2006 Worlds

By George they've got organised....

I have been discussing this event with our illustrious Chairman and because of the distance we were thinking about the possibility of having a vehicle to transport the bikes en masse. This would give those who are short on time and/or are loath to drive down the chance to fly/train or even make the event part of a family holiday. The idea was for those having a bike transported to cover the cost of the vehicle (fuel and hire if necessary) and possibly the ferry tickets of the driver(s).
Hopefully doing this would mean a reasonable turnout with minimal hassle.
As an extra incentive I have been informed that the area is lovely - my wife used to work not far from where the event will be and has even gone as far as to say she might even consider coming, which, given her feeling that watching party political broadcasts is more fun than HPV races, is a definite plus for the area. I'm sure wine has nothing to do with it....

Who would be interested?

I certainly hope to be going, hopefully with a new bike :-) May well need transport for the bike - taking a small child on holiday seems to fill the largest of cars anyway.

I would be interested in attending/helping and probably stay in the area for awhile. Given that I  will be travelling futher than a lot of the Europeans, it would make sense.

I don't know if this may be useful info:

When we went to France in 2003 for the first European Pedal Car Championships (near Tours) we took a vectra and a transit van, into which we just crammed 6 people, one pedal car plus tools and spares, my recumbent (for warming up on) and enough camping equipment, clothes, food and water for the four-day weekend.

The van came from Sixt (e-sixt.co.uk) for, I think, £330 for five days, with two drivers allowed and permission to take it abroad. It's worth noting that not all vehicle hire places permit foreign travel at all and most will certainly charge extra beyond their headline rates and insist on additional insurance; it's also worth noting that you will often get charged extra for second, third or additional drivers.

I guess you'd probably get a fair few race bikes into a similar van, with the non-driving riders in cars or travelling by train or plane.

We did look into hiring a coach for going to Monza this year, but it costs an absolute fortune - like, thousands - because you're paying for two drivers and a rather expensive vehicle from a company that wants to make a profit on all three.


Coincidentally next year our Euros are once again in the same place, although being two weeks after the HPV worlds there's not much chance of going to both!

However, in the past 2 vehicles are cheaper on the ferries than a car and trailer due to the "special offers" that seem to run permanently. Just an observation