Cycling UK Forum

whoof wrote:Just a couple of suggestions, you say you are taking a quilt. I would suggest a couple of sleeping bags and sheet sleeping bags (silk is very nice). These pack down smaller, can probably be carried more easily and are more versatile than a single quilt.

Camping quilts can be a good solution, and can save space and weight over sleeping bags. It depends a great deal on the equipment that is being compared.

Spare inner tubes and a repair kit to guard against the fairy.
Toilet roll
Basic 1st aid kit; with suntan cream, midge repellent.
I guess spare cycle kit and apres cycle kit are a given, along with a towel / wash kit.
A light.
Sometimes it is best just to go and not over think it....

Vorpal wrote:

whoof wrote:Just a couple of suggestions, you say you are taking a quilt. I would suggest a couple of sleeping bags and sheet sleeping bags (silk is very nice). These pack down smaller, can probably be carried more easily and are more versatile than a single quilt.

Camping quilts can be a good solution, and can save space and weight over sleeping bags. It depends a great deal on the equipment that is being compared.

Also depends on how you sleep.

Individual sleeping bags stops quilt stealing, either accidental and on purpose. Supposedly I do this a lot, accidentally.

Individuals also find that they are comfortable with different ambient temperatures. I can ride all day in 35 C plus quite happily, Mrs Whoof finds it hot much about 30 C. At night I don't sleep well if I get too warm. If camping in somewhere like Southern France in Summer I will start off the night on top of both my sleeping bag and sheet. I might get inside the sheet at about 2-3am and in the bag at 5 -6 am. Mrs Whoof gets in her sleeping bag from the off. Having our own stuff we find this easier without disturbing each other sleep.

Corkscrew?

The obvious one is don't forget your passport.

I know someone who did.

I think you have it all covered. As an extra I'd download the POIs of the french Municipal campsites to the Garmin, if that's the sort of campsite you like. I found them invaluable particularly when travelling along a stretch of tourist coast where the commercial campsites seemed very expensive. I did have to come off route a few times, but never more than 20km
I downloaded from this site, though there may be others;
http://www.archiescampings.eu/

Edited - Got my Eurovelo routes wrong

Include evening footwear if you haven't, a lot of folk assume they can minimise kit by only taking their cycling shoes. Evening shoes will be welcome after a ride.

My evening footwear evolution has been
1. trainers - too bulky
2. Teva sandals - OK, but I still wanted less bulk
3. nothing (cycling shoes are Sidi Dominators or similar) - gave up after 4 or 5 days and bought some flip-flops
4. Minimal shoes (Jingas, Fivefingers) - no good for wandering round town in, though it may have improved with persistence.
5. Cycling footwear selected for full-time use (SPD sandals). I've stuck with these for the last 5 years or so, and don't propose to change. Just don't forget that your feet need sunscreen too.

Some time ago I started a thread on "what did you forget to take on tour?", appropriately I forget the exact title. See if you can dig it out, there might be something useful in the replies. There weren't many, perhaps it's something people don't like to talk about. I did meet a group touring near the Canadian border and the lass in charge had forgot to tell people to bring passports so they couldn't go into Canada. You're going to a civilized country, unless a Frexit campaign has started by the time you get there so there's nothing you can forget that you can't get on tour. I've even bought an extension cord in France to do some creative wiring for a charger. IMO it's worth risking not having something, you can get carried away and go to the opposite extreme and find youraelf hauling a pile of kit you never use up some big cols.

Some paragon replied to my query that they had never ever forgotten anything. This wunderkind might have suggestions.

Wait... I have thought of something. Make sure you have passwords/pins for anything that might need them written down, somewhere separate from the devices. if you're like me you can't trust memory.

The 'Loire a Velo': forget toilet rolls, take some small packs of tissues - much handier, easier to carry, less obvious, and cheaper in French supermarkets than in the UK.
There are campsites everywhere along the route, but they vary considerably: if you would like a list let me know.The Municipal sites will be much cheaper than the private ones (as much as a half less) and often quieter (although without swimming pools, discos, karaoke, and rip-off shops).
Be careful if you are following the existing Loire a Velo signs, because they are not always very good: often poorly positioned, often missing, and often pointing to the way that you have come from (why they don't put an 'E' or 'W' direction on them always annoys me).
Take a gas can adapter with you - most French gas cans are 'twist and click' rather than 'screw-in'.
Watch out for the tourists on hire bikes, riding 10 km a day and not looking where they are going. (look, I'm a cyclist, dwarling).
Speak to everyone that you meet: a cheery 'Bonjour!' always works wonders.
A clean hanky, and a dinner jacket, are obligatory kit for any respectable touring cyclist.
But most of all - don't worry, and have fun!

Morzedec wrote:why they don't put an 'E' or 'W' direction on them always annoys me

Maybe you mean 'E' or 'O' ?

Isotonicake wrote:My GF & i have our first big (for us) our coming up in a fortnight- 10 days cycling from Nantes to Dijon along the Euro Velo6.

and a taste for adventure.

so what wee (or big) are we likely to have overlooked? What item did you learn not to leave home without?

Thanks,

A marriage counsellor. You won't have much adventure despite your taste for it unless you are prepared for some ups and downs in your relationship. Otherwise it's just a holiday.

As said several posts up- a corkscrew !

I did EV6 from Basel last Sept. Its very well signposted - more so than EV15. One of my criticisms of the signed route was that it actually deviates away to small villages and shops in sections. I can understand the need to deliver a mass cycling market to support the local community / shops etc but it can get frustrating at times to find yourself directed 10km off route so you pass a (usually closed) shop. So with that in mind take a map or research and download your own GPX of the route if you are using a GPS.

Morzedec wrote:There are campsites everywhere along the route, but they vary considerably: if you would like a list let me know.The Municipal sites will be much cheaper than the private ones (as much as a half less) and often quieter (although without swimming pools, discos, karaoke, and rip-off shops).

Take a gas can adapter with you - most French gas cans are 'twist and click' rather than 'screw-in'.

A clean hanky, and a dinner jacket, are obligatory kit for any respectable touring cyclist.

Morzedec, if you could share your list of campsites that would be useful. We spent an hour or so looking at campsites on google maps and came to the conclusion that they all looked generally fine. Will remember to take my disco slippers too!

The lack of screw in gas canisters surprises me, I though the screw in was the iso standard..

As for evening wear, a full tux with cummerbund for me, and ball gown for my GF is of course already packed.

Morzedec wrote:Watch out for the tourists on hire bikes, riding 10 km a day and not looking where they are going. (look, I'm a cyclist, dwarling).

And how can you tell how far they're riding? Do you stalk them for 20km to be sure they're not riding 10km before overtaking?

Some of the most dangerous cyclists are the head-down/bum-up brigade barrelling through crowds - you can generally recognise them by what's on their heads, if you know what I mean