Cycling UK Forum

Oh ok. Thanks so much for that store locator, that will be incredibly useful!

I just found something called "pétrole désarômatisé" for cheap, looks like it's meant for lamps. But given its called pétrole, I thought it might work. I'll test it out tonight. Anyone ever heard of that?

If it doesn't work I'll try and get some Aspen 4T/Essence Alkylate.

Thanks for all the responses!

So I'm definitely reluctant to use petrol, due to the more toxic fumes. So it seems like my best option is a kerosene or Essence F type fuel? (Unless by some miracle I can actually find some Colman fuel in a camping store) the main drawback to those being the difficulty to light, right?

Just to double check, because a few of you have been talking about the whisperlite international, I do not have the international model (which is a multi fuel stove), I just have the plain old original whisperlite (which is only meant for white gas/Colman fuel), a kerosene type gas should work in that right? Not ideal, but won't blow up, right? (Sorry if I'm dumb about this, I've only ever used Coleman fuel before)

With that, I'm just concerned that I won't be able to get it to light, as many have pointed out...

Aspen 4T sounded almost better, but where would I find that in France? I've never seen a lawnmower store here before. Also, would it still be called Aspen 4T, or would it go by something else?

Again, thanks for everyone's help so far!

Hi,

I'm currently biking through France and am looking for a white gas substitute for my stove. I went to a hardware store to try and find "Essence C", which I was told was the best substitute in France. Unfortunately at the shop I was informed that "Essence C" has stopped being made for some reason and that the only similar things they have are "Essence F" or "Alcool a Brûler".

So my question is, will one of those work for my stove? (a whisperlite - not the international model unfortunately, so only runs on white gas)

From looking online, "Alcool a Brûler" seemed like a bad choice, because it's not meant for cooking, and contains methane. But I really couldn't find much about "Essence F", except that it's a good zippo fuel alternative. What is the difference between "Essence C" and "Essence F" anyway?

Thanks for any help on this! (Sorry if there's already an article on this, my internet is very finicky and I wasn't able to find any)

Ok awesome! All your suggestions make sense. Awesome tip about locking panniers in a locker if we're in a city.

Thanks everyone!

Ok, that's reassuring. Thanks for your quick reply btw!

On a similar note, would you recommend a wheel lock? Like this? I've used them before when I was biking in the Netherlands and I really liked them, but I'm not sure if it's worth it for this trip? I already have a pinhead lock on the front wheel.

Hi!

So I will be biking across Europe this summer, and one of the last things I was wondering was how you advise to best lock up my bike during the day?

For evenings I'm not too worried: if we're camping out of town we'll tie our bikes to a tree and if we're staying in a hostel or hotel we'll bring the bikes into our room. What I'm concerned with is during the day: if we stop at a café or at a grocery store in a town or city how should we lock our bikes? And what should we do with our panniers?

The reason I'm so concerned with this is because so far we've opted for lighter weight locks (these), which should be fine to deter someone from stealing our bike in a rural setting, but when we get to cities or towns I'm worried these won't cut it. Obviously if we're going to go explore a city we could potentially find a bike shop that might be willing to hold on to our bikes for the day, but when we're doing quick stops, like lunch in café for ex., what should we do? Also, should we bring all our panniers in with us? Because that would be a lot to bring into a small café for ex., but it would be very bad if someone took off with our tent or stove or gas canister (I will always have my valuables with me, but these are bulkier items I don't think I'd like to lug around a grocery store for ex.).

I don't particularly want to buy a U-lock, because they're pretty heavy, so I'm not really sure how to deal with it. So what do you think I should do? Any advice or experience with this would be amazing!

FYI: we'll be biking through Spain, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Denmark, Sweden & Norway.
(I'm sorry if there's already a post about this, I've found some about locking bikes overnight, but not for these situations)

s_b: Thanks a lot for the info about Nedstrand, that actually sounds like a nice little detour! And thanks a lot for the reiseplanlegger website, that seems extremely helpful! And I will try to avoid Brusand camping!

Vorpal: thanks for the DNT link. Unfortunately, since we're mainly going along the coast I don't think we'll be able to use them too much. Too bad though, cause I love those kinds of huts.

F70100 wrote:I asked at the Tourist Office in central Stavanger about ferries and was directed to norled.no. It doesn't seem to be the easiest site to navigate but this map appears to indicate that there is still a route from Merjarvik to Skudeneshamn via the island of Kvitsoy. There doesn't appear to be a timetable for it though. Maybe an email to post@norled.no will give a definitive answer.

The road (E39) from Merjarvik to the island of Rennesoy for the Mortavika - Arsvagen ferry is actually a tunnel most of the way so doesn't sound like too much fun.

I have to say that the lady in the tourist office didn't seem to know much; but she did give me a small booklet/cycling map dated 2011 which you're welcome to have if you'd care to PM an address to me.

F70100: Thanks so much for doing that! If a ferry still exists that's great, even if the timetable is a mystery. I will email post@norled.no to check up on it. About the cycling booklet, thanks for the offer, but I'll probably just stop in at the tourist office when I'm there. Thanks so much for your help though! I really appreciate it!

Thanks for all the replies already!

Good to know about the local produce. Also those weather sites were really useful to get a feel for what the weather will be like, thanks a lot! It seems like we'll be getting a bit of rain when we're there... (August/September)

MartinBrice: that's actually the exact map that I have! It seems great! I was just wondering if there were additional camp spots around, but given I now know that wild camping is allowed, I'm not too worried about it. Probably only need campgrounds when we want to shower.

Vorpal: thanks for that food thread link, that's super useful! Lots of great tips on there!

nmnm: thanks for that route tip! I googled the Lysefjord boulder and it looks amazing! I'll definitely try to go there if we have enough time.

Does anyone know anything about the ferry from Stavanger to Skudeneshavn?

Hi!

This summer I'm planning a trip up through Europe, and the last leg will be going along the North Sea Route in Norway, from Kristiansand to Bergen. Here's a picture of the planned route:



I just had a few questions for people who have done parts of this route:

1 Are there any important/dangerous things I should be careful about in these parts of Norway?
For example, weather: like the Mistral in France, or the heat in central Spain or dangerous wildlife? I really don't know much about Norway, but am super excited to see some of it! Just want to make sure we survive.

2. Are there good bike paths along the route? And is Norway generally considered bike-friendly?
I assume there are decent biking roads, as this is a pretty well known route, but wanted to check. Again, I don't know much about Norway, are drivers usually considerate of bikers there?

3. Are there many campgrounds around? And is wild camping acceptable there?
I have the West Castor North Sea Route 2 maps which show some campgrounds, but not that many. Do you have any particular resources you have used to find campsites before?

4. It sounds like the ferry from Stavanger to Skudeneshavn has stopped operating, is there a good alternative for cyclists?
It looks like there's a road onto one of the islands near Stavanger which then leads to a ferry going towards Bokn, but it looks like a major road that wouldn't be bike-friendly. If anyone has done this part of the route recently, how did you get across?

5. Are there places to get relatively cheap food in Norway?
I've heard that it's a fairly expensive country, so I was wondering what tips you had for eating cheap there?

6. Any advice on the route?
I can't really change the areas we'll be biking, but if there are specific places somewhat along the way that you have found that are particularly spectacular or interesting in some way (unique culture or scenery for ex.), I would love to hear about them!

Thanks for any and all help you can give!

Thanks for all the replies everyone! It sounds like this part of the trip will be a breeze!

I'll definitely get a Danish camping carnet, that sounds really useful!

Thanks so much for all your help!

That's true, I didn't think of the Mistral... That will definitely pose a problem, especially for the Perpignan to St. Ambroix part of the trip. Luckily we've given ourselves a lot of time for this trip, so hopefully can survive by doing shorter legs each day, especially when it's blowing strong. I don't really know how else to avoid the Mistral?

Hi!

This summer I'm planning a trip across Europe, and one of the legs will be going up from around Luxembourg to the tip of Denmark. I'm planning on going up from Luxembourg (or Trier) to Brake on the Fietsweb Ring 1 and then up to Hirtshals on the Jutland Route. So that's Luxembourg to Koblenz then over to Kassel, then up to Brake right above Bremen, over to Glückstadt, up to around Flensburg, across to Ribe, then north to Silkeborg, Aalborg and finally Hirtshals.

I had a few questions for people who have done parts of this, or biked in some of the areas I'll be going through:

1. Are there any important/dangerous things I should be careful about in these regions?
For example, weather: like the Mistral in France, or the heat in central Spain, or dangerous wildlife?

2. Are these regions generally considered bike-friendly?
Are there good bike roads, or small roads with very low traffic? Are drivers considerate of bikers?
I've heard that Denmark is pretty bike friendly, but I'm not sure about northern Germany?

3. Are there many campgrounds around? And is wild camping acceptable in these regions?
Are there any particular resources you have used to find campsites in those regions?

4. Do you have any route recommendations?
I can't really change the areas we'll be biking, but if there are specific places somewhat along the way that you have found that are particularly spectacular or interesting in some way (unique culture or scenery for ex.), I would love to hear about them!

Thanks for any and all help or advice you can give me!

Awesome, thanks for your replies!

I'll definitely go through Le Puy then, as I've never actually seen a volcano.

Good to know there are signs for the Priorité à droite rule. I'm always careful when I come to a junction anyway, but having signs makes me feel a bit more comfortable.

Thanks for the tip about the campsite book, but frankly I'm trying to minimize the number of hard copy books/maps I'm bringing, so I think I'll just stick with googling campsites or using the ones already marked on the map. I don't think that should be an issue. If I decide to come back and do a trip only through france, that book would be really useful though!

Hi everyone!

This summer I'm planning a long trip through Europe, and one of the legs of my trip with be going up through France (in June). I already have a general route plan, it goes something like this:

Perpignan up to St. Ambroix, then head towards Le Puy. Then up to Cluny, from there north to Beaune, then over to Gray and up to Épinal and Nancy, then Metz and finally north to Luxembourg or Trier.

I've found bike routes for that whole path, but I was wondering a few things:

1. Do you have any suggestions for specific areas/roads that you found very cool or scenic? (Ones that are on or near that route)
I hear Le Puy has cool scenery as it is volcanic, but is going up that way better in general than going up more to the east, towards Lyon? Note that I'm not very interested in spending much time in cities, as I've already been to many many french cities (having grown up in Switzerland).

2. Do you have any tips or warnings for biking through France?
I know that France is supposed to be pretty bike-friendly, but one thing I was kind of concerned about was the priorité à droite rule, which sounds a bit dangerous for bikers. Any opinions or advice?
I also know that french drivers are fairly wild, is that usually an issue? Or are there many bike roads without cars?

3. We were planning on camping most of the time, and occasionally getting a hostel. From the maps I have it seems like there a some campgrounds, but not everywhere. I was wondering if you've ever had issues finding camping spots?
On that note, is non-campground camping tolerate in the areas I'll be going?

Thanks for any and all help or advice you can give!