Cycling UK Forum

Cost of B&B's this year!


I didnt get to the uk to Audax once last year due to other touring commitments, but I would like to get over for a few next spring/summer.

I have a small list of Audax rides I would like to have a go at, but the cost of ferry + B&B is making me think twice about camping instead.

I have 2 panniers on my bike - large ones. How much weight should you allow for your camping equipment, and any recommendations ie tent, type of tent, perhaps a bivi is best, and how to warm up water for meals etc?

I am going to have to think hard about what to bring, because when I travelled over the summer, even for just a week, I had two very bloated and full panniers, and I am wondering how to fit it all on.

Where do you find out where you can camp too? I have taken a peak at camping sites in Norfolk for example, and there doesnt seem to be many... Where I live, you can camp anywhere, not sure if this is true for the UK tho, and I must admit, I like a hot shower too.

A useful alternative are places like Travelodge and Premier Inns which often have very cheap deals, particularly at weekends. On my last ride, we stayed two nights at the Travelodge in Burnley. For a family of four sharing a room it came to £80 (i.e. £10pppn). No breakfast but still a pretty much unbeatable deal. (Breakfast was an excellent and cheap "full English" at the Morrison's supermarket near the start of our ride.)

There are several threads on here about what to take camping. This is one of the more recent. One needs to be pretty ruthless about minimising the stuff carried. A decent portable stove is essential. I have a ThermoPro, reviewed a couple of months ago... viewtopic.php?f=18&t=55051 Others recommend a Trangia stove.

There are also several threads about tents. Do a search on 'tent recommendation' or similar.

If you pitch up at a fee-paying campsite, they will usually have showers and other facilities for campers to use. When camping in other places, one just needs to ask permission, or use discretion.

I have sometimes planned a trip to stay in a hostel or campsite every third day or so, and wild camped in between. That way, I can camp cheaply, but still get a hot shower now and again. There is also a sticky thread for reviewing campsites. There are a couple of websites that list campsites. But sometimes there isn't very much information for an area. I've come across campsites that are a few pitches behind a pub/inn for a reasonable fee that didn't seem to be advertised anywhere.

The typical weight carried for camping ranges from around 25Kg to half that.
Make sure the rear wheel is strongly built, the most common problem touring is probably spokes breaking in a rear wheel.

What you carry depends on how minimal you are prepared to go and how far from civilisation you will be riding.

I tour with around 22Kg of load which includes a 4Kg 2man tent, Trangia stove, full fuel bottle, Exped down mat and inflatable pillow, Alpkit sleeping bag, small stool, emergency dried food, 2 full drink bottles, enough clothing for a complete change and another base layer, flip flops for use showering, small camera & radio, bike spares, tools, pump. The bike is equipped with 4 panniers, mudguards, lights and a computer.

I tend towards comfort and probably carry too much, especially in the way of tent and warm clothing. I like space in the tent when it is raining and find you can cool down very quickly on a campsite once the cycling is over - so warm clothing!

A good idea is to go for a couple of trips locally to find out how you like to cycle camp.
Borrow some camping gear and see what works, or not, for you before splashing out and buying something.
Have fun.

~If you are just looking at camping to solve the problem of where to stay for the night after/before a longer audax it's always worth getting in touch with the organiser to see if there is any floor space available....you might strike lucky and only need to take a sleeping bag.

As Manx Cat knows, I camp in a Spartan way. Some details at http://cycleseven.org/tour-to-skipton-and-back

julk wrote:The typical weight carried for camping ranges from around 25Kg to half that.
Make sure the rear wheel is strongly built, the most common problem touring is probably spokes breaking in a rear wheel.

What you carry depends on how minimal you are prepared to go and how far from civilisation you will be riding.

I tour with around 22Kg of load which includes a 4Kg 2man tent, Trangia stove, full fuel bottle, Exped down mat and inflatable pillow, Alpkit sleeping bag, small stool, emergency dried food, 2 full drink bottles, enough clothing for a complete change and another base layer, flip flops for use showering, small camera & radio, bike spares, tools, pump. The bike is equipped with 4 panniers, mudguards, lights and a computer.

I tend towards comfort and probably carry too much, especially in the way of tent and warm clothing. I like space in the tent when it is raining and find you can cool down very quickly on a campsite once the cycling is over - so warm clothing!

A good idea is to go for a couple of trips locally to find out how you like to cycle camp.
Borrow some camping gear and see what works, or not, for you before splashing out and buying something.
Have fun.

Good advice - you dont have to be minimlist - you are on holiday - need to consider what suits your way of doing things - mine is 1) that I spend more time camped than I do cycling so during that time I need to be dry, warm and well fed 2) you cannot control the weather - it may be all right to brazen it out on a day ride when you have a warm comfy home to go to complete with hot bath and a warm duvet but on a multi day camping tour even in the summer you can spend days riding through not good weather - becomes a bit disheartening if you are not equipped properly

Get a roomy 2 man tent with good waterproofing and plenty of space for your gear. Avoid horrid little tents with only side entrances, they are uncomfortable and useless in rain. A 5 degree sleeping bag, a light airbed. A small stove, cup, bowl and spork. Thats all you need for a brew and breakfast, you can always do a pub or takeaway in the evening. If you purchase sensibly priced gear and dont get fixated by weight decent gear will cost less than £200. My camping gear including a rugged waterproof stuff sack to carry it on top of the rack weighs 5.5kg. I could have spent £1000 and saved 2kg, but it makes no sense.

Happy camping!

Al

Hi Mary - Good to see you back!
Try a trailer.
I got a Carry Freedom like Mick F's because I dislike the effect of loads of luggage on the ride quality. It really works wonders for the saddle interface areas.
You hardly feel its there except on steep hills. Is it tough? Dragged it along 40miles of really gnarly towpath in France, and behind a tandem too - not a gentle experience by any reckoning! It got a bit dusty...

al_yrpal wrote:Get a roomy 2 man tent with good waterproofing and plenty of space for your gear. Avoid horrid little tents with only side entrances, they are uncomfortable and useless in rain.

Happy camping!

Al

This is a sensible suggestion - never quite latched on to the intriguing part of getting a tent or bivy so small that you have to leave most of the luggage outside. 2 man sized is appropriate for one for long trips, two for no longer than a weekend trip.

The rest of als suggestions also makes good sense. If you are exlusivly looking at summer camping, get a Butane stove, very fast and clean to light up. Also worth to carry is a couple of freeze dried meals in preparedness for those evenings when trotting about to get some food is not wanted.

I like the trailer suggestion. It sounds like total luxury. I mean, I've always gone ultralight myself but for Manxcat, it sounds like the goal is a base camp from which to do Audaxes. All the gear could go neatly in the trailer, the bike can be a nice light audax bike. The trailer costs a bit, yes, but then the gear can be cheaper if weight isn't a central concern.

Lugging it to the audax start point will be great training. The bike will fly once the trailer is unhitched! I saw many slow-n-steady tourers (probably doing bigger mileages than me) using trailers in France this summer and it's quite impressive when they set up camp with chairs and tables and awnings and whatever they fancy!

I did a 4,000 mile tour this summer pulling a trailer.
Being disabled means I cannot pack things down small into stuff sacks.
Having the extra volume, 155 liters, due to the trailer means I don't have to.

The major downside is that train opperators like trailers even less than bikes.
So pulling one means you cannot use a train.
So unless your going to cycle Ferry -> Audax -> Ferry rule one out.

Luck ............

I use a trailer for shopping and days out with the kids. While we really like the trailer, I have been refused train space with it. I have to admit that that can limit where we can go.

I also wouldn't take a trailer for touring, because I'd either take too much, or acquire stuff as I went. What I carry seems to expand to maximum capacity, whatever I do. So I tend to limit my carried weight by limiting capcacity.

Camping and Audax, it's my definition of a perfect weekend
If just looking at one or two nights there's no need to go overboard on the kit. It isn't like you'll be spending day after day with it, enough to keep you warm, dry and fed is all that's required. There's a great choice of sub 2kg tents, the Hilliberg presently in the classifieds is rated as amongst the best one person tents available. But really anything from a recognised make will be fine for summer campsite camping. I wouldn't compromise on sleeping stuff, it took me a few experiments to find what works for me, I now sleep as well in a tent as I do at home. Most people, including me, find the modern insulated airbeds far better than the thiner mats, Exped are the most common make though there are others. For a day or two I only take enough cooking gear to boil water. My preference is the Jetboil, it's small neat, clean and doubles up as a cup. I like Merino clothing, there's presently some great offers from Planet X, it works like the best of technical fabrics, it's different because it doesn't smell! If you're not careful clothing can take up a lot of space. You can't expect to get it all right the first time, if you're not riding a lot of miles with the camping kit I'd advise that it's better to take too much than too little, you can work out after each trip what you didn't need and what you wished you'd had. My first port of call when looking for a campsite on the internet is UK Campsite
http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/
I don't mind wild camping sometimes, though if you're looking to camp before and after the Audax it's nice to have your tent ready to fall into.
I started as a reluctant camper, when it became harder to find space in hostels and because I couldn't afford B&B prices. Now I camp through choice, any excuse sees me loading the tent up and getting away for a weekend. My kit for a couple of nights fits int two small panniers and weighs around 11kg, Unless it's really hilly I hardly notice it, I've done a few 200k DIY Audaxes carrying it.
Look forward to seeing you on some campsite near some Audax, just give it a go, it won't take many nights B&B savings to recoup the cost of the kit.

I quite like camping but Mrs ChrisC is not a fan ! Therefore, when awaynights are contemplated I do lean towards Travelodge if near our route, which guarantees a warm, clean room with en suite bathroom and, a bonus, never yet a refusal for us to have our bikes with us in our room (Premier Inn has refused us this just the once). But, if you want it cheap, nearly as cheap as camping, you have to book ahead and take advantage of their room 'Sales'. There is a Travelodge sale on at the moment as I write, with many rooms still at just £15 per night, but probably not where you want to go, unless you are lucky ! And that may be the clincher of course ...

Tip : these sales are generally advertised to start at 0600hrs on the appointed day. But if you log onto their website at or soon after that time you will probably get frustrated with the 'our system is over-loaded' type of message and get little booked. The way round this is to log on well before 0600hrs and, voila, the sale is up there and live already and it works !

I currently have 12 overnights booked up ahead into March 2012 and only one is costing me more than £12.50 , albeit all non-refundable . On LEJOG last year, the lowest price we paid for independent B&B was £42.50 for double room IIRC. OK, you get breakfast, unlike Travelodge (unless you pay extra). But I guess camping is cheaper and a more flexible option but I will probably never get my wife to go along with it !