Alps - mid June trip - maybe

I have provisionally booked off the period from 13-22 June, potentially to
join this trip: http://mcitours.com/pages/toursdetail.asp?CatID=1&TourID=19

I've been on them before and enjoyed myself. However, the cost is fucking
huge.

So, anyone fancy doing something similar during the same time period? Same
sort of idea: overnight stop in France; spend 3-4 nights in a base hotel;
tour around that area and/or take time off the bike; move to a second base,
do the same sort of thing; another overnight stop on the way back. I'd
recommend pre-booking the overnight stops but the others should be easy to
find.

I'm not offering to DFV the trip or be a tour guide for the directionally
challenged or nervous. I like to ride independently at my own pace but have
some familiar faces to socialise with when off the bike.

Places I'd like to visit: Black Forest; French Alps; Lake Constance;
Western Austria.

FAQ
1. No cunts
2. No camping
3. I'm quite happy to share a room to cut costs but bear in mind a) I snore
b) I'm gay c) I'm Welsh
4. No 6am starts
5. Booze will be consumed
6. My chosen routes may, at times, resemble cart tracks

Email to the address in my sig if interested.

 

Reading below #1 was a waste of effort on your part.

 

poof

 

I have an audience to consider.

Would you be interested if destinations were reachable via "normal" roads
e.g. Lake Constance is reachable via lowland routes and there is plenty
there to occupy someone whilst others ride a few Cols.

 

Great minds! We're going late August/September. Black Forest, Lake
Constance, 10 days meandering along the Alpenstrasse then a few days
back via the Romantische Straße.

 

I can't wait that long. Not been (on the bike) to the Alps since 2005.

There is not a lot of romance on the strasse. Lots of HGVs and caravans.
Some of the towns are quaint but next time I'm travelling home from Bavaria
I'll blast up the autobahn and spend the extra time in the Mosel.

 

Touché.

 

'Kin'ell. A grand for 10 days, before you even raise a glass. And some
hotels charge extra for parking.

You know, I really, really ought to think about launching Tog Tours on
a professional basis....

 

<deja vu>

<Loz's map reading>

Haven't we been here before?

 

Well thats one he can tick off.

 

I think this has all been looked at before and when TOG tried to
organise a longer trip it nearly drove him to drinking.

I prefer the "I'm going here, if anyone wants to come then that's fine
but normal exclusions apply".

 

It's worked for Chimay, Elefantentreffen and further afield.

 

It'll always work because everyone has to assume responsibility for
themselves rather than relying on the organiser to do it for them.

Obviously knowing your final destination rather than just knowing the
name of the nearest town is a big help as is having a car where you
can sit and keep warm when it snows.

 

I had looked into this a while back as a side business and you'll find
that in order to cover your costs and actually make enough to put some
food on the table, you'll have to charge a lot more than you'd expect
initially.

In fact, a grand for what they offer sounds about right if you get a
big enough crowd.

 

Yes, I figured that as well after doing some back-of-an-envelope sums.

Not sure about that, though.

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

You question the prices every time someone posts a link to this company or
one of its competitors.

The company I mention has been trading since the mid 1990s. They must be
making a profit *and* providing a service that their customers perceive is
decent value for money. If you look at their competitors, the ones that
have been around the same time, then the prices are similar. Timo's right,
the market has set the going rate.

Before you enter this market, go on a few tours. Take BGN's checklist with
you and work out how many hours you are "on duty" mollycoddling fuckwits.

 

I suppose I do, yes. But then I do have a very good idea of the basic
costs involved though not, I admit, the hidden overheads.

Trouble is, I look at £100 a day... No, let's be realistic: £76 a day
based on two sharing, and I do wonder. That's £1000 a fortnight, and
that gets you an awful lot of holiday elsewhere, especially in that
off-peak time.

Yes, a biking trip is 'different', but that is still not cheap. It might
be decentVFM, though, which isn't wuite the same thing.

Right. Just because people are happy to pay more, doesn't mean that it
can't be done for less, properly, though.

I'm sure it would be 'plenty'.

I remember Peter Avard from way back when. He started running these
trips as a spin-off from doing it for the hell of it. I also remember a
friend who went on one, and was very, very concerned when a participant
disappeared en route, and the tour guide simply didn't have the language
skills nor the local knowledge to know what to do. In the event, the bod
had just got separated and lost and turned up late for dinner.

 

Heh. Depends on the economies of scale... I think you're both right and
I'm wrong, actually. On a commercial basis, it's reasonable VFM.

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

I know Peter. He was a partner in MCi Tours and was still producing their
magazine when we first met.

MCi is now run by Alistair & Fiona McFarlane as Peter & Gloria went their
own way about 2000, and they still run www.msltours.com

 

Right. I didn't know that. I remember him as a freelance contributor to
the paper I was editing, circa 1985.