How to start planning?......

[Bodhbh]

One of the penalties of coming back and still not having a job is that you have too much time on your hands - hence 201 pages or whatever it is

I hope this is not derailing the thread too much, but kind of relavent to someone considering a long trip for the first time...

I have to say, despite my gung-ho reply at the start of the thread, it's a pretty scary prospect. I'm getting enuff of a pay out to afford 2-3months off into the blue younder (just), I have zero responsiblities or commitments, there is no reason not to go...I could probably pack up the bike tonight and be off. But going and doing it is another thing.

Got probably need a couple of weeks to tie up loose ends at work and leave on good terms, after that no excuse not to do something I've wanted for a long time. Will I have the balls?

 

[Ticktockmy]

My view to touring these days is far different to when I was a young man, in those days I merely drew a straight line on a map, without regard to the hills that the line crossed. I would then try to follow that line as near as possible, which did make interesting cycling, on one occasion I was escorted out of General Franco Spain, at gun point back into France because I used a country track which had crossed a unmarked or unmanned border crossing.

If you have done a few practice runs in the UK to hone your touring techniques and habits, then the straight line route is a good way to go, then as you Progress along the line you can meander on or off the line depending on the roads and hills etc.

However now in my dotage, I tend to plan a route prior to starting out, as I find hills now feel like mountains, and sitting with my back against a tree to look at a view, tends to become a few hours nap, and as I like less to wild camp, I tend to allow a more leisurely mileage to allow me to get to a village or small town, but I still tend to plan by drawing straight lines.

 

[andy0001]

i just finished reading the book: the man who cycled the world by Mark Beaumont, good book and he talks about the kit he used to travel 100 miles a day for 180 days, he goes into detail about the route he uses and the training he did so it might be well worth getting that?

 

[Blue Hills]

Hope it's not considered bad to revive a slightly old topic, but on the subject of getting to Italy via the south of France (ie - not going through the Alps) what's the coast road towards Genova like for cycling? I've only ever been that way on an InterRail train as a youth - I rather had the impression that the road route, though scenic, would be somewhat busy/car infested. If it is, any alternative?