Topic Title

I'm very interested in riding some mountains in the alps! Having driven York to Morzine a few times it can be hard work, especially if you do it all in one day. People I've stayed with who have flown in and gotten transfers have said it makes the whole process quite a lot easier. That said if the club were staying in morzine I would drive so I can take a mountain bike along too!

Been doing some research into all of this. Flights do not appear to be available to book just yet but, from prior experience it is possible to get return flights from Manchester to Geneva for £200 or possibly a bit less including bikes. Never looked at flights to Lyon so I'm not sure about prices there. I believe Chambery and Grenoble were also mentioned but these are only open during the ski season.

I have some quotes for transfers from Geneva airport to Morzine for 12 people with bikes and these are coming in at around £50 each return. I suspect that Lyon to Bourg d'Oisans may be a bit dearer due to the greater distance but have no firm prices yet.

If we go down the driving route, hiring a van and a mini bus and travelling via the tunnel prices are as follows:

Van hire - £225
Mini bus hire - £610
Return for both via eurotunnel - £400
Fuel@25mpg - £675
Motorway tolls approx £400
Total £2310

If you divide that between 12 people that comes to £192 each. This would probably work out at around £50 cheaper per person compared to flying. It does however take a lot longer and either add time to the trip or reduce the number of riding days. Personally I prefer the flying option but I'm willing to go with the majority on this.

As far as accommodation is concerned prices vary enormously but chalet style accommodation is available at either location and would work out at anything from £80 per person per week to £150 pppw. As Dave has suggested, I think the accommodation needs to be booked as soon as possible and then we can make the travel arrangements accordingly.

All in all it looks as though the trip can be made for between £300 and £350 per person plus extra for food and drink, etc.

It would be useful to have a get together to discuss it all. Judging by the poor turnout at recent club socials at the Knavesmire pub it would appear that midweek can be difficult for most people so I would like to suggest that a Sunday evening may be the best bet.

Feedback would be most welcome.

Feedback as requested

Well done for this James, thanks on behalf of all!!

Prices are in line with expectations. Assuming a diesel van/ bus instead of petrol I'd expect nearer 30-35mpg so fuel might be sl cheaper than this. Car tolls are approx £100 Calais to Grenoble - do vans pay more? Also to compare like with like we should factor in travel to airport in UK if fly....

How much value do we put on having transportation at the resort e.g. if we want to do a ride at a few miles distance from the chalet or try out a few local eateries?

I'm fine with flying though - could use up a few air-miles . One issue might be the number of bikes we could take on any one fight - I've only travelled in groups of 3 or 4 - would 10 or 12 on the same flight with bikes pose a problem?. I'm assuming the quote you have for the transfer is for all of us as a group?

I'd imagined that we'd do our own breakfast - cereal/porridge/toast etc - get a snack at lunchtime, and then go out for a meal in the evenings at a local restaurant/bar. Nothing to stop people cooking for themselves if they want though....

Good idea to suggest a Sunday evening. Perhaps those seriously interested could all pitch up and agree:

Dates
Location
Travel mode
Finance/deposit arrangements

How much notice do people need? Sunday 23rd at 7PM Knavesmire??

Stop press!!
Just managed to look at flights from Manchester to Geneva flying out Sat 3rd June and returning Sat 10th June.
It comes in at £135 all in including bike box. I think this would possibly make flying the cheaper option. Flights to Lyon not available yet. Food for thought.

Agree looks v reasonable

3rd June date is looking good for me too.

I'd be happy to pencil this in the diary if the dates suit most folk. I guess in order to place a booking for the accommodation and flights we would need people to make a firm commitment sooner rather than later to ensure places and a decent price. Anyone else wanting to firm up their interest??

I'm IN.

Yes that sounds ok, just firming up my interest, thanks to you and James for the info.

Ian H.

Thinking a bit more, flying to Geneva makes the Northern Alps more accessible. Morzine is the obvious possibility here - the main climbs near enough to ride from here are the Joux Plane and Morzine - Alvoriaz. The Col de la Colombiere is also within reach as an out and back objective.
Further south Annecy has some good climbs and possibly more variety and isn't far from Geneva as is Les Gets or La Clusaz which should have plenty of accommodation options.
Further south and the transfer gets longer. The Maurienne valley gives access to the Iseran, the Madelaine, The Telegraphe ( plus Galibier I'd you want a big day out), the Glandon, Lacets de Montvernier. Not sure about accommodation here - St Jean is conveniently placed but transfers here would be longer.
After this we're into Bourg d'Oisans as previously mentioned. Lyon airport is 90 minutes or so from here. L'Alpe d'Huez, Galibier, Glandon, Lauteret, Croix de Fer are local to here.
I think my preference would be for Bourg simply because there are many more options for rides there and being further South the weather should be sl better.

Would appreciate it if others could chip in and give some views based on James' and my ideas. This would serve to focus us on what people want to do. Road trip? Flights? Travel as group or independently?

I've put a few photos in a folder on Drop-box to whet people's appetite - just a brief sample of what's on offer

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xdgx0mivqmcz ... 3sLfa?dl=0

Some more appetizers:

https://www.morznet.com/cycling/routes/

http://www.freewheelingfrance.com/where ... rzine.html

http://www.cycling-challenge.com/tag/morzine/

Morzine/ Les Gets sound like great options and have always enjoyed my previous stays there. Unfortunately if we were to do 3rd June I wouldn't be able to join you as I have exams up until 5th June. However it does sound like the best time to go so I hope you have a great time.

Morzine/ Les Gets sound like great options and have always enjoyed my previous stays there. Unfortunately if we were to do 3rd June I wouldn't be able to join you as I have exams up until 5th June. However it does sound like the best time to go so I hope you have a great time.

Date definitely not set in stone yet Ben. I'd hope to get a consensus at meeting on the 23rd at 7pm

Morzine/ Les Gets sound like great options and have always enjoyed my previous stays there. Unfortunately if we were to do 3rd June I wouldn't be able to join you as I have exams up until 5th June. However it does sound like the best time to go so I hope you have a great time.

Date definitely not set in stone yet Ben. I'd hope to get a consensus at meeting on the 23rd at 7pm

Just for the avoidance of doubt, the flight dates I posted were just an illustration of what's possible. I just happened to pick the first weekend in June but, as Dave says, it's not set in stone by a long way. If you want to have your say I'd remind everyone to turn up at the Knavesmire pub 7pm Sunday 23rd October. Please try to be there if at all possible.

Definitely interested Dave. That's both me & Suzie. We are going to the Picos area in Spain for a month from 3rd June so it would have to be in May for us to go. My preference would be to fly out with the bikes boxed though we could drive down with the camper van, then maybe just keep driving to Spain. Hmm, the art of the possible.

Cheers David

Just like to thank James and Dave for the info on the the holiday. I'm still wanting to be part of it and can confirm I'm flexible on dates just need to know what is decided and as for destination probably morzine if I had a to make a choice as I've stayed in bourg d'oisans a couple of times before but I'm not particularly bothered to be honest both are good destinations for cyclists. Only thing is I probably won't be able to make the 23rd for the meeting but don't want that to mean I don't want to go. I'm happy to be pm'd post meeting or I'm sure info will be posted on here. I know a couple of the saturday regulars have my number but pm me if you want it to stay in touch .

Jon