September is better for me.

Got the Tuscany Trail in early June and so won't be able to get any more time off in June.

If it does happen in June though l'll have to think carefully about which I'll do as this ticks a lot of boxes.

It looks like Sept would suit more riders. If it was early Sept I could ride to Turin from Eurobike before getting bogged down with that period of work. Early autumn in that area should be lovely. 6th September then. Will pop a date on the site so it's done.

A date-fixed copy of the poster by return to all expressing interest via the contact form on the site http://torino-nice.weebly.com/contact.html

Nice one, James. September is better for me :)

^ Good stuff, we'll need a benchmark time for the 2nd run : )

Definitely interested in September, June is a no go for me, keep me in the loop please.
Now how do I tell the wife I might not make it home for her birthday

Andy

Slightly out of reach I imagine....

Chicken Legs wrote:Now how do I tell the wife I might not make it home for her birthday

I'm sure you could persuade her to have a holiday in Nice

Andy, just take the shorter alternates if needed, it'll be fine

I'm sure you could persuade her to have a holiday in Nice

Funny you should say that, it's already been mentioned in our house.

Chew wrote:

Chicken Legs wrote:Now how do I tell the wife I might not make it home for her birthday

I'm sure you could persuade her to have a holiday in Nice

That sounds like a mighty fine plan

I toddle off early one morning with my bike leaving a Dear Jan letter on the kitchen table with a birthday card and a plane ticket

Hmm, September eh! Tempting!

I *may* have a few van spaces if plans become firmer.

Dave Barter wrote:I *may* have a few van spaces if plans become firmer.

Shotgun!

Van now full.

Hows the plans going along?

All good?

Hope so, looking forward to this.

Going well, enough interest and links floating around now that the basic site try-out is staying up ( http://torino-nice.weebly.com )

A couple of rainy weekends have been useful in getting the main puzzle link figured out, the bit of the first ride that I wanted to improve on. The direction works well, opened up an area we rode on the GR5 trip so I'm looking forward to seeing the tarmac and easier trails there. You can now descend the Col Turini (of the famous Monte-Carlo Rally night stage) if you want to, keeping the rally theme.
Got a full GPS end-to-end thanks to some GPX-editing pointers on here and it's worked out at 700km almost exactly, less if you take any shortcuts. Got to make a decision over the 2 push-carry sections, whether they should be the main or alternate routes or to try what looks like a more generally rideable option to one of them as a main/only route (any opinions?)
Bail-outs options along the way are good without spoiling the ride, you can leap-frog certain sections without being stuck on a bad road etc, so it's pretty flexible time-wise for being sure about getting flights back.

There's a bit of a pointer on the terrain on the site now and more info due in a few weeks, just a catch-up on a few things, more details of start point etc.
A couple of riders from Turin have mailed in to offer help and logistics so hopefully a good bivi spot recommendation. We could all just kip on their floors and eat their food : )

Brilliant

As far as push / carry sections go my opinion is that if they are worth it, put them in. By which I mean if hike a bike means you get to the best places or tracks then I like them.

Certainly, they need to be worth it!

For those of us 'up north' has anyone looked at flights?

Doesn't seem like you fly direct to Turin in summer, without going to Stansted?

You can get from Nice to Turin on the train in ~5hrs with one change, if that gives more flight options? That way you get the transfer faff done before the ride, finish in Nice, easy (Eze).

Nice to Turin on the main NE-bound roads is only 140 miles. There are some people from Nice saying they'll be riding so I can see if there's some lift-sharing to be had if anyone does fly into Nice - a better reason for an early group mail than route details at this stage.

I live a £25 cab ride / easy 1hr ride from Luton airport if anyone wanted safe parking for flying from there, also next to the train station for easy route to/from Gatwick for ~£30 open return. We used Luton and Gatwick combined last year.

Chew wrote:For those of us 'up north' has anyone looked at flights?

Doesn't seem like you fly direct to Turin in summer, without going to Stansted?

I've had a quick look at options based on leaving the family with the inlaws in the Midlands and flying from Birmingham. Best I've found so far is Monarch, Birmingham to Nice return with 23kg hold luggage going on 3rd, returning on 11th £186. I'd plan a road ride up to Turin over a couple of days like James suggests.

I've not investigated bike-in-hold options as I'm planning on having some S&S couplings put into my frame by the summer for just this sort of escapade. Of course, that limits me to returning from the same airport & investigating left luggage options.

As is typical for me, having done some research I shan't actually pluck up the courage to commit to a flight until the prices have massively increased.

I'd plan a road ride up to Turin over a couple of days

Nice. Could be a few doing that.

I'll be riding there from Friedrichshafen/Constance starting on the afternoon of the 2nd Sept, should anyone be going to Eurobike or flying to Geneva. A whole load more dirt roads and cols between the Swiss Alps and Turin ..

Hello
First post on this site.
There should be myself and two others from Dundee doing this,looking forward to it.

jameso wrote:I'll be riding there from Friedrichshafen/Constance starting on the afternoon of the 2nd Sept, should anyone be going to Eurobike or flying to Geneva. A whole load more dirt roads and cols between the Swiss Alps and Turin ..

You heading via the Mont Blanc tunnel or the long way round?

If you're considering the tunnel I've got a cheap pass (8€ each way instead of 50€) if you fancied picking me up on your way?

Just a thought.

jameso wrote:I'll be riding there from Friedrichshafen/Constance starting on the afternoon of the 2nd Sept...

Fancy some company? I need a few days to warm up.

Greetz

S.