Now that the kids are leaving home, we can finally plan a trip to follow the TDF.
This year we are doing a lite version. Ferry to Dieppe, then follow the first week of stages from Lille to Saint-Meen-Le-Grand, then back to blighty on the Roscoff ferry.
At the moment we only have a whoosh-bang with no facilities so we will be staying in campsites close to what I have decided will be the most interesting parts of the route to spectate and then driving/cycling to the route each day before any road closures/caravan arrival.
In the longer term, I hope this will convince Mrs Gerica that we should upgrade to a more self-contained larger unit with a garage for the bikes and we can follow the route more seriously, including through the mountains, and also then the Giro and Vuelta.
Are there any threads with info regarding following the Tour, etiquette on arrival times on the route, when the road gets closed etc., is there a tolerance for bikes on the road after the first outriders have passed through but before the caravan arrives, etc.? I assume that once we have a unit with facilities, it is conventional to camp out on the route the night before, especially in the more popular sections on the mountains - not something we are yet able to do.
Any help/info gratefully received - we are definitely noobs to the bike race following, having only spectated the ToB locally.
TIA
Gerica
This year we are doing a lite version. Ferry to Dieppe, then follow the first week of stages from Lille to Saint-Meen-Le-Grand, then back to blighty on the Roscoff ferry.
At the moment we only have a whoosh-bang with no facilities so we will be staying in campsites close to what I have decided will be the most interesting parts of the route to spectate and then driving/cycling to the route each day before any road closures/caravan arrival.
In the longer term, I hope this will convince Mrs Gerica that we should upgrade to a more self-contained larger unit with a garage for the bikes and we can follow the route more seriously, including through the mountains, and also then the Giro and Vuelta.
Are there any threads with info regarding following the Tour, etiquette on arrival times on the route, when the road gets closed etc., is there a tolerance for bikes on the road after the first outriders have passed through but before the caravan arrives, etc.? I assume that once we have a unit with facilities, it is conventional to camp out on the route the night before, especially in the more popular sections on the mountains - not something we are yet able to do.
Any help/info gratefully received - we are definitely noobs to the bike race following, having only spectated the ToB locally.
TIA
Gerica