Stuart,
It’s not a question of one way is right and the others are wrong. It’s perfectly possible (for anyone who is fit enough for an FNRttC) to do a cycling tour with a support vehicle or without. All I am saying is that, having done both several times over the last couple of years, I have come to the conclusion that more is lost than is gained through having a vehicle driving alongside.
What I’ve experienced is that having the vehicle can create the temptation to push the daily mileages up and to make it into more of a race. Breaks get scheduled around the vehicle and its stops rather than around what is in the towns and villages you pass through. There is more pressure on people to cycle at a similar pace to maintain contact with the vehicle – which can annoy both the faster and slower riders – and pressure is put on the slower ones to go in the vehicle when they would have been perfectly capable of riding on at their own pace, and have got more satisfaction from doing so, had it not been there.
On the other hand, without a vehicle chugging along I have had much more a feeling of escape, self-sufficiency and connection with the terrain I've been passing though - and hence greater satisfaction and enjoyment. And there are always other options available to deal with the problems that can arise on the road.
If you’re struggling with the thought of being able to pack light enough, have a look at this site. It shows how and what to pack to get touring luggage weight, excl camping equipment, food and water, to below 5kg.
I see your arguments, Frank...it's two sides of the same coin. Call it self-centred, but I'm pretty sure I get more of a feeling of 'escape' when I don't have to lug several kilos on my back and on the bike. The only bike of the three I have that can take panniers is also the least sensible for climbing (small matter of four or five kilos extra before you put the rack and bags on....). Neither the Viner or the
Condor can take panniers (carbon) and why on earth would I want them on either bike anyway? So that will be most of the weight on my back...I'm sure you won't mind if curse your name loudly on every climb?
Likely n+1 will be able to take rack and panniers, and would be still pretty light...but I'd prefer to keep it light.
As far as the bit I've put in bold- let me tell you from recent experience- I'm not going in a van if I can keep going perfectly well under my own steam. That I was forced to do so last month absolutely disgusted me. My 'team' had the idea that if if anyone was a little behind, in the van. If they were all late for lunch...in the van. One of them, the first day I was sick, went in the van for a bit because it was raining (?!!!). Some of them called me slow because I could
only manage 15 mph rolling average- and rather riding as a group, which would have helped everyone, the faster ones (including Mr Scared of the Rain!) just bombed on ahead. Hence people getting lost (I ended up in Inverness because I turned right instead of left at one junction, three others went to one of the other two Premier Inns in East Kilbride..) and me getting thoroughly hacked off (I wasn't the only one, I just got more hacked off more often). Not one person rode the whole way, we didn't even have one person on the road every mile of the route. The first full day I was back on the bike after the bonk and illness, it was like nothing had happened, they kept on giving me grief rather than support or accepting that what they did had to be learnt from. On the afternoon penultimate day, I rode about 36 miles, alone, into a headwind. Some of the others decided to stop off at a distillery (?!!). First I got held up because the support guys (who were brilliant) didn't know how long they were going to be there. I was eventually allowed to continue. The aforementioned 'comrades' passed me with a somewhat insulting 'keep up' and left me alone, again. Not a thought about me or my feelings. There were enough hours in the day for me and everyone else to do the daily mileage, but prevarication, laziness and poor scheduling (hotels that didn't serve breakfast early enough, inflexible lunch stops, etc) meant it never happened. And this ride was hard enough without having to deal with all that **** (pick expression of your choice).
That is part of the reason I want to do LeJOG (or at least something much like it) properly, ASAP. And I wouldn't want anyone to feel pressurised the way I was. I'd only want a van to (a) carry luggage and (b) be there in the event of problems. No reason for it to act as a 'pace car' or prevent us stopping as and where we feel the need. It's to support the riders, not rule over them.
