Search found 461 matches

by MartinBrice
5 Apr 2023, 10:55am
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Better setup for boiling water
Replies: 43
Views: 7131

Re: Better setup for boiling water

I have found that when using methylated spirits in a trangia stove in cold weather that a quick squirt of cigarette lighter fuel on top of the meths will light immediately and after a few minutes will get the methylated spirits working very well indeed.

And the Swedish army uses a form of Trangia in the winter so it must work okay.

and I suspect that if you have a problem with the meths not burning to the correct temperature, then you may have a low quality meths and I discovered this when I was cycle touring in Spain some years ago because in Spain there is a weak methylated spirits that is sold in supermarkets to use as a form of kitchen cleaner and It simply does not burn.
by MartinBrice
25 Jul 2022, 8:00pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Accessing Calais port by bike
Replies: 32
Views: 3372

Re: Accessing Calais port by bike

This is a very poor photo of the GPX track as we cycled from Calais town to board the DFDS ferry. This was last Thursday, July 21, 2022. I'm very familiar with Calais, as I've been in and out loads of times: no map that I have yet seen will show the very latest building work there, which has dramatically changed.

From the town we crossed the small bridge on the map then along the road heading eastwards towards the roundabout - it's a good idea to cycle on the pavement along here. We stayed on the pavement after the roundabout - the right hand side of the road but the pavement ends so we crossed to the other side, and went clockwise round the big roundabout - but this entails cycling on the grass.

On your left you soon see the former entrance to the port which is now graced by a high metal fence and locked gates. We then mistakenly followed a van into the port (hence the little red excursion shown on the GPX track) but were turned back by a man in a booth who told us to go round the roundabout - a suicidal idea I think.

We turned round at the booth and cycled towards the roundabout for maybe 20 metres then turned left on to a cycle lane that was protected from lorries by a concrete wall. Then we arrived in an absolutely enormous area for queueing, parking and waiting.

In previous years before the madness of brexit we went through the UK border first then the French border. But now we went through the French border first - after that we were not on EU territory, then we go through the UK border. The French are checking that you haven't spent more than 90 days in the past 180 inside the EU.

At the queuing area we were at the front of the queue so we'd - as normal - be first on the boat. This gave us a fine view of a brand new, enormous duty-free shop.

If you want I can email you a GPX of this track which might help. PM me.

Also - note: On the way off the boat we were stopped by someone with an electric van and followed that round the port and he took us through various gates then dropped us at the first roundabout that we met after we'd crossed the small bridge on the way out of the town.

Image
by MartinBrice
3 Aug 2021, 11:00pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: EU VISAs after Brexit
Replies: 411
Views: 85863

Re: EU VISAs after Brexit

willem jongman wrote: 3 Aug 2021, 2:33pm So a lot cheaper than the US ESTA system.
But nowhere near as good as the system we had before the madness of brexit: it was like moving from Kent to Sussex, couldn't possibly have been any simpler. :roll:
by MartinBrice
7 Jun 2021, 10:56pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Europe 2021
Replies: 935
Views: 41678

Re: Europe July.????

willem jongman wrote: 7 Jun 2021, 7:36pm Boris Johnson could learn a lot from Angela Merkel
Evergreen phrase.
by MartinBrice
4 May 2021, 11:12pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: EU Vaccine Passport
Replies: 269
Views: 16768

Re: EU Vaccine Passport

al_yrpal wrote: 3 May 2021, 1:02pm
The decision also presupposes reciprocity.
Wont be any time soon then.... 2022?
Reciprocity would be baked in had this Johnson's UK administration not opted for the Brexit least likely to allow us to travel freely inside the EU. Which is sad.
by MartinBrice
2 May 2021, 6:19pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Cycle touring Spain South to North (Santander ferry)
Replies: 10
Views: 1821

Re: Cycle touring Spain South to North (Santander ferry)

And using PitchUp, which seems a clever site, asking for one night in August for one person with a tent shows 96 campsites across the entirety of Spain. That's very very few places to kip in an immense country.
Wild camping is illegal in Spain: be aware that they are (rightly) totally paranoid about the possibility of someone starting a fire. And while it's not difficult to sneak into a wooded area at darkness and put up a small tent if you are a walker and away by dawn, it's a very different kettle of fish if you're lugging a heavily loaded bike with panniers and camping kit etc.
by MartinBrice
2 May 2021, 6:13pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Cycle touring Spain South to North (Santander ferry)
Replies: 10
Views: 1821

Re: Cycle touring Spain South to North (Santander ferry)

The number of campsites I've seen in Spain can be counted on the fingers of one hand and I've ridden Gib-Madrid-France, Seville-Santiago, Santander-Leon-Santiago, and Seville northwards for a week, plus walked France-Santiago twice, out to Finisterre, from Porto-Santiago, and stayed in Minorca, Majorca. Love Spain, been there loads of times. Campsites are as rare as hen's teeth. In the summer it's far too hot to sleep in a tent, in the winter there are no tourists in the north, so camping just isn't what people do there, and sites you might find are likely to cater to caravans and motor homes.
A pension is about €20 or €30 a room and can easily be booked using Booking.Com, plus you won't have to carry camping kit and Google Translate can cope with just about any situation you're likely to find yourself in.
by MartinBrice
6 Apr 2021, 11:01pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: EU Vaccine Passport
Replies: 269
Views: 16768

Re: EU Vaccine Passport

Thank you for a brief interlude of sanity.
by MartinBrice
29 Mar 2021, 10:41pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: EU Vaccine Passport
Replies: 269
Views: 16768

Re: EU Vaccine Passport

I agree with Boris Johnson: no one before the referendum was suggesting leaving the Single Market or the Customs Union and the UK was promised the retention of Freedom of Movement for UK citizens to travel and work with no restrictions in the EU, and he also said the Vienna Convention guaranteed the rights of UK citizens living in the EU. I look forward to him standing by his promises.
And I'm surprised that his much-vaunted oven ready deal has been criticised by him already after only a few months.
I also agree with Nigel Farage: a 48:52 referendum result would be unfinished business by a long chalk.
by MartinBrice
29 Mar 2021, 10:21pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: EU Vaccine Passport
Replies: 269
Views: 16768

Re: EU Vaccine Passport

al_yrpal wrote:
The UK is not very popular right now, so I suspect we will not allow UK travellers without a Vaccine Passport that is compatible with EU standards.


Similarly the EU is not very popular here.... the actions of the EU Commission and the leaders of France and Germany have confirmed what many of us already thought.

Al

Nonsense. The EU is very popular here, its actions in allowing with no let or hindrance the export from Belgium to the UK of unlimited supplies of important ingredients for the Pfizer vaccine have been very helpful indeed. The EU commission has taken no action whatsoever to prevent this. Leaders of France and Germany have taken no action that has affected vaccinations in other countries, not in the real world but perhaps not in the fantasy world of Daily Express readers. EU has exported 40m vaccines, UK zero.

Germany, Hungary and Cyprus have also ordered vaccine supplies from outside the EU, which of course the UK could also have done even it had not left the EU.

There have been words uttered but no action on EU exports, without which the UK programme would be very far behind where it's is.
by MartinBrice
25 Aug 2020, 10:40pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Touring Destination 2 Months Mid Oct to Dec - Any Ideas
Replies: 47
Views: 3578

Re: Touring Destination 2 Months Mid Oct to Dec - Any Ideas

Re Portugal: when I last looked it has the fourth most dangerous roads in Europe, I think. Why was I looking? Because I'd walked a pilgrim route from there into Spain. Some of it was along roads. Much money has been spent on motorways but nothing, I thought, on other roads which are still narrow, often with stone walls and nowhere to escape the traffic which is fast and heavy. Bits of it are very hilly. I'd suggest Spain which is very different. If you have to quarantine just get into Portugal for a week or so.
Or do what the prime minister's adviser did and simply ignore the UK rules. That's what everyone else seems to be doing anyway.
by MartinBrice
20 Aug 2020, 11:02pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Touring Destination 2 Months Mid Oct to Dec - Any Ideas
Replies: 47
Views: 3578

Re: Touring Destination 2 Months Mid Oct to Dec - Any Ideas

:) IMHO your only serious option is Spain. Short flight, easy to get to. I'd suggest flying into Biarritz then riding to St Jean Pied de Port and following the route of the pilgrim way (camino) to Santiago. In a normal year there are hundreds of thousands of pilgrims walking this but right now about a tenth of normal numbers. There'll be places to stay, hotels can be €35 for a room, or albergues that can be €8 or €15. The huge fall in pilgrim numbers meant you'll be socially distanced in such accommodation. The cycling is good: excellent tarmac, and the main roads are often parallel to a motorway so there is no traffic on the main road. Weather will be OK up to end of October even in the north. And in the south it'll be even warmer. Outside the towns most roads have little traffic. Camping is very very tricky: usually illegal and land owners tend to put wire fences up everywhere. And they are paranoid about forest fires, rightly so. Language can be tricky but on the Camino from France you'll be fine with English. There are numerous guides too the Camino: Bicigrino do an excellent one for the Camino from France. DM me if you want more.
by MartinBrice
25 Jul 2020, 10:36pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Camino by Trike?
Replies: 18
Views: 1169

Re: Camino by Trike?

The return trip for most cyclists is simple: turn up at the post office next to the pilgrim office in Santiago and they will send your bike home in a huge bike box for €90 (last year price). You stick all your kit in the box and fly home with hand luggage.
For a tricycle, the only way that I can think of is to ride it back.
You can use the ferry from Santander but you'll need to get it there and I can't see that happening in a bus or a train.
by MartinBrice
1 Jan 2020, 9:15pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Experiences of ALSA buses
Replies: 6
Views: 2004

Re: Experiences of ALSA buses

One pannier on board with one in the hold is what I did. You have paid for a ticket for the bike so there shouldn't be a problem. The cover for the bike is important, though. The driver will probably want that.
by MartinBrice
29 Dec 2019, 4:00pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Experiences of ALSA buses
Replies: 6
Views: 2004

Re: Experiences of ALSA buses

I've done it a few times and its been a dream. Alsa is good, cheap, reliable, frequent and goes all over Spain. What is irritating about it is the fact that it is owned by Stagecoach, which is a UK company but nowhere near as good as Alsa.
So: from Santiago to Santander with two people, two bikes. Bought bin liner bags and parcel tape, cut up bin bags and stuck together with the parcel tape. At bus station driver demonstrated with a flick of the hand and arm that he wanted the front wheels off and bikes upside down. This took five seconds, bikes in the luggage section no problem. At the bus station in Santiago there was a photo of how they want the bikes to be. Worked well.
Also: Irun to Madrid, two of us. We'd pre made the bags, driver didn't ask for them. Bikes in hold, no worries.
Then same day, Madrid to Guadalajara, driver wanted the bikes covered, so we used the bags we made.
But I once tried to get a bike on a bus at fuenterroble de salviaterra without a bag and it was v early in the morning, the bus was empty and the driver wouldn't let me on BUT that wasn't with Alsa and that company didn't sell tickets for bikes.
To sum up: Alsa is good for bikes, comfy, reliable, recommended. You can download the app and buy the ticket a few minutes before boarding, just show the driver your phone with the booking on it. I've flown into Madrid airport and while on the airport shuttle bus I've bought a ticket for the next Alsa bus to Burgos and walked on.
Shame the UK is so far behind in public transport.