Search found 653 matches

by Graham O
6 Nov 2023, 9:12pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: European warm weather destination road cycling
Replies: 13
Views: 4582

Re: European warm weather destination road cycling

Southern Portugal? Fly into Lisboa and return from Faro. March to May is normally good weather and although there can be rain (sometimes a lot) the Alentejo is quite a bit dryer than further north. The Alentejo is the area south of the Tejo river down to the Algarve. Mostly flat or undulating and some nice places to visit, Elvas, Évora, Marvão and Mertola. Eastwards is border country so castles and history while the western coast is very nice. If there is a downside it is that the area is quite empty and there can be long distances between villages and cafes. Further north, there is a cafe every hour at least!

Edit: Just seen you want to stay in one place. Elvas (train from Lisboa, bikes travel free) and that will give you parts of Spain to visit. Train to Castelo Branco and tour from there? Lots of options.
by Graham O
8 Oct 2023, 7:58pm
Forum: Off-road Cycling.
Topic: 1*, 2* or 3*
Replies: 2
Views: 3723

Re: 1*, 2* or 3*

Thank you will have a read of those topics.

Gearing, yes, I feel that a 10/51 cassette with 30 or 32 tooth chainring would be about right.
by Graham O
8 Oct 2023, 7:46pm
Forum: Off-road Cycling.
Topic: 1*, 2* or 3*
Replies: 2
Views: 3723

1*, 2* or 3*

(Did try the search function, but for some reason it returned zero results for search terms, so hope I'm not repeating things)

Evening, I'm thinking of a new bike for daily and some long distance gravel trails here in Portugal and Spain next year around the Badlands courses. Looking at 650b wheels to keep the whole bike small, but I'm trying to research peoples opinions/experiences of going from a triple chainset to a 1* chainset. The gaps between gears are quite large and I'm wondering if it is just something you get used to or will it leave me wishing I'd stuck with a 3*9 setup? Any feedback much appreciated.
Thanks
by Graham O
17 Jan 2023, 11:08am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Santander to Portsmouth Ferry Tips
Replies: 52
Views: 4436

Re: Santander to Portsmouth Ferry Tips

We took the ferry last May and there were a couple of people in sleeping bags on the floor. However it was recently post covid and the ferry was perhaps half full.
by Graham O
7 Dec 2022, 10:49am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Plans for 2023?
Replies: 49
Views: 5886

Re: Plans for 2023?

mattheus wrote: 7 Dec 2022, 10:24am
Graham O wrote: 7 Dec 2022, 10:21am ... Home to Gibraltar, which is now much shorter as home is no longer N.Wales, but Portugal!
The world is getting smaller, they say ...
True, but I still want to do the French coast and it's now 900+km from here to France. Have to make another trip sometime.
by Graham O
7 Dec 2022, 10:21am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Plans for 2023?
Replies: 49
Views: 5886

Re: Plans for 2023?

Hoping to get away for a week to Northern Portugal heading inland from the coast before going south down the border. Or alternatively, do my abandoned Big Birthday Ride from 2020 of Home to Gibraltar, which is now much shorter as home is no longer N.Wales, but Portugal!
by Graham O
6 Dec 2022, 9:26pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Plans for 2023?
Replies: 49
Views: 5886

Re: Plans for 2023?

Dingdong wrote: 13 Nov 2022, 7:54am Does anyone have experience of the southern route, through Portugal?
I've ridden Eurovelo 1 in various parts of central and northern Portugal and it's a mixed bag. In places, it is well signposted on nice cycle tracks, and elsewhere, it's a bit less than ideal. However, outside the big towns, resorts, the traffic is fairly quiet, the coffee and food is good and accommodation not expensive. Add in the good weather and it's a nice ride. High summer on the coast is rarely too hot for cycling, although spring/late autumn can be wet and windy.
by Graham O
14 Oct 2022, 5:28pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Portugal
Replies: 15
Views: 1167

Re: Portugal

There are plans to upgrade the river path from Figueira da Foz to Coimbra, but for the time being, the northern side of the river is better than the southern which does get tedious after a while.

Of interest to anyone doing EV1, is that there is now a coastal path to the north of Figueira so rather than going over the top of the hill, Serra da Boa Viagem, you only have to climb a bit out of Figueira before turning left onto a lower level route. It is unfortunately, also open to cars.
by Graham O
12 Oct 2022, 7:10pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Portugal
Replies: 15
Views: 1167

Re: Portugal

borisface wrote: 12 Oct 2022, 6:42pm
Whereabouts are you? I live near Proenca a Nova.
Hi borisface, I am near Montemor-o-Velho between Coimbra and Figueira da Foz. I've been north, south, east and west of you, but not explored the area around Proenca a Nova. North of us to Aveiro is probably the gentlest countryside in Portugal outside the Alentejo. A key factor in buying this place! I like the hills, but my legs don't.
by Graham O
10 Oct 2022, 5:08pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Portugal
Replies: 15
Views: 1167

Re: Portugal

Like borisface, I live in Central Portugal not far from the N2 and although it is being widely marketed, apart from it's status as longest road in Europe, why ride on a main road when there are so many quiet roads to explore? The N2 also misses some of the best towns in Central Portugal. Outside the towns, even main roads are relatively empty of traffic and it's a great place for riding. Accommodation is relatively cheap and there is a reasonable network of youth hostels, pousada de juventude, with family rooms etc.
Weather for September is normally hot and dry while October/November are definitely the period of change. We had 32C last week and although cooler temps are forecast, still in the 20's. November is normally a wet month although temps don't drop much.
I did a couple of tours down the border from the Douro valley to Elvas in the Alentejo and it is a fantastic area. It does get much hotter in the summer, but the roads are really deserted. Beautiful countryside with a lot of history.
by Graham O
12 Sep 2022, 6:00pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: A bike with number plates!
Replies: 4
Views: 1022

A bike with number plates!

Following on from discussions about bikes and number plates, I took this photo recently in Central Portugal. There are a number of bikes with registration plates around here, but the first one I've photographed.
I don't know exactly when Portugal got rid of bike licences, but I believe it to be in mid 60's. Which makes this bike pretty old.
101069.jpg
(Don't know why the photo is such low resolution, the original is fine.)
by Graham O
17 Aug 2022, 10:13am
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Grant Shapps panders to The Mail
Replies: 248
Views: 13077

Re: Grant Shapps panders to The Mail

ANTONISH wrote: 17 Aug 2022, 9:18am
A long time ago there was a cycle registration scheme in Belgium - a tax had to be paid - eventually the scheme was abandoned.
I seem to remember seeing a cyclist on a road bike with a very small number plate attached to his rear brake.
Portugal during the Salazar regime had a cycle registration scheme which was strictly enforced with high fines. (Easy to do in a dictatorship, so I'm sure Pritti Patel will be keen on it). There are a couple of old guys around here with number plates on their very old bikes which are about 20cm wide. I really need to stop them and have a chat about it.

But then Portugal also used to have a licence system for cigarette lighters!
by Graham O
3 Dec 2021, 8:06pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Mtb groupset on "road" bike.
Replies: 50
Views: 3108

Re: Mtb groupset on "road" bike.

I had exactly the same problem with my Spyres and posted here about 3 years ago. The brakes as they came on the bike were truly dangerous and after changing the cables to compressionless ones last winter (haven't been out cycling much) they are better, but not as good as people were claiming for them when I bought the bike.
One thing I did find was that the caliper is not centred on the disc just by tightening the bolts up. The hole in the caliper is larger than the bolt diameter, so it can be set up with the caliper offset to the left, the right, top in or bottom in. This may have been part of the problem. I carefully set them up now so that the braking force is (hopefully) equal on both sides of the rotor and it is better than they have ever been, but not as good as my other bike with V brakes.
by Graham O
2 Dec 2021, 8:20pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Hunting for a new frame
Replies: 18
Views: 1441

Re: Hunting for a new frame

Certainly the ride quality is more important, so the right frame with a hub gear is more important than a hub gear with a substandard frame.

ECR and Crosscheck are very different bikes for different purposes. My question above was why do they, (the models above) have horizontal drop outs, rather than comparing the two.
by Graham O
2 Dec 2021, 9:50am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Hunting for a new frame
Replies: 18
Views: 1441

Re: Hunting for a new frame

Once again, thank you, lots of information to digest. I was looking at the other Surly frames and I see that quite a few of their trail bikes have got horizontal or trackend dropouts, models, Troll, Ogre, ECR and Karate Monkey. I'm not familiar with how mtb's have developed, but is this something new or just something I've not seen before?