First Camping Tour

[Russell Allen]

I am just about to embark on my first "tour" of 420 miles according to the mapping, I am travelling from Essex to Lands end (I have a friend that lives in Hayle 20 miles from LE) I will be leaving on 22nd of April I am hoping to complete the journey in 6 days then stay with my pal for a few days. I will be camping, i have a list of campsites along the route so I can stop when I fancy.
I have even managed to silence the annoying "tick creak tick creak tick" noise my bike was making, which I thought would drive me mad if had to listen to it for six days. I have poured over all the tips and suggestions on this and other BB's and think i'm ready..... both me and the equipment. It is still rather daunting, I ride lots of sportives up to 100m but never 70 miles a day repeatedly with luggage (18Kg with tent, mat, sleeping bag, trangia, clothes, camera, phone, and spares etc etc) The bike has been fettled from top to bottom, greased, lubed, loctited and torqued and is ready to go. I even managed to book the train back from penzance to Essex with my bike for the princely sum of £22.00. Just crossing my fingers on the weather now.

Any calming words of encouragement or further tips gratefully accepted

Regards

Russell

 

[mcshroom]

You should be fine, just remember not to push too hard, it's not a sportive

70 miles a day is quite a distance, but you do have the whole day to go at each day so don't pressure yourself too much; and remember to take lots of photos as we are all nosy love to see and hear reports of other peoples' ride

 

[Telemark]

It is still rather daunting, I ride lots of sportives up to 100m but never 70 miles a day repeatedly with luggage (18Kg with tent, mat, sleeping bag, trangia, clothes, camera, phone, and spares etc etc) The bike has been fettled from top to bottom, greased, lubed, loctited and torqued and is ready to go. I even managed to book the train back from penzance to Essex with my bike for the princely sum of £22.00. Just crossing my fingers on the weather now.

Any calming words of encouragement or further tips gratefully accepted

You'll be fine! (Will that do? )
With your sportive experience you shouldn't have any problems fitness-wise...

Your touring pace will obviously be a lot slower than for sportives, don't try and push too hard and keep it sustainable, that's what gears were invented for . And have plenty of eating & drinking breaks, so your body can replenish itself, rather than wearing yourself down...

You haven't said whether you have previous camping experience! If not, I'd have a go camping in your own garden (or a friend's) and testing all the gear, if only to find out what you really need (and how it works ) and what you can live without. 18 kg sounds like quite a lot (unless it includes the bike)!

If you are really worried, you could always to a test-weekend (or part-weekend) between now and Easter. If you don't have time for a full weekend away, you could try Saturday afternoon until Sunday lunchtime ...
Load everything you intend to take on the bike, cycle to a campsite a suitable distance away, and cycle back home the next day. This would also give you a feel of cycling loaded on consecutive days...

[Alternatively, if staying away over night due to other commitments isn't possible, you could just pack your touring gear, go cycling for a day, come back home & camp in the garden (if you have one), and then ride off again with all your gear for at least a short ride the next day. You might feel silly doing that, though ]

Having said that, neither is really necessary given your fitness, but if it makes you feel like you are prepared as well as possible ...


Whatever you do, enjoy your tour! (and post some photos and a write-up in the "Riders' tales" section)

T

 

[snorri]

Any calming words of encouragement or further tips gratefully accepted

You are never far from somewhere between Essex and Cornwall, so if anything goes wrong, help is close at hand. Fight any temptation to delay your starts in the morning, leave the sightseeing until later in the day. Finally, stop and speak to a stranger every day, the people you meet often help make tours memorable. Enjoy yourself, and remember it's a tour, we will not be impressed by any speed related apres tour statistics.

 

[Russell Allen]

I was already planning a little shakedown trip to make sure I have everything ready, April the 8/9th, cycle 30 miles, camp the night, cycle 30 miles home. I also overstated the weight, at the last weigh in it was just over 14 kg for everything (including the clothes I will be wearing). I wont be hammerinhg it "sportive style" either, I'm aiming to average 10 mph, on a 100 mile sportive I can manage 16 mph so I think 10 will be fairly do-able on a loaded bike ....... and I have got all day to do it. I suspect the Devon and Cornwall leg will be the most challenging with all the hills, I have been riding over North Hill in Danbury (100m climb in 1.5 km) at every opportunity for a while now.

I may be able to shed a little more weight yet too, off me and the luggage

I'm not really worried, but as the departure date gets nearer, lands end seems to be feeling further away. I'm sure I'll feel fine as soon as I get going

Russell

 

[ZIZAG]

Hello RA. Make sure your the weight of all your gear Is well distributed ?
Front panniers help. To stablize!
I went away on an overnight cycle camping trip as a try out . with 18kg .
Only on the rear panniers . The bike was very unstable
Also the bike Itself weighs 13kg . As Its an old 10 speed Raleigh vintage tourer .
I have now got some frront panniers .
And I am now waiting to go on longer cycles and camp out .
Best Of luck .

 

[Telemark]

Looks like you will be as well prepared as you can be for your first proper tour.
All the best,

T

 

[jay clock]

looks good! My advice would be to write a daily blog on www.crazyguyonabike.com - as a minimum I expect a good write up on here.....!

In terms of mileage you should be fine. If you considered stealth camping you would probably cycle further as you will start earlier and finish later each day.

Best of luck!

Jay

 

[Russell Allen]

Took the bike out tonight fully loaded, did 8 km, I carried everything I intend to take, 4 kg in the bar bag, 8kg in the panniers and 3kg of tent on the rack. Checking heel clearance, weight distribution, load security etc all was fine, suprisingly low gear needed up the hills. Handling was good, better than I expected. brakes were fine. It felt really planted down the twisty hill on the way back. All in all thouroughly satisfied I may move the panniers slightly further forward and close the heel clearance to about 25mm from the 50mm I have now

Russell

 

[Telemark]

Took the bike out tonight fully loaded, did 8 km, I carried everything I intend to take, 4 kg in the bar bag, 8kg in the panniers and 3kg of tent on the rack. Checking heel clearance, weight distribution, load security etc all was fine, suprisingly low gear needed up the hills. Handling was good, better than I expected. brakes were fine. It felt really planted down the twisty hill on the way back. All in all thouroughly satisfied I may move the panniers slightly further forward and close the heel clearance to about 25mm from the 50mm I have now

Did you wish you could just set off there and then, rather than having to wait a few more weeks? (I would have )
12 kg is a lot less than 18 kg - especially if you are not using front panniers, sounds much better for stability!
And yes, the uphill part will use all your lower gears, especially in Devon/Cornwall ...

Looks like you are all sorted

T

 

[willem]

Even 25 mm is quite generous heel clearance as long as you use spd pedals. Moving the panniers forward will indeed improve the handling. 15 kg is a good luggage weight, but it can still be reduced if you want. If you use liquid fuel, keep the bottle in one of the bottle cages (use a bikebuddy) on the frame, as that too will improve the handling, and keep the smells and stains out of the panniers.
Willem

 

[andym]

Hello RA. Make sure your the weight of all your gear Is well distributed ?
Front panniers help. To stablize!
I went away on an overnight cycle camping trip as a try out . with 18kg .
Only on the rear panniers . The bike was very unstable
Also the bike Itself weighs 13kg . As Its an old 10 speed Raleigh vintage tourer .
I have now got some frront panniers .
And I am now waiting to go on longer cycles and camp out .
Best Of luck .

I suspect the issue was more to do with where you had the rear panniers: it's best to have the load lower and closer to the rear axle if you can. Front panniers are useful if you need extra luggage capacity, but they add extra weight so I'd try other options first.

 

[ZIZAG]

Andym. Many thanks for the tips
Cheers

 

[Russell Allen]

Heel clearance now reduced, Leatherman replaced with Swiss army knife, trainers replaced with crocs, clothing reduced slightly, saved 1kg and moved the rear panniers forward 25mm. The little test ride the other night convinced me to go as light as possible.

Note for Willem - I have a bikebuddy for my trangia fuel, on test run I had it in the panniers but will be under downtube, (0.5l) fits a treat with ample clearance of chainrings and front wheel.

I am now going to go through all my stuff and remove another bit of weight

Russell

 

[willem]

That is the way forward. Use the kitchen scales, decide what you do not need, and think about where you might shed most weight for the smallest investment. I like marmelade for breakfast, and this year I bought a plastic screw lid jar to replace the heavy glas jar that marmelade comes in. Not every weight reduction costs a fortune. If you can make do with what you have and wait until an item needs replacement, going light is not really more expensive. Search for some earlier discussions.
Willem