I’ve been part of a small group of EKAM members that have toured abroad each year for a few years now. We originally got together because we thought a few days of intensive riding on really challenging roads would be a good way of developing our riding and it was such a success we’ve been doing it ever since. The format was simple, catch the ferry together, look at the weather forecast and decide where to go that day, ride until tired, find a campsite for the night. Repeat until the rear tyre is worn out (that was usually the limiting factor hence most trips were around eight or nine days). Keeping the group small was key, it gave us flexibility and allowed each individual to focus entirely on their riding which at this level was crucial, especially given some of the roads we were riding on. Others started showing an interest in our trips but organising a group tour the way we did it just wouldn’t work, so I looked into the possibility of having a fixed base and riding out from there each day. We looked at where to do it and although there are several regions of France that have some great riding none in my view have the diversity and challenges offered by the Massif Central, it’s a region we just kept going back to. It was far enough for folk to have a bit of an adventure getting there if they wanted to, yet close enough to be done in one determined day if necessary (as Brian proved!).
I put the suggestion out there and the take up was immediate, far more than I had even hoped for. This put the pressure on to find a suitable hotel and I got lucky with the one in Florac. Its location was perfect, it had everything we needed in terms of rooms and secure parking (plus a pool), and it was even within my budget……. The rest as they say, is history!
Hopefully everyone who came this year had a good time. If they didn’t they have been polite enough to keep it to themselves. My mission had been to provide the opportunity for those who wanted to focus on their riding to do so without compromise, yet ensure those wishing for a less intense approach were also accommodated. I was pretty sure it would all happen fairly naturally and I think it did.
Lessons learnt this year? Trust my instincts, I had prepared and shared some routes as I had been worried the lack of organised rides might be a problem but as it turned out everyone did exactly what I had hoped and did what was best for them. Probably just as well as the routes I had done for the first two days were based on the kind of distance I do and poor Brian who chased me round on the Tuesday didn’t know what had hit him!