Cycling UK Forum

Hello cyclers!!

I am a bit of a novice cycle-er and this summer I am going to be towing a very big piggy bank on a tricycle with trailer from Bristol To Brighton, I am raising money to set up my own Children's Home in Bristol. my last challange was I pushed a bed from John O'Groats to Lnds End, and next I hope to cycle my pig across america. I am looking for some advice from local cyclists on which routes will work/ while I ill have difficulty with, mainly due to the size of the pig. it is about 156cm wide. I am quite worried cycle tracks will be too narrow. I plan on going Bristol - Warnister - Salisbury -Eastleigh - Chichester - Brighton, over 5 days and then back over 5 days. This will be using the national cycle route 24, 23 and 2. Has anyone got any advice? I would love to speak to people who live locally to all these places who know if there are bollards or bike gates that would prevent me using cycle tracks and if you know a safe alternate route? I also don't want to clog up cycle tracks with my big pig and annoy other cyclists.

Thank you to anyone who can help

Rosie Mai

my website is www.fullreach.co.uk for anyone who may be interested or would like to get involved online

156cm - you'll likely be best off sticking to the roads. That's a pretty wide trailer, and cycle paths are just not reliable enough in this country.

[XAP]Bob wrote:156cm - you'll likely be best off sticking to the roads. That's a pretty wide trailer, and cycle paths are just not reliable enough in this country.

Another vote to stick to road.

My bent trike-trailer rig is just over 800mm wide, which is around the width of most wheelchairs.
This means I fit through most barriers and just fit on most cyclepaths.
At almost double the width, you're not going to fit on most cyclepaths.
And if you get on, you may not get off.

Also you'd need to know how long the bike-trailer is.
If you cannot get a straight run through a barrier, then the shear length of the bike-trailer may make it impossible to turn it enough to fit.

FUN. FUN. FUN!

Rosie. Hello and good luck. The NCN 24 is fine for your purposes. I use it frequently and live near to where you will divert in Radstock where you will have travelled from Bath towards Frome. I am a Warmshowers host too if you run out of steam.

The Bristol to Bath Railway Path is good too. Shout if you need me to put a couple of GPX from les together if you are going to be using GPS.

PM me if you need a bed, food, water, coffee etc or an escorted convoy. I have a bike that plays inspirational music!

Exciting! I have followed your Twitter link btw.

EDIT: There is a funny chicane thing at Midford, but you can divert through the pub car park and back onto the path a little further up.

EDIT 2: Another chicane thing either side of the bridge at Lidl in Bath where you cross he river up to the Two Tunnels. Easily solved by going up to the next road bridge and dong it that way.

Have you already got your trike and trailer sorted and had a go at riding with it? If it's that wide I guess that means it is quite long and high as well - could be an issue with any cross winds. When will you putting up details of this challenge on your website? If you need any help or advice about moving big loads by bike then Rob Bushill at Really Usefull Bikes - http://www.reallyusefulbikes.co.uk/ - will I am sure be only too happy to help. I could also offer you the loan of a recumbent quadricycle that has approx. 3' x 4' load area which your piggy might fit on without needing a trailer - it also has electric assist which will help getting up any hills. Lastly, when are you planning to do this ride? I live quite close to Eastleigh and wouldn't me seeing the spectacle as you pass through.

FullReach wrote:... I am going to be towing a very big piggy bank on a tricycle with trailer from Bristol To Brighton ...

When you first posted I formed a mental image of a "very big piggy bank". Today I stumbled across a picture: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DGfAqo7XYAEtC_s.jpg

That's Very Big.

Controlling the load looks to me like it could be an issue, particularly bringing things safely to a halt when descending. I've no experience beyond towing around 50Kg of load and conventional cycle trailer on 4/5mile trips.

I trust that you and your team have considered this and found solutions, some form of overrun brake on the trailer for instance.