Cycling UK Forum

Well done both of you.

I'm just in the very first stage of planning my next adventure. I haven't done anything since going coast to Coast over the
Pyreneese in 2010 after which I had my bike nicked. Anyway I'm feeling the itch to go on another journey.
For the last couple of years I've parked my motorhome up on a motorhome site quite close to Benidorm for around 3 months from early February to the middle of May. For 2015 I was thinking of instead of training on my racing bike around Benidorm I would have a bike tour of 3/4 weeks from Benidorm to follow the coast through Spain and Portugal to Compostela de Santiago and back through Madrid.
Does anyone have any tips, information as to wild camping, camping sites in fact any info at all. I intend/hope to wildcamp2 days and then campsite or b&b for 1 night to freshen up, and so on, I intend to begin in early May.

Here's mine, in a vineyard in the Pyrenees, before some low life scumbag nicked it....arrrgh don't get me started.

vjosullivan wrote:I feel as if I've entered a parallel universe where James Joyce is still alive and has taken up cycling.

Yes, but when was the last time you were in Bangkok.................giving out advice?

I would recommend Ortliebs, waterproof, bombproof and obviously well made. Saw me through the Pyrennees with flying colours including 3 days non-stop rain.

I hope you get it back. No sign of mine yet..................

johnsouthwales wrote:try this as well

http://bikefinder.stolen-bikes.co.uk/

Done it.

Hi John, Yes I've posted up some flyers on the estate offering a reward for the return of the bike. I presume they will hold tight for a while and then try to move it on Gumtree, Ebay, Facebook sales, Cash coverters, etc either as a complete bike or break it up for parts that is assuming of course that the scumbags have a sufficient grasp of the English language to compose an advertisement but then it's all abbreviated phone text nowadays so even the illiterate can communicate to a certain extent.

It's a big estate, built in the 60s and is like a rabbit warren and conducive to crime and criminality, there's a project to spend millions of pounds on it to make it less amenable to criminality Yes I know we've heard it before.

People must have walked past the Ortlieb bag and just ignored it or not seen it, amazing but then I don't know the percentage of the population that have knowledge of high end German bags, probably not high on a Black country overspill estate like Brookside, though of course I could be wrong.........................

No I don't know anyone who lives on the estate.

Reporting from Telford, crime capital of leafy Shropshire.
I had my GT zaskar stolen from my garden shed at 3am, 031212. Thieves unscrewed the hinges, opened the door, alarm went off and they grabbed my bike and were gone. I phoned the police and they sent two policemen straight away in the hope they could spot someone on their way, they also stopped off at a local known felons' house but no activity there. The police had a look around the garden, took some details from me and gave me a crime number.
Two days later I took my dog for a walk into the local estate (read dodgy) and found my Ortlieb handlebar bag ( £65 from Wiggle.co.uk) which they had ditched by the side of the path leading into the estate, so I have a good idea that the bike is on the estate somewhere. I bought the bike about 12 years ago for £600 and have since turned it into a touring bike with top end components totalling £800+. Here is a list........B17 honey coloured saddle with copper rivets.
Blue Use seatpost.
Red Hope hubs with Mavic hoops, (X317 I think).
Blue Hope skewers.
Blue riser bars with clip for Ortlieb bag.
Black adjustable stem.
XT v brakes and levers.
XT shifters and mechs front and back, the new sort, 27 speed.
FSA headset.
Shimano UN bottom bracket with the square ends.
Shimano red DX spd pedals.
Marzochi Bomber forks (black).
Scwalbe Marathon plus tyres.
Ergon GC2 handlebar grips.
Blue cranks with mix of cogs.


The forks have 110 or 120mm of travel so are not correct for the frame but it rides true and I've never come off this bike, I did the Canal du Midi in 2009 from Sete to Bordeaux and The Pyrennees in 2010 from Perpignan to Bayonne to Bordeaux including all the classic cols, camping en route both times, so I have some good memories with this bike. Before putting it away in the shed I replaced all the gear and brake wires and brake pads, lubed the headset, polished and cleaned and removed the panniers all in preperation for a 4 month adventure in Spain next year.

The insurance co want receipts for all the parts I've bought.

Anyway if anyone in the Telford area, particularly Aqueduct and Brookside happen to spot this bike or are offered it would you please give me a ring on 01952 457250 or the police on 0300 333 3000 Fax 01952 214641.

I used a Bob Yak in 2009 when I did the Canal du Midi and it was excellent and tracked very well behind the bike where the path was rutted. It did slow the bike down considerably and you have to remember that the Bob is behind you as you only really feel its presence as you slow down, if its well loaded it can make the bike feel a little wobbly at slow speeds and parking needs a bit of practice.
In 2010 I went over the Pyrenees coast to coast and used Ortlieb panniers front and rear and an Ortlieb handlebar bag. Although the bike felt really heavy it rode really well and I rode up the Col Du Tourmalet fully laden without stopping (looking back now I don't know how I managed it).
I suppose its horses for courses and what you feel comfortable with, I found both systems ok and thoroughly enjoyed myself on both occassions.

Ortliebs get my vote. I went over the Pyrenees last year coast to coast and up to Bordeaux with Ortlieb panniers front and back and they were brilliant. Like the wise sage says..........You get what you pay for........Same goes for the Terra Nova tent, but that's another story.

As I am too late to book the European Bike Express this year I was wondering what alternatives I have to get two people and their bikes plus panniers and a bobyak from Telford down to Montpelier and back to Telford from Bordeaux. All suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

What a sherbert.

Les Reay wrote:You need to be disciplined and not get too ambitious. On the first day of last year's tour, I arrived at the camp site after 65 miles and it was still only mid afternoon. So I pressed on to the next site, as indicated on my new map but which had in fact ceased to exist some 12 years before. The extra 20 miles on one of the hottest days of the year really hurt and I was barely able to write my details in the signing-in book when I finally found a site.
Alternating long days with shorter, sight-seeing days helps the body to adjust.

I agree with the above. It's best to avoid overdoing it if possible but some days are going to be inevitably arduous. It's a bit like running a marathon, you wouldn't expect to do two in two days, and before anybody says anything yes I know people do and have done that and more.
It also helps to monitor your waking heartrate and if it is noticeably elevated.......+10 b.p.m. then make that day an easy day or rest day. Alaso ensure you stay hydrated, pee should be clear and copious.

hoogerbooger wrote:I think goinridin has gone.

but whilst we're on this most interesting subject has anyone really managed to get a low simmer on an Primus Onmifuel. I know it's advertised as better at a simmer than most petrol stoves, but can you fry fish or other such burnable stuff in a thin pan with it ? cos I've not managed to. been wondering whether I need to find a gauze or somit to diffuse the flame and minimise hotspots in the pan. (anyone seen such a thing)

(using gas on an omnifuel is also not that delicate on the simmer)

Thin lightweight pans clearly make it harder with all stoves, but there's the challenge - it's fun trying to push the camping culinary boundaries

Haven't gone yet, I'm going in June with another change of plan, this time bike express to Perpignan, cycle through the Pyrenees and then back up the coast to Britanny Anyway I ended up buying a Bluet micro plus campingaz with easyclic plus connection, should be able to obtain the canisters in France seeing as its a French company.

Anyone with any good routes through the Pyrenees South to North?