touring newbie

[the_bing]

my biking buddy and myself are planning a tour from London to Llangollen (north wales) and, although i'm just at the beginning stages of planning/daydreaming this, are there any hints or tips that any of you weather-beaten touring pros could give in terms of planning or execution (bar the obvious extensive training required!)?

at the moment we're riding mountain bikes with slick tyres, not ideal i'm sure, but i ain't made of money. however, the actual time of this tour is fairly fluid, maybe this year, maybe next, who knows?! so we might have roadie bikes by then (we do want them).

any help at all greatly appreciated (even if it's just a pat on the back )

 

[p90ade]

Will you be camping or stopping in b&b's?
I have only done 2 tours with 2 more planned this year and my best tip think light. Having heavy stuff makes it much slower and ( for me at least) more uncomfortable, what sort of mileage per day where u thinking?

 

[HJ]

Nothing wrong with riding mountain bikes with slick tyres, they can be a lot more comfortable then some road bikes. Don't carry more than you have too, plan your route with short stages at the start, enjoy!

 

[jay clock]

www.crazyguyonabike.com is a great website. My personal hints are to a) keep it all as light as you can and keep it all as light as you can!

An MTB with slicks should be ok. A non suspension bike is better but not essential. Getting a pannier rack with bags is the best way of carrying stuff, but be wary of heel clearance if on an MTB

 

[sleekitcollie]

i,ve done a 3 short tours with a mountain bike 2 ( speyside way and great glen way on knobblys ) and 1 Aberdeen - west lothian via fife coast on hybrid tyres ,
each occassion i carried to much and apart from the speyside way which was quite short , i,d wishede i,d packed lighter .
mountain bike gives u the option of doing some trails rougher tracks on ur tour which can be great fun and not having to stick to the road all the time is good ,
saying that i,ve just bought a spez tricross sport which i intend to to a bit of touring with as well and as it can take both front and rear racks im hoping i can up the millage a bit and do some longer tours ,
keep us informed as to how ur plans are coming along

 

[the_bing]

travelling light was always on the cards. i'm thinking of planning a route via youth hostels so i really only require a change of pants! my bro and his mate did a camping tour a few years back and his bike weighed a ton! even the pannier rack ended up eventually snapping. besides i can't have a front panniers cos i have suspension, so just the rear for me

may be a stupid question but do i need a fresh pair of cycling shorts each day? or can i get away with same pair two days running? am i a scumbag?

what about mileage per day? i'm booked to do the London to cambridge ride this summer which is 57 miles (if i remember rightly) but is this an unreasonable distance for days on end? personally, i think not, i was hoping in the region of 70 miles a day but i might be over enthusiastic? what do you guys normally plan for your daily distances on tour?

are the little map measuring dial-tool-thingys a good accurate way of planning routes and stops?

carry OS maps or GPS? this was my mates question but i do love a map... i feel at home and i can read them so easily, but maps add weight, of course.

do you guys tend to avoid town centres? i love biking in the lanes and would like to avoid trunk roads and as much traffic as possible

 

[mcr]

may be a stupid question but do i need a fresh pair of cycling shorts each day? or can i get away with same pair two days running? am i a scumbag?

You don't need to be a scumbag: if you wear lycra shorts, or ones made of 'performance' fabric, they should dry overnight if you hand wash them at the end of each day - youth hostels usually have drying rooms, at least in the countryside. Even if they're still slightly damp in the morning, they'll soon dry on you, and it's better than spending another day in yesterday's sweat.

are the little map measuring dial-tool-thingys a good accurate way of planning routes and stops?

These days its easier to use such things as Google Maps for planning: just use the 'directions' options for each day's projected start and finish. The only problem is it defaults to the fastest roads, but you can zoom into the result and simply drag the blue line away from the main roads on to minor ones and it'll recalibrate - you can even drag the end point elsewhere if you find the route's getting too long for a day's ride (it's useful to have OS mapping, such as streetmap.co.uk, open in another window so you can see what you're aiming for).

And if, on the road, you want the maps but not the weight, invest in one of the digital mapping programs that you can download to a pda (eg Memory Map, Quo, Anquet etc) or a GPS device that can use OS maps on SD cards (eg Garmin Dakota, Satmap 10, etc).

do you guys tend to avoid town centres? i love biking in the lanes and would like to avoid trunk roads and as much traffic as possible

Personally, I've been known to go out of my way to avoid built-up areas on tour (unless I'm after somewhere to sleep/eat), but just sometimes it's actually pleasanter/easier to go through a town centre when the only alternative's a busy bypass/dual carriageway.

 

[the_bing]

hmm, food for thought certainly. thanks for all your input guys! much appreciated