wayne who gave his time free of charge, and if we can do the same again next year I will certainly consider it.

We used three different restaurants - different from last year that is – and ordered our menus in advance. This meant that we didn’t have the long wait between ordering the meals and starting to eat – one of the problems we had last year.  All three restaurants did us proud and once again we ended up on the quayside by the river Somme for the last night, a wonderful location.

There was again a choice of Tin and Iron routes on both days, with an extra choice of Tin Plus for those ‘Tinnies’ who felt in good form. All the ‘Tinnies’ as it happens opted for the longer Tin Plus route on both days (38 miles) and averaged about 12mph throughout, a good deal faster than last year. The Iron boys (and girls) cycled about 55 miles on both of the days and suffered a bit on the first day with the wind once they climbed out of the valley. Overall though the cycling was very pleasant indeed.

We returned to what has always been a successful formula with these holidays in past years, and that is having a Support Vehicle (Muzzer ‘en) on the road to feed, water, and generally look after the well being of the cyclists. The feed back that I’m getting is that people generally felt more comfortable in the knowledge that there was a vehicle around should they get into trouble.

My thanks to all who came along for making the trip another success, you ALL played you part and for that I’m very grateful. My thanks to Irene and Sally, to Pete and (as already mentioned) Wayne for getting us there safely. The whole holiday – as in past years – is a TEAM effort, and I get my satisfaction when it all comes together at the end of the day, but more than that, when everybody just has a ‘bloody’ good time – which is exactly what we did.

Next year - - - - - ? I think a change from Amiens but I will keep you all posted. In the meantime spread the word to friends, neighbours, family, whoever you think will fit in.

Regards