Search found 70 matches

by LindaB
7 Sep 2017, 9:47pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Camino of St James
Replies: 15
Views: 3115

Re: Camino of St James

My husband and I cycled the Camino from Pamplona to Santiago in 2008. This was before the 2 movies came out - and I've heard there are many more people on the walking route, still haven't heard about more cyclists. I bought lots of books and spent a lot of time planning, and learned that it isn't easy to cycle on the exact walking route due to terrain as well as narrow trails. We often were on nearby small roads

Here's a link to a blog of our trip: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/ourcamino
We had a wonderful time! Purchased hybrid bikes for this trip - I wouldn't want to attempt it on road bike tires! At the time of our trip, cyclists couldn't get a room at the refugios (like hostels) until evening (after 8 pm I think), so we reserved hotel rooms. The language of the Camino for the most part was English - we shared "Pilgrim meals" (lower budget, served earlier than typical Spanish dinners) with people from all around the world. We felt it truly was the "Main Street of Europe" as we'd heard it described.
by LindaB
2 May 2016, 5:53pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Has anyone cycled the Camino?
Replies: 10
Views: 1522

Re: Has anyone cycled the Camino?

Hard to believe it was so long ago, but my husband & I cycled the Camino in 2007 - from Pamplona to Santiago. A great experience! Here's a link to our trip report: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/ourcamino

LindaB
by LindaB
15 Apr 2016, 9:22pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Guarded cycle parking
Replies: 9
Views: 1242

Re: Guarded cycle parking

Original poster here... Thanks for the information. The parking I'm looking at in the The Hague is very near the Binnenhof, and is marked as having 100 spaces (not near the Ibis). We hope to visit the Mauritshuis (museum) while our bikes are parked. Having to take panniers, etc with us wouldn't make this very practical. Is it actually forbidden to leave items on the cycles? (We would obviously take our "valuables"; though everything is pretty valuable when on a tour!)
by LindaB
13 Apr 2016, 9:58pm
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation?
Replies: 30
Views: 4115

Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

Hi Tim -
Don't have anything to add on your bike choice, but as a "neighbor" (I'm in Davis, California) who, with 3 others, rode a wonderful LEJOG in June 2014, felt I should tell you how wonderful an experience we found it! The help from the generous people on this forum was invaluable. If you search for my posts, you'll see lots of questions! My blog with links to our route maps is at crazyguyonabike.com/doc/2014LEJOG. Happy to help with any other questions, if I can.
Linda
by LindaB
13 Apr 2016, 8:44pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Guarded cycle parking
Replies: 9
Views: 1242

Guarded cycle parking

Hi -
Has anyone used the supervised cycle parking lots (“fietsenstalling”) in the Netherlands? I’m concerned about theft in some of the cities we’ll want to visit during our cycling days. I’ve located these lots in The Hague and in Haarlem right near the sites we’ll want to stop and visit, but I’m interested in hearing some first-hand reports!

We’ll be riding from Paris to Amsterdam in September 2016. All our reserved hotels/B&B’s have secure overnight bike storage but I’m concerned about daytime security. Over the last 20 years we haven’t worried too much about this, but I’m reading more and more warnings about bike security.

Any comments about safe cycle parking in Belgium or France also greatly appreciated.

I’ve found it easy to locate the cycle parking in the Netherlands while route planning in rwgps.com: using the OSM cycle map choice and zooming in as far as possible shows a “C” symbol in a blue square and a number indicating how many bikes can be accommodated at the location of each parking lot.

Thanks, LindaB
by LindaB
25 Mar 2016, 4:30am
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation?
Replies: 30
Views: 4115

Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

As an American (Davis, California) who rode LEJOG in June 2014 with 3 others, we found taking our bikes (packed in boxes, as always) to be a fine choice. Admittedly they arrived in London a day late (due to runway work at San Francisco airport which put us on a different flight than our luggage). For us, there's nothing like riding the bicycle you're used to! Check my blog at crazyguyonabike.com/doc/2014LEJOG. Happy to talk to you about your trip! We did lots of sightseeing on the way - about 1100 miles. This forum was extremely helpful in planning our route and offering advice! It's a trip I still think about often. We're planning Paris to Amsterdam for 2016 - hope it's equally satisfying!
by LindaB
25 Jan 2016, 11:32pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Cycling in the Bordeaux region
Replies: 7
Views: 1164

Re: Cycling in the Bordeaux region

Don't know if you've already booked your accommodation for the Bordeaux area, but you might want to check out the hotels/B&Bs mentioned in the blog of our 2012 trip around the Aquitaine region. http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/circleaquitaine2012 We booked all ahead, no worries the day-of, and you get your pick of places, rather than settling for whatever still has a vacancy.

It's a beautiful region - hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
by LindaB
12 Oct 2015, 4:27am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Buen Camino!
Replies: 10
Views: 1363

Re: Buen Camino!

Fun to stumble on this Camino post; thanks John! We biked Pamplona to Santiago also, though in September, 2008, and had a wonderful time. I believe there were fewer on the trail then, since it was well before the two Camino movies were released (here in the US, anyway, though I imagine you might have seen them in the UK also). We moved back and forth between road and path depending on conditions. Here's a link to our trip report: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/ourcamino.
by LindaB
21 Jul 2015, 4:47am
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: Cornwall and Devon
Replies: 28
Views: 11734

Re: Cornwall and Devon

Our LEJOG was in June 2014, first nights in Newquay, Launceston, Tiverton, Glastonbury. All of us 66 years old and up at the start, and self-supported. We did take longer than you're planning, but coming from the US we wanted lots of time for sightseeing! The blog I kept has links to all our Garmin routes - www. crazyguyonabike.com/doc/2014LEJOG . So much wonderful advice received from those on this forum went into our plans.
by LindaB
8 Dec 2014, 4:31am
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: My First LEJoG.
Replies: 10
Views: 10828

Re: My First LEJoG.

Enjoyed reading your blog! We (four of us from the USA) also completed LEJOG in June 2014. We took our time, and did lots of sightseeing along the way. The weather was incredible! You mentioned about 2 hours of rain on your whole trip - don't think we had that much! Just a few light showers a couple of times ( well, it rained at night, once, in Launceston!) All that rain gear carried never got tested! (My blog is at crazyguyonabike.com/doc/2014LEJOG) I'm a bit jealous reading about all those getting ready for a 2015 LEJOG. Rarely a day goes by that I don't think about what a wonderful time we had, or relive some specific incident. Guess it's time to start planning another tour!
by LindaB
17 Sep 2014, 3:24am
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: recommend cycle holiday company?
Replies: 5
Views: 8159

Re: recommend cycle holiday company?

On our June, 2014 self-supported LEJOG we "played tag" for several days with a group from "Saddle Skedaddle" (http://www.skedaddle.co.uk). Those we spoke to were all happy with the company, and the guide we rode with for a time was very nice. Not exactly a personal recomendation, but another company to take a look at.

LindaB
crazyguyonabike.com/doc/2014LEJOG
by LindaB
29 Jul 2014, 9:29pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Burgundy, Holland or Germany?
Replies: 11
Views: 2121

Re: Burgundy, Holland or Germany?

Slightly prejudiced here, since France is always my favorite place to ride! We (4 of us, unsagged, staying in hotels) did a loop trip in 2002 in Burgundy, beginning and ending in Dijon. It was fabulous! I got much of the routing from Lonely Planet Cycling France (2001 edition) and a book called Cycling in France.

Our overnights were Dijon, Ste Sabine, Montbard, Tonnerre, Cours, Vezelay, Les Settons, Chateau Chinon (2 nights with a loop day), Autun, Beaune, Nuit St. George, Dijon. Thirteen riding days and 671 kilometers, with lots of great sites to see. Castles, Abbeys, wineries, vineyards, Roman ruins. Stumbling on the huge collection of airplanes, bicycles etc in Sauvigny-les-Beaune housed at a gorgeous chateau was a real treat.

Good luck choosing your touring location! If you are interested, I have a Word document with the routes we took - no gps then!

LindaB (June 2014 LEJOG blog at crazyguyonabike.com/doc/2014LEJOG )
by LindaB
23 Jul 2014, 11:27pm
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: A9 or NCN between Inverness and Pitlochry?
Replies: 11
Views: 3758

Re: A9 or NCN between Inverness and Pitlochry?

We rode through this area just last month on our LEJOG (June 2014). From Perth we followed NCN 77 and NCN7 to Blair Atholl (abt 6 miles north of Pitlochry).
then NCN 7 up Druochter and on to Kingussie, then the B9152 into Carrbridge. From Carrbridge we took NCN 7 again, stopping at Clava Cairns and Culloden Battlefield (both highly recommended!), Then the B9006 to pick up NCN 7 into Inverness.

Much of this time near the A9, but we were never on it. All was rideable on our tires (25's), but the paths do climb and descend quite a bit more than the road, and are not smooth, though the quality varies. Many small bridges to cross, but all in good condition. I had worried about the path condition after reading this forum, but found it was fine. We weren't on a speedy trip, so were never tempted by the smooth A9; the traffic was very fast! In summary, I wouldn't hesitate to ride these NCN routes again.

The routes (as planned, not as ridden, though they are very close!) are given on each day of my blog: crazyguyonabike.com/doc/2014LEJOG. The part of the ride is covered in Stages 16,17,18.

Have a wonderful trip!
by LindaB
11 Jul 2014, 5:37pm
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: Train issues at both ends of LEJOG
Replies: 35
Views: 40386

Re: Train issues at both ends of LEJOG

Original poster here... reporting on our train journeys now that LEJOG is done.
I had reserved London to Penzance and Wick to London for 4 people and 4 bicycles using East Coast's web site. I did book the second journey as 2 separate reservations (Wick-Edin. and Edin - London) since it was much cheaper that way. I reserved each trip on the day tickets were to be available - this worked well for the first journey, but we had to delay our return by a day since no bicycle reservations from Wick were available on our desired return date. In the end this was fine - we added in an extra layover day in Edinburgh and moved some B&B reservations.

I had specified picking up the tickets at Euston Station in London since that was near our hotel and I wanted to handle any difficulties before our departure day. The machine spit out an unbelievable number of wallet-sized cards! Two tickets per bike, two tickets per person for each leg of the journeys. Once sorted they made sense - one to attach to the bike, and a matching one to hold on to; one for the journey and another for the seat reservation.

We found the train employees consistently helpful and friendly - as we did just about everyone in the UK.

London- Penzance: We were at the station early and tried to scout out which track we needed and how the bikes would be loaded - our questions cheerfully answered. Once the track was announced we took the bikes down to the "guard's van". I believe the train people loaded them. We were assured they would be safe, and that they knew whose bikes they were. Our seats were in the adjacent car, which was convenient. I was asked if we had reservations, but they didn't make a big deal about the paper cards. Easy unloading at Penzance, and we were off!

Wick-Inverness: For the first stage of our trip back to London, the 2 car train was already in the station the previous afternoon when we walked over to check out things. We were advised to show up at 6 am for the 6:20 departure the next day. (Aside: the local Wick history museum doesn't look like much on the outside, but is huge and fascinating inside - we spent several hours there and could have spent more. ) On this train, each of the 2 cars had space for 2 bikes on a rack with some velcro straps. Signs said not to lock the bike to the train. We sat where we could see the bikes, so didn't lock them at all.

Inverness - Edinburgh: The time to change trains at Inverness was only 10 minutes, which worried me a bit. Not a problem. The train attendant had let us know what track our connecting train would be on, which was very helpful. It wasn't immediately obvious where the bikes were to be loaded on the next train - and staff on the platform were busy dealing with a handicapped passenger. They said not to worry, they would be sure we were taken care of before the train left. Bikes ended up put in some little spaces at the end of two different cars. One space already had a bike in it, so was a bit difficult to get 2 more in, but it worked. Again we sat where we could see our bikes. Lots of unreserved seats, so it wasn't a problem to sit where we wanted to.

Edinburgh - London: We had a nice long layover (just over an hour, I recall). Plenty of time for lunch and waiting around to see what track we'd go out on. I've never seen a train quite as long as this one!! Bikes went in the Guard's van at the rear, and our seats were at the opposite end of the train - a very long walk, but all went very smoothly. This was the only train that really seemed concerned about seeing our cycle reservation cards. Staff offered to keep our panniers with our bikes, but we opted to take them to our seats. After a seemingly endless day of train riding, we were at King's Cross. Opted to walk our bikes the 10 or 15 minutes back to the Ibis at Euston Station in the warm evening.

Thank to all those on the list who offered advice about trains and everything else involved in planning this trip - couldn't have done it without you!
LindaB
by LindaB
8 Jul 2014, 4:06am
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: Route Overload
Replies: 8
Views: 4722

Re: Route Overload

I truly understand your title "Route Overload" - I felt that way for most of the last year! The time I spent on the routes was really worth it, though. Four of us (average age 68) completed our LEJOG on 1st of July. Took us 21 riding days (plus 3 days off) and 1,022 miles between Lands End and John O'Groats. We had a marvelous time, just enough time for some sightseeing, the best weather imagineable, beautiful countryside and mostly small roads. There are a few routes I'd change (Innerleithen to Edinburgh comes to mind - way too busy!); I learned so much from this forum, and had looked at so many corners on google street view that my riding partners were sick of me saying "I feel like I've been here before".

Garmins (810 and a Touring) were indespensible in my opinion. Just a glance down at the screen reassured me we were still on course, rather than stopping at all those unmarked corners to be sure where the next turn was...

The routes as planned are linked on each day of the blog: crazyguyonabike.com/doc/2014LEJOG. Hope to add links to the tracks we actually rode in the next week or so. Not sure how much is applicable when going North to South; think my favorite day was Lairg to Bettyhill - tiny roads, lochs, and leaping salmon.

Have a wonderful trip!
LindaB