Cycling UK Forum

Done it both ways as a single ride and once as a compass point End to End.

If you are camping spend a night wild camping at Ardnamuchan lighthouse, there are some nice pitches by the old coastguard cottages. Get there before 5.30pm and you can get water and a wash in the visitors centre. Don't panic if you hear something like a pack of dogs barking in the night, it will be seals on the beach below. It has fooled many me included.

The road from Salen to Kilchoan along the loch and over the pass, is one of my favourite rides.

This or a similar thread crops up at regular intervals and the posts are often a repeat of others that have gone before. Perhaps the mods should insist on OP doing some forum research before repeating previous topics. Or go and look at the "The Loaded Touring Bike" website and you will find there are almost 500 touring bike pictures with about 70% using Brooks saddles. That in itself should be a recommendation.

I was expecting to see Graham at York and when he wasn't there I feared the worst. After making some enquiries I had a message yesterday that had come via his niece that he had died early this month.

One or my favourite memories of him was when he did the charity ride around Britain accompanied by his dog which he towed in a trailer.

RIP

raybo wrote: ↑28 Jul 2022, 2:48pm I have an opportunity to spend some time riding in Ireland. I don't have long enough to do the entire island, so I have to pick and choose my spots.

I will be taking the ferry from Fishguard to Rosslare. Riding from Rosslare to Cork, will take me 3 days. I can take a bus there in 1 day. Note that the ferry arrives at 4:30 pm and the only bus left that day leaves late at night, so I would take one the next morning.

My main interest is the western part of the island, where I plan to spend most of my time before taking a bus or train to Dublin and then returning to England.

For anyone who has ridden this route, is it worth it to ride to Cork or is it better to spend the extra days elsewhere?

Get the overnight ferry, sleep on one of the recliners then get the early bus to Cork.

A friend of mine knew of one perfect person. His wife's first husband.

Perhaps I should have put my post on here in the first place.

I just get fed-up of the moaning about bad experiences of bikes on trains when I who have used trains extensively with fully loaded bikes, find no real cause to complain.

Take the second image in the Mercian Way first post. The OP is clearly not following the guidance for the bike space. With advice from CTC and other cycling groups the Voyager train was designed to carry three bikes hanging up, something clearly not done.

I was simply following up on previous posts which seamed to be more about knocking the railway system than The Mercian Way. If the mods wish to move my post to another similar topic they can go ahead and do so.

In defence of the rail service.

It surprises me when I hear of these train stories because I have used them extensively as an aid to my cycle touring over the last 20 years, and only very rarely had a problem. In fact, most time it has been quite the opposite.

Due to having Covid a month earlier I was very much low on energy so I decided to use the train from my nearest station Worcestershire Parkway up to York for the rally. Here is how the train journey went:

Tickets were purchased online and bike reservations made afterwards at the station ticket office. There were no charges for bike reservations and after reading a previous post, I checked train company websites none appeared to want a fee.

My first train was slightly delayed because of cable theft and arrived in Birmingham where I changed 6 mins late. My York train was also delayed but a member of the station staff told me that my train would be busy and to board another train waiting at the next platform. He spoke to the train manager who confirmed it would be okay for the bike even though my reservation was for the other train. Result I arrived in York earlier that I would have.

On the return my train from York was on time and very quiet to my change station at Derby where I found my next train was cancelled due to impending rail strike. Again the station staff were great and made alternative suggestion the easiest being catch the next train to Birmingham and then a train to one of Worcester’s stations. Staff a Derby spoke to train manager who even helped my put the bike on the train. At Birmingham I was informed due to the strike Worcester trains were also cancelled. So I caught a cross-city train to Bromsgrove and had an enjoyable 24 mile ride to home. A result I was very happy with my journey even with a rail strike looming.

rareposter wrote: ↑4 Jul 2022, 7:06pm
Also, it's worth waiting on expensive items for special offers where you can get 70% or 80% off selling fees. Sometimes you need to be a reasonably active user to be "granted access" to these offers so it's worth keeping a few small ticket items trickling through and keep checking your messages within the app - they don't flag up as notifications (unlike notifications to say you have a message from a buyer for example) so you have to check for them and then accept the offer. It then gives you a short window in which to list the item and be eligible for the reduced fees.

Sorry if you already know this but ebay special offers only apply if the item is sold in the first sale period. If it is re-listed by ebay after the original time period, you will be charged the full 13% sale fee.

I know someone who got caught out by this clause in ebay's agreement and ended up losing money on a sale.

Good to know it may be helping you.

I looked at both Medium and Large in Halfords but the foam seemed to be a little too soft for helping with my problem. I may give one a try though.

531colin wrote: ↑29 Apr 2022, 7:05pm

Greystoke wrote: ↑26 Apr 2022, 4:36pm I had numbnuts, tried many saddles selle SMP trek fixed it. Trek model suited my riding position.
Not sure if my issue is similar but I hope you find a solution

Just got an SMP TRK saddle "tester" from Dillglove.
Doing OK so far; I found it a bit odd to set up, I am aware of the 2 separate sides where the nose of my Brooks used to be. **
Setting the nose 5mm down relative to the back of the saddle is better, and next I'm trying it set a bit further forward.
i guess I'm trying to sit on the back of the saddle.

**I was never that aware of the Brooks nose, but thats the bit which has done me, after many years riding the things!

How did you get on with the SMP TRK and which size of saddle did you try?

Cyclo2022 wrote: ↑16 Jun 2022, 11:22pm I use Camelbak Podium bottles never had any leaks or problems with them and have been using them for over 3 years.

+1

I always use the www.gwr.com site for booking train journeys with a bike. I am not a user of Facebook so I don't know the procedures for using it.

I have just run a test for a booking on the 12.03 for this Sunday 12th June and it has given me a reserved seat and a bike reservation.

Have you booked your train to Penzance? If not this is the website you need do a booking. You can also do your bike reservation on this site. An E-ticket can be forwarded to your mobile phone or you can collect the tickets at Paddington.

Just an additional thought in case it has been overlooked. For anyone travelling to Penzance by train from London with a bike, a reservation for the bike is required. Not having one could result in the bike not being allowed on the train.