Top Touring Tips

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CopperBrompton

Bicycle: a means of transport between cake-stops
Location
London
Fit your bicycle with an extra wheel so you can stop at traffic lights or to take a photo without having to unclip. Replace your Brooks saddle with a comfy mesh seat and cycle in a reclined position for comfort. Fit a headrest so that you can lay back and admire the scenery. Fit a fairing to keep the rain off your legs.

web-q-leigh03.jpg
 

Ben M

Senior Member
Location
Chester/Oxford
take a folding tyre
take a folding tyre
take a folding tyre
take a folding tyre
take a folding tyre
take a folding tyre
take a folding tyre
take a folding tyre
take a folding tyre
take a folding tyre
take a folding tyre
take a folding tyre
 

Bigsharn

Veteran
Location
Leeds
So reading this thread, a tl;dr would go like this:

Take:
Bungees, chopsticks, duck tape, a knife, a local map and a compass, a tarp, first aid kit, water, Puncture repair kit, bug repellant, moisturiser, LOTS of plastic bags and/or condoms and a fair amount of vaseline.

Don't bother taking:
A tent, a sleeping bag.

Things people have forgotton (or intentionally missed out(Or I've not read out)):
An emergency fund (Oh no, my frame has snapped in half after some fool knocked me off)
A small foreign phrase book, or a list of useful phrases, like "One large beer please"


Or have I missed something? :tongue:
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Never lose another valve cap when inflating tyres by popping it into one of the little holes on your brooks saddle. I expect my genius now to be acknowledged.

Or, forget to replace it, and have it surgically removed 50 miles later... ;)

On a phrase book note: I have a little booklet that came free with a newspaper a few years back, called a Point It guide. Seems to be a slimmed down version of this:

http://www.graf-editions.de/pointit/point_it_eng.html

Pictures of all sorts of things you might not know the word for in foreign - useful perhaps for a multi country tour, unless you happen to know all the languages well.

I read a tour account in which a chap got a Chinese friend to print out flash cards with the characters for various important things, so that he could just show them to people when he needed something - it helped to overcome problems of bad pronounciation in a language where inflexion is vital.
 

samid

Guru
Location
Toronto, Canada
Fit your bicycle with an extra wheel so you can stop at traffic lights or to take a photo without having to unclip. Replace your Brooks saddle with a comfy mesh seat and cycle in a reclined position for comfort. Fit a headrest so that you can lay back and admire the scenery. Fit a fairing to keep the rain off your legs.
With the mesh seat, headrest and all - how do you keep from falling asleep while riding? :biggrin:
 

dinesh22

New Member
As far as I'm concerned, the biggest tip is proper planning. You can take all the material objects needed along but if you don't plan the tour well, your bound to encounter problems on the way.
Recently finished off with an event called Faster, Fitter and Greener ride (by TI cycles ofIndia). If you haven't heard of it, FFG is an event held every year to promote health, fitness andenvironmental safety by encouraging people to take up cycling.
Was a pretty cool event overall and the only reason the whole thing went off smoothly was because of the detailed planning process. If it wasn't for that I'm not sure how the tour would have been completed...
 
Location
Hampshire
As far as I'm concerned, the biggest tip is proper planning. You can take all the material objects needed along but if you don't plan the tour well, your bound to encounter problems on the way.
Recently finished off with an event called Faster, Fitter and Greener ride (by TI cycles ofIndia). If you haven't heard of it, FFG is an event held every year to promote health, fitness andenvironmental safety by encouraging people to take up cycling.
Was a pretty cool event overall and the only reason the whole thing went off smoothly was because of the detailed planning process. If it wasn't for that I'm not sure how the tour would have been completed...

As far as I'm concerned, the biggest tip is don't do too much planning.
 

jay clock

Massive member
Location
Hampshire UK
My tent has slight "flapping of the flysheet issues" so I have added some of these clever little devices to the side of the flysheet to provide additional pegging points and reduce flapping http://www.rvops.co....ngons-1944.html

Also agreed with Dave that too much planning is not my cup of tea. The Faster, Fitter and Greener ride referred to looks like an organised holiday and not what I would call a tour

This is one of the most over-planned tours I know of http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=RrzKj&page_id=24029&v=VO - a month round the UK with each night pre-booked!
 

steveindenmark

Legendary Member
When you have planned your days ride and added up the mileage. Start again and half your mileage.

The idea of travelling is to see things, meet people, have new experiences and take time to reflect.

travel is not all about travelling from point A to a distant point B, without seeing anything inbetween.



Oh! I went to France for my summer holiday.

Really, what did you see?

Well, lots of roads and cycle tracks.

What do you think of the French?

I didn`t meet any because we were in bed at 7pm every night because we were tired and had to be up at 5am to start riding again.




You get the idea I think :biggrin:

Apart from that:

Take a travel towel. Much less space and dries really quickly.

When you have finished with a map. Send it home with some postcards and a newspaper of the trip to that point. It helps to remind you of things if you want to make a journal later on. It is also something nice to come home to.

Steve
 

Wardy

Active Member
I've discovered that Radar keys are available from my local Tourist Information Office. The charge for a non-disabled person is around £2. These give you access to 24 hour public toilets. One added bonus is that they are Tardis-like inside, so you can comfortably get your bike in with you, thus removing the problem of securing your pride and joy whilst you have a pee. I've so far found three of these in my area and thought that a list of them, with perhaps grid references might be helpful. When you get to my age, finding a loo when travelling in urban areas can be somewhat important!
 
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