Top Touring Tips

[mudsticks]

"The road to nowhere..."

Always best... A dead-end by the sea... Or a Loch

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Always best... A dead-end by the sea... Or a Loch

With enough breeze to keep the midges away.

 

[eversorich]

If you need 'travel condiments' to make the camp cous cous more exciting, pop into any Wetherspoons pub in just about any town and help yourself to the plentiful and varied sachets of sauce, salt and pepper. The staff couldn't give a toss. :?:

Superb! ...and so right.

 

[eversorich]

To save carrying binoculars, stand closer to the thing you want to look at!

Thanks for bringing a laugh to my day!

 

[Blue Hills]

Superb! ...and so right.

Sorry to spoil your new year but this advice, once good, is severely dated. Spoons switched to using bottles of stuff quite some time ago. So not a goer unless you are comfortable with more serious thieving. I can recommend them for touring though for some excellent beers, often very local, limitless hot drink refills, decent breakfasts which can also be a good early lunch .handy recharging, often interesting local history boards.

 

[mjr]

Sorry to spoil your new year but this advice, once good, is severely dated. Spoons switched to using bottles of stuff quite some time ago. So not a goer unless you are comfortable with more serious thieving. I can recommend them for touring though for some excellent beers, often very local, limitless hot drink refills, decent breakfasts which can also be a good early lunch .handy recharging, often interesting local history boards.

Some may disagree with that, plus the chain's political activities dictated by its leader, plus also touring is a chance for something different instead of the same dull chains.

 

[Blue Hills]

To clarify, in case of any doubt, my post was not a criticism of eversoich, nor was I serious in my reference to "thieving" sachets - posted for information purposes only.

As to your post and the charge of "something different" (as in not) and "same dull chains", it is clear, from a multitude of posts, a badge of honour with you that you never go in the things. So a pronouncement from something like very little to zilch real life knowledge.

I can assure you that although not all are good (as in life) they are not all the same. And that, touring by bike or whatever, I have learned rather a lot about local history, people, and culture in them. In fact I would recommend them to foreign tourists for several reasons.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Bike trailers-so nice. I had no idea how good a bike trailer could be, until I got ahold of an old Burley trailer from the 1980's, which I am refurbishing.

 

[berty bassett]

Haven’t read any of the posts on here , I might be going over old ground so forgive me before I start.
I would just like to praise the route planning website cycle.travel. I just put start and finish points in , clicked paved only and copied route to garmin - didn’t know the area at all and it took me on some really quiet lovey roads
Well worth using if you don’t know the area

 

[Deafie]

Bike trailers-so nice. I had no idea how good a bike trailer could be, until I got ahold of an old Burley trailer from the 1980's, which I am refurbishing.

Absolutely! I have been using a two wheeled flatbed trailer for transporting equipment and materials for work since 2006 and it is brilliant. The only time I really notice it's there is on the uphills, single wheel trailers like the BOB I think are not so user friendly, on the GDMBR group members using BOB's tended to crash a lot, I believe they affect the handling quite considerably unlike the two wheeled ones. I'm considering a big ride next year and will definitely use a trailer, so much nicer bike feel and easier to organise a Rubber Maid than all those fricking bags

 

[Gravity Aided]

I had plans to build a flatbed trailer, but I think this one ticks all the boxes for what I need. But I don't have work needs for my bicycle, I bought a retired industrial tricycle for work.

 

[raleighnut]

Absolutely! I have been using a two wheeled flatbed trailer for transporting equipment and materials for work since 2006 and it is brilliant. The only time I really notice it's there is on the uphills, single wheel trailers like the BOB I think are not so user friendly, on the GDMBR group members using BOB's tended to crash a lot, I believe they affect the handling quite considerably unlike the two wheeled ones. I'm considering a big ride next year and will definitely use a trailer, so much nicer bike feel and easier to organise a Rubber Maid than all those fricking bags

Ditto for the getting up hills problem, I found I took far more than was needed just cos I had room for it.

 

[Deafie]

Ditto for the getting up hills problem, I found I took far more than was needed just cos I had room for it.

I never use half of what I take, usually coz I cant be bothered to rummage around and find it

 

[raleighnut]

I never use half of what I take, usually coz I cant be bothered to rummage around and find it

Yep there is that too.

The times it was really useful was in setting up a tent with sleeping bags and cooking gear etc then cycling back home leaving the trailer there in the tent in order that my partner and I plus the dog could travel up to it by Train/Bus without having to cart all that weight (neither of us drive) then after a week or so return home on public transport and I'd cycle back up there and pack the trailer up and cycle home again. You may think this a bit 'long winded' but I got to cycle around 100Km to the campsites (in the Peak district) which took most of a day with the trailer set up the tent and have a kip then have a bimble around on the bike before heading home the 3rd day. It's only about 4 hrs to get home 'sans trailer' so an early start for me meant we could all leave Leicester before lunch to arrive at a ready pitched tent in the evening. coming back was the same thing in reverse.

 

[Deafie]

Yep there is that too.

The times it was really useful was in setting up a tent with sleeping bags and cooking gear etc then cycling back home leaving the trailer there in the tent in order that my partner and I plus the dog could travel up to it by Train/Bus without having to cart all that weight (neither of us drive) then after a week or so return home on public transport and I'd cycle back up there and pack the trailer up and cycle home again. You may think this a bit 'long winded' but I got to cycle around 100Km to the campsites (in the Peak district) which took most of a day with the trailer set up the tent and have a kip then have a bimble around on the bike before heading home the 3rd day. It's only about 4 hrs to get home 'sans trailer' so an early start for me meant we could all leave Leicester before lunch to arrive at a ready pitched tent in the evening. coming back was the same thing in reverse.

I like your style!