Oxford to Istanbul (First Timer!)
- Thread starter adam.perry
- Start date
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Bonj, have you got a job on the Daily Mail? I think we should be told.
Oh and Adam, don't forget your lights if you're going to be cycling through the night and sleeping during the day! You might as well stay at home and just sit on the turbo in the garage with the lights out
Oh and Adam, don't forget your lights if you're going to be cycling through the night and sleeping during the day! You might as well stay at home and just sit on the turbo in the garage with the lights out
"vienna, bratislavia, budapest, timisoara, sofia..."
Those are the main places I took in aswell, all worth a visit for one reason or another. Between Bratislava and Budapest you have the opportunity to ride a stretch in Slovakia, if that floats your boat. The bit of the Danube in Hungary down into Budapest, around the big curve, is pretty special.
Sofia is probably the 'worst' of those cities to get into and navigate around. It was for me, anyway. Bulgaria gets a bit grim towards the Turkish border.
Romania I found to be beautiful and charming - a far cry from all the stories I was told before I got there. Timisoara is a really nice little town. I did three days through Serbia aswell, between Romania and Bulgaria, which was interesting if only to experience such vaste differences in such short distances - you'll get a lot of that on this ride though.
Entering Turkey will be a great culture shock - although you're not entering it physically, you do have the sense that you've suddenly been dropped into Asia. Erdine is a worthwhile stop on your way down, for the huge (famous) mosques and the street food.
Hungary is flat (to the West), very neat and full of cycling restrictions - even small country roads have no cycling signs up. I got the feeling they were being a bit over precious with traffic control and ignored them, with no consequences.
Keep an eye out for the marijuana on the side of the road in Bulgaria and Hungary, if that's your thing (although I wouldn't fancy explaining myself to the Bulgarian mafia, who probably own it).
Those are the main places I took in aswell, all worth a visit for one reason or another. Between Bratislava and Budapest you have the opportunity to ride a stretch in Slovakia, if that floats your boat. The bit of the Danube in Hungary down into Budapest, around the big curve, is pretty special.
Sofia is probably the 'worst' of those cities to get into and navigate around. It was for me, anyway. Bulgaria gets a bit grim towards the Turkish border.
Romania I found to be beautiful and charming - a far cry from all the stories I was told before I got there. Timisoara is a really nice little town. I did three days through Serbia aswell, between Romania and Bulgaria, which was interesting if only to experience such vaste differences in such short distances - you'll get a lot of that on this ride though.
Entering Turkey will be a great culture shock - although you're not entering it physically, you do have the sense that you've suddenly been dropped into Asia. Erdine is a worthwhile stop on your way down, for the huge (famous) mosques and the street food.
Hungary is flat (to the West), very neat and full of cycling restrictions - even small country roads have no cycling signs up. I got the feeling they were being a bit over precious with traffic control and ignored them, with no consequences.
Keep an eye out for the marijuana on the side of the road in Bulgaria and Hungary, if that's your thing (although I wouldn't fancy explaining myself to the Bulgarian mafia, who probably own it).
adam.perry
New Member
hey percy, thanks for that post i can't wait to get to that end of the trip. sounds awesome.
i've been thinking about the equipment though, i was originally going to use racks and panniers, but i just think i would be overloading the bike, plus to change the carbon forks with chomoly one to take a front rack would cost £70.
but then i have found a cycle shop that would let me rent out a BOB YAK for £75 for 2 months.
also not sure if i should take that bike (giant scr 3 2007) just if anything goes wrong when im 'out there' im not sure how confident i would be getting parts or fixing sti shifters in the middle of no where. plus i was thinking that the alex Da22 34 spoke wheels would not be up to the job which would be additional expenses on an almost maxed out buget already.
so was thinking about getting a steel mounting bike or old road bike for easy money. which would mean easier maintainence and cheaper parts to buy if anything went bust which i presume would be the opposite with the giant.
the above couple of paragraphs are only me thinking of the possible options/scenarios of would happen and what would i Presume would be the easiest/Cheapest way of sorting things out.
but as someone who has walked the walk (or cycle) what would you say?
i've been thinking about the equipment though, i was originally going to use racks and panniers, but i just think i would be overloading the bike, plus to change the carbon forks with chomoly one to take a front rack would cost £70.
but then i have found a cycle shop that would let me rent out a BOB YAK for £75 for 2 months.
also not sure if i should take that bike (giant scr 3 2007) just if anything goes wrong when im 'out there' im not sure how confident i would be getting parts or fixing sti shifters in the middle of no where. plus i was thinking that the alex Da22 34 spoke wheels would not be up to the job which would be additional expenses on an almost maxed out buget already.
so was thinking about getting a steel mounting bike or old road bike for easy money. which would mean easier maintainence and cheaper parts to buy if anything went bust which i presume would be the opposite with the giant.
the above couple of paragraphs are only me thinking of the possible options/scenarios of would happen and what would i Presume would be the easiest/Cheapest way of sorting things out.
but as someone who has walked the walk (or cycle) what would you say?
adam.perry
New Member
ps i could just take rear rack and panniers, upgrade rear wheel to a 36 mavic maybe and hope for the best. my tent, sleeping bag and mat weigh in at 4.5kg. which would mean putting limmiting myself to 10-15kg for everything else?
the list of options going through my head are endless! argh!
the list of options going through my head are endless! argh!
If something went wrong with your Giant it wouldn't be too difficult to get it back on the road - bike parts and spares are pretty easy to come by even in the most obscure reaches of Romania et al - BUT, you would have to accept that you will probably not be able to get like-for-like spares - you'd have to go out accepting that your SCR 3 might not come back looking quite like an SCR 3 - wheels, tyres, gear mechs...whatever goes wrong you will just have to settle for whatever is on offer at the time and potentially ditch your slightly broken original parts (or lug them to the next post office or whatever).
If you're happy with that then fine, it's perfectly feasible to do it on your Giant in that respect.
The other issue, however, is weight. I personally wouldn't do such a trip on an out and out road bike. The weight of a camping load, combined with the sections of rough road/potholes you will undoubtedly encounter is not a good combination for such wheels, in my opinion.
If I were you I'd forget about upgrading, keep your Giant as a road bike and try and get yourself a tough, easy to repair alternative. 700c or 26" wheels is up to you - I did it on 700s (x32) but when I do my next trip I'll be going on 26". You could probably source pretty cheap parts from various places and even if you have to spend a bit of time on putting it all together it'll be good practice for running repairs when you're out there. Stick a rack on the back, a couple of roomy panniers, a drybag across the back and a barbag on the front and you're good to go!
Having said all that, don't get too anxious about all this. Sure, it's worth preparing well and knowing your gear, but when you're out there it's not as if something suddenly changes and you're extra vunerable to bike failure - it's just like riding around wherever you do at the moment really, expect it'll all be new. You'll get punctures, maybe a cable will break or a tyre explode (mine did, twice) but if you have enough spares with you to botch it to the next town you're alright. My rear hub shattered somewhere in Italy, spokes rattling around all over the place, but I managed another four days/200 miles until I found a decent bike shop who had an adequate replacement.
If you're happy with that then fine, it's perfectly feasible to do it on your Giant in that respect.
The other issue, however, is weight. I personally wouldn't do such a trip on an out and out road bike. The weight of a camping load, combined with the sections of rough road/potholes you will undoubtedly encounter is not a good combination for such wheels, in my opinion.
If I were you I'd forget about upgrading, keep your Giant as a road bike and try and get yourself a tough, easy to repair alternative. 700c or 26" wheels is up to you - I did it on 700s (x32) but when I do my next trip I'll be going on 26". You could probably source pretty cheap parts from various places and even if you have to spend a bit of time on putting it all together it'll be good practice for running repairs when you're out there. Stick a rack on the back, a couple of roomy panniers, a drybag across the back and a barbag on the front and you're good to go!
Having said all that, don't get too anxious about all this. Sure, it's worth preparing well and knowing your gear, but when you're out there it's not as if something suddenly changes and you're extra vunerable to bike failure - it's just like riding around wherever you do at the moment really, expect it'll all be new. You'll get punctures, maybe a cable will break or a tyre explode (mine did, twice) but if you have enough spares with you to botch it to the next town you're alright. My rear hub shattered somewhere in Italy, spokes rattling around all over the place, but I managed another four days/200 miles until I found a decent bike shop who had an adequate replacement.
adam.perry
New Member
only a couple of weeks before i set off now and can't wait!
but it also means i am at the point of having to sort out the niggling stuff!
biggest issues at the moment are travel insurance for both my well being but also for my bike and camping equipment. im the kind of guy who seems to get into all sorts of interesting situations and predicaments all the time so i know this is an important area to sort out.
bike (dawes 201 EQ '08) worth £250
camping eqipment etc. worth £200
me and my health - priceless
anyone with advice, recommendations, tips of how to take care of this stuff are much welcomed! (bearing in miind the nature of the trip and that it will take 60 days ish)
but it also means i am at the point of having to sort out the niggling stuff!
biggest issues at the moment are travel insurance for both my well being but also for my bike and camping equipment. im the kind of guy who seems to get into all sorts of interesting situations and predicaments all the time so i know this is an important area to sort out.
bike (dawes 201 EQ '08) worth £250
camping eqipment etc. worth £200
me and my health - priceless
anyone with advice, recommendations, tips of how to take care of this stuff are much welcomed! (bearing in miind the nature of the trip and that it will take 60 days ish)
You won't get anyone to insure your bike/kit, unless things have drastically changed in the last year or so. With the answer to the main question of 'Where will the bike be kept overnight?' being 'I don't know' no one's interested. Kit likewise.
No offence, but with £200 a piece for bike and kit it probably wouldn't be worth it anyway for the premium you would pay to get anything back!
Health insurance is different - lots of people offer cover for people doing 'activities' like yourself. I went with Sports Cover Direct, but there's a few out there. Google is your friend on that one.
I'm sure you'll have a wicked time - enjoy it.
No offence, but with £200 a piece for bike and kit it probably wouldn't be worth it anyway for the premium you would pay to get anything back!
Health insurance is different - lots of people offer cover for people doing 'activities' like yourself. I went with Sports Cover Direct, but there's a few out there. Google is your friend on that one.
I'm sure you'll have a wicked time - enjoy it.
adam.perry
New Member
5 days before the big off! but it seems i'm stumped on the first leg of this trip!
been trying to find a route from oxford to dover that is quick as possible via the national cycling network routes. going to take the thames valley cycle route from oxford to london. but then going from london to dover seems the tricky bit.
any help/suggestions of routes would be much appreciated!
been trying to find a route from oxford to dover that is quick as possible via the national cycling network routes. going to take the thames valley cycle route from oxford to london. but then going from london to dover seems the tricky bit.
any help/suggestions of routes would be much appreciated!
Dayvo
just passin' through
- Location
- 59° 50′ 5.55″ N, 10° 47′ 41.89″ E
Off the top of my head, and without knowing the route, why not follow the TdeF route (more or less) to Canterbury, then it's a quick downhill from there to Dover.
Good luck.
Good luck.
You want to avoid the A2 - busy almost all its length and the bits of the A20 I have done where it has been superceded by the M20 have a vile surface. I'd use google maps to find minor roads to say Otford, South of Maidstone, South of Ashford, Lymphe, Folkstone, Dover. Done most of that when I lived over that side of London, but cant be more specific as that was a long time ago.
Incidentally to get to Brussels a great route would take you from Calais to Eperleques V2 bunker (really spooky place), Wattem, Cassel (Scenic hill village), Ypres all on back roads. Havent myself cycled beyond there to Brussels (cheated and took the train) but most Belgian canals have paved cycle paths alongside them and they're a good way to do long distances in BE. A bit of internet research will probably see you sorted.
Good luck!
Incidentally to get to Brussels a great route would take you from Calais to Eperleques V2 bunker (really spooky place), Wattem, Cassel (Scenic hill village), Ypres all on back roads. Havent myself cycled beyond there to Brussels (cheated and took the train) but most Belgian canals have paved cycle paths alongside them and they're a good way to do long distances in BE. A bit of internet research will probably see you sorted.
Good luck!
Wow:
At the bottom of the Gulcho valley we met Marija Kozin, cycling alone from her home in Slovenia to Beijing via Tibet. Wow! Marija was great company and we joined forces for the pedal to Osh. As we were the oldest bikers she had met on the road, Marija took to calling us "Mom and Pop".
After Gulcho there was yet another pass - the 2,400m Chyyyrchyk (yup, that's how it's spelt on my map). From the top of the pass, our mini peloton, raced down the 50 km or so to Osh. It was a really enjoyable pedal.
After Gulcho there was yet another pass - the 2,400m Chyyyrchyk (yup, that's how it's spelt on my map). From the top of the pass, our mini peloton, raced down the 50 km or so to Osh. It was a really enjoyable pedal.
