Cycling UK Forum

Although I have plenty of my own examples of the absence of signposting in the UK, Mick F. gives a good description on his blog of his trip through Carlisle and Edinburgh. I am not sure how sat nav would have dealt with that. My main point is that sat nav appears to be someone else's idea of what constitutes a good route. I may be wrong.

Should I edit out that bit about lemmings? It was meant as a general comment and certainly not aimed at anyone on this message board.

Gosh, that was a bit harsh.... .

I use the purple covered OS maps from the 1970s. They give all the best routes and some indication of what was to come - motorways under construction and that sort of thing. They open up lost worlds of meandering B roads and A roads that once made a journey an end in itself. Most of Britain is now unsignposted in any useful way for the cyclist so a good map is essential. And sat nav? Most sat nav devices come from a company called Lemmings & Sheep Ltd.

Camping with a bicycle throws up some interesting anomalies. I was once turned away from a Caravan Club certificated site (a huge rough field with a loo) because it was specified as just for five caravans. In both France and Spain I have been offered pitches for £25 (yes, pounds) but no reduction for just me on a bike. Camping in Spain on a bike is generally more expensive than staying in guest houses.

I have also found that camp sites tend to cluster together and don't allow for the distances between sites if you are cycling (YHA please note same phenomenon). Campsites also disappear quite regularly. I use an oldish copy of the Camping Club's Big Sites book which has wonderful, albeit at times elusive, small, basic sites. And the lighter you travel the more dependent you are on facilities - try the New Forest - campsites there demand that you bring your own toilet.

Aroung the Mediterranean you have the further problem of hard ground without the advantage of arriving in a £60,000 mobile home with sprung mattresses.

Having said all that, I have found some gems as well, both in this country and abroad. And there are some advantages, like having your bike next to you all night and knocking up some tea during the day. And there is just something inexplicably wonderful about camping with a bike with well loaded panniers (or trailer) and heading off into the sunset....

Between Shrewsbury and Church Stretton on Friday. Round the corner was a 40 ton lorry that was stuck but the bike just sailed on by. The day-glo pannier cover was useful during the white-outs on the A49.

"roof rack cycling"

Hmmm. Good one thirdcrank. Was that original? Sums it up very well. It's taken me a couple of years to actually get the car out of the equation and now I do it I cannot believe I didn't do it earlier.

It's 36 now, with 725 views!

toby: you can take a tandem on the First Great Western service from Newton Abbott to Paddington (we have), then cycle to Euston then pick up the Pendolino from there. No dismantling or boxes! Since there will be two of you (presumably), one can carry the bags etc onto the train while the other puts the tandem on in Coach A (FGW). Virgin used to use the same trains (High Speed 125) as they were the old BR Cross Country but have now replaced them with the small Voyager (I think they are called).

One interesting point is that I have a CTC magazine with a photo of some CTC bods measuring the cycle space for a tandem on one of these trains - I don't know what they discovered though! I reckon it might be possible to take the front wheel and mudguard off and still hang it up. One way to find out is to measure it, then simply get on a Virgin train to Exeter and back and explore the cycle rack (the bikes hang at the back). If it fits I reckon you have a very good chance of getting it on.

I think it's really important to be able to do the journey without resorting to a car so good luck on this. You can also try the tandem club website message board.

It always amuses me that people think that a bike is the poor man's alternative. On most occasions I am torn betwen the enjoyment of going by bike and the cheapness of going by car. Just work out the cost of two people and their bikes on the train from say Plymouth to London and the cost of their going by car. Or Dover to Calais on the ferry (cheaper if you take the car and the bikes). Or hiring a car in Malaga (£10 per day) compared to the cost of taking your bike - £15 each way on the plane.

Thanks for that georgew - a good point. My youngest daughter has a 700c bike and I reckon it only just works at her size frame. Our current tandem fits well but a 26" wheel may just be slightly better. My main complaint against 26" on a tandem is that the sort of terrain that calls for 26" isn't really fully loaded tandem country, well not for us anyway (though I can hear many say otherwise!) so we lose the advantage (?) of 700c without actually using the advantages of 26". Of course loading is an issue but 700c wheels (48 spoke?) can be strong. As I said, I don't think there's much choice at this price range and Thorn is well regarded but this would push us into 26".

Does anyone know if Ray Reece wrote a book? He went RTW in the early 70s and got lots of stick for doing it on a racing bike.

Hi r2: we've currently got a Dawes Discovery Tandem (700c, steel frame) for light touring which I find first class - really nice ride. But we want to go camping and I would like a few more touring goodies like drops, toe clips, lower gears as well as the usual wheels etc for a stronger bike. A Galaxy Twin would probably fit the bill. Our other option would be a Thorn. I don't think there are (m)any other choices in this price range. But even these two choices leave us with the 700c/26" dilemma. I think it ironic that 26" gives you the choice of tyres and 700c gives you the choice of wheels!

Dai: you may be interested to know that there is a brand of tea (made by Twinings) called Lady Grey (as opposed to Earl Grey). They will no doubt be serving it in this tea shop from now on but the management would appreciate it if you did not request it.

I do wish we could settle this 26" v 700c debate once and for all - it is quite extraordinary and I am planning on getting a new tandem so I need to know. The two issues appear to be: better road riding on 700c and stronger wheels with 26", yet both of these claims are heavily disputed by the other "side". What is the truth of the matter?