FAQs  

(For Bike Rentals scroll to the bottom of the page)

What should you know before you come?

Documents:
Passport, bike registration docs, insurance. You will need some form of European breakdown insurance. The AA, Green Flag etc do good cover. Check with your current insurer what’s on offer and also confirm that your bike is fully insured for the trip to France, BOTH FOR ACCIDENT AND BREAKDOWN (a lot of the companies are NOT offering recovery for bikes involved in an accident, check it out!).

!!!!!MOST IMPORTANT!!!!!

MAKE SURE THAT YOUR TRAVEL POLICY COVERS YOU FOR BIKES LARGER THAN 125CC!!!!!!!!

Seriously, this was a major issue in 2007 with a  rider needing medical/repatriation assistance and finding that he was NOT covered as he thought. Check it out!

Take photocopies of your docs and keep them separate from your originals.
You WILL need the E111 form (now replaced by the EHIC card) which can be obtained free from your local post-office. This enables you to recover any medical costs incurred in France.

Bike Check
You will be covering around 1600 miles so make sure that your tyres and chain can make it and that you’re not going to miss a major service. Coolant, tyre pressures, brake pads, discs, oil and brake fluid levels should be checked. Check for leaks around the engine and fork seals. The official word is that you will need to blank off the thrown-beam section of your headlamp lens with some insulating tape and you'll need a GB sticker. Once down here we have a Triumph dealership in town and there are the usual suspects (Nippon/German/Italian) in Niort, 20kms away.

TYRES
You can get them down here with about a 20-30% saving over the prices in the UK (depending on the exchange rate - check with me first). If your tyres are part-worn, finish them off on the way down and get a new set at the end of the day's ride on the Saturday. Let me know your make and model and I'll get you a quote.

Luggage
Hard panniers are good. If your bike doesn’t come equipped then throw-overs or a tail-pack are good alternatives. A tank bag is very useful for documents, camera, route cards, maps etc. make sure that whatever you have is waterproof. If you don’t have soft pannier covers then wrap up all your stuff in bin-liners before putting it in the panniers. You won’t need too many clothes. Enough shirts/T-shirts for four days, a pair of jeans, a sweater, a fleece-type jacket, and some walking shoes (in case you have to push your bike anywhere...). A little black dress for the evening and a simple string of pearls is always very elegant.

Riding Gear
It really depends which time of the year you've decided to come down. Weather in April/May and September/October is usually gorgeous but the mornings and evenings can be a bit chilly. Bring some thermals (or equivalent…I don’t want to know) if you're coming at that time of year. For the summer months you won't have any need of warm weather gear, whether it rains or no, the temperatures will remain comfortable. Leathers or Goretex suit (all preferably with some form of armour), sweat-shirt, winter gloves, spare gloves (summer?), rain-suit, neck tube, Vee-wipes, Visor demist, boots. Helmet with a clear, unscratched, visor. I don't anticipate riding at night so a tinted visor will probably be OK, but how are you going to get down to Portsmouth Thursday night? Take a clear visor as well, whydoncha? EARPLUGS! 

Accessories
Sunglasses, camera, chocolate, fruit-juice, energy bar…..whatever.

FERRIES
We don't include the ferry booking etc as part of your weekend cost. We have two recommendations for you to make your booking however:

Contact David on: daihiggs@aol.com

Also you can try: www.ferrysavers.com

Arrival at the port
Aim to get to the check-in at around an hour or so before departure in case there are queues. There are cash machines and a Bureau de Change at the Terminal and on board. Don't hesitate to muscle your way to the front of the queue as British drivers love to hear the throaty roar of bikes' exhausts and admire our multi-hued vestments.  It's a good idea if you've all filled up in the UK. This will save at least 30 minutes on the French side, just when you're all impatient to be getting away

Arrival in France
I don't know which port you'll all be arriving at, but if you can let me know when your arrangements are finalized I'll send you the best (most interesting) route down. If you get tied up with lunch/ hedgehogs/lambs-wool underwear, you'll have the option of popping onto a motorway to make up time. If you've opted for one of the Cherbourg/Le Havre/ Caen crossings and have arrived in the morning you'll have plenty of time to get down here. The route maps I will give you will lead you from town to town on the route, with the road numbers and distances between points clearly marked. A good idea is to stop for a coffee once you've cleared the town and are out on the open road. You can check the map and the bloke who forgot to attach his chinstrap can now do so.....

IMPORTANT!  

DRINK LOTS OF WATER ON THE WAY DOWN!                                 Some  riders have arrived here on the Friday with splitting headaches and totally exhausted. This is due to dehydration. Drink lots of water when you stop to take on fuel/lunch/coffee and you'll be fine. No, really...              

Riding
Once you're all down here I'll be leading you out over the three days on three circuits which take in some great biking roads and will give us the opportunity to visit Cognac, Saintes and Oradour sur Glane. We will all start in the morning with full tanks and then stop for petrol every 100 - 120 miles.  We will stop for coffee in the morning, for lunch and again for coffee in the afternoon, if the consensus is there we will spend more time to visit places of interest and take pictures. The accent is very much on riding; we will leave the chateau on Saturday at around 09h30 and won’t be back until around 17h00. We will have covered about 200miles in that time. Riding will be on (for the most part!) well-maintained B-roads. There will be 0.00 kms of dual-carriageway riding during the weekend, so come prepared.   NOBODY WILL GET LOST NOR WILL THEY HAVE TO PEDAL LIKE MAD TO KEEP UP WITH THE LEADERS! (see "How we ride"). The one thing to be avoided at all costs is for you to feel pressured into riding at a speed where you feel uncomfortable, be it too fast or too slow.

Liability - Important!!
You are liable for both your and your bike’s safety. Do not attempt to ride beyond your capabilities. If you drop behind we will wait for you. If you fall off, we'll go back and pick you up

The French
Will love us. People in villages will wave and cars will do whatever they can to give us space for overtakes. Thank them with a wave (or rather, extend your right leg. Honest!) and don't sit too close to them prior to the overtake. Remember we could be in a group of up to 11 bikes and if number 3 annoys a motorist then the others are going to have to deal with him when it comes to their turn to pass him. Courtesy rules!

Remember the THREE "P"s
Position, Planning, Execution, Cheery wave, Cup of Coffee

Maps
It’s a good idea to take a good map. Michelin make the best and do a little one in book form which shows all the major routes and towns and which costs about 4 euros. (£2.80) You will each receive a detailed route card in any case that shows distances between points and the contact telephone numbers and address of the chateau. You'll all have my mobile number and you can use this should you become separated.

Money
Teller machines will accept British cards providing you have a PIN number.

Petrol
In the past there has been a problem using UK credit cards in 24H automated petrol pumps. The good news is that as the French upgrade their pumps, British cards have started working at last. Check the pump, if it has an animated LCD screen then your card will work. 

Accommodation
This is our HOME you're talking about! We're really happy to welcome you and we will have some great evenings round the (very big) dining room table. There's lots to do at the evenings in the house (pool, tennis court, ping pong, "baby-foot") or you can chill outside in the park with a good book. As we don't smoke I'll ask you, please, to smoke outside. We'll supply firebuckets and flame retardant overalls.

Food & Drink
The weekend includes continental breakfast and dinner. Wine, beer and soft drinks are included during your meal. We DON'T do spirits. There's a reason for this: I like you to be fully functioning in the morning! If you want to go out there are bars in the town (250 metres away) and even a jazz bar.

Massage
There will be a fully qualified masseuse on hand should you like a neck/head massage when you return to the house at the end of the afternoon.

Weather
The weather forecast for this weekend, from Saturday morning until Tuesday morning is bright and sunny. Not too hot, not cold at all, rain if you'd like some

General
Past trips have been very good fun. The riding has been great and the company as good. By the time we get back to the chateau in the evening you will be glad to park the bike up, hit the shower and get ready for dinner. During the day coffee and lunch stops are normally chosen on aspect and availability.

YOU WILL ENJOY YOURSELVES, 

I WILL NOT TOLERATE DISSENT !

NEW FOR 2012  -  BIKE RENTALS

We can now offer RENTAL bikes. Hitched up with the local Triumph dealer (in town, 1km away) and you can now rent your bikes for the weekend at (what I believe to be) some very competitive rates. All bikes in the range are up for rental providing he has them in his demo fleet or in his recent-used park. Speed and Street Triples, Tigers, Sprints, 675s and any other exotica he might have lying around. I'm waiting for the final numbers but a 1000cc bike shouldn't cost much more than around €400 for the weekend which compares very favourably to riding your own bike down here.