Cycling UK Forum

gplhl

“Series of high profile incidents”, I recall one that was high profile!

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my wobbly bog brush using hovercraft full of eels

gplhl

nirakaro wrote:That's right.

Correct. RidewithGPS will export kml and I use Cyclemeter on the iPhone to record rides which can also generate kml.

Kml is also good for google earth. Cyclemeter will export rides direct to google earth on the iPhone so you can view places you've been easily and drop into street view where available.
Although google earth on the computer will accept GPX files and on the computer you can press a play button to fly over your route.

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my wobbly bog brush using hovercraft full of eels

gplhl

Stephen, congratulations, I'm sure once you get going a lot of the butterflies will disappear. Setting off is the biggest step.
With SIM cards and data easy to obtain it's easy to keep in touch.
Don't rush, if you feel like stopping, do, smile and speak to people often and you'll see how friendly most of the world is. It's easy to live on £5 or less a day when you get going so don't worry about money.
Do you have any thoughts on where you are going?

gplhl

jmeb wrote:
The LHT is better at carrying these heavy loads

I'd agree, the Trucker feels a little odd unloaded. Fully loaded it feels right and the comfortable Mercedes analogy is spot on. I averaged just under 12mph fully loaded from the UK to Cape Town and couldn't have had a better performing bike.

gplhl

psmiffy wrote:
randonneur wrote:Download the map.me app and load the countries required. Works fine off line down to street level.

Does anyone actually do it like that? Ive found Maps.me great for finding the junction of Rue du Rene Artois
and Gruber Strasse when Im looking for a particular shop but pretty useless for finding my way over more than a couple of km

Yes, I used it throughout Africa (Kenya onwards) after being told about it by an American couple I met going north.

I tend to use it to work out a route, then write on old fashioned paper, town and road names to follow and then rarely need to open the App unless I'm unsure or planning the next bit.

The search functionality is great. For example I'm doing LEJOG this year over 5 days, I've imported the KML filesfrom RideWithGPS for each day which shown on the route with mile markers and can then search for "Supermarket", "Cafe", "Bike Shop" and pin each match that's no more than a 100 metres off the route. At any point while riding I can see how far the next one is.

Worked well in Africa for finding hostels.

gplhl

Hi all,

I usually tour with a fully loaded bike, four panniers, bar bag, trunk bag, under bar bag etc.

Due to circumstances I'm no longer able to go on long extensive tours, so looking at less time and maximising distance.

Any recommendations from those using it already on good quality, waterproof bikepacking luggage, from the seat packs, bar bags, frame bags and front bags to fit road bikes (Genesis Equilibrium).

Regards,

Gary Hewitt-Long
http://www.longbikeride.co.uk

gplhl

mattsccm wrote:To date my theory that any place remote enough not to have houses will have fresh natural water has yet to be disproved. Haven't tried to put this into practice in the Sahara though.
Britain. Yes

The Sahara still has plenty enough water and surprisingly more people living there than you'd think, at least along the west coast road. Furthest I had to go was 120 miles between water stops. I carried up to 12 litres at a time.
Water has never been a problem anywhere I've been as long as you don't mind asking.
Other than a couple of places all water was drinkable without treatment. As a rule if the locals drank it, so did I. On a very long tour I carry sodium hypochlorite (household bleach) in a small glass vial with a pipette in it (available on eBay). 3-4 drops will sanitise 2 litres so a 150ml bottle was more than enough to get me from the UK to Cape Town.
You can find info on line about using bleach. It's much cheaper than tablets for a long tour.

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my wobbly bog brush using hovercraft full of eels

gplhl

bazzzer wrote:As the title suggests , have just been through a string of punctures. Always on the outer part of the tube. The holes were always round, so I presumed a thorn that had gone in and out. Changed my cycle route to no effect. And yes after every puncture I ran my fingers around the tyre to check for anything sharp - nothing. Well in desperation I then removed the tyres and washed them, still not finding anything, even when inspecting the treads - and these are "puncture resistant" Schwalbe tyres.
So what was it then ?
I decided to very closely examine the tread, by squeezing the beads together so opening up any cracks etc. It was then I spotted a couple of very small cracks in the tread. Probing these with a small screwdriver, I found some very small (but sharp !) pieces of flint embedded in the tread / 3mm puncture resistant layer. I can only assume that when the tyre was used, the weight of the bike forced these pieces of flint in, sufficient to puncture the tube (700 cc running at 85 psi).
Since then no punctures, but I do examine the tread VERY carefully now.
Hope this helps anyone else who is suffering like I did.
Bonus though, I am now an absolute whiz at fixing punctures !
Cheers, Bazzzer

At least you found it in the end. Something I do regularly.

http://vc-cycling.co.uk/cycling-tips-1- ... punctures/

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my wobbly bog brush using hovercraft full of eels

gplhl

I've got a message that loops on my iPad I play, it's hold music and keeps stopping every 10 seconds to tell them that phone call is important to me, please hold the line. I leave it until they give up. I've had some hold up to five minutes.

gplhl

I use an ortlieb bar bag. No problem with risk. I'm with it all the time. I leave the shoulder strap on and when I get off the bike, so does the bag.

Regards,

Gary
www.longbikeride.co.uk

gplhl

I'd recommend Peter Storm zip offs. Although the 10 month tour I just did I rarely unzipped them. Still in good condition and the only pair I took. For cycling in the day I had Endura shorts.

Regards,

Gary
www.longbikeride.co.uk

gplhl

I've just used my Ortliebs to cycle from the UK to Cape Town over 10 months and written a piece about my experience of using them here:

http://longbikeride.co.uk/travelling-an ... -panniers/

Regards,

Gary Hewitt-Long
www.longbikeride.co.uk

gplhl

Yes they do work!
I have them on my Surly Long Haul Trucker with BB7's, just finished an 18,000km tour with them, all worked wonderfully!

Gary
www.longbikeride.co.uk

gplhl

If you pick the right places to wild camp nobody should know you were even there.

Leave all the bags on. It's harder for someone to steal unless they are used to riding a fully loaded cumbersome tourer.

Gary
www.longbikeride.co.uk

gplhl

Wipe down occasionally. Just look after the drive train and simple oiling elsewhere.

Gary
www.longbikeride.co.uk

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