Cycling UK Forum

The C&CC has more than one type of site. It has its own sites, which are large and have loos, showers, washing-up and washing facilities and often more. They are good sites and tend to be popular and will have big tents and of course lots of caravans. It is worth noting that they have a backpacker's rate which also counts for cycle-tourists - at £7.49 it is good value for that type of site in the sort of location they have! It is of course much cheaper for members.
The C&CC also has 'certificated sites' which are very small - up to 5 caravan units - and often on farms. These may only have a loo and sometimes not even that. Prices vary a lot but are generally cheap. Some will 'stick to the rules' and not allow non-members in, some in my experience will. http://www.siteseeker.co.uk/aspx/search.aspx is the campsite search part of the C&CC website. This also has 'listed sites' - ordinary commercial sites which the C&CC thinks are good enough to go on its website!

In my experience many 'certificated locations' do not ask about membership when you arrive, and many don't mention that they are a CL on their website. They don't want to lose business, naturally. It's always worth trying a site even if there's a sign outside with 'members only' on it - even if they don't usually take non-members they might take pity on a tired-looking cyclist for a night!

Hi Dave - I'm fortunate to not be disabled in any way but I must just be a bit pathetic at lifting a bike above shoulder height! Maybe I'd manage it with my lightweight tourer, but most cyclists just have 'ordinary' bikes, which even though they are often made of aluminium, are fairly weighty.
Maybe I should improve my upper-body strength before I go on my next tour as well as upping my mileage!
To be fair, none of the train staff batted an eyelid at where the bike was residing, and the 'guard', or whatever they are called these days, was very helpful. I'd hazard a guess that train staff can see that the bike accommodation isn't the easiest to use and aren't interested in making life any more difficult for us or them.

Nottingham to St Austell 15.7.09
No major problems. However cycle accomodation on one train meant I was supposed to take all my luggage off and hang the bike up. I tried this but didn't have the strength to hang the bike up while the train was lurching about. Hence I spent the journey standing in the vestibule so I could move my bike so people could get past it at stations.
Bristol to Nottingham 30.7.09
Ditto - same issue on the Crosscountry from Bristol to Birmingham. These are new trains so it's a shame that they've not sorted the cycle arrangements better. Just because they hang up cycles on the continent doesn't mean it's a good idea!

Cheers! I'm already going to one of them as they said 'we have a policy of never turning a cylist away' which is of course super.

Rellies = relations, at least to me - sorry for slipping into family jargon! I suspect elsewhere rellies = relicts? Actually in both cases it's mispelt and should be 'relies', but that is another word entirely... I suspect I'm just making things worse..!

Thanks for those suggestions - it's given me a few more leads to follow up. Strange about that black hole of campsite round Tiverton, doesn't seem to be any reason for it!
Cheers,
Slowroad

I'm off to Cornwall, Devon and Somerset in a week or so and wondered if anyone had any campsites to recommend? I've got quite a few off t'internet but wonder if some smaller ones don't advertise that way.
I've not managed to find any round Tiverton, where I'd like to go to see rellies, in fact the whole mid-Devon area has about 3 campsites by the looks of it! Tell me I'm wrong and evidently hopeless at websearching!
Cheers!

Cheers!

More really useful advice - thanks all!
Mansfield Marauder - £50 for chainset, chain and freewheel doesn't seem much, nor does £20 for fitting them! Any chance of letting me know what the shop is?
Chris667 - I'd forgotten about Eddison's - cheers, I'll have to pay them a visit.
And George, you're right, a lot does need to be replaced on the bike, and the paintwork is pretty scuffed in places - but it does mean I don't worry about it when I leave it locked up! The bike has cost me very little over the last few years, and arguably if I'd spent a bit more on it I wouldn't be in this situation now - they don't go on being 'old reliable' for ever...

Having spent a couple of hours on t'internet failing to find ANY bikes with a decent touring spec which will fit this 5'3" short-legged person I can see the "this might be the time to treat myself to a new bike" theory turning into "this might be the time to learn how to build a bike"!
Any suggestions re 46cm/18" bikes welcome!

Useful thread - I'm thinking of getting one of EBC's Revolution touring bikes, having already got a Trailfinder which I'm pretty happy with.
Interested to see the interuptor brake levers - my lbs told me last year that these didn't exist/wouldn't work on my old tourer...

Cheers - really useful suggestions. The bike is a Raleigh Touriste so it was a decent but not top-notch tourer in its day. If it was a simple task of buying wheels, sprockets (I'm afraid I'm not that good on correct terminology!) etc., and fitting them, then I think I'd feel up to the job. However I'm not sure how to go about getting the right ones - I don't think my LBSs are on the touring bike wavelength - a tourer to them is one which is able to take a pannier rack (and is probably designed as a commuter), and yes, they do seem keener on selling me a new bike than doing up my old one.
The back wheel which is the main problem is a racing wheel (I am told), and I'm wondering now if it was up to the job of touring fully laden. There seemed to be a problem getting the right parts when I got the bike refitted 10 years ago so I'm wondering if it'd be even more of a problem now. Hmmmm!

Thanks for all the advice! The bike needs a new back wheel and possibly front wheel, new chain, front & rear gears, etc. The £200 included £50 for a service.
It was always a bit of a stretch when I had drop handlebars but I had some (admittedly ugly) flat bars put on last year. But the bikes I tried in the shop today had higher bottom brackets so I couldn't get my toe on the ground when the saddle was the right height, which doesn't seem right to me. The guy in the shop said you need to jump off the saddle forwards when you stop so you are standing over the bar - I don't think I can learn that after 40 years of cycling!
I've pushed the bike home and I'll think about it being a winter project. There is a bike refurbishing project nearby who could help.
Maybe I need to get to one of the events and try a few bikes, there are so few suitable ones in the shops?

My local bike shop have just rung to say that my 20-year-old tourer needs at least £200 spending on it - new wheel, drivechain, etc etc. They think I should get a new bike as the bike is so old and it's a bit big for me anyway. I did look around at new tourers a few months ago, but couldn't find any which would suit someone 5'2" - I don't like lady's frames and I don't want to spend £1000s as I'd just worry about it being nicked!
Any suggestions?
Should I keep the bike and try to re-fit it myself (with the help of local bike renovation club)?
Any suggestions of a suitable new bike?
The very helpful bike shop will hang onto it for a few days while I make my mind up.
Cheers!