Cycling UK Forum

paulcuthbert wrote:Thanks. Are any of these mapped in the CTC routes section on the main site?

I had a quick look at the routes section and there was nothing obvious regarding routes in this area.
The back roads around EK are well signposted either by the Council or the Cycle Routes.
OS Travel Map Road 3 "Southern Scotland and Northumberland" is good for route planning.
OS Landranger 64 is centred on Glasgow and is good for a 20 Km radius from Glasgow City Centre.

Eaglesham is also a good starting point roughly 17Km from Glasgow CC from the crossroads uphill to the Eaglesham Moor Road (now fairly quiet since the M77 was opened) or road sign posted Strathaven.

The area South of Glasgow Bounded by The M74 on the East and A77 on the West has lots of good cycling and is fairly quiet traffic wise (East of the M74 is quite interesting too) but I have been sticking to the area I know best.

The runs coordinator of the Glasgow Section of the CTC may have formal routes,he may be contactable via the main website.

But if you dont mind a bit of random exploration just pick places with interesting names eg. Moscow or distinction Wanlockhead - highest village in Scotland / Darvel - birthplace of Sir Alexander Flemming / Lugar - either first gas or electric lighting in houses / East Kilbride - Polo Mint City

thirdcrank wrote:This was in Scotland where the legal system is different to E & W.

Legal system is different; but the Road Traffic Law is the same (with requirement for corroboration).

If found guilty of a bicycle related traffic offence A pedal cyclist is immune from points and endorsements on their Driving Licence if holder of one.
To get points on a driving licence an endorseable Road traffic Offence must be committed while driving or being in charge of a mechanically propelled vehicle ie one with an engine.
Anyone who has never held a driving licence and has been found guilty of a relevant offence whilst driving a mechanically propelled vehicle will have a driver record generated by DVLA to record disqualifications points and endorsements.

I agree with Mankymitts the backroads around East Kilbride are good. And it is quicker to get there out of the built up area of Glasgow than going any other direction.

EK to Strathaven has a busy main road but there are great country roads parallel to it and there are interesting roads off the Strathaven - Muirkirk road.

A good morning or afternoon run of about 80 Km: Glasgow City Centre - Rutherglen - EK - Strathaven - Darvel - Newmilns - Galston - Moscow - A77 - Eaglesham - Thorntonhall - Castlemilk - then straight road back to Glasgow CC.

If you are looking for a longer challenging run Glasgow to Wanlockhead is just over 80Km away /160Km return.

Mrs.Thatcher Prime Minister of The United Kingdom 1979 - 1990 that is now almost 2 decades in the past.
The Sun never failed to rise or set then or since.

I also have had good service fro Prendas any order arriving in 24 hours or less.

welshman82 wrote:

simonhill wrote:I suggest you look at the weather first. http://www.bom.gov.au is a great site, it even has wind roses so you can see strength, prevailing, etc.

Personally I reckon that you are picking the wrong time - there is no 'coast' route as such across the middle - it is the Nullabor. Day after day of nothingness. I also think that it is probably more than 4,000 miles.

I have cycled Perth to Albany, train to Adelaide, then cycled to Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane and on up to Cape Trib (far North Queensland), but I did it in 3 x 3 month trips so I could pick the best weather and enjoy more than just day after day of tarmac. Happy to answer any specific questions.

thanks for the advice simon. Why do you say im picking the wrong time, is it regarding the heat, lack of water supplies during the Nullarbor? I would aim to get through the Nullarbor in about a week at maximum, Maybe nothingness isnt your cup of tea, but it would still make for an interesting ride, away from everything , at one with nature and all that stuff. Well i know i would enjoy it, maybe not over and over but, down to the individual i suppose.

were you camping wild during your trips? at any time did you go for a few days between water supplies? if so what type of water purification sacks or tablets did you use? did you cook much or just use roadhouse stops
lots of question but i'll start there.

thanks

I crossed the Nullarbor - Norseman To Ceduna 1250 Km in 8 days. There are Roadhouses and Motels at intervals of 200km or less.so you don't need to camp if you don't want to.

A good map to get is the RAC Perth to Adelaide via the Eyre Highway.

I took a Katadyne Pocket water filter but did not see any surface water from Norseman until just before Port Augusta.I either filled up at the accommodation or bought bottled water.

My planning consisted of picking my road across Australia marking off 100Km sections finding where there are towns or settlements a suitable days riding apart (the furthest I cycled in a day was 220Km),looking at an old school atlas to check likely weather and wind patterns for the time I was going (May-June) I did not look at any guides before I went.

Don't be blinded by the title touring bike!
Have a look around and see what suits your general purpose needs.
I bought a Raleigh training bike (like a racing bike but with mudguard clearances and mudguard eyes.)
It can be used as is as a racing bike
It will take narrow wheels and tyres 700x23 for general use or wheels with heavy duty rims which will take 700x up to 38 for touring
it can be used as a commuter by addition of saddlebag or my preference Blackburn MTN rack on front with small panniers.
It can be used for long distance touring over several weeks (eg across Australia) by the addition of rear rack and large panniers and the MTN rack and small paniers on front.
This is if you have the space for one bike two sets of wheels, racks and panniers and also the ability or will to fit or remove parts as required.
Or a very attractive option is to go to one of the larger Bike stores and check out their reduced price models. It may be possible to get one of last years models of hybrid which by the addition of racks and panniers may suit your requirements.

meic wrote:Seanie,

I dont have a 205/305 but I find it hard to believe that you can not change the units to OS Grid.
They are very likely to have the same software as the Etrex in that respect.
Follow the pathway
Setup-units-position format

I have used GPS12 / Etrex / Gecko / Foretrex all have user customisable position formats
I have also used the Forerunner and Edge and they only seem to have Lat/Lon format when used in mark position.
no other position format seems possible despite extensive search of the menu and data fields

Just an idea about extending the battery life of the Garmin Edge without access to mains electricity or charging from car.
I have the Edge 305 and have successfully recharged it using a Camelion (from Maplins) emergency mobile phone battery.
This also powers the unit whilst in operation.
The Camelion cost less than £5.oo and uses one AA battery and has a mini USB connector.
There are other small external power sources with greater power resources that might work but are more expensive.

The membership is worthwhile if only for the third party insurance and legal services.
I usually take the five year membership for the cost of four years annual membership.

There wont be mudguard eyes on a racing bike but a rack can be fitted using P clips.
With the minimal cleatrances you have with a racing bike check that you would be able to pedal without hitting your panniers with your heels.
Alternatively small panniers on a front rack, again you would have to fit with P clips.

I dont see there being any economy in having 3 chains to rotate to save wear.
The only maintainance my chain gets is to be cleaned by running through old rags until clean then lightly oiled. I would expect to get at least 5,000 miles of use out of it. And I have had no problems with chainwheel and sprocket wear.

I just run the chain through old rags until clean,then use the smallest ammount of oil on the chain.
Chains last at least 5,000 miles and I have never had a problem with chainwheel or sprocket wear.

Two Wheel Trek by Neil Clough. A teacher cycling from England to South Africa mid 1970's