Cycling across Europe on the cheap.....advice needed!!!

[BigonaBianchi]

wild camping is easier in France than in Germany imho

 

[jags]

silly question but how can you tell which is a municipal site ,and which isen't.

 

[andym]

silly question but how can you tell which is a municipal site ,and which isen't.

Normally this will be indicated in guidebooks (ie the site will be referred to as Camping Municipal de wherever) but it may not be obvious if you simply pole up to the site.

I would say that municipal sites are not always the cheapest and best value (though they often are). Private sites may also offer a good deal.

 

[ASC1951]

And how many cyclists tour in long trousers? Lymes disease is something to take seriously.

Lymes disease is a serious disease if untreated, but very rare - 600 in a UK population of 60 million in 2005, according to a Parliamentary answer in 2005. You are mainly at risk in woodland/grassland margins i.e. not worth bothering about for touring cyclists, even with occasional wild camping. It is something to be aware of but not to take (generally ineffective) precautions against.

http://www.snowbikers.com/articles/ticks.html

http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/vo061023/text/61023w0040.htm

 

[Andy in Sig]

It's much more common on the continent and the German authorities recommend inoculation against some of the tick borne diseases. One of my colleagues regularly walks his dog along a stretch of the Danube bike path and one day he had to remove 27 ticks from the dog after it had spent an hour or so running through the meadows at the time when a lot of 1 foot or so high flowers were in bloom. You may think the risk of ticks is not worth bothering about in the UK but I would be very reluctant to extend that advice to the continent.

 

[andym]

You may think the risk of ticks is not worth bothering about in the UK but I would be very reluctant to extend that advice to the continent.

No it's definitely worth worrying about in the UK as well. I'm not sure what ASC1951 has in mind when he talks about precautions being generally ineffective. Unless you never ever go off road you should be aware of the hazard from ticks and carry a tick remover in your first aid kit.

http://www.bada-uk.org/

 

[stephenjubb]

googled inoculation. apparently there is no inoculation at present. the last one was withdrawn in 2003 due to health concerns.

hopefully someone will correct me.

 

[andym]

All the more reason to be aware and carry a tick remover.

 

[Riding in Circles]

I used to wild camp in Germany a lot during leave, it was great and often as not there was plenty of space for others, quite often visited by European wolves at night, not dangerous, about the size of british foxes, it was great seeing real wildlife up close.