Search found 2918 matches

by ANTONISH
15 Mar 2024, 10:12am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Overnight stay in France (midway between Calais and Roanne)
Replies: 14
Views: 420

Re: Overnight stay in France (midway between Calais and Roanne)

Over a number of years my experience of Campanile is mixed - generally ok if you just want a bed for the night.
They usually have an associated restaurant which I cannot recommend.
We usually use a "Logis" hotel restaurant or find a hotel with an independent restaurant nearby if it looks reasonable.
by ANTONISH
15 Mar 2024, 10:02am
Forum: On the road
Topic: Dangerous mudguards
Replies: 37
Views: 3294

Re: Dangerous mudguards

slowster wrote: 14 Mar 2024, 9:01pm Last year when setting off from a dropped kerb and making a sharp 90 degree left turn onto the road at very low speed, I hit the front mudguard with the tip of my right shoe. Because I continued to turn the handlebars left to make the turn, the right hand stay was pulled out of the SKS Secuclip by the pressure of my shoe against the side of the mudguard. I stopped almost immediately at that point, and the vibrating movement of the loose stay as the mudguard sprang back into position caused the stay to go between two spokes. No harm was done, but it brought home to me how even just a few millimetres of toe overlap can cause problems when making sharp turns at such a low speed.

I think if a stay is not a firm secure fit in an SKS Secuclip, that can be improved by removing the stay from the Secuclip and pulling the two sides apart (not at the ends, but close to where the stay is inserted into the Secuclip), which should make the stay a tighter fit in the Secuclip.
Twice I've had a Secuclip detach - which is what it's supposed to do - it's only happened at slow speed
I used to find the stays rattled in the Secuclip and I solved that by sliding some short lengths of neoprene sleeving over the stays so that the sleeving entered the Secuclip housing and stopped the rattle.
I remember over sixty years ago getting a twig lammed in my new Bluemels front mudguard - the mudguard shattered ( celluloid) - probably safer than the present tough material but more expensive than Secuclips.
These days when touring I use "race blades" - I've not had any problems with those.
by ANTONISH
8 Mar 2024, 10:05am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Sellafield
Replies: 37
Views: 1547

Re: Sellafield

Biospace wrote: 7 Mar 2024, 10:47am
ANTONISH wrote: 7 Mar 2024, 9:15am How do you think your ideas would go down with the "consumption addicts" using your local food bank?
My thinking about energy use?
I agree that we will need nuclear energy for the foreseeable future - at least until the problem of storing renewable energy is solved.
by ANTONISH
8 Mar 2024, 9:58am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Take These (Supply) Chains from My Heart
Replies: 806
Views: 43223

Re: Take These (Supply) Chains from My Heart

francovendee wrote: 8 Mar 2024, 8:19am 21 years living here in France and holidaying here for over 30 and never had food poisoning.

If you insist on eating filter feeding shellfish you're playing Russian roulette.
A good friend loves oysters and eats them regularly. he's frequently suffering from what he calls a 'gastro'.
Apart from a very few occasions I avoid all fish unless it has scales.

I also avoid posh restaurants as the food is mucked about with far more than i like. The more food is handled the greater the risk.
I seek out restaurants that aim at lunch for workers. Never been disappointed so far.

I think you need to be more selective on your choice of where to eat.
I'm inclined to agree with that.
We usually go to France a couple of times a year.
A few years ago we were making multiple weekend trips + Semaine Federale and usually a week or so somewhere else.
Personally I've never had an adverse reaction to restaurant food.
I don't like shellfish and hence avoid it - my partner has had a fair amount of "moules frites" and seems not to have had a problem.
Her one problem was due to her liking for apple juice - having filled a bottle with it she wouldn't let me take the bottle for sterilising (my normal practice.
The next day she topped up the bottle with more apple juice - with unfortunate consequences.
by ANTONISH
7 Mar 2024, 9:15am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Sellafield
Replies: 37
Views: 1547

Re: Sellafield

Biospace wrote: 6 Mar 2024, 12:20pm
Stradageek wrote: 6 Mar 2024, 8:00am There it is in a nutshell, lifestyles need to change, nuclear power will never be safe both in terms of reactor reliability and waste toxicity.

As a 'Reliability' engineer you'll never convince me that you can contain hot water in any type of system for 100yrs plus. Look at the lengths they have had to go to simply maintain the steel superstructure around Chernobyl for the time required to decommission that disaster area.
The mind tells us it doesn't like change, yet it's very good at it when it decides it's necessary. Politicians have an interesting future, to date they're relying on little more than poverty to shape behaviour.

I couldn't agree more with your comments about nuclear energy, it's an insanity to feed our addiction to consumption.
Some people can choose to change their lifestyle and others have lifestyle changes thrust upon them.
How do you think your ideas would go down with the "consumption addicts" using your local food bank?
by ANTONISH
6 Mar 2024, 9:44am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: touring gearing ?
Replies: 18
Views: 1146

Re: touring gearing ?

LuckyLuke wrote: 6 Mar 2024, 9:21am Hi, just to echo the others above, it sounds like your existing triple will take a 24T inner. Spa sell a steel one that I’ve found works well.
If your cassette is worn a replacement with a 36T is a good shout too.

If you’re happy with your existing chain set and shifting, I think it would make sense to keep it? It avoids potential compatibility headaches re front derailleurs, indexed shifters (if applicable) and chainlines. As Slowster described above.

Personally I don’t get on with the wide, high Q factor of most MTB triples. This would be a deal breaker for me!

Best wishes,

Luke
A caveat ; I bought just such a steel inner ring and kept it for a while.
Eventually I decided to ride the C2C and realised I had a new inner ring - so fitted it to my 9sp setup.
Unfortunately I fitted it at the last moment so it wasn't used until I was actually on the ride.
I found that the chain was sucking on the small ring - very disconcerting on a climb as I had to rapidly unclip and get my foot down to avoid a fall.
When I consulted here on this problem it was pointed out that the chainring was probably 7sp and was too snug a fit on my 9sp chain.
by ANTONISH
5 Mar 2024, 10:35am
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: "The Political Influence of Motorists"
Replies: 28
Views: 1654

Re: "The Political Influence of Motorists"

Politicians seem very afraid of upsetting "motorists" so I suppose they have political influence.
Hence Sunak's "ending the war on motorists" and the fact that fuel duty has been held steady for years - was it John Major who dreamed up the fuel duty elevator?
by ANTONISH
5 Mar 2024, 9:32am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Canal du Garonne - Bordeaux to Toulouse, best bits/ bits to skip / detours?
Replies: 7
Views: 432

Re: Canal du Garonne - Bordeaux to Toulouse, best bits/ bits to skip / detours?

Although I have ridden long distance canal paths I find that most cycle paths too narrow with poor sightline on bends - when I'm riding on such a path I ride on the side of the path appropriate for the particular country.
Many cyclists just seem to choose a side at random which is unnerving for oncoming cyclists when going round a blind bend.
I've come close to disaster on a couple of occasions in such circumstances.
As I've said in a recent thread we are intending to follow the canal Bordeaux to Narbonne but stick to roads as much as possible.
by ANTONISH
29 Feb 2024, 6:44pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Sellafield
Replies: 37
Views: 1547

Re: Sellafield

Mike Sales wrote: 29 Feb 2024, 5:59pm I am listening to PM on Radio 4, which is being broadcast from Windscale/Calder Hall/Seascale, a huge and ill-ordered nuclear waste dump. It will take many years and much money to cleanup.

An item about the long term disposal of the waste, perhaps in East Yorkshire, has now begun. The estimated cost of the clean up is tens of billions of pounds, and the nature of such projects is that the cost goes up and up.
Of course, this time we will get it right.
Huge yes but ill ordered? there have been problems in the past but my impression is that the site operators have got on top of the problem.
by ANTONISH
29 Feb 2024, 6:38pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: plastic and its less endearing qualities
Replies: 6
Views: 367

Re: plastic and its less endearing qualities

simonineaston wrote: 29 Feb 2024, 3:51pm Good point, bfb. I appreciate what you’re saying, but tell the truth that magimix has an awful lot of inertia going on there. I don’t know exactly how much it weighs but I’m here to tell you it got a lot of windings in them there coils!
ps who recalls the Spong meat mincer? My mum had one with a lever operated suction fixing, which never really worked properly. My own (pictured) has the more dependable screw fix.IMG_2106.jpeg
I've got one of those - my ex wife gave it to me - not sure what her motive was.
by ANTONISH
29 Feb 2024, 6:27pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Bilbao Roscoff June 2024
Replies: 26
Views: 1230

Re: Bilbao Roscoff June 2024

simonhill wrote: 29 Feb 2024, 2:57pm I said lumpy, probably more so for someone's first day.

Not sure if this link shows it but a dozen or so short climbs, nothing over 75 m, 470.m in 37.5 Kms but sharp and frequent. The last few Kms into Bayonne are virtually flat alongside docks and river.

https://cycle.travel/map?from=Hendaye&t ... ,-1.475099

If not, use cycletravel and input Hendaye to Bayonne.

Nonetheless, the key phrase in my post was :
"Fret not, it's gets much easier."

By the way Bayonne is one of my favourite towns, I loved it for so many reasons.
+1 for Bayonne - lovely place.
I did the Pyrenees raid from Hendaye that year so I was in a lot better shape than I have been in recent years - probably explains why Bayonne to Hendaye didn't seem so hard..
by ANTONISH
29 Feb 2024, 9:42am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Bilbao Roscoff June 2024
Replies: 26
Views: 1230

Re: Bilbao Roscoff June 2024

simonhill wrote: 29 Feb 2024, 3:39am Just a warning, I think you will find the first bit to Bayonne quite lumpy. I joined that route at St Jean de Luz from the low Pyrenees expecting a nice coastal roll into Bayonne - it wasn't.

Lots of short sharp ups and downs.

Fret not, it's gets much easier.

Read all other recent posts about France and Euro touring for info on accommodation etc.

You don't mention accommodation or budget, both fairly important. My most common search after 'hotels' was Lidl. Cheap food, sandwiches, ready meals, fruit and veg, booze, etc.
I can remember riding the other way Bayonne to Hendaye in 2006 - it didn't seem particularly arduous.
by ANTONISH
29 Feb 2024, 9:36am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Old tourists
Replies: 16
Views: 1262

Re: Old tourists

francovendee wrote: 29 Feb 2024, 8:15am
That's impressive. I'm 81 later this year, cycle most days and squeeze in around 5000 miles each year. I've abandoned the idea of long tours as although I can do 45 miles in a day I can't do it day after day. I now choose a fixed centre and do day tours from there.

My wife is undergoing cancer treatment but all being well we're planning a 250 mile ride over 5 days, using ebikes for the first time and staying in hotels in September. It won't be cheap but it's been a rotten year and something to look forward to.
You seem to be doing quite well and I commend you on your positive attitude.
I haven't yet taken up the electric option (despite being cajoled to ) but I see many people given a second lease on a cycling experience from using the e-bike.
Best wishes for your cycling holiday.

Incidentally I can remember during a Semaine Federale there was a 96 year old man taking part with his 82 yr old wife.
Both riding about 60k per day.
He was in the French gymnastic team in the 1948 Olympics.
by ANTONISH
28 Feb 2024, 10:09am
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: As a cyclist how many cups of water do you drink daily?
Replies: 28
Views: 2319

Re: As a cyclist how many cups of water do you drink daily?

mjr wrote: 27 Feb 2024, 7:04pm Who has time or inclination to count their flipping water intake? Drink when thirsty, plus whenever it seems like a good idea, unless you've something wrong with your thirst detection.
+1 for that - as I understand it very few people suffer from dehydration.
I note that most middle aged and younger people seem to be as attached to a bottle of water as they are to their 'phones.
by ANTONISH
28 Feb 2024, 10:03am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Old tourists
Replies: 16
Views: 1262

Re: Old tourists

This year I'm planning to ride from Bordeaux to Narbonne following the canal - du - midi but mainly on roads and not much path. I'll be 83.
In my 70's I did various tours in the Pyrenees and maritime alps.
I've also ridden the Danube cycle path - v flat.
Rode the C2c Whitehaven to Tynemouth.
Did a ride Brest to Caen when I was 81.
I think if you are in relatively good health and ride at your own pace then multi day tours should be feasible - I'm quite slow so daily mileage is now necessarily limited but I've always followed Bidlake's advice that the secret to long distance cycling is staying in the saddle.