Cycling UK Forum

lgstrickland wrote:If not, can anyone recommend where I could buy a good used bike in Canterbury (hopefully from a shop who can make sure it will make it?) Or, perhaps recommend a good place where I could buy a new bike that is not too expensive.

I don't know the current state of local bike shops in Canterbury. I'd recommend an e-mail to Adrian at CyclingAge. Finger in many a cycling pie in the area, he'll set you on the right track.

IIRC ‘Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie‘ by Andrew P. Sykes loosely follows the Francigena.

A friend and I rode from Genoa towards Milan then on the EV5 (aka The Francigena Way) - we flew to Genoa then cycled northwards until we intercepted EV5 somewhere around Pavia - 1000 miles, full cycle camping kit, 20 days. Wonderful scenery especially through Switzerland.

Crossed the Alps over the St Gotthard Pass - 7000ft, a 5hr ascent up an old road, much of it cobbled, then 25 miles gradual descent in Switzerland.

Route Planning - I got the gpx track from biroto.eu - the given track was 98% good to follow (the other 2% was 'interesting'!) Camp sites found using Archies Campings for Android and navigation done entirely using Locus Map Pro for Android

We started on 1st July 2016 - Italy was very warm with most days in the low 30s - it got cooler as we progressed northwards.

Just for clarity, Eurovelo 5 may be named after the Via Francigena, but it follows a completely different route. The original route is –
Calais-Arras-Reims-Chalons-Brienne-Besancon-Pontarlier-Lausanne-Martigny-Aosta-Ivrea-Vercelli-Pavia-Piacenza-Berceto-Aulla-Lucca-Siena-Bolsena-Viterbo-Roma.

I'm looking to do this in June - not least because it was walked by an Archbishop of Canterbury called SigERIC in 960 something - he listed his waypointshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_Francigena#Sigeric.27s_itinerary on the return route and most of these translate well. Looking at taking three weeks on a 14" folder...

ericonabike wrote:I'm looking to do this in June - not least because it was walked by an Archbishop of Canterbury called SigERIC in 960 something - he listed his waypointshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_Francigena#Sigeric.27s_itinerary on the return route and most of these translate well. Looking at taking three weeks on a 14" folder...

I expect he was using a very early Nokia.

Third generation Quill I believe...