Journal of my recent month-long tour in the UK

[raybo]

Starting in mid-April, 2011, I toured around the UK for just over 4 weeks. I logged over 1200 miles. I rode in England, Wales and Scotland (as far north as Fort William) and had more sunny days then rainy ones.

It was a fabulous trip!

I've written a journal of my ride called Going Up and Down in the UK, with many of the 1500 photos I took during this tour.

At 34 days, this is my longest bike tour to date. It is also my longest bike touring journal!

I hope you find it interesting.

Ray

 

[J-Lo]

So far a very good read!! You've done what some people don't - included lots of photos - which is great!!

 

[The One That Got Away]

Enjoying it also definitely happy you added in the pictures

 

[tbtb]

This is a good read! I dipped into it for some of the Scottish sections. Nice balance of pics and prose.

One wee point: You mention (on day 13) a plaque celebrating Princess Diana opening a discount designer clothing shop in 1999. It's true that she was famously obsessed by designer brands so would not have wanted to miss such an occasion but she died in 1997 so it would've been a truly memorable day for all involved if she'd popped up in 1999 for the opening. It would be pandemonium! The Princess Royal mentioned on the plaque is Anne, the Queen's daughter.

I liked the Killiecrankie joke, where you wonder what sort of hill must lead to a place so named. Good work!

 

[_aD]

Oooh fab, I'll be reading with excitement and envy! I have friends and family near Torrington, and have ridden the Tarka Trail many a time. I have also done it once in sub-zero temperatures with a full moon and covered in snow. That was special :-)

The concluding remarks are fascinating - the cycle and general road signage on back roads is often very iffy, and the fact it'll change between authorities doesn't help! Very succinct comment about the British weather! I've only seen a few pictures so far but it looks like you have a talent for seeing and taking a good photograph.

Thank you for sharing!

 

[raybo]

One wee point: You mention (on day 13) a plaque celebrating Princess Diana opening a discount designer clothing shop in 1999. It's true that she was famously obsessed by designer brands so would not have wanted to miss such an occasion but she died in 1997 so it would've been a truly memorable day for all involved if she'd popped up in 1999 for the opening. It would be pandemonium! The Princess Royal mentioned on the plaque is Anne, the Queen's daughter.

Thanks for the correction. I've fixed that page.


Ray

 

[Kirstie]

It's really interesting reading about familiar places from someone who is new to them. What a great journal.
Just a thought though - you mention a few times that you tried to cook in your room or on the premises of somewhere that you'd stayed on a B&B basis. By and large that really is a big no no. It would be considered quite rude by the proprietor. For B&B the assumption is that you eat your evening meal elsewhere, and not on the premises unless they offered to cook it for you. Some people might turn a blind eye to it but I wasn't surprised at the reaction of some to you trying to cook either in the room or on the premises. There's also a big health and safety/public liability issue with it as well. In many ways it's one of those unwritten British rules (a bit like going in pubs). I don't think I'd even contemplate doing it without asking first and to be honest I don't think I'd even ask. I've definitely never done it myself in years of bike touring in Britain. Usually if you want to cook for yourself in the evening you'd stay in a hostel. What do others think about this?

 

[mcr]

It's really interesting reading about familiar places from someone who is new to them. What a great journal.
Just a thought though - you mention a few times that you tried to cook in your room or on the premises of somewhere that you'd stayed on a B&B basis. By and large that really is a big no no. It would be considered quite rude by the proprietor. For B&B the assumption is that you eat your evening meal elsewhere, and not on the premises unless they offered to cook it for you. Some people might turn a blind eye to it but I wasn't surprised at the reaction of some to you trying to cook either in the room or on the premises. There's also a big health and safety/public liability issue with it as well. In many ways it's one of those unwritten British rules (a bit like going in pubs). I don't think I'd even contemplate doing it without asking first and to be honest I don't think I'd even ask. I've definitely never done it myself in years of bike touring in Britain. Usually if you want to cook for yourself in the evening you'd stay in a hostel. What do others think about this?

I think I would agree with you. I've read, on CGOB and other places, of people doing it on the continent. Personally, I'd never use any camping stove indoors, even at home (unless it was as a last resort because of a power cut or something). I'd either find a pub or buy in some cold stuff to eat in my room (as I had to in France on my last tour when I arrived to find the hotel restaurant was closed for the night, but then the choice of food was probably better there than from a Co-Op or Londis out in the sticks in the UK!).

An enjoyable read, incidentally, Ray - and great pics!

 

[snorri]

Usually if you want to cook for yourself in the evening you'd stay in a hostel. What do others think about this?

Agreed.

There would not be a sign in the room banning cooking, because the proprietor would not expect any one to want to cook in the bedroom. An interesting point though, I hadn't realised our North American brothers had a different take on this sort of thing.

 

[Kirstie]

This, and other experiences of hosting US/Canadian friends made me realise how many unwritten rules Britain has. It can be a minefield if you don't know. For a laugh I once looked up the 'rules' on pub etiquette for a Canadian colleague. I found a website and it must had many pages of rules - dos and don'ts - about how to behave in pubs. They were all absolutely correct, but I had never noticed them before! This is the site:

http://www.sirc.org/publik/pub.html

 

[PBancroft]

Starting in mid-April, 2011, I toured around the UK for just over 4 weeks. I logged over 1200 miles. I rode in England, Wales and Scotland (as far north as Fort William) and had more sunny days then rainy ones.

It was a fabulous trip!

I've written a journal of my ride called Going Up and Down in the UK, with many of the 1500 photos I took during this tour.

At 34 days, this is my longest bike tour to date. It is also my longest bike touring journal!

I hope you find it interesting.

Ray

Really enjoyed reading this, very interesting to have an outsiders take on countryside I almost take for granted. I loved the bit near Ullswater - and how you quite sensibly avoided riding the struggle. I did smile at your picture of the pretty yellow flowers... they're pretty much a weed.

I do kind of agree with what the others are saying about cooking, but then you kind of know that yourself now. I wonder how much of it is a cultural thing - I don't think I would consider cooking in hotels abroad either, at least not unless they've provided cooking facilities (or explicitly said that cooking is ok). I suspect the reason that you haven't had issues previously is that the owners just didn't know - smoke alarms in hotels and B&Bs can be quite sensitive in this country. I've known some to be set off by bath steam. But then as you also found, people can be pretty reasonable when its a genuine mistake.

Looks like you had a grand time. Thanks for the write up!

 

[raybo]

How do UKers feel about using the hot water kettles in the rooms for cooking? For example, I used the hot water to prepare Ramen noodles (in my own cooking pot). Is this something that you wouldn't do? What about using the boiling water to prepare vegetables, again in your own cooking pot?

Just wondering.

Ray

 

[_aD]

How do UKers feel about using the hot water kettles in the rooms for cooking? For example, I used the hot water to prepare Ramen noodles (in my own cooking pot). Is this something that you wouldn't do? What about using the boiling water to prepare vegetables, again in your own cooking pot?

It's something I wouldn't even consider. I've always been brought up to cook in the kitchen. I'm not sure why, but it's just not something that's done in the UK.

 

[Kirstie]

How do UKers feel about using the hot water kettles in the rooms for cooking? For example, I used the hot water to prepare Ramen noodles (in my own cooking pot). Is this something that you wouldn't do? What about using the boiling water to prepare vegetables, again in your own cooking pot?

Just wondering.

Ray

If the kettle was provided in your room then yes you could use it to add hot water to reconstitute food such as cous-cous or instant noodles. There's a difference between that and using your own stove indoors or using it on the B&B owners property where they can see you, particularly if you don't ask first. If the kettle wasn't provided I'd be reluctant to ask for one because it would be likely that they wouldn't provide them.

Having said that I wouldn't consider it either as I tend to want a decent meal in the evening of a tour. A packet of cous cous or noodles wouldn't do it for me (it's likely that I would have had that for lunch, cooked by the side of the road and it can get a bit dull!). I'd be too tired for the next day as I need to have protein in the evening to help recovery.