- Joined
- May 4, 2005
- Location
- Orinda, CA
- Moto(s)
- A funky red & white Italian named Gianni Cervo! Versys - two of 'em! And a Ducati for laughs.
- BARF perks
- AMA #: 281672
It's baaa--aaacckkk! Yep, another round of BARFers galavanting around old Europe, this time in Blighty!! Yep, a reprise of the old English complaint, "They're oversexed, overpaid, and over here!" 
No Alps this time. Instead, some Tour de France in England, and the Southern 100 road race on the IOM. Here's what we have in mind:
With that in mind, if you want to do this, here are the things YOU must do, and you must do it QUICKLY because stuff will sell out:
Use who you want to book your flight. I've had good luck with Kayak
For the rental, these guys seem like a good choice, and they have a wide choice of bikes. If a few people are coming in at the same time, they'll arrange to pick you up at LHR. Otherwise you'll need to book tube and train to get there. It's actually not that hard. You'll also want to spend a night at a nearby hotel to give yourself a chance to get on top of the jet lag.
For the ferry, you want to go to http://www.steam-packet.com/ and book yourself and your bike a return passage Heysham > Douglas for afternoon sailings on the 8th and 10th. If you have any trouble booking this online, I have the e-mail of the customer service guy there. He took care of everything for me. I can send it to you in a PM.
For lodging, I've found http://www.tripadvisor.com/ is pretty good, but I suppose you could use Kayak too.
For July 5th through 7th, I suggest the Best Western Plus, Milford in Leeds. That's less than 20 miles from where Sue's sister lives, so we'll be convenient. Everything around Yorkshire is filling up because of the TdF, so don't dally.
On July 8th through 9th we are staying at the Edelweiss Guest House in Douglas. If for any reason you can't get in there, just book something on prom in Douglas. We've stayed here before, and it's fine. Good English breakfast is included. It's close to a good pub. Across from the beach, and it has a nice sort of parlor.
On July 10th, we are staying at The Crooklands Hotel. This is close to the ferry from which we'll be disembarking near midnight. It will put us close to the Lake District for the next day.
Sue and I need to be in Oxfordshire on Saturday the 12th to attend the battle proms at Blenheim Palace. That means that we'll need to head back to Knaresborough before heading to Oxfordshire. At this point, you will have reached the 1 week point on your moto rental, so I'm assuming most of you will be heading back south to drop off your moto and to fly home. We can discuss other lodging needs as the thread progresses.
For booking ground transport, the best way I've found is to book trains through the trainline. You can then pick up your tickets at a vending machine when you get to train/tube station at LHR. No hurry on this. You can wait up until the week or so before you head over. The rest of the bookings must be done quickly. The train station you're heading for is Brentwood. Then taxi it to the rental/hire agency.
Questions?
Don't tell me you're in. Tell me you've booked the ferry and the rental. That's how I'll know you're committed.
No Alps this time. Instead, some Tour de France in England, and the Southern 100 road race on the IOM. Here's what we have in mind:
- Fly into London
- Spend a night for jet lag
- Pick up rental bikes and head north to Yorkshire
- See a day of the Tour de France through the Yorkshire Dales
- Head west towards Lancashire and the Lake District for more great riding
- Head over to the IOM for a couple of days of the Southern 100 road race
- Back to England for a bit more riding in the Lake District and Dales
- Turn in the rentals and go home
With that in mind, if you want to do this, here are the things YOU must do, and you must do it QUICKLY because stuff will sell out:
- Book a flight to LHR arriving no later than July 4, 2014
- Book a rental bike (see link below)
- Book an Isle of Man Steam Packet Ferry for the dates and times below (see link below)
- Booking lodging for night 1 (July 4th) near the rental agency (no recommendation here)
- Book lodging for the 5th through 7th at the hotel link below
- Book lodging on the IOM for the 8th and 9th at the hotel linked below
- Book lodging for the 10th at the link below
- Return the bike and fly home
- You can add days on to the end as suits you
Use who you want to book your flight. I've had good luck with Kayak
For the rental, these guys seem like a good choice, and they have a wide choice of bikes. If a few people are coming in at the same time, they'll arrange to pick you up at LHR. Otherwise you'll need to book tube and train to get there. It's actually not that hard. You'll also want to spend a night at a nearby hotel to give yourself a chance to get on top of the jet lag.
For the ferry, you want to go to http://www.steam-packet.com/ and book yourself and your bike a return passage Heysham > Douglas for afternoon sailings on the 8th and 10th. If you have any trouble booking this online, I have the e-mail of the customer service guy there. He took care of everything for me. I can send it to you in a PM.
For lodging, I've found http://www.tripadvisor.com/ is pretty good, but I suppose you could use Kayak too.
For July 5th through 7th, I suggest the Best Western Plus, Milford in Leeds. That's less than 20 miles from where Sue's sister lives, so we'll be convenient. Everything around Yorkshire is filling up because of the TdF, so don't dally.
On July 8th through 9th we are staying at the Edelweiss Guest House in Douglas. If for any reason you can't get in there, just book something on prom in Douglas. We've stayed here before, and it's fine. Good English breakfast is included. It's close to a good pub. Across from the beach, and it has a nice sort of parlor.
On July 10th, we are staying at The Crooklands Hotel. This is close to the ferry from which we'll be disembarking near midnight. It will put us close to the Lake District for the next day.
Sue and I need to be in Oxfordshire on Saturday the 12th to attend the battle proms at Blenheim Palace. That means that we'll need to head back to Knaresborough before heading to Oxfordshire. At this point, you will have reached the 1 week point on your moto rental, so I'm assuming most of you will be heading back south to drop off your moto and to fly home. We can discuss other lodging needs as the thread progresses.
For booking ground transport, the best way I've found is to book trains through the trainline. You can then pick up your tickets at a vending machine when you get to train/tube station at LHR. No hurry on this. You can wait up until the week or so before you head over. The rest of the bookings must be done quickly. The train station you're heading for is Brentwood. Then taxi it to the rental/hire agency.
Questions?
Don't tell me you're in. Tell me you've booked the ferry and the rental. That's how I'll know you're committed.
Last edited:
arty
