Search found 56 matches

by Eton Rifle
22 Apr 2023, 2:07pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: St Malo to Nice
Replies: 48
Views: 4075

Re: St Malo to Nice

MrsHJ wrote: 22 Apr 2023, 10:18am I have a sneaking suspicion I said this in January now I see this thread has popped up again but anyway I think you’ll be fine without a tent or sleeping bag. I don’t take them these days unless I plan to camp. I do plan my route though and I often book my accommodation ahead- not necessarily all of it but the places where the choices are limited. That’s partly because I know what distance I’ll do each day and there are some places I know I’ll want to stop and visit and partly so I can relax en route knowing it’s all sorted and there’ll be no chasing down hotels late in the afternoon.

Others would find my approach too constraining and prefer a bit of serendipity- whatever works for you is fine - I often just book the first 3/4 days and any pinch points and then aim to make sure I’m booking the next couple of days and keeping 48 hours ahead of my cycling. I generally use booking.com so I’ve got a clear schedule of all my stays but I’m sure that means I miss out on other fun options. I’ve attached a truncated version of my route planning spreadsheet for my next trip- which as you can see is incredibly flat and gentle. The availability of accommodation and where nice towns are generally dictates my length of day.

I just take a couple of front panniers in the back of my bike to make sure I don’t take too much stuff- see photo. St Malo Nice is a fabulous route and although I didn’t follow the book I have done largely that route in both directions. The Massif Central is great, quiet and beautiful with lots of wildlife so I’d take that route if possible

However, if you want to not overdo the climbing you can continue to follow the Loire until you hit the Saone and then head to Lyon and the Rhône south. You’ll still have a bit of climbing on the marseille (or wherever you turn east) to Nice segment but you’ll have your legs in by then.
Thanks - I adopted a similar approach in Normandy last year and never failed to find accommodation when I wanted it.

I'm an accountant, so love a spreadie :lol: Like you, I use them for itineraries and packing checklists. The planning is half the fun.
by Eton Rifle
22 Apr 2023, 1:42pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: St Malo to Nice
Replies: 48
Views: 4075

Re: St-Malo to Nice - Accommodation

Jdsk wrote: 22 Apr 2023, 9:57am We did it north to south with tent and hotel/ B&Bs and one or two apartments. It got pretty wet and eventually we posted the tent to the destination. I'd use that approach again.

I like to book about a day ahead. Tent up, drinks, start looking and booking. I don't like being on the road not knowing where we'll be staying that night. People differ about this.

You've already got the mass of the bivi bag. The volume wouldn't bother me. But does that include cooking gear? And would you be happy to stay in it in heavy rain? And have you done this before?

Jonathan

PS: Is that the authors' own GPX files?
I'm not planning on taking cooking gear. I've done so in the past and just not used it often enough to justify the weight. Might crack and take a canister top gas burner and Titanium pot. :lol:

People talk about the authors' GPX files but nobody seems to know how to find them. There's a guy with a blog offering them for £15 for the lot, including Mont Ventoux. For such a small sum, it seemed easier than spending hours making them myself on Komoot. I know that free versions are available on RWGPS but they aren't always accurate, apparently. I'm checking the Komoot files against the book's directions as a check and familiarisation exercise.

I have toured a bit - mostly camping. Most recent trip was 500km around Normandy last September with a mixture of camping / hotels / Air BnB flats. Some truly Biblical rain and strong headwinds. I've been training this winter on the turbo and riding with a local club. VO2max is up to 43 and I think I can cover the daily distances.

I've got only basic mechanical skills but the bike is less than a year old (Ribble CGR Ti Enthusiast - thanks for asking) and will be professionally serviced before I go.
by Eton Rifle
22 Apr 2023, 7:32am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: St Malo to Nice
Replies: 48
Views: 4075

St-Malo to Nice - Accommodation

I'm going to cycle the above, using the France en Vélo route, this June. I'm taking the relaxed, 21-day option although, having obtained the GPX files, there is a heck of a lot more climbing than stated in the book. For this reason, I'm using hotels / B&Bs for accommodation. However, I'm also planning on taking a bivy bag, mat and sleeping bag, just in case I can't find anywhere to stay.

I've got a superlight bivi / sleep system set-up that weighs 1.3kg all-in but I'm now wondering whether it's a good use of luggage space for something that, in all likelihood, will stay in the seat pack for the whole three weeks. Of course, I'll be carrying other things that (hopefully) will be unused as well - spare tyre, first aid kit etc.

Any advice, please? I have read the other thread on accommodation strategy on this route but that is dated 2016 and a load of stuff has changed since then.
by Eton Rifle
5 Jun 2022, 8:59am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Stages G3 Power Meter & Cannondale SuperSix EVO
Replies: 4
Views: 264

Re: Stages G3 Power Meter & Cannondale SuperSix EVO

Ah bugger. I've done a bit more googling and you appear to be right. Cannondale's own spares page lists shims to adapt a BB30A bottom bracket for 24mm Shimano cranks. I really don't want to use shims because, as you say, the results are usually poor, especially with a press fit bottom bracket. I'll see if I can cancel the order. Giant TCR looks a better bet. Thanks for the heads up.
by Eton Rifle
4 Jun 2022, 5:59pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Stages G3 Power Meter & Cannondale SuperSix EVO
Replies: 4
Views: 264

Re: Stages G3 Power Meter & Cannondale SuperSix EVO

It's BB30A - apparently different to BB30. According to this link, Hollowtech II compatible with both.

https://www.mantel.com/blog/en/bottom-b ... m-brackets
by Eton Rifle
4 Jun 2022, 11:36am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Stages G3 Power Meter & Cannondale SuperSix EVO
Replies: 4
Views: 264

Stages G3 Power Meter & Cannondale SuperSix EVO

I'm upgrading my road bike to a Cannondale SuperSix EVO from a Vitus Zenium. The Zenium has Ultegra R6800 and the Cannondale will be R8000.

On the Zenium, I have replaced the standard R6800 crank arm with a Stages G3 R8000 L side power meter crank arm. What I want to do is buy a R side power meter and install both on the Cannondale to give me a dual power meter.

Has anyone done this and were there any problems?

The BB30A bottom bracket on the Cannondale is compatible with Shimano Hollowtech II cranks - the only issue may be chainstay clearance, as far as I can see. I will be replacing the Cannondale 52/36 chainring with a 50/34, so hopefully the smaller big ring will help.
by Eton Rifle
21 Mar 2021, 10:41am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Left Hooked but My Fault say Police
Replies: 68
Views: 3643

Re: Left Hooked but My Fault say Police

Thanks for the replies.

I kinda thought that it was similar to turning across a traffic lane to my left when driving. Simply indicating and blindly pulling across, obliging traffic in that lane to slow down / brake is not acceptable, is it? Why is it not the same for a cyclist?

Genuine question.

Anyway, a search of the git's number on DVLA showed that his vehicle was not taxed, so hopefully he'll get fined for that. :D
by Eton Rifle
21 Mar 2021, 9:30am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Left Hooked but My Fault say Police
Replies: 68
Views: 3643

Left Hooked but My Fault say Police

I got left hooked the other day.

I was in a cycle lane approaching a car travelling in the same direction, that indicated left. As I was almost alongside the vehicle, I assumed I had priority and that he would allow me to pass before manoeuvring. Instead, he swung across my path, forcing me to brake.

Footage sent to cops but no action taken as, to quote the officer responding:

"The car is slowing in anticipation of turning left. You however have maintained your current speed.

It is only now that you have reacted and apply your brakes. The driver should have also checked their nearside mirror, before commencing the turn, to ensure it was safe and they would have seen you and waited for the you to go past, but ultimately the onus was on you to have redacted accordingly to the changing road environment."

I'm genuinely puzzled by this. Anyone know the answer? If a driver turning left DOES have priority over traffic in a lane to the left of him, this is news to me.
by Eton Rifle
4 Feb 2021, 1:27pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Recycling used double edged safety razor blades?
Replies: 21
Views: 963

Re: Recycling used double edged safety razor blades?

merseymouth wrote:Hi, Not a real answer I know, but my current use "Feather" brand blades come in a plastic container, dispense fresh wrapped blades at the top, then slide the used blades into the bottom.
Not re-cycling, but it aids safe disposal.
Now an "Open" or "Cut-throat Razor" is greener, though sometimes more gory! My brother used them horror at sea, rolling deck and all? MM


Feather also make a blade bank (basically a tin box with a slot in the lid). Takes hundreds of blades and the filled bank can be recycled.

Feather is a good blade and I use them for travelling but Astra is the blade of choice at home and they just come in cardboard packets, so do need a better means of disposal, like a blade bank.
by Eton Rifle
6 Feb 2019, 6:55pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'
Replies: 21765
Views: 848463

Re: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'

merseymouth wrote:Hello Playmates, My mongrel grandfather was of Anglo Irish extraction, served with the Royal Fusiliers, after wounding Durham Light Infantry, after further wounding Army Labour Corps. When WW2 arrived he signed up for the Royal Artillery, but after a proper medical he was declined for active service, with a badge & thanks from George V. Why the military assigned him to the RF is a question, having enlisted in his home city Manchester.
With regards to the current E.U. posturing & arm wrestling I think I would take you back to a much earlier issue? DANEGELD !!!!!!!!! MM


Sorry, does any of this drivel have anything to do with Brexit? Why are so many supporters of brexit so obsessed with the World Wars of the 20th Century? You weren't even there.
by Eton Rifle
4 Jan 2019, 5:46pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'
Replies: 21765
Views: 848463

Re: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'

geocycle wrote:The prominence given to fishing is really a er red herring. Fishing is important and culturally significant but contributes just 0.5 % of GDP. The other 99.5% is also heading rapidly for the rocks.


It's actually less than that - 0.1%. We're talking 15k jobs on the boats and a few thousand more in the processing industry (many of them, ironically for Brexiters, held by foreign nationals). Fishing is simply irrelevant to a post-industrial economy like ours. On the other hand, we're gambling with financial services, that account for 13% of GDP -literally 130 times more important than fishing. Just another example of Brexiter economic illiteracy.
by Eton Rifle
31 Dec 2018, 6:46pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them
Replies: 97
Views: 10429

Re: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

pwa wrote:
Cyril Haearn wrote:Dogs are half-wild animals and very unpredictable

Read about one recently that killed both its keepers :(

They aren't as unpredictable if you are good at predicting them. I don't think I'm ever surprised by a dog.

Why should I have to? The dog owners are the people choosing to impose their dirty, noisy, potentially dangerous animals on members of the public. If I wandered around a park carrying a shotgun, should I expect people to use amateur psychology to 'predict' that I'm not going to go postal with it ?
by Eton Rifle
25 Dec 2018, 9:24am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Les 'gilets jaunes'
Replies: 134
Views: 8249

Re: Les 'gilets jaunes'

Canuk wrote:
merseymouth wrote:Hello, there, One shouldn't relish the possibility of more rioting in France, nor of it spreading through the UK!
I have lived through both Moss Side & Toxteth Riots. Rent-A-Mob everywhere, egged on by the extremists.
When one has to stay awake all night to ensure that your home or business doesn't fall foul of the mob you start to understand why it is not good for any society.
Where does relishing end and incitement begin? MM


When the government no longer represents the ideas and ideals of the people, then one is honour bound to protest. In the US one is encouraged (via the constitution) to bear arms to overthrow said oppression.

Would that it were like that in the uk
. What chance democracy when Brexit is being managed by a shower of self interesed right wingers.


The side effect of the second amendment is, of course, a bunch of idiots owning guns, with which they regularly slaughter innocent people on a large scale. UK firearms laws are unnecessarily repressive but I know which state of affairs I prefer.
by Eton Rifle
22 Dec 2018, 6:36pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'
Replies: 21765
Views: 848463

Re: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'

merseymouth wrote:Hi, The Longest Journey Starts With The First step. MM


When that first step is off a cliff, you probably need to have another look at the map.
by Eton Rifle
22 Dec 2018, 5:22pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'
Replies: 21765
Views: 848463

Re: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'

Oldjohnw wrote:Interesting about Compiegne.

Mrs May's deal does seem a bit like surrender. Of course, as full members of the EU we had equal status. The current government seems to wish to give that up in its attemp to secure the Brexit she thinks people voted for.


I agree. Two and a half years of paralysis, billions spent and to be spent, billions further lost in GDP. All to put us in a worse situation than we are in now as EU members. Even Brexiters no longer point to any demonstrable benefits of Brexit.

How have we arrived at this point?