Cycle camping with a trailer, route 6.

[MrLeadfoot]

I,m riding route 6 Derby to York next spring, this is my first time cycle camping, I have the gear but no idea LOL
My gear will be transported on a two wheel trailer (£75 off e-bay)
I,v got the route plan & will be camping on C&C club cl's,
So any tips welcome

[vernon]

The most important tip is don't be a slave to the marked route.

Not all of the Sustrans' routes are entirely sensible and some commonsense will eliminate pointless miles.

[Tigerbiten]

I've just finished a 115 day cycle camping tour of the UK.
Most of my camping in England was in Camping and Caravan Club site.
If you get the right line then they are roughly 50 miles apart.
I altered my route as needed to fit the where the campsite where, so don't stick slavishly to route 6.

My other bit of advice is to do a couple of trial runs before you set of.
Some questions to ask while on the trial runs are ........

Can you still climb hills with the extra weight of the trailer or will you need to tweak the gears ??
Will your brakes still stop you or are you going to need to upgrade the pads ??
How much will you average speed be slowed down, I work on about 1 mph per 10 Kg, this may limit how far you are willing to go in a day ??
Do you need all the gear your carring or can you dump some ??
etc, etc.

[MrLeadfoot]

The most important tip is don't be a slave to the marked route.

Not all of the Sustrans' routes are entirely sensible and some commonsense will eliminate pointless miles.

Thanks vernon, Looking at the route I see what you meen. I,ll taylor it.

[MrLeadfoot]

I've just finished a 115 day cycle camping tour of the UK.
Most of my camping in England was in Camping and Caravan Club site.
If you get the right line then they are roughly 50 miles apart.
I altered my route as needed to fit the where the campsite where, so don't stick slavishly to route 6.

My other bit of advice is to do a couple of trial runs before you set of.
Some questions to ask while on the trial runs are ........

Can you still climb hills with the extra weight of the trailer or will you need to tweak the gears ??
Will your brakes still stop you or are you going to need to upgrade the pads ??
How much will you average speed be slowed down, I work on about 1 mph per 10 Kg, this may limit how far you are willing to go in a day ??
Do you need all the gear your carring or can you dump some ??
etc, etc.

115 days! good man I take my hat off to you, did you keep a blog?
I will use CL's & do no more than 30 miles per day, 25 miles being the goal, I have to do some training (age & fat) I normaly go overland in a 4x4 & 1/2 ton of kit, I,ll ride an MTB on road tyre's.
Thanks for the reply.

[delport]

Can you still climb hills with the extra weight of the trailer or will you need to tweak the gears ??
Will your brakes still stop you or are you going to need to upgrade the pads ??
How much will you average speed be slowed down, I work on about 1 mph per 10 Kg, this may limit how far you are willing to go in a day ??
Do you need all the gear your carring or can you dump some ??
etc, etc.

Surprisingly going down hills at top speed hasn't been an issue for me with a heavy trailer.I went down hills in France at 40 mph with my trailer, bit of a risk i suppose, but the trailer handled smoothly.
My trailer cost £5
it is a 2 child carrier, original cost £150.Stock photo of it below.Mine has no fabric covering and is all metal and wood now, and very strong.
Someone threw it in a skip, it had been heavily used, and i brought it back to life.
The downside to a trailer i feel is it really felt like i was being dragged back with all the weight i carried over in France.I had so much room that i threw everything on board, not a good idea.

[Tigerbiten]

Can you still climb hills with the extra weight of the trailer or will you need to tweak the gears ??
Will your brakes still stop you or are you going to need to upgrade the pads ??
How much will you average speed be slowed down, I work on about 1 mph per 10 Kg, this may limit how far you are willing to go in a day ??
Do you need all the gear your carring or can you dump some ??
etc, etc.

Surprisingly going down hills at top speed hasn't been an issue for me with a heavy trailer.I went down hills in France at 40 mph with my trailer, bit of a risk i suppose, but the trailer handled smoothly.

Only 40 mph, thats slow.
I've hit 55.1 mph with mine ..........

Its not how fast you can come down a hill.
Its a question if you can can stop/slow down, if needed, without burning your brakes out.

If your only doing 25-30 miles a day means that you'll need to plan your route around campsites.
Doing that type of distance means that the odd campsite at the end of a day could be hard to find and/or very expensive.
I only planned out the first three weeks of my tour because the plan was to do around 30-35 miles a day.
And I stuck to that plan most of the time, with only slight variations due to terrain/weather.

After that I got fit and upped my milage to 45-55 miles per day, with the odd +70 day as needed.
Doing the extra distance ment that even though the route was unplaned, I could find a cheap campsite most every night.
In the whole trip I was only turned away once because a campsite was full.
But in fact that worked out for the best, because the next one was only 8 miles down the road which gave me a much better start/run for the next day.

One thing I did stick to for most of my tour was 4 days cycling then 1 day off.
I was only if I had a couple of either silly long or silly short days that I altered this pattern.
If they where long days I had an extra day off, if short then delayed the day off.

Luck ..........

[Big T]

There's quite a few narrow barriers on the Nottingham section of Route 6 and even some steps , if you stick to the official route. Unless you are a fan of urban architecture, I'd miss the urban section out altogether and pick the route up near Newstead, going north. Quite a nice ride through the abbey grounds and then the remnants of Sherwood Forest and into Clumber Park. Still a few barriers to negotiate around Blidworth and Rainworth though.

[MrLeadfoot]

There's quite a few narrow barriers on the Nottingham section of Route 6 and even some steps , if you stick to the official route. Unless you are a fan of urban architecture, I'd miss the urban section out altogether and pick the route up near Newstead, going north. Quite a nice ride through the abbey grounds and then the remnants of Sherwood Forest and into Clumber Park. Still a few barriers to negotiate around Blidworth and Rainworth though.

Thats a good idea, as I live in Mansfield it makes sense, now I,m getting a beer then I can sit & read your blog.

[MrLeadfoot]

My trailer cost £5

I,v seen them going for a song! but then I wanted one, so that was the end of cheep trailers on e-bay, I bet there is one on now for £5, LOL

[delport]

Only 40 mph, thats slow.
I've hit 55.1 mph with mine ..........

Its not how fast you can come down a hill.
Its a question if you can can stop/slow down, if needed, without burning your brakes out.

I found at 40 mph drivers gave me loads of room, may'be they thought i wouldn't come out alive if they closed in on me.
55 mph would be amazing, i don't think i'd risk that high a speed though, 40 is fast enough for me.