Beautiful RVs at the Tour de France

[Seamstress]

Anyone else watch the race this week? I caught it a couple of times in the evening repeat. Usually, I watch to see the gorgeous scenery but this time I was noticing some beautiful RVs along the side of the roads. Some of them look like our eggs.

The RVs are generally more compact than North America's which makes sense considering how narrow many of the roads are in Europe. They are also almost all pure white, no graphics. Both of those features are appealing to me.

Anyone ever tried a European FGRV on this side of the Pond?

Rosemary (Seamstress)

[Carol H]

Yup avid fan and have family currently over following the tour.
What I noticed though is that I keep looking hard but have seen VERY few trailers this year compared to other years - mostly smaller motor homes. Wondered if they had started to restrict the types of equipment that could be taken in on the roads ahead of time.

[rabbit]

Hi Rosemary. Yes, we watch the big loop every year, pick stage winners and the overall. The diagonal route this year is very scenic, particularly the early stages on Corsica and this week the Breton countryside up north.

As Carol observes, I think all the caravans I've seen in the coverage this year are self-propelled motorhomes. If there's a car involved, it's dinghy towing on the wrong end. I have no idea if there are restrictions on mountain routes ending at ski stations in the Alps or Pyrhenees; perhaps there are restrictions where turnouts and parking space are limited by corniche road building. If you look close at all the RVs, you might think a lot of Tour fans have a bit more economic wherewithal than your average smengie und schluge. I was at stage 8 of the 2000 Giro d'Italia (Axel Merckxx winner) but have not been fortunate or flush enough to see a Tour stage in person.

jack

[Donna D.]

Hi Rosemary, to FiberglassRV, we're glad you're here!

There's lot of things and features about the European Caravans to like. It's not the same, but if you're ordering a new all molded towable, on this side of the pond, you can order it without decals.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Seamstress

Anyone ever tried a European FGRV on this side of the Pond?

There was a Polish-designed series of trailers built in Canada for a while, long ago:
Fiberglass RV - Cadet (n126) Trailers
Fiberglass RV - Captain Trailers

Lex and Rita brought their whole rig - Biod caravan and the car that tows it - to the U.S. for a vacation trip: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...-na-37328.html

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Seamstress

Anyone ever tried a European FGRV on this side of the Pond?

Just watch out for traffic if you go outside when parked on a roadside here.

They do have some nice design ideas incorporated into their caravans.

[MC1]

Originally Posted by Seamstress

Anyone else watch the race this week? I caught it a couple of times in the evening repeat. Usually, I watch to see the gorgeous scenery but this time I was noticing some beautiful RVs along the side of the roads. Some of them look like our eggs.

Rosemary (Seamstress)

Yes Rosemary, Luving it. I have been racing pedal bikes for over 10 years and always look forward to watching the Tour. I know what it feels like to travel over 80klm/hr on the bike.
The break-a-ways and mountain climbing are very interesting and really enjoy seeing the scenic vista's.
Thnxs for posting a great topic.

[Andrew Gibbens]

I think the race followers mainly use motorhomes because they are compact enough to fit on roadside parking spots. As the helicopter camera shots show, there aren't many spots long enough to take a car/trailer combination, so a motorhome is the fan's transport of choice.

[Carol H]

Its not easy to parallel park a car/trailer combo thats for sure and in congested areas it would be tough to find a spot to quickly turn a car/trailer combo around.

[rabbit]

I saw what I believe to be an Eriba Puck on the flat before the Ventoux this morning. Left side of road and parked against the direction of the race which made the black minivan tv obvious. Giveaway to me was the extra metal band around the trailer near the top radius. I couldn't tell if it was V-nosed as the tug blocked the view of the mid-front. If you have DVR, it's in the final 22K. It's a shot from the camera bike and the camera is steady allowing the bike to provide changing content in the shot. Duration is probably 2-3 seconds so it's fairly easy to find and very clear on pause.

jack

[Seamstress]

Yes, I saw a few TTs today. At one point, there was room for RVs to park perpendicular to the road and I saw a couple there. However, I agree that most of the RVs are small motor homes and slip into spaces parallel to the road. Lots more on the mountains than the flats. I think they look to be what we classify a B+ here for the most part with some classic Class C's as well.

I took a look at a UK RV site and they have some moho's that are one-piece fiberglass on the chassis. I don't know what we have in North America that would be comparable to that.

Rosemary (Seamstress)

[Carol H]

In most of the popular viewing positions if you have a large vehicle you need to get to your viewing position a couple of days ahead of the tour arriving. A good idea to bring along your own bike so once you have your parking spot for your rig you can tour the area a little bit while waiting.

Scamp made a moho for a short time. We also had a 92 Brougham attend our trailer meet in BC last month. A bit of a rare machine but very cool - complete with the original shag carpet.

[rabbit]

. . . and wait a few hours to get back down.

jack

[Andrew Gibbens]

Originally Posted by Carol H

In most of the popular viewing positions if you have a large vehicle you need to get to your viewing position a couple of days ahead of the tour arriving. A good idea to bring along your own bike so once you have your parking spot for your rig you can tour the area a little bit while waiting.

And the rest - a comment on the Tour coverage in my country from Mont Ventoux today (Sunday) was that the road to Alpe-d'Huez is now already closed to non-race traffic - and the Tour doesn't even get there until Thursday!

If you've watched the crowds lining Mont Ventoux today, most of them climbed it on foot!

[Seamstress]

LOL, Andrew, I guess that is why there are so many RVs, they can arrive a few days ahead of time and boondock til the race.

[Carol H]

Thanks Andrew explains a lot. I giggled as my family members sent photos of their arrival at Alpe-d 'Huez on Thursday and I thought why are they there so early!

Loved the wheelie yesterday on Mont Ventoux by Sagan!

[John McMillin]

Ah, that clean Euro-look. Something like this?

[MC1]

JM.... dats a nice!

[rabbit]

Robbie McEwen, the Aussie sprinter, had a mean wheelie. And Cadel, the only tour winner from Oz, was one of my faves as a BMX downhiller, not so much as a Tour contender. And I'm happy to see back-to-back tour winners from a nation that didn't race the road and time-trialed on the QT.

jack

[Andrew Gibbens]

Originally Posted by rabbit

And I'm happy to see back-to-back tour winners from a nation that didn't race the road and time-trialed on the QT.

Nice comment in my daily newspaper, writing about the possibility of two British winners:
"Froome should race under the number 11 since, like the number 11 bus, you don't see one for ages and then two come along together."