Pre-tour nerves

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Mr Carr

Senior Member
Just returned from 17 days cycling from Leeds to Zurich and back. (5 days rest in Zurich)

My blog is on 'crazyguy'

It was brilliant

On the day before I left I could hardly climb the stairs, I was that nervous.

Have a good trip!
 

TheDoctor

Noble and true, with a heart of steel
Moderator
Location
The TerrorVortex
You'll be fine. Everyone's a bit nervous the first time, so don't worry, that's normal.
Bacon, flapjacks, tea, cake, chips and beer. Highly underrated as sports nutrition IMHO.
 

snorri

Legendary Member
I suppose when one has no pre-tour nerves/excitement, then it's time to give up touring.
I'm happy to say that hasn't happened to me yet:smile:.
Enjoy your tour Wandrin^_^.
 

MarkF

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
25-30kg of "stuff", wow! Best carry on and get your "worth" out of it, maybe to Caracas.............

Good luck and enjoy yourself. :smile:
 
OP
OP
Wandrin

Wandrin

Senior Member
Location
Lancashire
Does my bum look big in this?
49970-576c15765dd9669a5c4cef8d6c807e53.jpg
Yesterday was ~98 miles, Killmarnock to just past Gatehouse of Fleet, this the view from my wild campsite, perfect in every way but for no vodafone signal.
49972-c5681855e20b34f4cc3afeabe001be35.jpg
Today a much more sensible 74 miles, calling it a day at 5pm near Eclefechan, time to let the body recover!

Having a great time!

Oh, for SatNavSaysStraightOn.. turn left...
49977-ba83bdefdb13a1ee04d32077ea358686.jpg
 

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doog

....
I wonder how many people commenting on his tyres / load and bike have actually toured themselves

Just saying like :thumbsup:
 
OP
OP
Wandrin

Wandrin

Senior Member
Location
Lancashire
I made it!
4 days, 340 miles by my Aldi cyclecomputer, 298 on googlemaps, it doesn't know I got over detoured a couple of times though.

Biggest surprise was not the physical demands, I was expecting that. Doing Shap summit on Thursday with the temps in the high 20's was hard, likewise taking the Lancaster canal down to Preston, most of which is untracked was hard.

The worst part was the third morning after leaving Gretna and getting a bit lost, not sure I was going in the right direction or how far I had to go, all the time the temperature rising. That was really hard on the morale. I had a routecard, but they only work if you stick to it and don't stray at all. Couldn't get a signal on the phone so satnav was out as well. Cycle towards the sun (south-ish) until you meet someone! Decided I don't like routecards, next time I'll have a map.

Weighed in when I got home, 23kg of stuff, that's without food and water. 3 water bottles is not enough, I had bottles bungeed to the back, drinking 6+ litres a day and still not peeing a lot! Could probably have done with more.

Bike was a star, held all that up perfectly, the fat tyres really helped my hands, still a touch of numbness in one hand though. My jury rigged rack mounts, petrol hose clips, worked fine. Slow over the bumpy stuff is common sense, anything can break.

Google may say "Don't be evil" but it has a wicked sense of humour! Taking me over the West Pennine Moor to finish my journey with a total of 10,000 foot of climb at an average of 9.3mph.

Will I do it again, damn right!
 
Location
winlaton
Great stuff.
Did my first solo ride this year over a similar distance but I must admit I panic bought a Garmin Edge Tourer before I left. Really glad I did though for that extra peace of mind.
I was pretty nervous beforehand also but, just like you, I ended up really enjoying it and definitely doing it again next year.
Well done.
 

snorri

Legendary Member
Good to hear you enjoyed the experience^_^.
A compass often comes in handy when touring, the Silva Caribiner 9 or similar can be had for less than £7 and never needs batteries or radio signals!
 
Well done, mind I look at the Pictures of your setup, and I break out in a cold sweat looking at all the Kit you carried. Hopefully this is the first of many new adventures for you, and once you par your equipment down your trips will become much more pleasurable. If you were carrying 6 ltr of water, that is in old money nearly 14 pounds in weight. better if you can to just use your two water bottle and top them up as you ride, then prior to finding a camp-site for the night top up with cooking water then. From Gretna I would have headed out to Longtown, then Picked up the NCN 7 which is quite a pleasant route down to Carlisle. I would recommend you buy a A5 size book style road map, they are great for on road touring. Satnavs or Smart phones are great all the time you can get a signal and the batteries don't die on you.
 
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