Looking for Advice: First Camping Tour

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
simonhill
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Re: Looking for Advice: First Camping Tour

Post by simonhill »

Well done.

The biggest problem of cycling loaded is when you hit a hill. You rapidly loose your momentum, unlike when unloaded. You then need a much lower gear to tackle the climb. What might be a nice undulating ride unloaded can become a series of climbs when loaded.

I'd suggest loading up and having a try before planning another route.

Basically, get in low gear early, maybe low(est?) gear, pedal slowly and expect your speed to be low. You'll get there, eventually.
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honesty
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Re: Looking for Advice: First Camping Tour

Post by honesty »

simonhill wrote: 21 Sep 2022, 1:36pm Well done.

The biggest problem of cycling loaded is when you hit a hill. You rapidly loose your momentum, unlike when unloaded. You then need a much lower gear to tackle the climb. What might be a nice undulating ride unloaded can become a series of climbs when loaded.

I'd suggest loading up and having a try before planning another route.

Basically, get in low gear early, maybe low(est?) gear, pedal slowly and expect your speed to be low. You'll get there, eventually.
And don’t worry about getting off and walking if needed. We’ve all done it :)
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Re: Looking for Advice: First Camping Tour

Post by Vorpal »

Well done!

Sometimes taking the lessons & heading home is the best thing to do. And you discovered that that you like camping!

As for fitness & distance...

Even when I'm not really fit for it starting out, I usually get what I think of as my 'touring legs' about 3 days into a tour. I guess my body just gets used to the new normal of pedalling a heavy bike for 30 or 40 miles a day. I generally prefer not to do more than that, mostly just because I'd rather have the time to do something other than cycle. That usually means stopping to take photos and visiting tourist sites, but sometimes it means visiting a friend, going for a swim, or just sitting in a cafe drinking coffee & posting my photos on social media. :mrgreen:
There's nothing wrong with walking up hills. No matter how low my gears are, I can always find a hill that's easier to walk up than pedal up. :lol: I refuse to be embarrassed by that.
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RobinS
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Re: Looking for Advice: First Camping Tour

Post by RobinS »

For puncture repairs/protection - we carry two spare tubes between the two of us, and take a pack each of self adhesive patches, but make sure you have a new pack every year. We tour for three months at a time, and after early experiences of needing to buy extra tubes and tyres on the road we now ensure we set off with the above mentioned puncture repair kit, and new or nearly new Schwalbe Marathon tyres (we use Plus Tour). Since starting this exact regime we have never actually needed to fix a puncture!
iandusud
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Re: Looking for Advice: First Camping Tour

Post by iandusud »

Well done on going for it. I'm assuming that you stayed at East End Farm campsite. My wife and I had a long weekend there a couple of years ago and used it as a base to explore the Yorkshire Wolds on our tandem. We did manage to get to Beverly! and thought it was charming. We are no spring chickens but do love our camping trips. I'm sure you'll be looking forward to your next one now. How about something nearer to home next time. I've done a lot of cycling around Sheffield as my parents lived there for a few years and then I met my wife who's from Sheffield so visits to the in-laws always meant great bike rides.
Ayseven
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Re: Looking for Advice: First Camping Tour

Post by Ayseven »

Every time you go you find things you could improve. That's the fun of it.
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MrsHJ
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Re: Looking for Advice: First Camping Tour

Post by MrsHJ »

Sounds really good. I had a flat tyre (first one in ages) riding to the ferry on Saturday morning to get back to the UK (I was coming back from eastern France via Brittany). It was a bit of an « insert swear word here » moment. I had a new rohloff hub that I didn’t know how to remove, anyway you tube and google were my friend. I am totally mechanically inept. And felicity cloake- I’d been listening about her travails with tyres on an audio book early in the trip so it reminded me to find the source of the problem. I still had 25km to do but I did make the ferry in plenty of time (luckily my extra early approach for flights/ferries etc paid off this time).

Anyway coming back to trip planning - I am not a huge fan of cycle touring in the Netherlands although their cycling infrastructure is amazing. But the weather/wind is a bit of a pain and the food isn’t quite as good as France. There are some amazing trips you can do in France (using ferries/trains/even taking the car) and you might like to look into eg EV6 along the Loire. It is mostly very cycle and camping friendly and flat.
Last edited by MrsHJ on 22 Sep 2022, 8:14pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thehairs1970
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Re: Looking for Advice: First Camping Tour

Post by Thehairs1970 »

MrsHJ wrote: 22 Sep 2022, 8:04pm Anyway coming back to trip planning - I am not a huge fan of cycle touring in the Netherlands although their cycling infrastructure is amazing. But the weather/wind is a bit of a pain and the food isn’t quite as good as France. There are some amazing trips you can do in France (using ferries/trains/even taking the car) and you might like to look into eg RV6 along the Loire. It is mostly very cycle and camping friendly and flat.
I am a big fan of Netherlands. The food is great! Pickled herring and Gouda cheese to name but two. Wind can be a pain but I think that’s true everywhere. Just plan on always going upwind and take the bonus when you are not. Great for infrastructure and brilliant campsites. Can’t go wrong. Oh and nearly everyone speaks English unlike the french who refuse to. Having said all that, we are going to France in Easter.
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MrsHJ
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Re: Looking for Advice: First Camping Tour

Post by MrsHJ »

Pickled herring…..hmmmmm ;)

Photo from the last night of my french tour-apple tarte train crepes with salted caramel on the way back to the ferry in Brittany last weekend. But both countries have a lot going for them in cycle touring terms especially for people who want a gentle introduction and are easy to access.
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mattsccm
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Re: Looking for Advice: First Camping Tour

Post by mattsccm »

The kit you have is way better than the stuff we used say 40 years ago. Just bung it on and go for a ride. Then when you have ironed out the biggest wrinkles aim for the flatest bit of land or follow a rainway line based cycle trail into the Peak District to a campsite.Come back the same way the next day. Small steps.
keyboardmonkey
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Re: Looking for Advice: First Camping Tour

Post by keyboardmonkey »

PeterJ wrote: 20 Sep 2022, 5:17pm
keyboardmonkey wrote: 20 Sep 2022, 4:37pm
Sounds like you had a good time and a salvageable learning experience. The Yorkshire Wolds are flat if you follow the spine - such as from Driffield to Bridlington - but lumpier if you choose to go against the grain, as it were. That’s one of the many delights of the area, which is currently being assessed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

I wondered if you found some other place or went for Field House Farm Campsite after all:

https://www.yorkshirewoldscycleroute.co ... -tibthorpe

Although I’ve cycle camped - years ago - I always appreciated the option of leaving all that kit at base and heading off to explore unladen. Good stuff :D
Thanks for suggesting Field House. I checked out their website and although it sounded lovely I figured I'd prefer conventional showers and loos for this trip.
I'm glad you found a campsite to suit your needs. Good stuff.

But just in case anyone reading this might have formed the impression that the eco toilets at Field House Farm, Tibthorpe are, I don't know, a hole in the ground and the showers are a high up sieve or something, here's a video the owners put out on Twitter the other day. The toilets are cleaner than any event toilets I have had the displeasure of using (and quite a few pubs and cafes!) and the showers are excellent. There's only one without a roof, not that I've never dared to use that one!

https://twitter.com/i/status/1582804260886294530
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Goosey
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Re: Looking for Advice: First Camping Tour

Post by Goosey »

Thehairs1970 wrote: 22 Sep 2022, 8:13pm
Oh and nearly everyone speaks English unlike the french who refuse to.
Yawn...
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Cowsham
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Re: Looking for Advice: First Camping Tour

Post by Cowsham »

PH wrote: 4 Sep 2022, 5:13pm
PeterJ wrote: 4 Sep 2022, 3:24pm 1. Where would you suggest in the UK for a 4-5 day tour? I live near Sheffield.
I sleep better in a tent than in some of the other places I've stayed, certainly better than in any dorm in a hostel.
Same here much prefer a tent.
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Cowsham
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Re: Looking for Advice: First Camping Tour

Post by Cowsham »

I'd do the canal towpaths around Sheffield -- if you'd like a change from the hills. looks lovely -- maybe on up to the LL canal or on to York -- lovely part of England.
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MrsHJ
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Re: Looking for Advice: First Camping Tour

Post by MrsHJ »

Goosey wrote: 25 Oct 2022, 9:06am
Thehairs1970 wrote: 22 Sep 2022, 8:13pm Oh and nearly everyone speaks English unlike the french who refuse to.
Yawn...
I speak French (not excellent but good enough for most day to day stuff and slowly picking through newspaper articles etc) and like being spoken to in French so I was probably just giving a heads up as it’s a very different experience to the Netherlands where people tend to speak better English than me. Some people prefer places where English is spoken especially for a first trip. I don’t mind using English but it’s not my preference. I also speak some Italian so pretty happy to go to Italy too and if I go somewhere where I don’t speak the language I try to do a language course before travelling. I’ve been fascinated by the change in France over recent years where French is now automatically used with visitors rather than switching to English - fine by me.
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