Cycling UK Forum

The tour company I went into the desert with gave me a lift in a 4x4 back to Ouarzazate.

Then got a combination of minibus and then coach back to Marrakech. This was over 3 days, stopping off at a couple of places.

There is a direct bus from M'Hamid to Marrakech though. Leaves M'Hamid at 6.45am gets to Marrakech early afternoon. It's around £10 or something like that.
Though 9 hrs on a bus travelling over the Atlas in June in Morocco probably isn't for the faint hearted

yes, in the process of writing some notes up. I'll try to remember to come back and post a link.
if I haven't done it within a couple of weeks feel free to PM me to remind me to post

Stayed in hostels/hotels/guesthouses the whole way. Stopped off at each of the places on the google map.
Very easy to just turn up and get accommodation, I never booked ahead.
Stunning scenery the whole way, a great place to go cycling.


here's the map of what I did:

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=ma ... &via=3&z=9

Just come back from Morocco.
Flew to Marrakech, bought a cheap bike and cycled over Tizi n'Tichka pass and then down to the desert.

Stuck to the N9 nearly the whole way except a detour to Telouet on a rougher road. N9 was very good road, and not too busy really.
It was still around 27C even in Novemeber, so heat will be the biggest thing to overcome.
Drivers very courteous. Met plenty of friendly people, and no real problems with kids hassling etc.

Stuck to bottled water all the time, Ian5spot is right though one of the only negative things I took away from the trip was the amount of rubbish everywhere.

Put together a short video if you're interested...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWePZHJFXCE

Hi,

Does anyone know any places that hire touring bikes for around a week at a time. If anyone knew any in Bulgaria or Romania that would be fantastic.
But I'd consider any countries in Europe

I've done a few cycle tours before, but have since sold my bike. Because of work commitments i'm unlikely to use a tourer more than once a year really. So I'm not that keen to buy another. Plus it'd mean that none of the hassle of flying the bike over.

any ideas would be great.

Thanks

Hi, can anyone recommend a particular courier service for couriering a bike from one part of the UK to another?
Looking at parcelforce at the moment, however heard one or two bad things about their service.
Any advise appreciated.

Thanks
Bob

Just come back after doing Cherbourg to Barcelona.

Used Orange Michelin 500series
Think they are 1:200,000
1cm=2km

Generally they seemed pretty good. Would have been nice to have a little more detail sometimes. But then again nice not to have to change over the map holder too often or buy more maps than necessary. Got us where we wanted, and available in all the big supermarkets en-route.

I'm in the midst of rejuvenating a holdsworth bike I inherited.
Dedcided to just really strip it down and respray and rebuild in the end with the addition of a few new bits like a cartridge BB.

The top tube has had a rattle in it ever since I got it, I was hoping that it might have access to it when I removed the headset, but no such luck, its sealed at both ends. Any advice as to what could or should be done? I'm guessing it must be caused by internal rust. Is it worth drilling a hole somewhere and pumping in some waxoyl? Any other ideas on what I could do?

as ever cheers for the good advice, I think you're probably right about buying as and when you need it, though I'm tempted by the lifelne toolkit, I've heard good things about the quality for the price of lifeline stuff.

Does anybody have a recommendation for a decent cycle toolkit that they have seen?. Are there any on the market that are worth the money. Or do people think you are better off building up your own one slowly with better quality tools?

I'm now at the point where I have all the basic stuff, spanners, allen keys, cable cutters etc. But starting to want some of the more specialised stuff like bottom bracket tools etc.

I'd love to splash out on one of those complete park tools toolkits, but can't and probably will never be able to afford one.

cheers bob

Putting this on here for a friend who had her bike liberated last night in central manchester.

Its 45 cm frame Specialized Globe Vienna, Only one week old! just like this...
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... uery=globe

I know its an extreme longshot, but if anyone hears of anything give me a shout.

cheers

I did it last week

Followed your route almost exactly Ivor.
I was surprised at how straightforward it was. Seemed like a doddle after the lecht summit a few days before.
Much more pleasant than any tube journey I've ever taken.

Cheers!

Well you've given me the confidence....Train booked... I'll let you know how I get on.

thanks for the advice everyone, really appreciate it!

Booking a train ticket from Newcastle to Bournemouth.

Its much cheaper to go via London but it means getting between Kings Cross and Waterloo.
Anyone had any experience of this with a touring bike with panniers. Seems you can take them on some underground lines not at peak times. And from my experience of using the tube I can' imagine its a great experience unless the trains are particularly empty.

But I was thinking of cycling between the two stations. Apart from the possibility of getting lost and missing my train it should be too bad right?
I've not ridden through London before. Anyone got any advice?