Cycling UK Forum

Halfords sell a million bikes a year, and other shops another two million. I don’t imagine the number of cyclists in the UK is growing that much, and surely even crap bikes can’t wear out that quickly? I’ve had two decent bikes (one Cannondale, one Specialized) given to me/abandoned in my shed lately, both about fifteen years old, but low mileage and in essentially good nick. Suits me, because I like doing long one-way trips to Europe on disposable bikes, and leaving them at the airport/station to come home. I’m just wondering if I can rely on this trickle becoming a steady flow – one a year would be just right …

After a couple of decades riding hybrids, I’ve just been given a pristine old tourer, and rediscovered the pleasure of drop handlebars; but I couldn’t readjust to downtube shifters (or bar-end shifters), and started exploring the maze of STI/Ergo upgrades. Then I hit the domino effect: 7 speed STI’s seem as rare as hen’s teeth, so I thought why not upgrade to 8 or 9 speed. But seven and eight speed freehubs aren’t compatible … then I realised it’s a freewheel not a cassette, so that means a new wheel doesn’t it, or a rebuild on a new hub? So scrap that idea: can an 8 speed STI marry with a 7 speed freewheel? Will I need a new front mech for the indexed shifter? Can I keep it simple and not break the bank? I’ve had a good look through old postings here, and my head’s still spinning …

Amazing how instantaneous the 'refuelling' effect is; halfway up (even quite a small) hill, even if you don't feel hungry, you can realise 'I'm not going to get to the top of this without a calorie intake'. Stop for a quick snack, and by the time you're pedalling again, it's worked.

My old Blay Foldex road atlas of France marks campsites, but I can't find a current one that does. I want to keep this one for reference rather than rip the pages out: can anyone recommend what current atlas I should get? (I also want one for Italy.)

Woolwich

Looking at routes for the summer’s trip to Italy, I’ve more or less settled the outbound part, straight south from le Havre via Limoges, sharp left at Millau, up the Tarn gorge and then into Italy by the col de Larche/colle della Maddelena. But I’m looking for suggestions for a return route: I’ve done Calais-Reims-Besancon-Lausanne, and wasn’t too struck, and I’m wondering about something further east, perhaps down the Moselle or the Rhine? I’d appreciate any experiences, advice or suggestions …

With down you tend to get what you pay for: I used to have one that cost about thirty quid, and it was slightly warm and not very comfortable. Currently I've got one by Mountain Equipment that was nearer £300, and I was warm and comfortable a couple of weeks ago sleeping out in the snow without a tent (OK, I had thermals on too). So it depends what you want it for ... Nuff said?

I'd agree with all that gbnz says; the area around Genoa (though I've only seen it from a car) looks very very hilly, and if you're upping and downing a hundred metres or two several times a day, it adds up to as much as an alpine pass, where you've just got one long, long up and then one long, long down. The Po valley from Parma to near Torino is flat as a pancake.
Campsites: there's plenty on the coast, and in the Alps, but elsewhere they're very thin on the ground - i.e. non-existent. Wild camping is doable, but you may have trouble finding the right spot: rice fields under three inches of water are not ideal! Incidentally Fidenza - which might be a day's ride from Modena - has the cheapest hotel in Italy - the Hotel Pingouin (really), on the way out of town towards Fiorenzuola, €18 for a room in 2006. Run by Chinese people in what looked like a converted police station, certainly characterful ...

Maps: 1cm:2km is about right, and torn from a road atlas is easiest. Maps can be hard to pick up en route, as the small roads won't have many petrol stations big enough to sell them.

Campsites in France, you almost don't need a list - practically every town has one, and many villages. Route-wise, I did Calais-Besancon, and found the countryside a bit uninspiring; I think you'd enjoy it more if you picked a route to the west of Paris, head for le Havre/Caen/St Malo rather than Calais.

Tents - practically anything will do; a cheaper one will just be a pound or two heavier. Get the lightest one you can afford.

Have a great ride ...

I'd second - or rather third - Raybo's post: as long as you're past needing stabilizers, most French country roads will be no problem, and will give you a lot more leeway to choose where you want to go.

http://www.hoteldunord-leparivelo.com/

i wasn't cycling when i stayed there, but a nice friendly place that has bikes to lend (free!) and seem well cycle-aware.

You can learn a lot if you google 'stealth camping'; it's a popular activity in the USA, though there they also have to plan for bears, and gun-toting rednecks! It's perfectly possible in France and Italy, though a suitable spot isn't always easy to find (hilly? stony? muddy? nettle-y? open fields with no hedges?) I found the biggest difficulty was lack of water - you really crave a shower after a day cycling in 30+ degrees - but it was ok if I kept it to alternate nights: still saved money, and often pleasanter than campsites.

Unless you've got a reason to go to Genoa (I haven't cycled round there, but I've driven that coast and it's very very hilly), I'd suggest the Cisa pass (between Parma and la Spezia) to get you from the flat bit to the coast. It's about a thousand metre climb - which is a doddle after the Alps - maximises the flat bit, and is the only hill you'll have to climb between the Alps and Pisa. Nice road, nice scenery, better to avoid weekends when it's infested with (motor)bikers.

I used to use a Psion, which had Epoc Palmtop route planning software that seemed to be streets better than any other route planner I’ve come across, especially for cycling. It would let me choose varying degrees of preference for about eight different kinds of roads, so that I could for example just avoid motorways, or keep entirely to small back roads; I could work out how many extra miles I’d have to do to avoid a nasty bit of dual carriageway, etc, etc. It would also calculate journey times at the kind of speed cyclists, not motorists, do. And it covered Western Europe, and cost about ninepence on eBay!
Can anybody suggest software that does all that on a PC? Or alternatively, can anyone tell me how to run Palmtop software on a PC? (I’ve got as far as downloading a Psion emulator, but can’t get it to do the job).

I agree with active, you'll still need a map with you: what you get with a GPS is a relatively crappy wee map, with the priceless bonus of a reliable 'you are here' on it; add that to a decent paper map, and you need never get lost or take a wrong turning again (until the battery runs down!).