Cycling UK Forum

londonbikerider wrote:

JakobW wrote:I wouldn't travel that heavily-loaded myself, but they all look to be smiling and enjoying themselves?

Well none of them appears to be on a real climb? I'd like to see their face when the camera is off. But good point nevertheless.

I saw a cycle tourist similarly loaded to the lady walking in the second pic.
He was just approaching the top of the col de la Bonette (2731m) - turning a low gear at good cadence - I don't know if he decided to do the Cime - probably not.

ANTONISH wrote:

londonbikerider wrote:

JakobW wrote:I wouldn't travel that heavily-loaded myself, but they all look to be smiling and enjoying themselves?

Well none of them appears to be on a real climb? I'd like to see their face when the camera is off. But good point nevertheless.

I saw a cycle tourist similarly loaded to the lady walking in the second pic.
He was just approaching the top of the col de la Bonette (2731m) - turning a low gear at good cadence - I don't know if he decided to do the Cime - probably not.

That one kilometre 10% loop does come as a shock if someone has over exerted themselves on what is a very long but relatively steady gradient. I rode it from Jausier carrying camping cooking equipment and Mrs Whoof's gear but had a 20" inch bottom gear and we took our time. Took lots of photos,had a picnic and watched Marmots. We passed a soigneur for a British pro team a couple of times who was doing it on a what appear an over geared bike. The last time we saw him he had stopped to vomit.

Cunobelin wrote:Behemoth

01. Satellite station for email and SOS.
02. Ham radio bay.
03. Trailer frame made out of steel. The cover is fibreglass covered cardboard. 2/3 of the space for camping equipment.
04. Battery bay with 30 amp hours of batteries (15 amp hours more at the Console).
05. Satellite station mainframe.
06. Solar panels (72 watts).
07. Antennae for ham radio, mobile phone and pager.
08. Removable briefcase with 10-watt solar panel lid and laptop computer inside.
09. Safety flasher.
10. Motion sensor for if people get within 3m (10ft) of the bike.
11. Stereo system, CD player and 150 CDs.
12. This side: Refrigerator. Other side: Computer with a 207mb HDD, CD-ROM and modem.
13. Brain Interface Unit.
14. Dual waterproof speakers.
15. Map case.
16. Handlebar keyboard built into the grips using binary code.
17. 105-speed drivetrain.
18. Dual air horns.
19. Steering link.
20. Phone.
21. Console: Mac computer with 40mb HDD (graphics). IBM computer with 40mb HDD (CAD, mapping, satellite tracking). Toshiba laptop for typing while riding. GPS chip. Speech synthesis and recognition. 30-watt beam headlight. Fax machine and modem boards.

The sad thing is that almost All of this can now be achieved on a modern smart phone...

A CD-ROM and a modem?

I got involved in a spare time project at Uni to recreate Marconi's first transatlantic comms. We made a massive spark gap transmitter and ruined everything from TV to economy 7 within about 50 miles, all Ofcom approved. Recently a friend has been running a lockdown radio show online, which has now moved on to a SW transmitter. Using online receivers, I've heard him from an antenna in N. Finland. So I'd have a small SW receiver for fun when camping.

But when sailing, my sat. comms unit is about the size of box of Swan Vestas, can send email, SMS and status updates. If I was really flush, I could send small videos too - but yeah in Europe 4G is fine for just about everything.

whoof wrote:
I saw a cycle tourist similarly loaded to the lady walking in the second pic.
He was just approaching the top of the col de la Bonette (2731m) - turning a low gear at good cadence - I don't know if he decided to do the Cime - probably not.
That one kilometre 10% loop does come as a shock if someone has over exerted themselves on what is a very long but relatively steady gradient. I rode it from Jausier carrying camping cooking equipment and Mrs Whoof's gear but had a 20" inch bottom gear and we took our time. Took lots of photos,had a picnic and watched Marmots. We passed a soigneur for a British pro team a couple of times who was doing it on a what appear an over geared bike. The last time we saw him he had stopped to vomit.

Re a 20" low gear
This is the big thing, having the proper low gear inch for the given bike and gear total weight.
I've had a 21 g.i. that was fine for most of the touring I've done, but when I started going places in Latin America, first with just two rear panniers and no camping gear and extra stuff, I knew I would need lower than the 19.5 " low gear bike I went with.
.
Would never have believed just under 17 g. i. Would be remotely realistic, but a mountain bike triple was perfect for the later trips I did carrying more weight.

I've mentioned before that I had hoped to be in the UK this summer, scuppered this year, but I know you guys have 20% + sections, so knew my very low geared bike in the photo I put up earlier would be nice to have if I were to ride up to Scotland one day.

And if you don't use the low gears often, that's fine.

There's a link to Behemoth above.

I strongly recommend Steve Roberts' book "Computing across America".
https://www.amazon.com/Computing-Across-America-Bicycle-High-Tech/dp/0938734180

Jonathan

djb wrote:Have you ever done any long trips, I dunno, a month or whatever? I personally find that whether its 2 or 3 weeks or 2 months, I tend to take the same amount of stuff.

Same here. Its usually approx 16kg in the panniers plus the tent. It never really changes no matter how long the tour. That said I tend to tour between April and October. Always take cooking kit.

iandriver wrote:

Jan Marten wrote:My thoughts:

Pics 1 and 3: Life on the road.
Pic 2: Read too much sales literature defining must-haves.
Pic 4: Long term tourer. Multiple climates catered for.
Pic 5: Moving house.

Made me smile

I thought 2, just done the weekly shop. 5 heading back to Uni.

I don't know what Number 5 is up to, he appears to be carrying three spare wheels. Whatever it is, moving house, heading back to uni or functioning as the club's breakdown waggon, he appears to be having a good time with it.

I mostly agree with JakobW, who said he wouldn't travel that heavy but if they're enjoying themselves, why not? But I think I'd add a proviso differentiating between "stuff" and "gadgets". I like an amount of stuff - warm enough sleeping bag, food, waterproof which might never be worn but I'd rather not be caught without it, etc - but I'm not into gadgets (the Captain Dashboard stuff). But people who are, well, they are, and as long as I don't have to carry their stuff or use their gadgets, that's wonderful for everyone.

As for Behemoth, my first thought is Bulhakov.
https://www.masterandmargarita.eu/en/03 ... emoth.html

I've met a few cyclists who were as heavily loaded as these over the years. On my coastal ride, I met a cyclist in Orford in Suffolk who lad an extraordinarily loaded bike. Mine was 4 panniers which were heavy enough, but he probably had twice as much as I did. I sat with him for a while, and he told me he had left home 15 years previously after finding his wife in bed with another man, and had been on the road ever since, though staying with some friends during the worst of the winter months.

We are warm showers hosts and have had a few quite heavily loaded cyclists stay with us. One couple were heavily into buying vintage stuff, and had panniers and bags crammed full of vintage clothes and much else, that they had acquired on their tour in the UK. When they left us, they headed off to scout round some of our local shops for some more!

This chap didn't even have two wheels:- https://www.worldunicycletour.com/about/

Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free.
Joseph Brackett, Simple Gifts (1848).

Less is more.
Robert Browning

Simplicity is the final achievement.
Frédéric Chopin.

Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.
Coco Chanel.

Simplify, then add lightness
Colin Chapman, Lotus philosophy

Simplicity is the shortest path to a solution.
Ward Cunningham, "The Simplest Thing that Could Possibly Work" (19 January 2004).

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.
Edsger W. Dijkstra, How do we tell truths that might hurt? (1975).

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.
Albert Einstein

It seems that perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove.
Antoine de Saint Exupéry

Generally nature hangs out a sign of simplicity in the face of a fool.
Thomas Fuller, The Holy State and the Profane State (1642)

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication
Leonardo da Vinci

To gain freedom is to gain simplicity.
Joan Miró

Plurality ought never be posited without necessity.
William Occam

I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.
Blaise Pascal

Simplicity — the art of maximizing the amount of work not done — is essential.
Principles behind the Agile Manifesto (2001).

from what I have witnessed while on bike trips, there are some people who clearly have never done self supported outdoor activities before, ie carrying their own things on their back, and have a hard time getting the concept of how all kinds of little or large things add up in weight, and end up having a real negative impact on the activity.
These generally are the minority, some of them you can tell will probably never bike tour again because in their mind, "its just too hard" but they don't or can't see that their choices are making the negative impact on the activity.

most people learn from mistakes, and or learn about living with less stuff but still being comfortable, and from the technical side of things, learn about how to change a bikes gearing. Certainly more in the past, bikes were geared much higher, but at least when I started touring about 30 years ago, in the seven speed era, it wasnt bad and it was fairly easy to change out a stock granny gear to a smaller inner chainring, helping things a great deal.

this thread makes for a "look at these nuts with all their stuff" topic, but at least for the last umpteen years, there have been so many tech changes to lighter things, plus the internet makes it so much easier for a beginner to at least have many good references to how to pack etc.

to those who have answered, how do your setups look for long trips?

djb wrote:from what I have witnessed while on bike trips, there are some people who clearly have never done self supported outdoor activities before, ie carrying their own things on their back, and have a hard time getting the concept of how all kinds of little or large things add up in weight, and end up having a real negative impact on the activity.
These generally are the minority, some of them you can tell will probably never bike tour again because in their mind, "its just too hard" but they don't or can't see that their choices are making the negative impact on the activity.

Or they might have taken their cues from DofE...

Bike

Shelter

Bedding - mat, bag, liner, pillow

Lightweight clothing - synthetic / merino - cycle specific casual - breathable - hard wearing - fast drying .

Footwear - one pair of shoes.

Kitchen - stove, burner, pot, plate, mug, spork

Army knife w/saw - basic light tools - small phone - power bank - light cable lock - minimal first aid - sunglasses - compass - spare tube - minimal spares

FOOD - WATER - FUEL

One pannier kitchen (with bread and oats out), one pannier clothing, green bag - bedding, orange bag - shelter. Top tube bag for daily essentials. 7 month tour -5 to 40 deg.

Last summer I divided a sheet of A4 into quadrants with headings: ride, eat, sleep, wear. I think 'wear' expanded to include anything that didn't fall into the three more specific categories, such as phone, power bank, book (I always take a book on tour, love to read at night in a tent). The specific items in each category will change according to circumstances, eg weather, but that seems to cover the functions.