Cycling UK Forum

You'd have to buy millitary maps (e.g. from The Map Shop at Upton-on-Severn) and use either lat/long or the Spanish or Portuguese national grid that's printed on them.

You can also download basic roadmaps from Mapsource. However, as we discovered only last week, this data is not all that reliable. (We were on the main road from Benidorm to Alcoi, but according to Mapsource that was over to the south on what are in fact a load of little back roads halfway up a mountain!

According to Mapsource and the GPS there should have been no tarmac under our wheels, but having toured through this same area many times during the past 20 years, I know for a fact this road has been exactly where it is for at least that long!

Some years back the Highways Agency, or whatever it was then, implemented a scheme to mark each section of road by "Nodal Points". Each node was marked by a pair of "Raised Metal Studs". By the nature of the scheme, nodes were located at junctions. Of course there was not a peep from the CTC at such a brainless scheme. It was the motorcycling organisations that pointed out that a pair of RMS placed at a junction was likely to cause death and injury to motorcyclists. Orders were then given to remove these RMS where they were thought to pose a high risk. Most remain to this day. What is needed is an agressive joint approach from two-wheeled bodies; not just to deal with problems after the event, but to raise with politicians the question of why the decision-making process can operate in ignorance of the needs of cyclists and motorcyclists - viz pinch-points, humps etc etc!

. . . on the web at ???

This is of much interest to me. There is a refuge just up the road from CTC HQ. It would be hard to make this road feature any more hostile to cyclists. I'm sure you know what I mean . . . just wide enough to tempt the idiots to try to squeeze through.

Even more extraordinary that it should be built so close to an office full of knowledge about the consequences of building such . . .an affront !!!

Regards
mbadmin

They've been marked by metal studs since the days when there were horse drawn vehicles, where the horses has iron shoes and the vehicles had iron tyres, and painting on the road was not a practical idea. Nobody in government has thought of changing the specification for pedestrian crossings- and anyway they probably have 100 years worth of studs in stock.

I'm cautiously thinking of investing in a custom built frame. This would only be used for day rides, commuting and short/medium tours of up to, say, three weeks. Obviously this will be a major expense and I anticipate it being the last bike/frame I will ever buy! Therefore I want to get it right.

There is a particular frame builder I would like to use (Leonard Zinn, USA) who seems to major in ti frames (can do steel, of course) but I was wondering what benefits there are to be had from using an exotic material for non-exotic cycling. My limited grasp suggests steel, being more (?) flexible may offer greater comfort and ti a weight saving perhaps at the expense of comfort.

Any and all opinions welcomed.

Thanks

There are numerous camp sites between Rosyth and Inverness, but I cannot find a website that lists them. I suggest you send an email to the Scottish tourist organisation requesting information on tent sites in Fife,Perthshire and the Highlands. I would hope they could help you. Do check the prices, as some of these sites call themselves holiday parks and will have facilities which you will not require, and may be quite expensive.
The address is info@visitscotland.com

Good Luck!

Have been living in Norway the past 15 years, originally from Manchester. There is a map which contains tunnel information for cyclists at this address http://www.modulez.no/zkv27/
The website is in Norwegian but you may be able to contact them direct.
A must if you are cycling between Oslo - Bergen is "Rallarvegen" a road bulit along side the railway tracks, its possible to cycle all the way from Flåm to Haugastøl on this track which is free from vehicles and takes one right across the top of hardanger vidda. Due to snow its not passable before mid July.

it's ok, i am getting to grips with it. i just needed some time to concentrate on the various functions etc. it'll be great. does anyone know how i might use it when in france and spain? i don't think michelin maps have the right sort of grid to enable gps navigation. is there a national grid in either of these countries that the GPS would recognise. alternatively how do i find out exact latitude/longitude co-ordinates of cols, villages, etc in these countries?

The CTC Head office is now using a premium rate number (0870) , before you say it, there is now no national rate number. See www.saynoto0870.com for more details and the current furore over this subject ref: NHS Doctors.

The CTC relies on volunteers to do its job in campaigning, should the campaigners have to pay extra to contact Head Office.

Should they not have an ordinary line (01 or 02) for campaigners and officials to contact them.

Don't Cateye do a larger and probably more powerful magnet for mounting on the spokes as an optional extra?
Anyone ever tried that?
I have got the 7 model and find that unless there is a very close tolerance it can be iffy in any weather. Sometimes I have to take the battery out of the fork unit and put it back in just to kick-start it.

Oliver - I use a bike Hod quite a lot and find it great for carrying all sorts of weird and wonderful items that I would have to take by car, including three heavy road signs we use for cycle proficiency training.

I've also cycled End to End. There’s no way I would have taken a trailer - they aren't fantastic at high speed and mine tends to turn over occasionally on corners. Although lightly loaded you don’t really notice them, the hod can be a bit of a slog up hills.

Although I would recommend the Bike Hod for utilty riding I would stick to panniers for touring.

Good luck and enjoy the ride!

I inherited some old maps from my father-in-law and stepfather. I decided that I could not keep them for space reasons, and so took them to the local specialist second-hand book shop. I was surprised by the amount they offered for them, and they did say there was quite a market for old maps. Why not get yours valued by one or two good second-hand shops? If bound and so on as you say, they should be worth more than mine were.

My usual cycling pal looks like he won't make it this year, so I would be interested to hear from a like-minded person who would genuinely like to join me (late 50's but reasonably fit enough to take this and other road-cycling activities on during the longer daylight days of theyear) for a pleisurely 6-day cycle trip to the Somme in June this year - dates to be agreed.

Plan is to use the Eurotunnel Cycle Service to Calais and cycle from there, then take the train back (takes cycles - I've checked). Cycling between 35 and 45 miles each day at 10-12 mph and staying at Chambre d'hotes on the way. 3 days to get there and 3 days in the area (around Albert and Amiens) to take in the WW1 memorials, sites and museums (much better than it may sound - the Somme is very picturesque) with plenty of good food and wine to replace those pounds that are inevitably removed each day of cycling!

For an idea of what to expect see my website from 2004 trip at www.geocities.com/cyclefrance2004 and if it appeals then email me at johnacohen@hotmail.com

Many thanks and look forward to hearing from you.

JohnAC

no. NO. BAD IDEA. laser surgery still hasn't been around long enough to be 100% ok and indeed what the doctors/opticians dont tell you is that there is about a 5% complication rate such as worse eyesight then you start with. and forget about joing the police, fire brigade or train driving because if you've had surgery the companies will turn you down due to reduction in night sight that somewhat more than 5% of patients experience. Ok I know that you know that cyclists have suprior eyesight to car drivers anyway but no need to throw it away.
soak the glasses with water. a thick ( relatively speaking ) film of water on glass produces less distortion than blobs and specksof water. and you'd be suprised how much rain a peak cap can keep off your glasses. I speak from first hand knowledge.

Hi Stuart,

We enjoyed our tour in Poland back in 2000. There is some great countryside to cycle through and most of the minor roads are relatively traffic free. However be careful of some of the narrower main roads that don't have a marked off hard shoulder, as the Poles aren't the best of drivers and not used to cyclists. The people are very friendly and welcoming.

You can find more info. on our website http://www.cycletourer.co.uk/