Plan B

From the previous post I laid out two options, Plan A and Plan B.

The latter was to leave after racing and stay in a hotel in Lleida.

We have decided to do that.

So I have amended the booking at the El Cid and removed the Sunday night and added another hotel instead.

The new one in Lleida is the Ramon Berenguer IV. Quite budget but all of Lleida is cheaper in comparison to hotels nearer the Catalan coast. 

The hotel has private parking at €7 a night for a car space and in my booking I asked for a space to be reserved.  Although there is street parking if the option to have secure parking is there, it's worth taking!

That change saves us about 110 miles on the way home on Monday.

The saving will allow us more time to thread our way through the Pyrenees at Pont de Reu and then into France. 

We need to check the distances and overnight stops on the way upwards.

Inward Route and Hotels - Plan B

Plan B already!

Working with Google Maps and MyRouteApp in different windows I can see that with the road conditions crossing the Pyrenees, either by the suggested (shortest?) route and my alternative route via Andorra are going to be over ambitious.

So Andorra is definitely dropped.

Google Maps gives three options from Morella. Via the Bielsa Tunnel, the Somport Tunnel and via the N-232 to Pont de Reu and the border there.

I am moving more towards a re-vamp of the plan as follows.

Lleida is about 110 miles from the El Cid and about 75 miles from Motorland Aragón, Packing up my stuff at the hotel on the morning of race day and after the racing finishes mid-afternoon go from there to a hotel in Lleida. I've had a look and there quite a few at a very reasonable price!

This would cut down the mileage on Monday by that 110 from the El Cid. From Lleida to the currently planned stop at Cahors is around 280 miles and six hours on the road. It takes the N-230 to the border which is a bridge over the River Garonne at Pont de Reu (3)

It's a further 150 miles to the Campanile already booked in Cahors. From there it is pretty much as already planned up the N20 as far as Orleans before diverting off to Chartres.

The N20 and A20 are toll free for all but a short distance near Orleans so we can make good time on the dual carriageway sections.

I haven't changed any bookings as yet. You never know what changes are still to come.