Forum menu
Do you have a plan for Ireland yet? Mrs Mowgli and I are going from Belfast > Giants Causeway and then around the coast to Limerick over about 2 weeks starting on Monday. I'll look out for your flag!
Jealous!
Seeing your Bob trailer reminds me of riding London - Munich with mine in tow back in 2003...
Guessing/hoping to leave Munich soon and don't think it's on your route. However, if I see you out on the roads of Europe I'll stop and say hello!
Squirrlking
Hopfully bridge of orchy or tyndrm tonigh then crianlachic killin glen ogle next couple of days
Still a fair bit away then, probably be my week off before you get close!
TJ, after Killin/Glen Ogle, are you heading towards Stirling area?
Who knows? Plans are vague at best
Sustenance at the bridge of Orchy hotel. Much needed on a grim day but Telford s parliamentary road was as good as ever
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/63bnxyzR/20220525-152358.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/63bnxyzR/20220525-152358.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
Dude, if you come anywhere near Stirling, give us a shout. A whole team rideout could be organised with the number of forumites locally...
And it is a shite day for weather - I hope this wind is at your back.
It has been fortunately.
I mustbe getting soft. Under 40 miles todsy and only 1700 foot of climb. Less than half the miles offroad but got myself a hobbit hut in Tyndrum for the night. I lost my flag today boooooo
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/nr7Z7J9H/20220525-170257.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/nr7Z7J9H/20220525-170257.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
Decision made. Weather has been shite. Im tired and my kit all stinks so I am going to go home for a bit before leg 2
It will ake 3 or 4 days. Im in Tyndrm.
Gentle pootle diwn to the trossachs and tben home
Ill update as it would be fun to meet the stirling posse
The west coasters can beathe breathe safely. It will be a week or two before i am over that way
Not tempted for a last minute entry in the HT550??!
Nope. They might find my pace a little slow
I have done chunks of it already
I am buckled. Strathyre tonight. Callender then probably head stirling way especially if anyone knows a decent route from callender.
Lunch in callander anyone?
Keep going fella, almost done the first bit!
Does that mean Stirling on Saturday TJ? No idea about Callander lunch spots, and only know taht the main road from Callendar-Stirling is a bad idea on a bike. Not sure of routes, but someone must know, there's stacks of gravel. I know a quite way back once you get to Doune though.
Superb mate. Absolutely superb
Im heading for stirling tomorrow which i think is friday and getting a lift back home from there cos i am buckled
Mhor Fish is good for fish and chips in Callander. Mhor Bread does great pie and cakes, might still be takeaway only though. Enjoy!
Good going fellah!
Greetings from Wales Tj! If you decide to head down to visit molgrips you are more than welcome to come and visit/ stay here with us. We are near to Ammanford, right at the western end of the Beacons.
Home! Bikepawl kindly picked me up in Stirling and took a broken old man home.
Where do I go next? confuzzeled
rest, recuperate, get everything dry and fettled
make a list of what worked well and what didn't
Start planning the Europe trip.
😎
🙂
Rest, refine kit, ride somewhere else in the UK for a bit longer.
TBH an extended tour requires a lot of technique, and it's not something you can be told by other people - you have to figure out what'll work for you and the only way to do that is to do smaller trips. You solve each problem as it turns up and that becomes your style.
Its not my first rodeo. Ive been refining this for years
Kit list
Its molgrips fault. He thought you would be interested.
*some weights may not be exact* can't be arsed weighing everything I have in the past
Im an old man. I need my comfort. This is what I took north but I also took more than I would for just two weeks as its a trial run. Everything is geared for an indefinite trip
Tent – trekkertent stealth 1.5 with mesh inner. 950 g inc pegs
for going south I think I'll take the Drift 2 which adds 300 g
Foam underlay. Some kind of underlay is essential 350 g (lightest material one I can get it 150g IIRC)
Sleeping bag with silk liner inc bag and compression strap 1kg. Its rated to below zero barely enough at times.
Pillow 60 g
mattress – 600 g ( temporary one – lighter one on its way)
Kitchen.
Now this will be controversial but I have tried many ways over many years but the speed and convenience is worth the imo small weight penalty
Jetboil zip. 700G? Inc one can of gas flint and cafetière attachment
Second jetboil pan – a bigger wider one 400 g iirc. This includes lids that double as plates /bowls
Its economical. I was using 25 g of gas a day for 2 or 3 cups of coffee and a pasta dinner
Its so bloody convenient. Nothing needs to be handled carefully, you can leave stuff to cook without it falling over and stuff stays warm I can get my first cup in the morning within 2 mins of waking without getting up and the put stays warm
For an indefinite trip I need to be able to cook normal food and a healthy balanced diet
Cup – pint enamel mug with clip on lid,. Again I have tried everything available. Nothing else is anything like is nice to drink from. Beer, coffee whisky
Litre sigg bottle for whisky
Swiss army knife
50ml biodegradable washing up liquid
100 ml olive oil oil (refills is the issue here – you cant rarely buy a smaller bottle)
2 x100g gas cans spare and refill gadget. 450 g total
Drybag that holds a bag of ground coffee
Half a green pan scourer
TI spork
Folding spatula
2 litre water carrier ( 150g)
Shitshovel, bog paper and hand sanitiser
Chair! ( 200g)
Personal kit:
Phone,
Kindle, spare emergency phone both in protective sleeves of closed cell foam, headtorch midge hood, toothbrush, nail clippers, toothpaste (25 g tube) sunscreen ( not bloody needed this trip) shaving brush( handle removed 🙂 ), one disposable razor, reading glasses ( bah!) ¼ bar of soap, microfibre flannel, microfibre towel, usb charger, powerbank, 2 leads, smidge, moskito coils (¼ pack) camp sandals ( very!) 400g. (I ride in SPDs) compass whistle
clothes (includes what I was wearing)
3x base layer / cycling shorts / socks
goretex socks ( wont take them south)
long johns
2xpair of pants
fleece
light insulated jacket
jumper(dunno why I took this really - smart for pubs? Who cares?)
shorts
softshell trousers
softshell riding jacket
Liner gloves (wont go south)
riding gloves
Sunglasses
Waterproofs ( almost a kilo of robust ones – I'll take lighter south)
Bike stuff
pump
small pliers ( didnae want to take them but had to because of the tubeless valves )
Multitool
spare tube and trailer tube
puncture kit
m5 and m6 nut and bolt with washers
6 cable ties
4 chain links 2 quick links
gaffer tape and tenacious tape
( Ill get a seal kit as well just in case)
Spare qr and pin for trailer
tire gauge ( just a few g but again not going south)
Padlock and cable 700 g( just weighed it!)
Bungy net
Loads of the lightest drybags I can find to put stuff in including 2 for food
Thats it I think
The trailer bag and contents minus phone, left over food, clothes I was wearing, sunnies and gloves but including some mud andwater 🙂 weigh 13 kilos which I think is not bad at all for all that
trailer is a 5 kg weight penalty but thats a different arguement
Do your worst!
Remembered after the 15 mins
first aid kit inc a decent range of dressings painkillers and a little tub of suedocrem
Buff
small tube seamsealer in the repair kit
That's a lot of clothes. If it were me, even on a long tour, I'd take minimum one spare pare of shorts and base layer, and wash the ones I'm not using and whatever else is dirty. That presupposes a bit of summer weather from time to time; but persistent bad and/or cold weather is hard to deal with.
I mean, you can take what you like, but if your whole kit weighs 18kg then that's a pretty big weight penalty and it's going to slow your progress. If you're ok with that, then I am too, but I probably would go lighter.
you need 3 to be sure of a clean one most days
I get cold but I will ponder the layering for going south
I'm fortunate, I'm very warm blooded so I can put on a damp base layer that's been washed and hung out and put up with it until it dries.
Full week tour before summer officially starts and plenty of photos. Good job TJ 👍
Enjoy your own bed and looking forward to the next chapter.
Hi TJ, great trip and thread - looking forward to reading about the next legs! Hope it is warmer and dryer too.
I haven't done any serious bike tours but like you I have done a lot of long distance walks. A few years ago we walked across Europe, from London to Rome. We spanned late summer, autumn and winter so got a lot of different weather, from scorching hot to snow and sub zero temperatures. Quite difficult to pack for! Anyway, we picked up kit on the way and sent stuff home that was redundant. We picked up extra thermal, gloves and beanies from decathlon, fleece blankets from lidl to boost sleeping bags and even an umbrella when the rains came. All in all we managed to keep our total weights without food down to about 5.5 - 6kg each including rucsacs. I was cold twice when it was minus 5 in Italy so we sat in cafes till the sun warmed up. A couple of hours in a laundry sat naked in goretex is to be savoured
If you don't have one get the edilrid gas cannister adapter that allows you to run a threadless camping gaz cannister. The gaz is pretty easy to find - supermarkets and diy stores and we never had a problem over 3 months of walking. I never bothered looking for screw on cannisters
Bon voyage mon ami
I can and have have have used a base weight of 7 kg for backpacking. There is an couple of kilos to be removed from that list. ( spare jumper, lock shall be reviewed and also lighter waterproofs)
slowol - it was 13 days
I have mapped out what I rode. 300 miles well over half of which was offroad including dozen miles of hikabike. 25000+ ft of climbing
TJ great thread, enjoying the updates.
Few things I would say:
Shoes, you only mention camp shoes and SPDs. You are going to see loads of great places, are your camp shoes comfy and durable enough if you decide to do some walking and sightseeing without the bike? If not What about some walking boots/shoes? You will spend a lot of time on the bike, but also a lot off it. You may want a few days rest without cycling, and comfortable shoes for those days would be welcome.
Strava or similar, looks like you don't use it as above you said you mapped out your distance afterwards. But it's something I wish I'd had for a lot of my earlier touring. In years to come, you can see your routes where you had been and what distance etc you had done each day. You can add pictures to each days activity. And if you don't want to you don't ave to share it with anyone, as you can keep all activities private, but you have that history you can see for years to come.
Bar bag or small frame bag, consider a small bag, just to keep items that you want to get access to quickly, somewhere to put phone, camera, snacks, wallet, etc. without going into your main bag.
Thats just my suggestions, but you seem vastly more experienced in this than me, so I'm sure you already know what works best for you.
Anyway, enjoy your trip and hope you have a good time
You are going to see loads of great places, are your camp shoes comfy and durable enough if you decide to do some walking and sightseeing without the bike? If not What about some walking boots/shoes?
I always find this a real balance. the lightest boots I have are far too heavy to take at 800g+ a pair. These sandals are the lightest I can find that are actually usable for walking at 400g the pair. I could walk a few miles in them.
Can't stand anything on the bars. I have an easy access easy detach small saddlebag. I didn't use a frame bag to protect the paint - and promptly kicked lumps out of the paintjob!
I tracked the first day on my phone and it used its entire battery so did not after that because I had 3 or 4 days between recharging to manage with a powerpack. I am gong to look into better ways of doing this
If it was just the cycling I understand, but an extra 800g is just a large water bottle. Do you notice much difference when you have a full bottle compared to an empty one? If not just take the walking boots. If it turns out you don't use them, you could always post them back.
I say that as an over packer, I've never been able to do lightweight, apart from the very steepest climbs I don't generally notice a few kgs of extra comforts.
Even using something like a GPS computer instead of a phone, you will run into issues with charging.
I would maybe add, for the Ireland leg at least, spare spoke(s) and a spike key. Bike shops on the west coast can be a bit more few and far between and odd spokes can be very hard to find. Obviously if you’ve got tired and tested bombproof wheels you may decide against this but might be worth considering.
Sorry @tjagain. I wasn't counting and the posts just said 1 week ago. That's 2 week tour before the start of summer!
Space here if you're ever heading down England's East coast.
sbtouring - its the incremental effect. many folk would think I have too much anyway. I certainly wouldn't mind cutting a few kilos. those sandals are the lightest things I can walk a few miles in but I bet Moley thinks them too heavy 🙂
" If a fork why not a knife and spoon? If salt then why not pepper?" and before you know it you have got 40kg to carry!
good call kilo
I had front and rear lights as well - missed off the list
As well as the spoke have some form of cassette tool. On our 3 month tour of France I broke driveside spoke in the middle of nowhere on a French public holiday. We managed a bodge with a leatherman but a proper tool would have been much easier.
rohloff hub. No need
For shoes I would take some SPD compatible shoes that are comfy to walk in. There are plenty around.
Such as? A decent SPD shoe has a rigid sole that is crap to walk in as are cleats. I have nev3r had spd shoes that you can walk properly in. Remember this is not for a couple of nights in the hills - this is for months on end camping in campsites
I had a a pair way back but there are shoes aimed at Enduro riders who often push a lot. There are SPD Five Tens and a load of others along similar lines. They have a softer sole than of school shoes. Get down to a bike shop and try some or start a thread.
softer sole = inefficient pedalling. I have tried loads. I could just ride in approach shoes on flats but a rigid spd shoe is better for efficiency
Soft soled spd =- pointless