Cycling UK Forum

gloomyandy wrote: ↑4 Jun 2021, 10:55am Many years ago (1980 I was 18 at the time) I made a similar trip using a mini bus with a trailer (to carry bikes, canoes and other stuff) to the Outer Hebrides. Mine was funded by the Nottinghamshire County Council Education department, but was self organise by a group of "young people". Basically 16-23, they provided the equipment, we did pretty much everything else (I wonder if a 21 year old would be allowed to drive a council mini bus today?). It was a fantastic trip and the experience and memory has stayed with me ever since, so please if you can make it possible for these young folk to do something similar.

But you may want to issue a warning to the youngsters, those islands may have a "virus" of their own. I've been unable to resist the urge to go back time and time again. They can really get under your skin if you let them.

A lot has change since that first trip. On my first visit I walked in and stayed a couple of nights at Rhenigidale. Then the only way there was by sea or foot and the small community only had a single phone that was connected via a radio link, the hostel was lit by Tilley Lamps. In November 2019 I drove to the same place, I had a 4G phone connection and the hostel had electric lights and showers! But it is still a very special place.

That is such an inspiring story. I guess 'remoteness' is a relative term depending on when and where you live. Probably going back a further 50 or 100 years having a telephone and roads would have seemed impossibly connected.

Fingers crossed for this trip happening, there are a number of hurdles, not least of which is finding enough Scouts in the Explorer unit who are old enough, fit enough and enthusiastic enough about cycling to take part!

VinceLedge wrote: ↑3 Jun 2021, 5:10pm How about a minibus and a box trailer? Or if you know anyone with a towable horse box trailer you could borrow, they are good for bike transport.

Have been looking into a box trailer as an option. Would rather keep the whole setup under 6m though in case we do take the minibus across as well. I'm really not terribly keen on taking it over with us if it can be avoided. There are too many large vehicles, caravans, campervans, motorhomes and wotnot on the often narrow roads of western Scotland as it is.

Pedalhebrides wrote: ↑3 Jun 2021, 2:11pm

Mr.Benton wrote: ↑2 Jun 2021, 8:38pm The Hebshuttle https://www.facebook.com/HebShuttle/ or https://www.hebholidays.com/hebshuttle/ offers bike transport in the Hebrides so it might be possible to bus back to the start and then ferry back to Oban.
I find catching a bus back to retrace your cycling route quite strange, it takes X days to cycle from A - B and then only a few hours to bus back. I find it a bit like watching a video of your holiday in fast reverse !

I think I have read about cyclists using a local courrier to ship bikes and luggage between the hebrides and the main land, but I can't find the link now.

Scotrail have introduced bike carriages on some of their trains so it might be possible to fit 20 bikes on a single train. This might help getting back from Mallaig to Glasgow. But then you have to get from the Hebridies across Skye to Mallaig.

Good luck with the trip.

I would not recommend using Hebshuttle / Hebholidays They have still not refunded money to people who booked with them last year.

Good to know. Theyre quite expensive for shuttling 8 people & bikes from Stornoway back to Barra, nearly £500 & for that we could simply take the minibus across with us.

Mr.Benton wrote: ↑2 Jun 2021, 8:38pm The Hebshuttle https://www.facebook.com/HebShuttle/ or https://www.hebholidays.com/hebshuttle/ offers bike transport in the Hebrides so it might be possible to bus back to the start and then ferry back to Oban.
I find catching a bus back to retrace your cycling route quite strange, it takes X days to cycle from A - B and then only a few hours to bus back. I find it a bit like watching a video of your holiday in fast reverse !

I think I have read about cyclists using a local courrier to ship bikes and luggage between the hebrides and the main land, but I can't find the link now.

Scotrail have introduced bike carriages on some of their trains so it might be possible to fit 20 bikes on a single train. This might help getting back from Mallaig to Glasgow. But then you have to get from the Hebridies across Skye to Mallaig.

Good luck with the trip.

Thanks for these ideas. Will investigate further. Trip is still just an idea at the moment, trying to get a handle on costs and logistics to see whether it will be viable before going any further with it.

Thanks all for the replies and ideas. As has been noted there are no bike transport companies near us that I can locate online anyway. I'm waiting on quote from Pedal-Power Cycle Holidays in Northumberland but suspect they'll be way too expensive for us.

Having pondered various permutations for much of the afternoon one idea that seems promising is to use our local area minibus (17 seater) with a rear 4 bike carrier and put the other 4 bikes inside with the luggage.

The idea is to cycle the Hebridean Way so the minibus would drop the riders, bikes and gear in Oban for the ferry to Barra then, using a car/van delivery service, could get moved to Ullapool where we would reclaim it on return from Lewis. This latter bit seems less expensive than I thought it would be.

Restrictions permitting we are looking into the idea of taking a small group of Explorer Scouts (approx eight) on a cycle tour in Scotland later this summer and would need to come up with a viable way of transporting Scouts, leaders, bikes and kit from Wales to the West of Scotland and back again 8 days later. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions for transporting groups and bikes? Obviously a minibus and bike transport trailer would be one means if such trailers are available for hire.

After half a dozen self-deflating mattress experiences I've ended up back with closed cell foam for the past decade.
The Multimat Nato mats are warm enough, comfortable enough and light enough for me and are virtually indestructible. My current one was bought 15 or so years ago and gets used all year round. No issues. Sure it's not as comfy as the deluxe Thermarest I still have kicking around for car camping but unlike other way more expensive mats I've had that have all either delaminated or become 'porous', deflating gently overnight, the Multimat is completely reliable. It gets slid under the groundsheet so it doesn't slide around and provides protection for the groundsheet as well as being a sleeping mat. It's only downside is its bulk but strapped to a saddlebag it's not in the way.

PH wrote: ↑31 May 2021, 10:14pm I'm not optimistic about the future of cycling for transport, the popularity of scooters seems a clear indication that any transport revolution isn't going to be pedal powered. I predict that within a decade those cycling will be doing so either for leisure or because it's the only option they can afford. I have no idea where that will leave CUK.

I'm not sure I agree with that myself. I don't have any stats to hand but I would be interested to know statistically speaking how the proportion of the population using bicycles has changed over the decades from the start of the 20th c. to the present day. Surely if you were a cyclist in the late 1950s/60s you would have predicted the demise of the bicycle entirely in favour of the car and yet here we are 3/4 of a century later and cycling is booming. Sure, there will be a large number of people who opt for scooters or ebikes but I think there will also still be a significant proportion of us who cycle for the pleasure of turning a pedal under our own steam.

I guess, if it's felt that CUK no longer serves the segment of the cycling community it was originally formed around, then there's nothing stopping a new national cycle touring body being established, if there are enough people with the time, resources and inclination to do so. Everything changes, nothing stays the same forever.

Bmblbzzz wrote: ↑31 May 2021, 4:43pm

mjr wrote: ↑30 May 2021, 6:57pm

ClappedOut wrote: ↑30 May 2021, 9:30am Sounds like a great reason to not use trains unless a Brompton or similar

What do you see as the drawbacks and what would you do instead, given the current trains?

I am all for a Belgian-style turn-up-and-go with most trains having at least one coach in six as "multifunctional space" with inwards-facing folding seats, but that will not happen quickly: how long have the ScotRail conversions taken?

This especially won't happen when most trains have fewer than six carriages!

I'm not sure the number of coaches is the issue, more the interior design of those coaches. My recent experience showed that both 'local' service providers (TfW & ScotRail), while only running 3 or so coaches on the ones I used, still had the better provision. Trans Pennine's provision had the potential to be very good indeed as they had half the front carriage turned over to multifunction use for bikes, oversize luggage and folding seats. Their downfall was their 4 bike limit and the less than straightforward reservation process.

ClappedOut wrote: ↑30 May 2021, 7:49pm

mjr wrote: ↑30 May 2021, 6:57pm

ClappedOut wrote: ↑30 May 2021, 9:30am Sounds like a great reason to not use trains unless a Brompton or similar

What do you see as the drawbacks and what would you do instead, given the current trains?

I am all for a Belgian-style turn-up-and-go with most trains having at least one coach in six as "multifunctional space" with inwards-facing folding seats, but that will not happen quickly: how long have the ScotRail conversions taken?

Guards van with decent space and storage, after years of disappointment the only train I would take is a steam train ride now.

No reason to visit cities as everything specialist is cheaper online and the faff of train travel and expense would either be a vehicle or a national express.

For me the years of bad service on trains, crowding and expense- it's not even on the travel options.

Returned just last Thursday from a two week cycle tour of North and West Scotland. Travelled up by train with my bike and panniers etc from Carmarthen to Inverness and returned the same. It was the longest UK train journey with a bike I've made. So, how did it go?

There were ups and downs.

To start with I wasn't able to book the bike online for all the stages and train operators, Transport for Wales don't take reservations at present, Trans Pennine Express couldn't book my bike on the outward journey due to some glitch but advised me just to turn up and hope, (it turned out there were 6 bikes on the train instead of the regulation four but they were cool about that). LNER refused to let me board as I didn't have a reservation for their service but I managed to get a ScotRail train shortly after instead (which didn't need a reservation). It was a similar sketchy process on the return journey. The actual journey went perfectly smoothly apart from this bike storage aspect.

If there was ample space provided and a single reservation process from start of journey to finish on all trains then all the stress and uncertainty would have been removed from the trip. I get the distinct impression that train companies really don't want to have to handle cycles. LNER were definitely the least accommodating, with their tiny cubicles and hooks. ScotRail and Transport for Wales the best with a much more relaxed attitude, no reservations required and plenty of space.

Bmblbzzz wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 9:55am

domnortheast wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 7:59pm The second occasion was using the bag loops on a Brooks Cambium to carry the bag. These are forged as an integral part of the aluminium cantle of the saddle and the weight of my kit and repeated jolting (more roughstuff tracks) caused the loops to distort out of shape though they didn't break. I don't think this would've happened on the steel loops of a B17 or similar.

Hmm, might have to look out for this. The Cambium is so comfy!

Comfy? Each to their own. I christened mine The Punisher after the first 6 months. I think the aluminium loops in the Cambium would be fine if the leather straps are threaded through them to support the bag but I had the bag attached to an uplift and the steel tabs of that attached to the saddle loops.

I'm seriously impressed you can get most of your camping kit in a Barley, I can just about fit a flask of tea, some sandwiches and a jumper in mine

I have however carried all sorts in, and strapped on, my Nelson, far in excess of the recommended weight & mostly without issue.

On two occasions I had minor problems. The first was on a 4WD track while using an SQR mount on the seatpin and the weight of the bag combined with the hammering from the 4WD ruts caused the SQR bracket to swing round on the seat post unbalancing the whole kaboodle and sending me flying. I cranked up the SQR clamp bolts even tighter and all was well again.
The second occasion was using the bag loops on a Brooks Cambium to carry the bag. These are forged as an integral part of the aluminium cantle of the saddle and the weight of my kit and repeated jolting (more roughstuff tracks) caused the loops to distort out of shape though they didn't break. I don't think this would've happened on the steel loops of a B17 or similar.

Anyway, despite my best efforts at destruction testing, so far my Carradice bags and assorted saddles have survived my repeated and assorted abuses without major issue.