Cycling UK Forum

The law in upland areas varies - you could ask at the local park office. Eg. Yorkshire Dales we were told that strictly wild camping's not allowed but if you're out of sight and moving on then no one will mind (so camped behind a wall near the top of a pass), whereas Dartmoor's segredated into large areas where camping's legal (with conditions - see website) and small areas where it's not.

In lowland areas, I/we've spotted a suitable looking field (flat enough, grassy, no animals) and knocked on the nearest house "Is that your field, do you mind if we camp there just one night, only a small tent". Nearly always the answer's been "Yeh, fine" or "Not my field, go ask at that house over there". And mostly that's it - settle down for a good night and no more contact with the farmer. Though a couple of times on the continent it's had the bonus of "And come in for a drink" or "I've got a spare room you can use".

If the fields are all crops it's harder. So either need to start looking earlier or find a campsite.

For me, this is a good compromise, giving the freedom, peace, beauty and thriftiness of wild camping, without the courage (brazeness? ) and late stops of stealth camping.

Interesting - I'd read about steps, but there were none for us a couple of weeks ago. Maybe it uses a different jetty depending on the tide. Like I said in the post referred to above, it was just a roll-on roll-off using huge stone ramps on both sides. The tricky thing was finding the start of the TdM .......

And for the start point in St Malo, on google maps you'll see a couple of 'Compagnie Corsaire' offices marked - it goes from the ramp immediately south of the eastern one (just a little hut). We got our tickets in the big building 100m further south, but were told we could've got them in the hut.

Thanks, All.

In the end there was no time for the coast paths (see TdM mapping thread). And most replies came in after we left, so just went for it with the wild camping. Spent one night in a tiny grassy cliff top carpark, along with a Dutch guy in his VW van. Another night we spotted a suitable looking field, asked at the house next to it, and got invited in his spare room .

Just to feed back .........

The marked up Top 100s worked v well as backup and for relocating the route after overnight detours. The signage got off to a non-existent start from Dinard for several miles south - at one point with cyclists each relying on others coming the oother way to relocate the route the other side of major road junction crossing . But after that it was great - just the occasional sign missing / hidden by a bush / missed by us. I can't comment on the availability of TdM leaftlets in Tourist Offices - in the end there was no time to check those out.

Re. the route itself, it's been planned out really well - all on v quiet lanes with bits of fine gravel track connecting them occasionally, and a handful of longer stretches of fine gravel. Bril for those wanting a relaxed potter, and would be ideal for inexperienced cyclists. But that did mean it was much slower riding than I'd expected. So with that and the hills - they're short, but lots of them, and with a young teenager stoker more out for the fun than for a workout - we ended up with long days in the saddle, and still occasional short cuts on more direct roads. But still had an absolutely fantastic time. Both came home full of the joys of summer.

The other thing to note is that the coast is only in view maybe 30% of the time. I guess that comes with the planners' compromise of finding back roads. But that 30% is stunning. Have already suggested to Mrs C that we return to Brittany for a family hol .

Oh, and the St Malo - Dinard ferry was great. Runs every 20mins, and a simple roll-on roll-off even for a heavily laden tandem.

Hi,

A more couple of quick questions I’m hoping some here can advise on before we head off next week along the Breton coast ..........

1) Is cycling on the coast path allowed?
Mostly we’ll stick to the official Tour de Manche route, but a couple of short off-road detours right along the sea would be great, and from the pics I’ve seen some of the coastpath looks to have a good surface for riding, eg. around Perros Guirec.

2) What are the rules on wild camping in France? I’m particularly thinking of the grassy bits on headlands or above beaches.

(So far googling says nothing about #1, and nothing definitive about #2, but maybe it’s OK-ish??)

Thanks!

Many thanks for all the replies - looks I'm on something close to Plan C - have bought IGN Top 100 maps, and will trace the TdM on if it's not marked. Two of these covers the whole of the St Malo - Roscoff section. Interesting that Michelin are now marking it on their 1:150000s, though I agree with the concern that they're not detailed enough when we miss a sign. And we will miss some signs in 200m of riding . I just had a closer look SW of St Malo - the route uses lanes not marked on the 150,000, and also a long stretch of old railway line (hopefully there'll be plenty of those) that only appears on geportail at very high resolution.

Anyway, I'll also check the Tourist Offices for TdM leaflets, and feed back how that goes.

Now all we need is for this half decent (and not too hot) summer continues ....................

My son and I will be riding the Tour de Manche from St Malo to Roscoff in a few weeks time, using all the off-road and quiet-lane sections of the route. I don't have a GPS device and prefer paper mapping anyway. I do have the Michelin 1:150,000 maps, but these are too large scale to show all the small roads and junctions. After doing some research this afternoon, looks like I might end up going down to Plan D of my preferences :

Plan A: Paper map(s) marking the route would best, but another CTC Forum thread suggests there's no such thing?

Plan B: Guide book of route, including mapping. Not found anything yet - does this exist?

Plan C: Decent scale standard maps (aka OS 1:50,000) onto which I can hand trace the route from the website. Again not found anything yet - surely these exist? But where?

Plan D: Pick up leaflets from tourist offices. This is suggested as the best option on same CTC thread. Are these always available, and are they a reliable way of getting back on track when we miss a sign or the sign is missing?

Advice on any/all of these much appreciated.

Thanks folks!

Yep - that's the underside - poor pic, I know.

I too just used to look at the top part of the saddle. But having had very different experiences with the VNT and the Arione, which are really similar on top but v different underneath, I can now believe what every bike shop tells me that comfort depends on the base too (numb after 70 v. 40 miles ). In hindsight it does make sense that the flex of the whole thing should be part of the comfort, and that this is dependent on the base as well as the padding, width, flatness, etc.

I guess there must be other saddles with this kind of construction of the base? And to come back to the original question, probably something from the same factory?

Cheers, but nope, that's not the one - just looked at pics online and it doesn't have a honeycomb construction base like the VNT (lots of hexagons cut right through the base) - pic of mine here, which is getting rather worn:

Anyone know of a similar saddle to VNT Elements?:
http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/p/1208 ... ium-saddle
It has a flat top much like an Arione, and similar padding (ie. a bit but not a lot), but completely different base - honeycomb construction - which I guess is what makes all the difference to my butt.

I guess it must be made in the same factory as one of the bigger brands, but is just relabelled for van nicholas. Would be good to compare prices and 2nd-hand availability.

Thanks!


(PS. And if anyone here follows the RCUK forums, apologies for the cross post - no leads there, and my repeated attempts to reply never appeared!)

No, but another 300 lumen light is Moon's X-Power 300 (from £40) - I love it. Also USB rechargable, and lights up a country lane just great for 15-20mph riding.

Anyone know of a saddlebag / large seatpack that has an easy access place to hold an OS map or two? Needs to be around 5 litres. And not too pricey either . At the mo I'm using an old bar bag, angled upward - OK for now, but with the base still rubbing the 9spd Tiagra gear cables a better solution would be good.

Not found one yet - is there such a thing out there? Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Yep, Dale, just knocked on his door (in fact, knocked on the wrong door first, then got directed to the house next door!). Just a very brief exchange to sort out the practicalities and he left us to it (me my lad). Had a longer chat as we were leaving the next morning.

Go for it! Country folk are more relaxed than city folk like me! (This was Yorkshire Dales.)

Belated feedback on how it went ..................... In the end I phoned a couple of caravan/campsites, and one was very happy to give me a spot in view of their house for the price of £3/night to the local air ambulance.

Perfect

Sorry, meant to report back ages ago, for anyone else dipping in ...............

First night we decided we had nothing to loose by stopping to ask a farmer if he had a field he wouldn't mind us putting a small tent up in for the night. "Which field do you want?" was the reply. Very friendly chap, good pub a mile away, then a quiet night not costing a penny - magic!

Second night was tucked behind a wall on the open moor.

Just how it were 30 year ago

(But will also consider backpackers club if it becomes a habit - good tip.)