[Closed] The cycle touring thread™

http://pompinos.blogspot.com/

5,000 km
73 kph top speed (45mph)
0 punctures
0 mechanicals
Average speed about 21 kph (will do maths later)
Average distance about 80 km per riding day.
65 days riding out of 75 ish.

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dirtygirlonabike and mustard from STW-land are currently on tour for about a month... http://pescetarianrevolutions.wordpress.com/

Not sure I could handle being away from home for 3 months or more.

I recognise the Cathedral at Santiago do Compostela there, did you do the Camino de Santiago? I quite fancy doing that on bikes, from home through France to Pau (where I lived) then along the Camino to Santiago (where I also lived) but would need to use B&Bs as I'm too soft to camp 🙂

Mcmoonter has just done the Trans America.

this is my blog of Vancouver to Mexico this time last year.

www.richardlldavies.wordpress.com

we followed the camino route a little bit back from santiago going east (against the flow) as far as Logrono, but it was only a short part of the whole route which went:

Santander, north coast west to fisterra, back across to Logrono, down west side of pyreness to Berga, over pyreness at Prats de Mollo, med coast at Collioure, round to Quillian for R&R, then across to Millau, north to Le Blanc, some time on the Loire, east to Sancerre, north to Normandy beaches and home.

I like abit of touring myself. Only 2 weeks at a time recently tho. Touring by bike can be tieing - you have to find somewhere secure for the bike and luggage when you park - makes going into museums and stuff a little tricky sometimes.

I like a mountainbike hybridised for touring - like the riding position and the gear range. Good luggage adn a well sorted comfy bike help greatly

2 weeks in the Netherlands
http://www.flickr.com//photos/25846484@N04/sets/72157624977918769/show/
a week around the highlands offroad
http://www.flickr.com//photos/25846484@N04/sets/72157605318858779/show/

Had a Dutch bloke called Peter stay here last year. He hadn't been home in 6 years. When I asked where he was headed next, he said Italy but it was via, the Lake District, the Highlands, Ireland, South coast of England and France ... reckoned he'd make Italy sometime within 18 months.

He had a budget of £5 per day which included everything. Obviously when he travelled in the poorer parts of the world he didn't spend £5 a day so was able to spend a bit more when in the 'West'.

I've never met a happier, more content person.

[url= http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2646/3887114729_06e1d2c5e3_m.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2646/3887114729_06e1d2c5e3_m.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

[url= http://www.ebygomm.ourownlittleworld.org/category/travel/north-sea-cycle-route/ ] Danish section of the North Sea Cycle Route [/url]

Would love to do the whole thing in one go but will have to settle for doing it in sections a week or so at a time.

[url= http://www.ebygomm.ourownlittleworld.org/pics/route.jp g" target="_blank">http://www.ebygomm.ourownlittleworld.org/pics/route.jp g"/> [/img]
Click for interactive map[/url]

Tried to cycle round Iceland in June, taking in as much off road stuff as possible. Snow stopped us heading north, and ash put a stop on the anti-clockwise route. Still, got to spend 2 weeks taking in all of the South West... some pics here:

www.flickr.com/leedsvegas

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also did 5000km on a pompino last year (but with gears....) from Oxford to the Black Sea. Check out crazyguyonabike site too, lots of cool inpirational stories on there (inc. mine, Botleytotheblacksea...)

looks good ollie - will read that later.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1r4vFZo&page_id=162034&v=Np

Crazyguyonabike for inspirational stories indeed!
I did about 5 weeks over to Budapest from the UK last summer. There is something magic about being self sufficient on a bike. Carrying your tent and possesions with you and setting up home every night after traveling under your own steam is very rewarding.
I'd have gone further but I thought I better get a job again, although I'm fighting the urge to go off again further, on a daily basis...
Something I always say when these threads come up, pack light. If you wanted luxury you wouldn't be traveling on a bike. Go light, go faster, go further, see more!

fourbanger. how much is light?

How heavy was your tent? Do ppl get away with a tarp and bivi or does that get a bit much if you're off for 3 months?

Tricky

Never been away much more than 3 weeks,but for me ,
comfort was the key thing on the long days,so whatever bike you are going to use ,get it well set up and tested out on local rides.

I don't like carrying masses of stuff ,so rather than going OTT on super light kit ,just have a good think about what you are really going to need ,and pack smart.
I have done the posting stuff ahead on some trips ( road ),and that has worked well for me.

Looking forward to a lot more touring (on and off road)next year.

Ooooowww am all excited now 😀

I am looking at trailers now 🙄 🙂

our two man tent weighed 1.1Kg
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What a great thread!

haggis, i got myself a carry freedom trailer this year (recommended by one graham obree no less) and i have to say it was rather brilliant. haven't used it off road tho.

I used a BOB trailer and it was brilliant, managed a top speed of 44.6mph which was a bit alarming 😀 met a brilliant couple who were pulling a BOB behind a carbon Cervello.

Got mine for peanuts off fleabay, the bloke was gutted it went so cheap.

If you look up "Home is where the bike is" on Crazyguyonabike you will read my friends amazing adventures.

One rule to bike touring is that there are no rules, I think that is the most important thing I learned.

Oh and yes get the best tent you can afford, tarp wont cut it unless you are utterly fundamental and on a mission.

If you have not toured before, I would recommend doing some short trips (even long weekends) to get a feel for it before embarking on a big expedition. You'll carry pretty much the same gear for 6 months as you will for a 1 week tour. That way you can try out your gear and see what works for you, and what you really need to take with you.

Having said that, while I was cycle-touring around Europe a few years ago, I bumped into this couple:
[url= http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Banchory-to-the-Bosphorous-by-Bike/ ]Banchory to the Bosphorous[/url]
They were on their very first cycle-tour (and were not even experienced cyclists) and hoping to get to Turkey. In the end, they enjoyed themselves so much they kept going, and were still riding five years later (in Indonesia). The blog hasn't been updated for a while, so not sure if they have come home yet.

I would recommend travelling as light as possible, starting with a good lightweight tent, sleeping bag and mat. Some cycle-tourists seem to carry ridiculous amounts of gear these days (especially with trailers) but for most people the classic 2 front and 2 rear pannier combination is ideal. If you are going to cycle to Nepal, you will find yourself far away from conventional campsites and accommodation for a lot of the journey, and if you travel light and compact, it is easier to get the bike off the road into quiet and interesting wild camping spots.

As mentioned in previous posts, there are no rules. Give it a go and have fun.

For more long distance inspiration, how about [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_St%C3%BCcke ]Heinz Stucke[/url]? He set off in 1962 and hasn't got home yet.
[url= http://www.bikechina.com/heinzstucke1z.html ]More Heinz Stucke[/url]

Not exactly touring, more an epic, my mate Andy :

http://nepalorbust.info/blog/2011/05/17/432/

I'm formulating a plan to do a lap of the UK...

Great photo's! And I think I'll settle down tonight for some cycle touring blog reading 🙂

I've only done week-long UK tours so far, but they've been fab, especially the coastal ones round north Devon and the Llyn Penisula. Would love to do more, but my touring buddies have settled down to family life and my other biking friends are dyed in the wool mtb'ers and wouldn't be seen dead with panniers! So if anyone wants a touring buddy, let me know. Or maybe it's time for a STW get-together cycle tour 😀

re: formulating a plan to do a lap of the UK...

there is a book, cant remember the name of the author, doing exactly this. It looked really cool so I bought a copy for my mum!

I've been writing up some of my shenanigans in a wee blog - and I've included some stuff I did in the past. Feel free to have a nosey around..

http://www.blog.scotroutes.com/

I really want to get into this - got a Kaffenback which should do the job though it's a little heavy. Want to build up to one day doing something really silly. 🙂

Will check out everyone's pics and blogs later.

trickydisco, my kit list was something like this:

Living:

Tent, I got this ( http://www.livefortheoutdoors.com/Gear-Reviews/Search-Results/Tents/Wild-Country-Aspect-2-2010/) which was ace. Not the lightest, I could have shed a kilo here, but it had enough room to cook and would have been fine for 2 people.
3/4 length therma rest
1-2 season sleeping bag
Cotton bag liner
Soap (detol, the bunisness) for cleaning everything, including clothes)
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Tiny travel towel
Head torch
Opinel

Clothes off the bike:
Flipflops
Board shorts
1 Tshirt
Wooly hat

Clothes on the bike:
Cycling shorts 1
Longsleeve 200 weight icebreaker with collar and zip. Good in all conditions and keeps the sun off.
Mavic cycling Jacket
Cheap Aussie cotton brimmed hat. Sunnies.
Buff
Cycling shoes
Gloves
Short socks 2 pairs (the luxury!)

Tools/Spares:
Spokes, front/rear
Spoke key
Park multitool
Small pair of pliers
8mm allenkey bought route (useless square taper!)
Wheel spanner

Everything was chossen to be of use on and off the bike. The Aussie hat kept the sun off, rain off and you can soak it to keep cool. I don't like suncream or sunburn so I keep covered up. The long sleve icebreaker kept the sun off my arms and neck, could be undone to cool off or done right up to keep warm and didn't need (too much!) washing!
If I got cold, the merino went on, the T shirt went on, the jacket went on as did the hat and buff. I was still in shorts and flipflops mind but my legs are tough from years on the bike!
To be fair I was in europe in the summer, but we did get a few cold days and a few days of rain. Going further afield you'd need more, but probably only shoes, trousers and fleece.

Started with a stove, but that soon went back. You can generally find food anywhere, just keep some spares incase you run short. You can go a long way on nuts and chocolate though!

Thats the minimum I think you can get away with without being a cycling tramp. Proably 10 - 15kg max. I got all that in 2 small rear panniers and a bar bag, nothing on the rack apart from the odd bottle of wine or BBQ!

Anyway, ramble over. You go away to get away from it all, so leave all the clutter at home and free yourself!

TSY - there's a book called "Cycling Around Scotland" which covers a fair part of what you're planning. Let me know if you'd like to borrow my copy.

Kcr

Some cycle-tourists seem to carry ridiculous amounts of gear these days (especially with trailers) but for most people the classic 2 front and 2 rear pannier combination is ideal.

Yup, I get what you are saying,and have seen the 'everything and the kitchen sink brigade' ,creeping along the roads.
The reason ( and just shout at me if you think this is daft 🙂 )that I have started thinking about trailers(even though I have not used one),is that I feel if I need 4 panniers worth of gear,then I would rather tow it. My thinking is that there may be less punctures and it will feel more comfortable riding with everything 'off the bike'.
I am going to borrow a friends trailer for a weekender soon, and see how it goes 😉

I used an extrawheel (old style no longer made) trailer with nothing on the bike. I'd do the same for any future tours.

[url= http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2466/3912917020_5bb1fef897.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2466/3912917020_5bb1fef897.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

With the trailer I was still conscious of not overdoing it on the weight, but didn't have to worry quite so much about the bulk. So I carried the fairly light but bulky stuff (2 thermarests, 2 sleeping bags, tent, trangia and cooking stuff but not food)

Excellent thread! I've just been reading through some of the blogs 😀

I can't match some of the epics above, but a good couple of weeks tour, as unplanned as possible, is my idea of a good holiday.

This year was 14 days in Tuscany, pointing myself at whatever looked interesting, camping, wild camping and treating myself to the odd hotel or B and B now and then. Covered 1000km in the time and loved every minute!

I did post a few [url= http://www.blogcycle.co.uk/ ]blogs[/url] and [url= https://picasaweb.google.com/revomartin/Tuscany2011 ]photos[/url] if anyone is interested.

I'd thoroughly recommend it as a place for a bike tour; there's not many times in my life I'll wake up to a view like this from a roadside camping pitch

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My girlfriend and I rode the TransAm this summer. 4300 miles across ten states. I had never been on more than a two week ride before. Self supported touring is huge fun. You see stuff and meet people you'd never encounter by car. Camping for the most part on our trip was free. We also stayed in fire stations, city parks, churches and on the homes of random people who took us in.

We thought our ride was epic until we visited the Adventure Cycling Association HQ in Missoula MT. They take a mugshot of you and pin it to a board with details of your route. There was a guy from Glenrothes (ten miles from where I stay in Fife) who was riding from Vancouver to Argentina who had been in the day before.

Go for it.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/8912

Hoosier Pass 11500 feet in Colorado
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Done the Colorado trail back in the day.

Few road tours in uk and europe too.

some truly inspring stories there *thumbs up*

My Wife myself and our two kids (aged 5 and 1 at the time) did a 3 week tour this summer to Holland.
600 miles in total from Fife to the Dutch island of Texel and back again. We took the ferry from Newcastle to Ijmuiden and roughly followed the North Sea Coast Route. 24 days 15 different campsites and 1 night wild camping.

Cant wait for our next tour.

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Now [i]that's[/i] impressive taking your kids along. Good on yer.

@Mcmoonter. What route did you do on your Transam, the ACA one?

fantastic effort with the kids.

We just ended up [i]making[/i] ours on our trip 😉

@Mcmoonter. What route did you do on your Transam, the ACA one?

Yes - VA to OR

In Yellowstone we met a family, mum and dad with two kids who were riding the Great Divide trail as a tour on 'cross bikes fitted with panniers. This was their third summer on it. They started when their youngest was 8.

They arrived at our campsite having crossed the Continental Divide twice with less than half an hour of daylight left after a long days riding. They checked in to see if there were still any spaces left at a campsite ten miles away, over another continental divide summit. When the news of a free space was confirmed the kids were mad for it.

Gronk and family are legends.

We did the sustrans [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/30189432@N00/sets/72157627584456627/ ]Coast and Castles[/url] with children this year. Can't match ewan's nonchalent no-handers ^^ but we had a great time. A wild camp in a Guide Centre in the Borders was a lucky treat. The routine of ride a bit, coffee shop/ lunch, ride a bit more, ice cream/tea shop, ride on to B+B/YHA/Camp seemed to suit everyone although my younger son used the trip as an excuse not to do any exercise for the rest of the summer holiday as he was 'resting'!

I was worried about the weather as I reckon you're particularly affected by it on a bike but we were dead lucky. It would have been a different story, especially the first day from Edinburgh after my Alfine broke, had the weather been poor.

Ewangronk - good effort. How did the youngest cope? I have a daughter who will be one soon and I want to go touring with her next spring. I have a triler and just wondered how she coped? was it pretty much she slept and when she woke up you took her out adn played with ehr a bit then she was happy sitting watching the world go by? what did she sleep in?

Sorry for all the questions, would just love to do something like what you did and haven't really heard of people touring with a one year old before.

Cheers

Dave

The youngest was great, as you've said she slept alot while we were riding, but we had many small stops for the two of them to play. Thats where touring with kids is slow as there has to be many small stops you wouldn't normally have.
She just slept in a sleeping bag on a mat like the rest of us, took her a few nights to used to settling down as she was used to a cot at home and the freedom to get up and walk around the tent was a big distraction to sleeping. She just turned 2 last week so think she'd of been around 18 months at the time.

Heres the link to my album if interested.
[url= https://picasaweb.google.com/103856455386428722595/HollandTour?authuser=0&feat=directlink ]Holland Tour Web Album[/url]

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ewangronk, what is the bracket holding up the front wheel of the towed bike, not seen one like that before. Looks a bit more substantial than a trail gaiter thing...

Yup its called the Follow me tandem, heres the link[url= http://www.followme-tandem.com/english/ ]Follow Me[/url]

And until I found this I didn't really think the trip would be possible as he was just too big to be stuck in a trailer but not old enough to cycle on his own as far a we hoped. Also we wanter him to cycle some sections on his own.
Its extremely easy to hitch/unhitch once set up, so once in holland on the flat he did alot of pedaling himself but as soon as he was tired it took only a min to get him back on.
The LBS had just newly became a distributor as well so worked out good, they are not cheap but much better than the trail gator alternative.

Managed 4500 miles, UK to Dubrovnik & back via thirty odd 1000m plus alpine passes (one of which still hadn't been cleared of snow in mid June) - but that was all 27 years ago & still yearning to do more. If the chance arises take it.

On our trip we saw a family of four on a tandem with a tandem trailer bike attached!

did a 3 day tour de cotswolds this summer,

cheltenham (home) > stratford > oxford > cheltenham.

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stayed in campsites, ate out one night and camp cooked the other night - weather was pretty nice apart from the final day which was miserable!

Dave

Not exactly touring, more an epic, my mate Andy :

http://nepalorbust.info/blog/2011/05/17/432/

Loco.. looks amazing. Would love to know how he planned his route, costs and how long it took to get to nepal. I see he's in NZ now

Why is it his 2nd attempt? what happened on the 1st?

.

Rode the pacific coast highway from Seattle to LA with my ex. Great route, sh*t company 😀
Stayed in motels, ate junk food and drank beer. Took road bikes and one set of front panniers. The route north from Seattle who be good route.

Rode the pacific coast highway from Seattle to LA

Pondering this as far as San Francisco. Did you have a blog?

Spent two months in NZ

Best thing I've ever done, would go again tomorrow if I could. The world seams so much better when all you have to worry about is keeping your wheels turning and finding a place to spend the night!

[url= http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4442566329_d425101d4d.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4442566329_d425101d4d.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/naneandpaul/4442566329/ ]our trusty steeds[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/naneandpaul/ ]NaneandPaul[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2751/4443334080_9129e499df.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2751/4443334080_9129e499df.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/naneandpaul/4443334080/ ]another sunny day[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/naneandpaul/ ]NaneandPaul[/url], on Flickr

SWMBO and I did NordKapp to Gavdos (European JogLe) a couple of years ago. 4000 miles of self supprot touring on our no 1 tandem.

[url= http://euroe2e.blogspot.com/ ]Blog here[/url]

I did NordKapp to Gavdos

Did you cycle to Nordkapp from UK or start at Nordkapp? I've been thinking about doing something similar for years but solo 😕

Nah. We took 'some' aeroplanes... Took nearly as long as flying to Oz. The mileage was from point to point via 12 countries.

I know it's boring, but .....

I'm off to celebrate good old blighty on Monday with a spiffing new LEJOG route [url= http://www.phased.co.uk/GBBR/viewcycle.php ]LEJOG via the back roads[/url]

Riding lightweight as explained at the bottom of [url= http://www.phased.co.uk/index.php/blatherings/81-writing-the-book-week-forty.html ]this blog entry[/url]

The adventure is trying to do it in "October" weather which is looking to be grim on the best days.

Looking forward to reading about that DavidB. Days 8 and 9 look interesting 🙂

DavidB - Member
I know it's boring, but .....

I'm planning to cycle across to our house in France next August, I've planned a route of 250 miles or so. My wife normally drives over and spends six weeks over there, I join her for the last two weeks and then we all drive back together. Instead of flying over I'm going to take the St Malo ferry and then cycle down to our house. I'm looking at doing it in about 4 days and shall use the ferry crossing as one of the overnight sleeps.

Now I've gone and started planning all this and my wife has turned round and said she'd love to do it the year after too. She's going to be turning 50 and would love to do something like this too.

Now she has a little MTB but I know that she'd be a lot better off on some sort of touring frame ( I personally use a Lemond Poprad cyclo cross bike, it gets used for everything). If I'm going to get her fit enough to come with me we're going to have to get out with the local road club and put some miles under our wheels. Does anyone have any suggestions for a reasonably priced bike that would be suitable for her, she needs about a 48cm frame as she's about 5'2" Any help will be much appreciated.

pepper - I really prefer an MTB set up for touring - much comfier than a road bike for my aging bones.

Ok, so u reckon an MTB with slicks would be ok then?

It will be a bit slower than a road bike but much comfier. Certainly for this 50 yr old crock. I have toured a fair amount on an MTB - tried a road bike again for the first time for a long time a few weeks ago and couldn't believe how uncomfortable it was

I think I'll find a good set of slicks for her, she has a cheapo set which she uses for commuting to school on but a good set would make a big difference and then I reckon we'll have to do a small tour in the UK to see how we get on.

She's done the London 2 Brighton a few times on her MTB on slicks and pootles along fine, and if I take all the heavy stuff on my CX bike then she should be able to potter along at fair pace too.

conti sport contacts for me

A "proper" touring bike will be faster, comfier and more efficient than a hybridised MTB. If this is going to be a one off for her, then she'll manage fine on an MTB with slicks (you might want to consider bar ends and rigid forks). If you think it's going to take some practice for her to get fit enough and she might like to carry on touring, invest in a tourer now.

druidh - depends on the person. those narrow road tyres are very unforgiving and the greater stretch to the bars does nasty things to your backs natural curves.

I have done many many thousands of touring miles on both and far prefer the hybridised mtb for comfort tho the road bike is faster

See what cycle touring can lead to...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-15217704