Search found 677 matches

by bretonbikes
29 Feb 2024, 1:03pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?
Replies: 92
Views: 7485

Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Bmblbzzz wrote: 29 Feb 2024, 12:43pm One of the reasons I like canvas panniers (mine are Carradice but Alpkit and others use the same or similar material) is that they manage to be effectively waterproof but still breathable. I expect they're not technically waterproof but they're certainly proof against any rain I've encountered. However, just as waterproofness isn't the fundamental wonder, there are also not that many circumstances where breathability is a make-or-break point. Design and durability are more key elements.
This. Ortleibs are undoubtedly well made, the 100% waterproof sales pitch (people cycling through rivers etc) have rather overshadowed that...
by bretonbikes
28 Feb 2024, 10:42am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?
Replies: 92
Views: 7485

Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Personally I'm not a huge fan of 100% waterproof panniers made from truck tarp. By their nature they suffer from condensation and if you've one damp sock everything in the pannier is damp and socky;-)

I, like most cyclecampers put everything into smaller waterproof bags, dirty clothes, clean clothes, wet clothes, sleeping bag etc so there isn't a lot of point in the fully waterproof type.

They are good panniers mind, but generally they have fewer pockets and being a bit 'rubbery' can be a swine to get stuff sacks into.
by bretonbikes
6 Feb 2024, 2:37pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Brittany May 2024
Replies: 31
Views: 1866

Re: Brittany May 2024

Lazybird wrote: 6 Feb 2024, 1:41pm That link doesn’t seem to work. But found it on Amazon anyway.
Thanks for the heads up - I'll have to renew my links, but it is essential;-)
by bretonbikes
6 Feb 2024, 10:41am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Brittany May 2024
Replies: 31
Views: 1866

Re: Brittany May 2024

Lazybird wrote: 6 Feb 2024, 8:06am Thanks again. I’ve ordered some paper maps and also downloaded the KLM file. I’m now thinking I’ll start by going east from Roscoff along the coast. More precise plans to be developed once I get the maps and look at where campsites and velo routes are.
Great - I'd buy a copy of this too - it gives all the campsites so you won't miss out on some little jem tucked away somewhere - frequently not on Google or other guides. https://www.campingfrance.com/uk/guideb ... -in-france
by bretonbikes
3 Feb 2024, 9:06am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Brittany May 2024
Replies: 31
Views: 1866

Re: Brittany May 2024

Lazybird wrote: 3 Feb 2024, 8:26am
bretonbikes wrote: 2 Feb 2024, 3:18pm Have a look at this for kick-off and PM me if you need any more help;-) https://www.bretonbikes.com/homepage/cy ... at-roscoff
Thanks for this suggestion for a loop. Do you have or can you direct me to GPS files for the route?
If you go to that page, make the map full screen you'll see an option on the drop-down menu to save as a KML file. However that said I'd follow the written instructions and get a Michelin 1.200.000 map. It may seem old fashioned, but I don't like GPS, you lose the feeling of passing through a wider landscape - but that's just me;-)

If you need advice on how to do the KML stuff this vid works from 7:00 onwards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiBPQ1EBMM4
by bretonbikes
2 Feb 2024, 3:31pm
Forum: Family Cycling
Topic: 4 day family bike ride with 8 and 10 year
Replies: 16
Views: 3325

Re: 4 day family bike ride with 8 and 10 year

Jdsk wrote: 2 Feb 2024, 3:27pm
bretonbikes wrote: 2 Feb 2024, 3:23pm
Jdsk wrote: 24 Jan 2024, 1:59pm On our morning walk we played our experiences with and without children against your ideas, and came up with:

1 Cantii Way, mostly off-road. Short distances between accommodation. Seaside fun and games.
viewtopic.php?t=150227

2 Brittany. It's a few years since were there. Stayed in one place, and did day trips from there. Quiet roads. Fun with little boat crossings.

3 Rebellion Way, but we haven't ridden it ourselves:
viewtopic.php?t=152128

4 Norwich/ Orford Ness/ Sutton Hoo.
Hi Jonathan. PM me if you want some ideas for Brittany. Anything based around the Nantes brest canal might be ideal - good surfaces and interesting, safe, relatively flat cycling. https://www.bretonbikes.com/brittany/nantes-brest-canal
Thanks.

Looks great, but it not me who's asking... : - )

Jonathan
It's OK - it's been a long day and my mind has obviously fused...
by bretonbikes
2 Feb 2024, 3:23pm
Forum: Family Cycling
Topic: 4 day family bike ride with 8 and 10 year
Replies: 16
Views: 3325

Re: 4 day family bike ride with 8 and 10 year

Jdsk wrote: 24 Jan 2024, 1:59pm On our morning walk we played our experiences with and without children against your ideas, and came up with:

1 Cantii Way, mostly off-road. Short distances between accommodation. Seaside fun and games.
viewtopic.php?t=150227

2 Brittany. It's a few years since were there. Stayed in one place, and did day trips from there. Quiet roads. Fun with little boat crossings.

3 Rebellion Way, but we haven't ridden it ourselves:
viewtopic.php?t=152128

4 Norwich/ Orford Ness/ Sutton Hoo.

Jonathan
Hi Jonathan. PM me if you want some ideas for Brittany. Anything based around the Nantes brest canal might be ideal - good surfaces and interesting, safe, relatively flat cycling. https://www.bretonbikes.com/brittany/nantes-brest-canal
by bretonbikes
2 Feb 2024, 3:18pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Brittany May 2024
Replies: 31
Views: 1866

Re: Brittany May 2024

Have a look at this for kick-off and PM me if you need any more help;-) https://www.bretonbikes.com/homepage/cy ... at-roscoff
by bretonbikes
30 Dec 2023, 2:55pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Suggestions for a 10 day tour around Brittany.
Replies: 16
Views: 2363

Re: Suggestions for a 10 day tour around Brittany.

Hi - as I've been already mentioned here's a few ideas;-)

1 - this is a bit about the canal - https://www.bretonbikes.com/brittany/nantes-brest-canal

2 - This is a route I wrote for CTC members a while back if you're camping - https://www.bretonbikes.com/homepage/cy ... at-roscoff

3 - ditto if you prefer hotels/B&B - https://www.bretonbikes.com/homepage/cy ... ng-holiday

Whatever you choose the place is just a paradise for cyclists with something for everyone (except mountains). If you need any more advice feel free to PM.
by bretonbikes
8 Dec 2023, 2:36pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Atlantic to Med tour.
Replies: 20
Views: 7017

Re: Atlantic to Med tour.

Just found this thread so hope I'm no too late - 20 years ago I led a charity ride in the Pyrenees and started and finished at Biarritz - it makes a great tour, the logistics are made simple and the start is right by the airport. Now forgive the age but the report of the ride should help a lot with planning and give an idea of what you are up against;-) It is a fabulous ride - do it! https://www.bretonbikes.com/homepage/cy ... rity-cycle
by bretonbikes
12 Sep 2023, 8:52pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: French Municipal Campsites Becomming Private
Replies: 17
Views: 3693

Re: French Municipal Campsites Becomming Private

That age group now drive camper vans and many just drive from free parking to free parking. As they make up about 70-80% of the business for a small site that's a big loss. Opposite us is a lovely free 'Aire' with 12 campervan capacity - it's only when it's full that they start coming over to the campsite. We can cope with that loss but many campsites can't.
by bretonbikes
12 Sep 2023, 2:32pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: 6 week tour for relative newbies.
Replies: 37
Views: 4365

Re: 6 week tour for relative newbies.

'No plan survives contact with the enemy'

I'm not a fan of elaborate planning - it's personal of course - but a 6-week plan with all hotels booked etc sounds like a recipe for disaster. One day in those 6 weeks (probably more than one) you'll have a breakdown, be ill, have horrendous weather (Hot, wet, windy whatever) and you then end up riding two days (or more) in one, trying to find taxis, riding when you really shouldn't, or having to move on and miss the amazing fete/show/event at town 'x' that you'd die to see but isn't in your schedule.

When camping I have a vague route with the odd 'wish list' but plan 2 days in advance, if I were doing a hotel/B&B type it'd probably be a week tops. Sure it might mean a detour to find a place to stay sometime, but away from the very touristy places in high season (where you wouldn't want to be on a bike) you'll be fine. The alternative can be stress and disappointment.

Of course some people plan like a military campaign and would think the above madness.
by bretonbikes
12 Sep 2023, 11:36am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: French Municipal Campsites Becomming Private
Replies: 17
Views: 3693

Re: French Municipal Campsites Becomming Private

Hate to say it but a lot of the Municipals are being converted to Aire de Camping, often with a machine for payment and no 'camping' facilities at all. Likewise many are closing.

The problem is two fold - the increasing number of free or very cheap 'Aires' has taken much of the trade from these sites as caravan owners (who pay) are replaced by campervans (that don't) so that Municipalities see them as failing and cannot justify the costs. Quite how the various authorities allowed the situation to develop from a few VW caravanettes parking in the local carpark to 30 foot campervans getting loads of facilities for free and killing off the campsites (France has lost 40% in the last 15 years) is beyond me - though I suspect that with the expected rise in fuel costs and EV's it may turn out to be a very short sighted move.
The other problem is that the incentive to make the campsite successful is limited - the cleaners get paid whether the campsite is full or not and unless someone is employed full time to do the sort of publicity and events that a campsite needs they just whither away and then the municipality has the excuse to close them and one more drain on their resources has gone.

We took over the local Municipal site on a private contract with the municipality 8 years ago at a time when it was close to closing with under 2000 campers a year - we're now at 10,000 a year, the local restaurants can't believe their luck and the whole village has hugely benefitted, but it takes a mairie with the vision to rent out their campsite to a private individual to make this work and most can't be bothered...
by bretonbikes
11 Sep 2023, 3:06pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: 20 years on from the Pyrenean charity ride
Replies: 0
Views: 2199

20 years on from the Pyrenean charity ride

In 2003 we organised a charity ride to the Pyrenees. A month later I wrote an account of the ride - remember how low-tech things were 20 years ago so excuse the 'vintage' layout... There are at least a couple on here who went on the trip, and I hope that the account written 20 years ago will provide some inspiration for others, or even act as a rough guide on how to do it. Since then we've kept in touch with most of the riders (two of them are with us as I write). Sadly one of the stars of the trip - Meryl - died in 2021 but I know she considered the trip one of the high points of her life.

ITDG was a great charity which for some reason changed it's name to Practical Action soon afterwards but we were proud to help.

So... About time someone else did it;-)

https://www.bretonbikes.com/homepage/cy ... droduction
by bretonbikes
2 May 2023, 5:25pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Camping municiple in France
Replies: 27
Views: 3109

Re: Camping municiple in France

You won't recognise the old place;-)