Search found 205 matches

by Les Reay
21 Apr 2013, 2:17pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Best and worst towns
Replies: 0
Views: 467

Best and worst towns

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by Les Reay
8 Jan 2013, 8:01pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Cycling in Northumberland
Replies: 6
Views: 641

Re: Cycling in Northumberland

Chatton Park Bunkhouse is an excellent independent hostel not far from Route 1 and is a good base for seeing some of the best of the northern part of the county. Be sure to visit Holy Island.
by Les Reay
29 Sep 2012, 9:07pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Tyne Tunnel
Replies: 6
Views: 2163

Re: Tyne Tunnel

It's OK, the council has created a new river crossing for cyclists ...
by Les Reay
2 Sep 2012, 9:03pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Inner Hebrides tour
Replies: 22
Views: 6975

Re: Inner Hebrides tour

The beauty of Scotland is that you can wild camp in a lot of places, including many areas on the Inner Hebrides. Apart from that, here are some suggestions:

On Arran, there is a fairly basic site near Brodick, just off the road over to the west coast, and this is likely to be open. Also, the camp site at Lochranza is a good place to stop but you could look it up online and check opening times.

There are camp sites on Islay but I recently chose to stay on Jura, which is a short ferry ride from Port Askaig. The Jura Hotel is 8 miles from the ferry slipway and they allow you to camp on the grass in front, by the beach. Payment is by voluntary donation, facilities are behind the hotel.

On Mull, there is a basic camp site about 3 miles west of Salen, near the beach, but further up the coast, next to the beach at Calgary, there is an official 'wild camping area' with toilets- I would also expect the camp site at Craignure to be open but again, check it online.
by Les Reay
23 Aug 2012, 2:27pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Beware ScotRail
Replies: 13
Views: 15215

Re: Beware ScotRail

Thinking about it, I guess the best approach in such circumstances is to stay polite and calm but insist that you have a valid ticket and bike reservation and therefore intend to stay put. Pointless, though, if you are standing on the platform!
by Les Reay
22 Aug 2012, 7:30pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Beware ScotRail
Replies: 13
Views: 15215

Re: Beware ScotRail

Interesting points. But would, for example, a guard on an East Coast train in Edinburgh accept their word that they had been refused legitimate travel and allow them on without valid tickets? And what if all the bike places were taken?
by Les Reay
22 Aug 2012, 6:33pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Beware ScotRail
Replies: 13
Views: 15215

Beware ScotRail

The following happened to two friends of mine recently. After a week spent touring with me around Mull, they stayed a night B&B in Oban, having paid for tickets the next day to travel with ScotRail to Glasgow for their connection to Newcastle. They had also reserved places for their bikes in the six places provided, so no problems, you'd think.

The train starts from Oban and the staff open the gate to the platform about 10 minutes before departure. When my friends had manoeuvred their bikes to the space where they have to be suspended by the back wheels, they found that other passengers had put their suitcases there, leaving no space. There were two other cyclists, a big Dutch guy and his wife.

Seeing that there was a problem, the guard instructed all four cyclists to leave the train and wait for another one. Obviously, this would mean that they would miss their connections, have to pay full fares, book another night's accommodation etc. and they pointed this out to the guard. Sorry, he said, but insisted they get off the train. The driver came round and backed up the guard.

My friends, being the type of people who hate conflict, were going to comply but Big Dutchman stood his ground and said that having a plane to catch in a few hours, there was no way he and his wife were getting off the train. There was a twenty-minute stand-off before some passengers came forward and removed their bags and eventually space was created for the bikes and the train left late.

My friends reckon it would have cost them about £200 if they'd missed that train so they are thankful that the Dutch guy was there. They have written to Scotrail to complain about this incident and are awaiting a reply. They suspect that under the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, the guard was entitled to throw them off, that is, normal rules of contract don't apply for train journeys. I'm not up to reading through the conditions so if anybody out there understands these rules, I'd welcome comments.
I still have bad dreams about my last attempt to take a bike on a train so when I heard about this, I abandoned my plans to return to Tyneside by train and instead cycled the whole way back.
by Les Reay
6 Jul 2012, 3:09pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: North Sea cycle Route
Replies: 2
Views: 2841

Re: North Sea cycle Route

Here's another option.
When I set off to do the NSCR several years ago, I decided to miss out Sweden and get the Hirtshals to Kristiansand ferry. I stopped in the campsite at Kristiansand and the friendly manager there advised me that a much more interesting and scenic ride was to forget the coastal route round to Bergen and instead to cycle directly north using a cycle route which followed close to the road route 9, then cut across to Bergen. The climbing was fairly gradual and it was certainly spectacular, though I can't compare with the regular route as I left it (not for the first time). It took about 4 days of leisurely cycling to get to Bergen, and I can't recall any problems with traffic etc. though some of the tunnels can be alarming.
by Les Reay
14 Apr 2012, 4:25pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Mallaig to Oban
Replies: 19
Views: 4950

Re: Mallaig to Oban

Has anybody ever attempted the rough track across the northern part of the Ardnamurchan peninsula? This would mean from Shiel Bridge, heading west and skirting Kentra Bay then maybe about 8 miles to the road at Ockle and south to the Kilchoan – Tobermory ferry.

I've looked at this closely on the excellent bikehike course creator but can't get an idea of how difficult it would be on a touring bike. I'm another planning to see this part of Scotland this summer and would like to avoid the usual routes, although whichever way you go, the countryside is outstanding.

Another question, is the campsite on the coast near Kilchoan still open? I stayed there about three years ago but can't find any recent online references to it now.
by Les Reay
25 Mar 2012, 10:57pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: good campsite for ireland tour please.
Replies: 14
Views: 1386

Re: good campsite for ireland tour please.

Thanks, I'll remember that for my next visit – maybe next year. My map is 7.5 miles to the inch which saved weight on carrying stuff but didn't give me enough detail to follow the very minor roads, so I ended up getting lost a few times (like a lot of others touring the Republic :? ).

It's a pity there don't appear to be any long distance cycling routes. Even going round the Ring of Kerry meant cycling on major national roads.
I agree about south to north being best but my nearest ferry connection is near Stranraer so it made sense to go anti-clockwise (to avoid Belfast). I had westerlies most of the time, so sunny spells and showers.
by Les Reay
25 Mar 2012, 9:12pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: good campsite for ireland tour please.
Replies: 14
Views: 1386

Re: good campsite for ireland tour please.

Well, I hope that both of you publish accounts of your tours so that I can get some ideas for my next visit in that direction!
by Les Reay
25 Mar 2012, 8:16pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: good campsite for ireland tour please.
Replies: 14
Views: 1386

Re: good campsite for ireland tour please.

That would have helped. I researched some info on the internet and marked some on my map but found it difficult to plan each day's ride to end up in the right place – strong winds etc. I guess I was optimistic in expecting to find sites spread out at nice intervals, but plan B was always to camp wild. There are also a few hostels.
How are you getting to Ireland?
by Les Reay
25 Mar 2012, 6:47pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: good campsite for ireland tour please.
Replies: 14
Views: 1386

Re: good campsite for ireland tour please.

Map - I bought a Collins touring map of the whole of Ireland (north and south) before the tour and used it to plan a rough route. Unfortunately, it doesn't show campsites but the map which did was only for the Republic.
by Les Reay
25 Mar 2012, 6:43pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: good campsite for ireland tour please.
Replies: 14
Views: 1386

Re: good campsite for ireland tour please.

I always work out a rough route and never book anything in advance. Then, when I'm getting tired, I look out for a campsite sign and ask local people. The only real difficulties finding a site in Ireland was the north-west, but folk seem friendly enough to direct you to suitable places.
I would have considered B&B but doing this on my own, it would have been expensive.

One big problem was after leaving Malin Head, the ferry from Buncrana across Lough Swilly was unexpectedly not operating and I had an awful ride skirting Londonderry and back into Northern Ireland. This accounts for some of my criticism – the traffic was awful! Plus I had to rethink my route.
So I would definitely be flexible. On the really wet days, you can curl up in the tent and write your journal, listen to the radio etc.
I'd really like to go back, despite my negative impressions, but I'd need to avoid some of those very busy roads. Maybe better route planning is the answer.
Ireland has some amazing scenery and is worth the effort.
by Les Reay
25 Mar 2012, 7:28am
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: good campsite for ireland tour please.
Replies: 14
Views: 1386

Re: good campsite for ireland tour please.

Hi jags, don't let me put you off, my tour last year wasn't as bad as it looks, it's just that it was wet and windy all the time I was in Ireland. Also, after years of traffic-free cycling in Europe, I wasn't ready for the Irish roads, so perhaps a bit over-critical – overall, it was a good tour (especially the Scottish and Welsh bits). Maybe I should have selected my roads a bit more carefully. Another thing, I'd just moved back to the UK after years in Germany and was wondering about my survival chances as a cyclist ... :(
Anyway, I'd love to hear your opinion of it when you get back.
I'm off in a few minutes to do the Killhope Grimpeur 100km audax, over the eastern Pennines. Now there's a ride and a half!