Search found 19 matches

by robert32asp
24 Oct 2017, 10:02pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: My review of a one week boat-bike tour on the Danube River
Replies: 6
Views: 1315

Re: My review of a one week boat-bike tour on the Danube River

raybo wrote:In June, 2017, after riding from Amsterdam to Passau, Germany, I boarded a river cruise ship with my wife and two friends for a one week, round trip bicycling cruise on the Danube. It was the first time I've spent more than an overnight on a boat and my first "cruise ship experience."

......All in all, it was a great way to transition from solo bike touring through the Alps to traveling with my wife. I don't know about you, but I have found this transition to be challenging at times.

I have written a detailed review about my experience for anyone interested. And, of course, would be happy to answer any questions.


Thank you. I looked at your journal and the link.

Last year I did a Camino de Santiago bike ride and after met my wife and another couple in Venice for a Cruise. This year I did a British Sea to Sea and met my wife and another couple in Oxford for a train trip around the UK (Oxford, York, Scotland, Lakes District, Wales, London).

I am thinking about biking down the Danube from the Black Forrest to maybe Vienna or a little farther and then meeting my wife for a cruise farther down the Danube (although depending on the time of year, I wonder about heading back up for either the Oktoberfest or the Stuttgart Beer festival after the cruise is done).

I have taken rental car and ferry boats from just north of Vienna to a little bit south of Vienna. But that was before I got into touring on bikes.

How would you rate the Danube bike trails. Well marked? Relatively safe from traffic. Wide enough (as opposed to some of the tow path trails that two bikes going in opposite directions on party has to pull off the trail to let the other pass?)? Opportunities for lodging and/or food/drink breaks every 15 to 20 km, so you can be flexible if the weather turns bad?

Thanks.
by robert32asp
29 Sep 2017, 11:46pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Greece - watch out for the dog packs?
Replies: 14
Views: 1531

Re: Greece - watch out for the dog packs?

Not only might you have a bit of a problem getting a license for one of those (let alone find one to buy), you would also have to likely make your own ammunition for that caliber.
by robert32asp
29 Sep 2017, 7:30pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Greece - watch out for the dog packs?
Replies: 14
Views: 1531

Re: Greece - watch out for the dog packs?

If this is the story I am thinking it is, it wasn't dogs, it was a pack of wolves.

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/09/27/greek-coroner-british-hiker-attacked-devoured-by-wolves/

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — A missing British hiker whose dismembered, fleshless remains were found in the hills of northern Greece was probably attacked by wolves while walking alone on a remote path, then torn apart and devoured, a Greek coroner said after an autopsy Wednesday.

Coroner Nikos Kifnidis told the Associated Press that both the woman’s thigh bones had been cracked open by bites and large sections of her body are still missing. He said a veterinarian at Wednesday’s autopsy in the town of Komotini confirmed that no dog or jackal could have administered such bites.

The remains — mostly bare, gnawed bones — were discovered Saturday near the village of Petrota, 180 miles east of the city of Thessaloniki.

Near them, authorities found a passport for Celia Lois Hollingworth, 63, whom the British embassy in Athens reported missing in the area Friday. The woman’s brother in England had raised the alarm with British authorities, reportedly telling them she had phoned to say she was being attacked by dogs.
by robert32asp
25 Sep 2017, 9:43pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: What do you need for cycle touring?
Replies: 44
Views: 4454

Re: What do you need for cycle touring?

That was more than enough pannier capacity for my Camino Francis and my English C to C. In this day and age, I always take a fairly complete first aid kit that includes a large battle wound dressing and a blood clotting sponge & latex gloves. You never know when you or someone you come across will be a trauma victim.

Seriously, if you have the money stay in low-priced accommodations, Inns, B&B's etc and eat in bars or restaurants. You meet a lot of interesting people and that is what touring is about. On my trips, I like to take a small stove and metal cup that can heat tea or soup. Like the following https://www.amazon.com/Esbit-Ultralight-Folding-Pocket-Tablets/dp/B06ZZCJGTD That is pretty much the limit of my Camping gear, with one exception.

As to a sleeping bag, I have done glacier mountaineering and don't take a sleeping bag anymore as they are too heavy and bulky. What I take instead is a bivy sack and a some quilted, down insulated belay pants. A good mountaineering store or mail order retailer should be able to provide you with recommendations. If I can survive a night on a glacier in that gear, I can survive a night along a path anywhere. It is mostly an emergency thing, but if really cold the belay pants will warm you up in a hurry.
by robert32asp
21 Sep 2017, 9:37pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Bilbao to Gibraltar
Replies: 9
Views: 1377

Re: Bilbao to Gibraltar

You could do a Camino Norde to Santiago and then head down to Gibraltar. Any time you follow one of the many Camino's you will have lots of great signs and tourist facilities for individuals or small groups of travelers.

Actually there are so many Camino's some going to the places you desired route goes, you might check out the various Albergues listed along the Camino

The following forum has lists of Camino Albergues https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/resources/

Although to get access you will need a Camino Passport issued by the Cathedral in Santiago. Also there are lots of Camino phone Apps that list lodging, prices number of beds and phone numbers by locations. You might try getting one or two of those.

Sounds like a great trip. Enjoy.
by robert32asp
21 Sep 2017, 9:23pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Suggestions for 100ish miles route
Replies: 12
Views: 1713

Re: Suggestions for 100ish miles route

Since you have a back-up or support vehicle, you don't need to do a circle route.

You stated you wanted light traffic and/or wooded trails along with about 30 mile stages.

I tend to do about 40 mile legs. A recent ride I did included two segments that might interest you.

Bristol to Bath (actually Melksham) 32 miles BB rail line path and tow paths (some were a little narrow in places, especially bridges)

Bath to Avebury Stone circle 32 miles tow paths and roads.

Avebury to Oxford about 46 miles, tow path and mostly roads, maybe split into 2 days

Another segment was

Cambridge to Downham Market 41 miles (roads, trails across the Fenns)

Downham Market to Burnham Market 39 miles, mostly roads but some through park and beach resort

Burnham Market to Norwich 40 miles
by robert32asp
6 Sep 2017, 7:56pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Camino, briefly!
Replies: 14
Views: 2247

Re: Camino, briefly!

I loved most of my May 2016 bike Camino Francis (Pamplona to Santiago). I would echo Franks comments about it being a pilgrimage. On my Camino, I sought to balance being a tourist, being a pilgrim, and being a long distance biker. That meant I took far more time than you are planning.

I would warn you that unless you are an exceptionally fit rider, the Camino will likely kick your butt! Your route includes going over two mountain ranges (yes depending on time of year snow capped peaks/roads). Your Day 3, Leon to Astorga 53k, break, then afternoon 53k ride to Pontferrada. Overnight in Pontferrada; looks like it would be horrible to me unless you practice on lots of mountains. Your afternoon ride is going to take you up in elevation to Cruz de Ferro and then way down through El Acebo (known to some for its bicycle accidents) and even further down to Molinaseca.

Even worse from my perspectiv is Day 4, Pontferrada to O'Cebreiro 53k, break then 50k ride to Portomarin. Overnight in Portomarin. O'Cebreiro is a high mountain village. The road down from there has also claimed lives of bikers. I nearly got hypothermia on the misty ride down from O'Cebreiro to Tricastela and I kept my speed down for fear of slippery wet roads. I rolled into Tricastela shaking (I did wear a rain jacket, down vest, fleece, had thermal gloves, and rain booties) and found a bakery where I spent over an hour drinking hot coffee and warming my body up before biking on to Sarria.

Can it be done? Yes, but they will be very, very long days and you will likely be very tired going up those mountain ranges if you carry your gear. Be careful of the steep decent. Based on years of endurance events, I can tell you that accidents happen more frequently when you are exhausted. I can do over 200 miles in 2 days on a bike, but the Day 3 and Day 4 you have planned, I would not attempt in anything less than 4 days and that would be assuming that the weather was darn near perfect. If the weather is bad, I would schedule it for 5 or maybe 6 days with one or two of them to be rest days or rain days. In May and many other months about 1/3 of the days see some level of rainfall. From O'Cebreiro on, that part of Spain is known for being rainy.

The trails get clogged with hikers so you will need to take the roads at least part of the time. Even the roads while generally good, will take you on cobble stones through parts of towns/cities and on narrow wheeled road bike tires that can result in a heck of a crash. I did my Camino on a hardtail MTB and glad I had MTB wide tires as I did as much trail as was possible (based on the crowds and mud).

Also at the end, most people plan to spend a two days in Santiago as it is an incredibly great City with a great feel to it. Celebrate your biking achievement, spend the 2 to 3 hours in line it takes to get your Compostella (if you have had your Pilgrims Passport stamped along the way) and then go to a special Mass in the Cathedral, afterwards go behind the alter and hug St. James. Spend some time at a local restaurant celebrating the completion of your Camino with other pilgrims. These things will provide you with memories that will last.

I loved doing the Camino. The best advice I got was to "surrender to the Camino and it will provide for you." That means you need to have enough flexibility to do the Camino on its terms not your own predetermined schedule as it will do things to you that will change your plans. Your travel plans have no contingency time. If everything is not perfect you will miss your flight. Everything will not be perfect. A typical bicycle Camino SJPP or Pamplona to Santiago is 2 to 3 weeks. A typical hiking Camino Francis is 30 to 40 days. You are planning to do about half the typical Camino distance in a week. It can be done, but it will be an endurance event.

Good luck and be careful.
by robert32asp
6 Sep 2017, 7:30pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Camino of St James
Replies: 15
Views: 3117

Re: Camino of St James

I cycled Pamplona to Santiago in May 2016. It was a great experience, but rugged and challenging.

It is a wonderful trip. Leave two to three weeks to do the trip in by bike. The thing is that about 200,000 people a year cycle, or hike the Camino. Most on the Camino Francis and most in a few peak summer months. More of them start closer to Santiago than farther away. To earn a Compostella, you need to bike the last 200 km to Santiago or hike the last 100 km. The wonderful thing is that just about everyone you meet is either doing or has done the Camino and you can identify and bond with each other. The entire economy is set up to provide pilgrims what everything they could possibly need, food, lodging, medical care, gear, massages, snacks along the Way, luggage transfers (especially on days where you are going to gain a lot of elevation) etc. Every roadside bar will stamp your pilgrim passport (that you need to get an official on best from the Santiago Cathedral by mail so you can use the public hostels/Arlburges).

Now the downsides. Depending on the time of year, you should expect rain during about a third of the days you are traveling. To do the trip without being a tourist and without attending church services, would in my opinion be a mistake, so plan some rest days and some slack time for bad weather.

Another thing is that for parts of the year (and especially the last 100 km) the trail is really crowded with hikers and so for some of it you will want to use the roads rather than the official trail. I did some of each. The nice part is that for much of the Way, the hiking path is parallel to B-road. Whoever laid out the official yellow arrow hiking path (and it changes from year to year) like to take it up and over most hills as opposed to going around them.

Parts of the route are very old and you can travel on Roman roads and cobble stones. Some of them are nearly death traps for narrow tired bike. Parts of the trail/Way also become creek beds with flowing water during rainstorms and muddy as all get out.

One of the best biking experiences I have had mostly because of the people and accommodations.

I took the Higgins book and it is good, but it has some very well defined stages. You are probably better off staying at other places as they will be less crowded. Alternately,

Enjoy.
by robert32asp
6 Sep 2017, 7:09pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Bristol,Bath,Oxford,Hunstanton,Norwich,Ispwich,Tilbury,Caterbury July 2017
Replies: 31
Views: 3284

Re: Bristol,Bath,Oxford,Hunstanton,Norwich,Ispwich,Tilbury,Caterbury July 2017

Just to let everyone know. I did my trip across England as planned.......sort of. I had an absolutely wonderful time. For the most part the weather was great. Toward the end of my trip the rain started to interfere with things, especially the last day from Rochester to Canterbury. I took the train a couple days either because of injury or heavy rain. I logged about 400 miles of saddle time.

I want to thank everyone for their comments and suggestions. It really helped to plan things out. What I did was used TravelAdvisor for the most part to compare accommodations both in advance and on-the-fly. I got a Senior Rail card that allowed me discounts to get from Heathrow airport to Bristol, to reduce the cost of train travel from Norwich to Ipswich, and from about 5 miles past Rochester to Canterbury and then from Canterbury to meet my wife in Oxford.

The cathedrals and churches were great and added a lot to the experience. The best cathedrals for me were Bristol, Ely (a complete surprise), Norwich,and Canterbury. The Avebury stone circle was impressive. People along the way were very helpful when I got lost. I would not do something like this without cell phone mapping and a dedicated GPS.

While I am impressed by the vast National Bike routes, I do think that one needs to have a paper map of the bike routes and ended up buying several. The "marking" of the bike routes is not very consistent and it is very easy to get lost when they don't put up many route markers. I would also say that the maintenance of the national bike routes is kind of hit or miss. Some were well maintained and others I was constantly worried about my safety from being ripped apart by bramble sticker bushes extending out into the trail and/or low hanging branches. I got bonked in the helmet several times by branches as I went down the paths.

I couldn't find a suitable bicycle rental (hire) company. All the ones I contacted required me to pick up and drop off the bike at the same location. When I did the Camino in Spain, there were lots of choices and the rental companies would ship the bike to your starting hotel and then have it picked up at your ending hotel. Ultimately, I purchased a 29er MTB hardtail disk brake bike from Cycle Republic in Bristol that was on a super sale. It worked perfectly. Some of the rental companies advised against an MTB and suggested a hybrid or even a road bike. That would have been a mistake. Several of the paths were very muddy or soft rutted dirt. An MTB was the right choice. Even selling the bike at the end of the ride for just 40 pounds resulted in a net cost that was just a little over the cost of a rental and had I included shipping of the bike back to the pick-up point, buying it was a better deal.

The two worst experiences were: (1) a trail through the fens north of Ely, where I had to lift my bike with loaded panniers up a bunch of stairs to go over a bridge to cross a river. (2) Riding from Rochester toward Canterbury in a rain down pour parallel to an A-Road with bus and trucks spraying water across the sidewalk, trail and onto me.

I think the best experiences were Evensong at the Norwich and Canterbury Cathedrals. The tree covered railroad paths were beautiful and the open roads in various farm country were great. Also the Tilbury ferry was kind of fun.
by robert32asp
24 May 2017, 9:08pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: What do people use for GPS backup on tours
Replies: 73
Views: 21981

Re: What do people use for GPS backup on tours

ukdodger wrote:Just wondering what others do when touring for backup for their GPS if it fails. Another GPS or maps? I carry two identical GPS's and software to download tracks from Gpsies if needed. But that's all extra weight and still liable to fail. Maps dont fail but enough for a long tour would be cumbersome. Do you just take just the one and chance it? A GPS failure in the middle of nowhere would be a serious problem.


My 2 cents! Last year on the Camino Francis in Spain, I had a dedicated Garmin GPS, a cell phone (with 2 Camino apps) and a small compact guide book with maps that I tore the pages out of and left in garbage, as I worked my down toward Santiago.

Most of the time I used the Garmin for navigating or figuring out how many more miles (hours) to get to the next town. I got lost several times especially entering and leaving major cities as the Camino walking route markings are sometimes not easily visible from the road. The ability to stop, figure out where I was, figure out if there was a short cut to get me back on the official track was valuable.

I always had a fully charged backup battery power station with a USB cord that would run the Garmin even if its internal battery were discharged.

The cell phone had GPS and map capability, but I preferred the Garmin.

The Guide book was used to familiarize myself with the route, general progress during the day and to identify alternate accommodations if the place I came to at the end of the day was full. Alternately, on occasion I would ask the lodging proprietor if they could recommend someplace else.
by robert32asp
22 Apr 2017, 10:00pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Bristol,Bath,Oxford,Hunstanton,Norwich,Ispwich,Tilbury,Caterbury July 2017
Replies: 31
Views: 3284

Re: Bristol,Bath,Oxford,Hunstanton,Norwich,Ispwich,Tilbury,Caterbury July 2017

Tinnishill wrote:For planning information you might want to read this old thread,

viewtopic.php?t=107532

For buying an off the shelf bike, you could look at the Halfords company. There stuff isn't great but they do have a lot of stores; they sell Chinese made bikes under several brand names, "Carrera" and "Boardman" being better quality than "Apollo". Their website can tell you what is in stock at each shop.

Another thought. You might try contacting http://www.thebristolbikeproject.org/ou ... uy-a-bike/ to see if they could fix you up with a suitable used bike, and then either hand it back in at a similar project in London or sell it to a second hand dealer in London. You wouldn't get much selling to a London dealer but meeting a backstreet geezer could be looked on as another part of the tourist experience.


Thanks so much that is a great planning article/thread.

It is interesting how cycle oriented Bristol seems to be. They have a huge number of cycle shops.
by robert32asp
22 Apr 2017, 9:46pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Bristol,Bath,Oxford,Hunstanton,Norwich,Ispwich,Tilbury,Caterbury July 2017
Replies: 31
Views: 3284

Re: Bristol,Bath,Oxford,Hunstanton,Norwich,Ispwich,Tilbury,Caterbury July 2017

mjr wrote:....The ones we have require you to dismount and scoot or lift the bike, but they look like you can ride through and you might be able to for some of them but not others. Even experienced riders have suffered injury and damaged bikes, just because some NIMBY has popped out with a spanner and narrowed the gap.

Where they occur, they are far more frequent than one a mile. At worst, I've known them average about one every hundred metres. They are futile wastes of money which could be better spent building useful cycling infrastructure... but this is a discussion we've had before. We would rather visitors weren't injured by them, though.

Previous discussion- viewtopic.php?f=1&t=105459


Wow :(

What an unpleasant trail modification. I shall keep my eyes peeled for them and approach with extreme caution. Haven't seen anything like this in my other rides. I hope they never catch on in the States.
by robert32asp
22 Apr 2017, 2:17am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Bristol,Bath,Oxford,Hunstanton,Norwich,Ispwich,Tilbury,Caterbury July 2017
Replies: 31
Views: 3284

Re: Bristol,Bath,Oxford,Hunstanton,Norwich,Ispwich,Tilbury,Caterbury July 2017

Heltor Chasca wrote:Plenty of Pagan sites in the South West worth doing. Great Neolithic longbarrow up on the Stoney Littleton hill just off the NCN 24. Perfect for an ethereal wild camp.


I will pass on the camping but thanks for the suggested place to look at.
by robert32asp
22 Apr 2017, 2:16am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Bristol,Bath,Oxford,Hunstanton,Norwich,Ispwich,Tilbury,Caterbury July 2017
Replies: 31
Views: 3284

Re: Bristol,Bath,Oxford,Hunstanton,Norwich,Ispwich,Tilbury,Caterbury July 2017

mjr wrote:http://www.Norfolkchurches.co.uk/ may be of interest. Look up pretty much any place you'll be going through and it's probably got an interesting tale.


Wow that is pretty interesting. Not sure I will have time to see everything, now I just need to look at them and prioritize. Thanks
by robert32asp
22 Apr 2017, 2:13am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Bristol,Bath,Oxford,Hunstanton,Norwich,Ispwich,Tilbury,Caterbury July 2017
Replies: 31
Views: 3284

Re: Bristol,Bath,Oxford,Hunstanton,Norwich,Ispwich,Tilbury,Caterbury July 2017

gaz wrote:
robert32asp wrote:... then route 1 to Canterbury.

Some of the off-road sections over that stretch are a little rough but not muddy, almost all have anti-motorcycle barriers.....


Thank you for the information. I do have one question as lots of folks have commented on anti-motorcycle barriers. Why is everyone telling me about anti-motorcycle barriers? It is starting to sound like they are a bicycle death trap of some sort. I can see where a bike with panniers hanging off the sides might have problems going between some vertical posts that are narrowly spaced. Or is it that you have to dismount each time you go through one and they are like every mile and a real pain to navigate?

In the states we have either concrete vertical bollards that are spaced far enough apart that a bike can roll right through them. In some places where there are animals or cattle, they have these little twisty zig-zag gates where a bicycle needs to be upended on its rear wheel to navigate the tight turn and you can't ride through them.