Cycling UK Forum

I've stayed at Lechlade campsite before, which is nice enough.

If you want to travel a bit further, there's a very nice C&CC site just outside Devizes.

phil parker wrote:I've cycled from Glasgow station to Ardossen and on to Lochranza previously, which would be a good option, great roads once you get out of the initial sprawl of Glasgow. I've cycled through Glasgow and on to the campsite at Luss a couple of times and although it's a nice campsite the 'cycle journey' is not as pleasant as the former!

I'm still undecided - Arran is probably nicer scenery-wise but Loch Lomond doesn't depend on ferries (& possible extra train travel).

If I go for the Loch Lomond option I'll probably go up over the Campsies & round to Drymen the finish at the C&CC site on the East side of the Loch, just past Balmaha (Milarrochy Bay). Coming back I'd probably follow route 7 over towards Balloch & back along the western end of the Forth & Clyde Canal (I did that bit in the opposite direction on LEJOG in 2009) as I want to get back to the West side of Glasgow (Bearsden). If I'm feeling energetic I might extend things from Balloch over to Helensburgh & back to Dumbarton.

Can anyone tell me what the canal towpath heading out of Glasgow is like up from near Port Dundas up to near Torrance? The bits I can see on StreetView look OK - it looks to be mainly tarmac or a well packed surface. I'll almost certainly be on a light(ish) bike (Kinesis Racelight with rear rack & panniers running 28mm tyres). I'm happy taking it on towpaths but I will have a bit more stuff aboard than when I usually take it "off-piste".

Regards

Rick.

If you're in the C&CC Eskdale site is nice but not near the coast. I just like it so recommended it anyway.

PS: the C&CC affiliated site in Edinburgh is one of the more expensive sites I've stayed at, at about £13, but it is a good site with good facilities, I've stayed there on three occasions despite the high cost, but it won't stop me staying there again.

I generally plan for a few reasons, but I don't lose the ability to be flexible or change route etc.

On a long tour my route legs and lengths are often determined by the location and availability of the most suitable campsite. So from point A to Point B, using a cycle route planner I will pick my approximate comfortable distance for the day, which could be as low as 60 - 70 miles in Devon & Cornwall or other hilly areas and up to 100 miles on easier going ground (125 miles has been the max). I then look for a campsite(s) in that area and check out reviews and tariffs. A lot of campsites in commercial areas sometimes quote for a package of a car, 2 adults, 2 children and only offer a small discount for anything less than that. So if they do not quote a 'backpacker' rate I will phone them up to negotiate a rate - it often works, if it does not I will try another site. I never commit to a booking and tell them that I'm on a cycle tour and anything could go wrong. Most accept that, some ask that if I will not be turning up to give them a call, if so, I always do. Other suitable sites with suitable tariffs I sometimes call to confirm that they are open, with no problems and ask what facilities they have got. There have been campsites that have been unexpectedly closed or are not accepting tents for whatever reason - and that alone has been reason enough to phone beforehand.

I stayed at a campsite in Martock, near Yeovil at the start of a trip in March this year and I had phoned them up beforehand explaining my tour and disposition. When I arrived a site worker booked me in and was going to charge me £15' but the owner came to reception and told the worker the cost for me was only £5 - and that was a result of my previous phone call!

If I change plans (I have done on more than one occasion) I try to plan a site the night before and call them beforehand - this works well during peak periods where I've been told they are too busy and won't accept any more tents. On one occasion I didn't, cycling from Arbroath to St Andrews and I got turned away when I was exhausted after battling headwinds, luckily I found an available site within a few miles, bit I vowed never to do that again...

...there is one exception to that rule - use C&CC sites and they will never turn away a backpacker, so you're assured of a hassle -free reception and a standardisation of facilities and reasonable backpacker rates.

Wildcamping it is waking to find out the dry plot was now 6" deep stream running down by the side of the crag, result was 6" of water in the downhill foot of my tent.

Waking up after a midge free Scottish week on your last morning of holiday to see a black cloud buzzing above your tent.

Getting made to move our tent by the missus after some irate twerp grassed me up for moving his stuff out of the way to pitch there...Only joking.

+1 for the close pitching. Although we are now using C&CC sites or their listed sites now so mostly they tend to have a 6m rule. I have seen them telling someone mid pitch to move it because they were too close. Another site the guy who shows you your pitch actually paces out 6m from any nearby tent or caravan then pegs out the corners of your plot.

Over-judicious campsite employees who peg out the exact boundaries of your plot in what is basically an open field free to pitch anywhere. Someone who tells you to move your guyline because it is a foot outside said plot.

People who leave their empty shower gel in the shower (or other personal hygiene products). Irrational hatred but there you go, that is just me for that i guess.

You could easily make up a short lead and if you use a waterproof bag (like an Ortlieb etc.) you could happily charge your devices. However, most campsites charge a fee, which used to be nomina, but last year, when using my camper van, I found that this had gone up to a fiver in most places, including C&CC and therefore isn't feasible.

As a 'backpacker' cycle camper, I do not book in advance. For an overnight stay, very few sites will turn you away. Use http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/ to find suitable sites which may be on your route. If there are two or three in a vicinity, that will help if your distance changes. Be aware that some sites have one price only, a high one! As a non-member you can check in to to any C&CC site at a reasonable cost. If you need to recharge batteries the reception will often do this, or else ask a caravanner to do it for you; they have already paid for their hook-up! I always separate inner and outer tent for packing, so it does not matter if the outer fly is erected wet. It will soon dry, even in rain, and the inner can be put up under the shelter of the outer, provided your tent is erected outer first.

Are you are thinking about camping every night ? I did solo / camping in April and found that the tent was very wet from the dew / condensation in the morning, and apart from carrying the extra weight of the water, I needed to dry the thing out before being able to sleep in it the following night. Fortunately I was blessed with very nice weather (April) so within 10 minutes of pitching it had dried out BUT if my evenings had been rainy then I'd have been in a different position. I did 2 or 3 nights camping then one night hotel / B&B which allowed me to recharge batteries / battery pack, wash and dry clothing, fully dry tent and generally reset myself ready for the next few days.

Campsite-wise, I'm a member of the Camping and Caravan Club (Campervan !) so used several of those. The way that worked for me was to see where my daily mileage 'sort of' got me to then onto Google maps, search for campsites and in a second window search for pubs. One without the other was a no go. Happy to dig out where my stops were if you want them but our mileages will differ per day (I did it in 12 days ish) so you'd be out of sync !

I had a good experience at all of my campsites and roofed accom (except one - a C&CC site near Ebury), but boy did the Crask Inn beat the lot hands down. In my book LEJOG should be renamed LECIJOG.

Worth phoning / emailing every campsite to confirm prices - one site near shortlandsend was going to charge me the same a car / caravan / family rate - after questioning it they did offer to reduce it from £23 to £21 as I was going to use hook up electric. I stayed at Summer Valley down the road where the owners gave me a discount because I was doing LEJOG - £8 a night. The Plough (Shortlanesend) down the road was jolly nice too !!

Mapping wise - RidewithGPS puts Google maps on the naughty step for features and useability - in my opinion !
If you are in Manchester then there is a direct train from Leeds to Penzance - Manc to Leeds is easy enough to make that an option.

Train to Leeds, then Leeds direct to Penzance - book early enough and first class is only £32 more
other end, JOG to the JOG ferry - onto Orkney to Kirkwall - campsite near the Leisure Centre - then fly back to Manchester with bike in hold. No stress, no transferring bike from train to train or worrying about spaces for bikes. If they cant fit it on the plane then they fly it down when they do have space and deliver it to your house. At the end of LEJOG I couldn't give a monkeys if my bike had been delayed back by a day or 2 !!
Stove wise, here's a vote for the good old MSR Pocket Rocket - I did camp next to a guy with a Trangia - if you can accept the weight / size then for me that would be the stove of choice. The rocket fitted into my mug and the fuel can into the saucepan.

Apologies for rambling post !!

Yes, I think we need to collate the negative points for backpackers and put them forward in a constructive manner and see if the C&CC will take note.

I can understand some points about charging and security, especially when it comes to liability and even culpability should something go wrong. I am back at the non-C&CC site in Llandovery this evening and noted a plug socket in the laundry room. I was doing my laundry anyway, so I also plugged in my 4-USB plug to charge my iPad, iPhone, Garmin and MiFi, when the owner/warden walked in and had a chat (about touring India of all things, not on a bike) and he got a shock when he saw my plug and 4 leads coming from the plug socket, but he wasn't bothered about it or the principle, just that I wouldn't be leaving it unattended, which of course I wouldn't. Now you can get USB sockets without the need for a plug socket as well, perhaps that would be a way forward?

Prices have gone up for the BH weekend and I was charged £6.50 tonight! However, I'm feeling good because I had a tailwind today!

I've not really had any problems finding places to charge stuff as I can always find a coffee shop/library to plug-in its more that the C&CC are billing themselves as cyclo-tourer/backpacker friendly when they're nothing of the sort or at least don't lift a finger to justify the self-styled label. Coincidentally the last time I was in a fix was at the Devizes site. They offered to charge my phone till the office closed after about 2 hrs so I could call home. Other sites have refused on security/liability grounds and pointed me to a phonebox or pub... Grrrrrr.

I've mentioned my gripes to the club numerous times but have never got any meaningful answers to my points. When I rang to cancel my DD for this years membership lady was more concerned about ticking the right box on her 'reason for canceling' form than my reasons.

Maybe if enough people got together and took it to the top?????

phil parker wrote:I am staying at a Certified Site this evening, for the first time ever, and it will probabalybe the quietist night spent as it is in the middle of nowhere and ther is only one other couple in a caravan. I was charged £10, which the other couple thought was unfair as they were only charged £10 for the two of them, their dog and their caravan! A bit of a lottery at times?!

Yes, I agree about the electricity. It is not feasible to carry an extension lead, but most of us need to charge a phone, a Garmin, possibly an iPad and WiFi etc. I have a 4-USB plug and take it into the pub with me, ask if they have WiFi and if they would mind me plugging in my iPad, to which they always say yes, and then charge everything I own! However, I'm also trying to avoid the pub on a regular basis (had my first pub meal this evening on Day 8!) and there is not much alternative for charging devices. Ok, some owners do a service to charge a phone for £1 (often for charity) but that also gets very expensive on top of disproportionate site fees and laundry bills.

I think I will collate a list of points and submit to the C&CC at the end of the year - so post all your gripes here!

It's always pot luck with certified sites. In the past they have been graded a-n, with D being about £5. Not liking the expensive ones I've always tried to avoid anything above a band H as that usually means £10 plus and depending where you are you can get a commercial site for that, though certified sites are usually quieter.

Horses for courses I suppose, on the whole I think we have far more advantages than caravans or family campers.

phil parker wrote:I am staying at a Certified Site this evening, for the first time ever, and it will probabalybe the quietist night spent as it is in the middle of nowhere and ther is only one other couple in a caravan. I was charged £10, which the other couple thought was unfair as they were only charged £10 for the two of them, their dog and their caravan! A bit of a lottery at times?!

Yes, I agree about the electricity. It is not feasible to carry an extension lead, but most of us need to charge a phone, a Garmin, possibly an iPad and WiFi etc. I have a 4-USB plug and take it into the pub with me, ask if they have WiFi and if they would mind me plugging in my iPad, to which they always say yes, and then charge everything I own! However, I'm also trying to avoid the pub on a regular basis (had my first pub meal this evening on Day 8!) and there is not much alternative for charging devices. Ok, some owners do a service to charge a phone for £1 (often for charity) but that also gets very expensive on top of disproportionate site fees and laundry bills.

I think I will collate a list of points and submit to the C&CC at the end of the year - so post all your gripes here!

Agree with all you say, I wonder how many of us "backpackers" actually camp with them? If not a great amount, would that explain why some areas are not greatly equipped for us?

I am staying at a Certified Site this evening, for the first time ever, and it will probabalybe the quietist night spent as it is in the middle of nowhere and ther is only one other couple in a caravan. I was charged £10, which the other couple thought was unfair as they were only charged £10 for the two of them, their dog and their caravan! A bit of a lottery at times?!

Yes, I agree about the electricity. It is not feasible to carry an extension lead, but most of us need to charge a phone, a Garmin, possibly an iPad and WiFi etc. I have a 4-USB plug and take it into the pub with me, ask if they have WiFi and if they would mind me plugging in my iPad, to which they always say yes, and then charge everything I own! However, I'm also trying to avoid the pub on a regular basis (had my first pub meal this evening on Day 8!) and there is not much alternative for charging devices. Ok, some owners do a service to charge a phone for £1 (often for charity) but that also gets very expensive on top of disproportionate site fees and laundry bills.

I think I will collate a list of points and submit to the C&CC at the end of the year - so post all your gripes here!

Have to say I do feel sorry for the independents as I too only go to club sites and again for the reasons you state. I have turned up at Indy sites only to find silly additional charges for things.

Just remembered another reason why I'm not renewing my membership and related to the C&CC doing sod all for us cyclo-tourists and backpackers and it relates to electric. All I need at the end of the day is to charge a mobile phone a Garmin Edge and maybe a Nexus 7 but the only way to do it is to carry around heavy and bulky hookup cables. I'm also not certain that electricity is included at all sites.