I use a Millets tent, I have had it a few years although they now seem to sell it in
kit form only via their site, I'm sure I noticed similar sized tents sold on their own when I called in recently, mind you the whole kit now costs less than I paid for the tent alone in 2001
(Edit a further search found
this at £34.99)
2001, Lejog
2004, Channel to the Med
tent fits into a small pannier.
It packs easily into a rucksack and is very quick and easy to pitch (inner tent first). It has a polyester flysheet with taped seams and a breathable polyester inner tent that is vented to reduce condensation. The groundsheet is waterproof and the fibreglass poles are colour coded. There is a small porch for gear storage and internal storage"
This is a good set up even for one; as a tip something I have learned is that two sleeping bags can be a good idea, as they are lightweight and you can use one inside the other to regulate temperature, many popular tours such Channel to the Med' ride towards a warmer climate so at the start you simply use both bags and unzip one to regulate temp' etc. A hat for night time use is also a good idea, as is an
Eye mask, not only keep the early morning light from waking you but keep your face warm during the night.
Most people naturally use the temperature rating on the bag as a guide, it is worth noting that many campsites are near rivers and the night time temperature can fall much lower than many expect, nothing worse than being cold and getting a terrible nights sleep as a result, this has to be the most common complaint at breakfast amongst my holiday companions, closely followed by "how hilly is it today".
One of the areas they keep costs down is the poles, they are fibre glass as apposed to alloy so not either as strong or durable, plus I assume they are not exactly made by master craftsmen based in Knights Bridge! like many I thought buy cheap and cheerful to see if I like cycle-touring-camping, then if I do upgrade and invest in a better one later.
After each two week tour I simply stick the tent in the washing machine (I use just water on the outer so as not to reduce the water repellent properties, on the inner I do use a solution designed for delicates/silk...only because I have some though, I confess I have no secret data as to why) and out it comes almost as good as new, I have had to replace the odd pole but that is normally down to me breaking one when being clumsy, as the poles do eventually get brittle and shatter/spilt. When this one gives up I will buy another
I would book ferry just to be on the safe side; mind you as you can see below we tried to go from New Haven and failed due to rough sea; very unusual that though. London-Paris is a lovely ride to do, here is a write up of the version I rode a couple years ago that may be of some interest; I hope you have a great time:
Sometimes cycle touring is as much about the adventure.............
Evelyn, Bob, John, Alistair (with cap part hidden), me, Steve, Liz, Alison, John and John at Morden Hall Park in South London, the other place is somewhere in Paris,
Thirteen of us started this four day cycle tour (with a fifth day off the bikes planned for sight seeing in Paris) at Clapham Common and headed south towards the evenings destination of Lewes near the Sussex Coast. To get out of London we used the very popular
www.wandletrail.org, which as the name suggests is a trail/path, most of which can be used by cyclists that follows the River Wandle, from the Thames in Wandsworth to the river source near Croydon.
The Wandle Trail
Not only is this safer than the rush hour south London traffic but it is also much more picturesque, as the route takes you through the some beautiful parks along the route, like ‘Morden Hall’ near Merton Abbey Mills’, which is a park tucked away at the end of the London underground rail network Northern line, that like much of the trail turns what would be a rather hazardous and it has to be said not a particularly pretty road ride (I'm sooooooo sorry Morden, but pretty you are not) into what is a ride that many local to the area, myself included will actually chose to visit on a leisurely Sunday ride. Now when was the last time you ever heard someone say that Morden is worth a visit!
The Wandle Trail gate 86
We left the trail to join the famous London Brighton cycle route taking in the short climbs over the North Downs in Surrey with most of us stopping for lunch at the ‘Dog and Duck’ pub not far from Smallfields; just to be sociable of course, cycle touring is as much about the stopping bits as far as I am concerned! Shortly after Turners Hill we headed Eastwards meandering through the Pretty lanes towards Lewes and slap up meal at the local Inn where most were also staying for the night. Next morning we all cycled to Newhaven to catch the morning Ferry to Dieppe, which would have enabled us to spend the afternoon cycling thirty or so miles to the first night Hotel in France; it’s here our adventure really started to go all Phileas Fogg! For the first time in three months the Newhaven-Dieppe Ferry had been cancelled; we thought “oh well that’s it, we all have to go home, the end“!
Alison and Alistair in the Sussex lanes
Fortunately the ferry terminal put on a coach that would take foot passengers the 100 miles to Dover, the tour organiser, Kevin White, of Bike Adventures, taking all our bikes in the support vehicle, another coach we were assured would meet us in Calais to take us a similar distance to Dieppe. With the shorter Dover-Calais crossing that would only put us back a couple of hours, but if all went to plan this would not be a complete disaster as we would still just have enough time to the ride the thirty miles to the Hotel, most of which along a new cycle track that starts just outside Dieppe. The modern Ferry smoothed out the rough seas enabling us all to get a hearty meal inside us in preparation for what was now to be a late afternoon ride.
Much of the first day in France was through scenery like this,
Unfortunately on arrival at Calais the promised for coach was no where to be seen, although a very nice French lady on the answer machine repeatedly told me that my call was important to her and to remain in the queue while my mobile phone battery plummeted, I, indeed we all, remained optimistic that all would be well. Sure enough, quick as a flash, two hours later a chirpy garçon arrived with shiny coach to whiz us off to Dieppe. By this time we all realized that we would not arrive in time to do the ride so a plan was hatched to persuade the chirpy Frenchman to take us what would for him be an eighty mile round trip from Dieppe to the Hotel.
Chatuea D'Aveny
After much pleading; ok bribing (thankfully later paid for by Bike Adventures), he finally agreed. Although we had detailed route sheets, he was a bit of a spoil sport and completely refused to take the coach onto the new cycle network, so we quickly found him a map, all be it a not very detailed one which resulted in us getting lost 200 meters into the journey, note that I am now rather impressively referring to distances in metres; continental fashion. Not to be deterred chirpy garçon simply stopped the coach on major roundabout, blocking the dual carriage way, hopped out with engine still running and simply stood in front of an oncoming car to stop the driver to ask directions, strangely they didn’t seem to mind at all as if this was common practice, so after a quick smile and a wave we were on our a way ….only in France!!
Typical Ivy Clad house along the River Seine
We arrived at about ten o’clock, just in time to book into the hotel and head straight for the Local Chinese restaurant; not very French admittedly but we were all relieved to just be there! The morning route briefing was given in lovely sunshine and we all set off in cloudless sky. The wind however was still very strong, a mile into the ride this wind had changed the cloudless sky into a big black cloudy one and we were all soon to enjoy riding at forty five degrees with one eye closed in protection against a horizontal down poor!
Evelyn and Bob have a power rest
The shower was very short lived, plus we could often see each down poor arriving on the open landscape, so on many occasions we were able to take shelter, allowing for the short and very violent downpours to pass. By lunchtime a few of us decided to stop in a village that had a typical ‘locals’ restaurant, as in this case these often provide superb value meals, for fourteen Euros we got four courses, each delicious and well presented, all washed down with some good value yet very agreeable red wine. This for me is all part of cycle touring, absorbing the atmosphere that the local French people enjoy, I much prefer this style riding to the higher mileage tours, the food stops become a holiday memory, as apposed to simply a stop for fuel..
River Seine Click
On arrival at the hotel, most had managed to dodge many of the showers and some commented that they even had the start of a tan! I managed another slap on French meal in the evening with my new mates, something of a miracle as far as I was concerned; not the having new mates bit, but being able to manage any food at all after four courses earlier in the day!
The next day had us crossing the River Seine several times as we headed through the beautiful country side and Paris suburbs to our final destination at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The sun shone and we even had the occasional tail wind to help us on our way, the rain holding off until the Tower was insight. Bike adventures had found what was a relatively quite route into Paris, that included cycle routes, very impressive parks and suburban back roads.
No point in going to Paris unless you buy a silly...I mean sexy hat, John and Steve looking just "GOOOORGEOUS".
My friend Alistair and I were admiring the Eiffel Tower as we crossed the River Seine on a footbridge, pushing our bikes, the tower suddenly disappeared in another short lived down poor, with no where to hide we pressed on as we could see we were near the end. However the adventure for me had another twist, at the end of the footbridge I recall my last words to Alistair being “be careful this ramp may be slippery” as I held cycle in one hand and banister in the other I began pigeon stepping carefully down. A moment later I slipped on the wet decking surface, instinctively I tightened my grip on the banister, pulling my shoulder eight inches out of the socket as a result.
Paris rain, even the cars were finding it tough going, John took this at about the same time I was dislocating my shoulder!
As is common in moments like this I knew straight away that this was more than a simple slip on my backside and that I had hurt my self, confirmed moments later when little fountains of water appeared in each eye and my upper lip appeared to not be as stiff as a British man abroad should display; sorry Britain I have let you down! I immediately sent a text to Bike Adventures and some other friends ahead of us on the tour, unfortunately as I pressed send my mobile phone battery went flat; so I could only assume they had not been received! Alistair, who had managed to stay on his two feet, kindly asked some passing French people to phone for an Ambulance, who then sheltered me with their umbrellas until it arrived.
Even the Ducks dine well in Paris
There I was lying in the stretcher in the Ambulance shaking (in a rugged stallion like fashion of course) merrily away in shock, by this time feeling a tad sorry for my self; when Sue appeared in the doorway, I have never been so pleased to see anyone; ever! They had received one of my messages after all and came back to help! I must say that my fears of being treated as a result of an accident in a foreign hospital were completely quashed.
The care I received was magnificent, they allowed two of the group, Cliff and Sue to come with me in the Ambulance (the rest of the group Kevin swept up in van, I mean the Broom wagon; very Tour De France), at no time was I left alone, at no time was I made to wait, they were actively treating from the moment I entered the hospital to the moment that it took the four staff to pull my shoulder back into the socket; one pulling my good arm straight out as I sat in a chair, another pushing down on my shoulders, another trying to pull my bad arm straight out with the fourth also trying to pull my bad arm down, as my shoulder had popped under the socket, so it had to be pulled both out and down at the same time.
The doctor pulling my bad arm down was sitting on the floor, her legs up on the seat of my chair, eyes closed and grimacing and groaning (although it sounded sexy in French) as she pulled as hard as she could, all of which as you can image was pure joy
hoorah for Morphine that‘s what I say! Within five minutes of it going back in I was in the Taxi on route to the hotel, modelling a trendy blue sling and rather fetching blue cape, the four staff all came to say goodbye and even the I can not speak any French I was able to make it very clear to them how grateful I was; a job well done.
The next day Bike Adventures transported all our bikes back to London Waterloo Station by van, meaning the rest of us had a free day in Paris to take in the sights, buy some souvenirs and have yet another slap up meal in a quaint Paris restaurant, before catching the late afternoon Euro star to rendezvous with our bikes at Waterloo. This tour may have been short, but it was action packed, as usual I met up with friends from previous tours and made some new ones. I may have to do it again next year; although with a few tweaks me thinks.
Group Photo somewhere in France, John and Liz, Me, Steve, Cliff and Sue, John, Bob and Eveleyn, John and Alistair
