cycle touring

blorg

DualFrontDiscs wrote: »

Blorg, can you recommend a carbon touring fork with rack mounts?

DFD.

I have never used one with rack mounts; previous fork with them was I think steel.

thebouldwhacker

I got this off crazy guy, its about ow to read maps when planning routes, parts are basic but good to know if you find reading maps confusing

weaselman

I'm just catching up on this thread now. I decided to do some touring this summer and after picking the brains of a few boardsies about equipment I hit the road for the summer for my first tour. I had no prior experience with touring or had even ridden my bike fully loaded before I set off and it's been a learning experience the whole way.

I'm cycling across america for the summer, currently in Wyoming. I started off in New York on the 31st May and should hopefully get to the pacific coast in another 3 weeks all going well. If anyone is interested in having a read I'm keeping a blog along the way, although I don't update it as often as I'd like, but if you want to put down some free time check out www.d-spin.com. I'm mixing it up between camping and motels along the way, might as well treat myself every now and again.

I don't post that often on the cycling forum but I check it any time I'm online and the information on here has definitely helped me with my trip and with getting back on the bike again after almost an 8 year absence. For anyone that is thinking about doing an extended tour the only advice I can give is to just do it. You'll definitely not regret it. And, get yourself a good saddle.

DualFrontDiscs

Weasalman,

That's a tough post to follow

I'm just back from France, a five day, four night cycle tour between Roscoff and Cherbourg.

Here's the route (as I remember it).

[URL="https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/[/IMG][/URL]

We had an absolutely great time. Google Maps suggests it's <450km. We managed it in just under 500km.

I'll get around to posting some more thoughts and pictures. If you are thinking about cycle touring, I'd thoroughly recommend it. Fully loaded touring takes it out of you though, I'd recommend 50- 80km a day as a maximum if you're hoping to see anything of the area you're cycling through

DFD.

kcphoto

Great to see a bit of touring interest and info here.
I did a 5 day trip first week in June and was very lucky with the weather - one of the most enjoyable holidays and came back feeling great.
I cycled Cork - Achill via Killarney , through the Burren , Clifden and connemara.
(was going to a wedding in Achill so had a lift back to Cork)
I have a Giant SCR4 which can take panniers but due to the screw head breaking off the night before I left, I had to forget the rack and I stuffed what I could into a 15L backpack and honestly, didn't even know it was there. I had a handle bar bag also - very handy for camera , map, food , keys etc.
I stayed in B&b 's along the way so didn't need much luggage anyway.
I do cycle regularly and have done a few of the An Post series cycles and ROK so I found doing about 100km a day was a goal I could achieve without feeling tired.
It's definitely something I will do more of.

thebouldwhacker

Fair play guys, nice cycling there.
@weaselman: Great blog, good to read that your alive and spinning. Dont be a stranger, some day someone will post up that you inspired them to do simular. Reading your gear list I hope you dont get to use the pepper spray!!
Best of luck with the rest of your trip!

weaselman

Thanks guys. It's been tough going from time to time but I can look back at some of the head-wrecking days and laugh now. At least I'll be in peak form for Etape Hibernia when I get back

@thebouldwhacker, no I haven't had to use the pepper spray. I didn't even buy any in the end. I kind of guessed that if a bear gets close enough for me to use pepper spray I'm pretty much up sh!t creek anyway.

Just back today from my wales trip similar in parts to what Scien went on below. Brief info below:

Overview
Route is here: http://short.ie/tzwtc3

Myself and my friend left Monday morning at 5am, headed from Dublin down to Rosslare, arrived at 1:30pm for the 3pm ferry so plenty of buffer there. Only real issue with heading to Rosslare was with the N11 turning into the M11 (though it didn't have the normal 'no pedal-cycles/learner drivers/motorbikes under 50cc etc.' sign). Got off the M/N11 at Arklow anyways so no issue really there. Got the 3pm ferry then over to Fishguard, and stayed a night there. Fishguard is a tiny port town, not much really to talk about. Quiet, locals friendly, restaurants have a 'eating in my living room' feel to it which I quite like!

Fishguard to Aberystwyth was good, went up and down some small country roads at the start which had some 20 - 25% gradients, then went on the main road for the rest of the way. Aberystwyth is a really nice town (city?), will definitely be going back there, full of old buildings, and there was a stunning sunset over the Irish Sea while we were there.

Aberystwyth to Trawsfynydd was again on main roads but was made much more enjoyable due to the scenery in Snowdonia. Explored the lake beside Trawsfynydd the next morning which involved going through some private lands and herding some cattle with ourselves on bikes, good fun.

Last day was from Trawsfynydd, heading North first towards Snowdon and then heading straight to Holyhead. Scenery as mentioned was fantastic, reminded me quite a lot of Wicklow but much larger.

Roads
Roads were excellent throughout Wales. The main roads had a small hard shoulder/footpath one foot from the road, and every mile or so there was a layby which allowed myself and my friend to pull in to allow the people stuck behind us to go on. The great roads meant that descending was excellent; my friend got up to 80.2 km/hr while I got up to 75.5 km/hr (and would have gone faster if I didn't brake when I saw a bird fly out of a bush and almost smack into me). Great fun altogether.

My computer had trouble... well, in that I didn't reset it before the cycle. Silly mistake. My friend's computer clocked in at around 460km for the 4 days.

Overall
Had great fun, would definitely recommend Wales as a trip away. I'll be back.

Some pics
I'm the one in the cornflakes jersey, taking (almost all) the photos!

Moar pics!

Cabaal

Looks like a great trip

feck sake lads

great that you got the weather sure is a lot of hill's in wales,did you find them hard going.we passed through wales by train on our way to worcester could not get my head round all the welsh names how didyou manage that one.:D

feck sake lads

feck sake lads wrote: »

great that you got the weather sure is a lot of hill's in wales,did you find them hard going.we passed through wales by train on our way to worcester could not get my head round all the welsh names how didyou manage that one.:D

Only learnt how to pronounce Aberystwyth after trying it a few times. Trawsfynydd is still lost on me. But yeah, was difficult at times.

Hills were tough at times, but all I kept thinking of was the descent after it. A good few of the cafés/restaurants we stopped in had detailed maps of the Snowdonia area which was good as the map we had didn't have elevation contours on it, so we were able to plan ahead.

feck sake lads

yeah we went over some tough climbs in the cots wolds emm have to do more hill climbing training:D
so any more plans for the last month or so of the summer.im thinking of heading off for a weekend camping trip over to virgina then take in the monalty steam thrashing festival heard it's good as long as the sun shines.

DualFrontDiscs

This trip started out as a trip to Wales.

We bought the maps, checked out the ferries, threw Google Maps up on the projector and planned and planned.

And it never happened. No real reason, but the planned dates just slipped.

So, around the time we should have been boarding a ferry for Wales, we decided to put a stake in the ground and commit to a tour.

We'd cycled the four compass points of Ireland last year and wanted to head abroad.

We wanted to get a ferry rather than a plane as we're not particularly mechanically minded and reckoned the disassembly, reassembly and triage required for flying was an unnecessary overhead for us.

So ferry it was. And if we're getting a ferry, where better than France!

So, where to go? Well, I rather enjoy cycling A- B, rather than cycling loops, so Roscoff- Cherbourg seemed 'do-able' at 450- 500km. We chose that direction based on an assumption regarding prevailing winds

100km a day was the 'yard stick' and given we'd completed 140km a day on the previous tour, that seemed more than achievable.

In investigating France a bit more, it was clear that the country was camping mad, so we decided to spice things up a bit by making it a cycle/ camping tour. In hindsight, we should have adjusted our km 'yard stick' downwards, but anyway, we managed (we're not athletes).

As none of us had camped in a very, very, very long time, it was great fun to extend the gear fetish outside the cycling arena

We had a few 'planning sessions', but for all of these, all we really did was commit to a ferry from Rosslare to Roscoff on a Thursday afternoon and a Cherbourg- Rosslare ferry on the following Tuesday. So, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday night camping in France. Throw in two nights on the ferry and we'd be back within the week.

For camping, we used MSR Hubbas, well respected (on the Internet) one man three season tents, weighing in just under 2kg.

The tents were easy to put up, take down and pack away. They weren't really tested at all, though I'd have confidence in them. The only point about the Hubba is that it is definitely a one man tent.

I had a three season sleeping bag already and whilst it would possibly be overkill, I wasn't going to buy a lighter one for the trip.

We had Thermarest NeoAir mattresses which were very good. Things have moved on a lot since I last camped.

I brought along a Trangia (27 I think). I've had this for at least 15 years and given the lack of moving or perishable parts, it should have been no surprise that it worked perfectly. Which was as well, as it was completely untested before going The reason for the Trangia was porridge, a daily staple for me. I love it and wasn't going to go without it. And anyway, it would add to the camping effect. We only used the stove in the mornings, but obviously we could have used it for evening meals too. The Trangia weighs in at around 1.3kg. It could be less if I left the second pot and kettle at home. I took it all.

You can buy a mini Trangia that's basically a burner, a pot, a lid and a handle. That weighs in around 300kg. Given the options it provides, I think the Trangia is a great addition for any cycling trip.

One of the guys brought along a collapsable Coleman tripod seat that he bought in the Great Outdoors for €7.50. Definitely worth bringing along. Very handy for cooking breakfast and lightweight and relatively compact too.


For carrying all our stuff, we all used Ortlieb Back Rollers. Worked flawlessly and can easily carry enough. They can also easily carry too much.

I had a handlebar bag from years ago and I'm really glad I brought it. My one is quite large and is essentially a plastic box covered in fabric. It's found it invaluable for snacks, camera, phone, charger, arm warmers, tool kit, etc.

The bikes were a Specialized Sirrus (flat bars), a Specialized Tricross Sport (drop bars) and my Litespeed Blue Ridge tourer. All the bikes performed well, though I think drop bars are better suited in general. Personal preference, etc.

I think having a touring specific bike is useful. At least you know the bike itself is up to it. But don't get too hung up on the bike part of the equation. (It's easy to say this once you have a lovely bike).

For clothing, I packed:

3 pairs of cycling shorts
3 short sleeved base layers
3 jerseys (two long sleeve, one short sleeved)
5 pairs of cycling socks
1 Altura waterproof jacket
1 Altura gilet
1 arm warmers
1 leg warmers
1 pair of Shimano MT41 'touring' shoes
1 pair of neoprene overshoes

For off the bike I packed:

1 pair of NorthFace 'technical' trousers (lightweight, pack small, zip off legs for shorts if required)
1 fleece
1 long sleeve t-shirt
1 long sleeve base layer
1 pair of boxer shorts
1 pair of Birkenstock sandals (lightweight, very comfortable and pack relatively small)

Given the services available at most French campsites, we overpacked. We could have washed and dried clothes as required every night. So we could have packed lighter. Mmmmm. I think we did okay though.

Standard stuff like tools and spare tubes too obviously. I brought a first aid kit and sun cream too. Thankfully the former wasn't required.

I didn't weigh everything before I left, but on the trial packing run, everything weighed in around 13kg (which includes everything) and another 13kg for the bike (Litespeed).

As for the trip itself, we had a great time. It was great to have settle into a routine and empty my head.

Lots of memories, photos and now a whole year's worth of reviewing equipment, locations and routes as we plan for next year.

If you're thinking about going cycle touring, just do it.

DFD.

PS. Thanks for reading. Some pictures here.

feck sake lads

dfd great post looks like you had a fantastic tour.great pic's mind you you did pack a lot of cloths i done the same last year way to much stuff ,but i'm learning.
can i just ask your litespeed bike is it specific touring bike how did it handle i ride a thorn although it's a great bike i think i would like to go for a lighter bike with 700 c wheels any thoughts.
what was you favorite route in Ireland if you don't mind sharing thanks.;)

DualFrontDiscs

feck sake lads wrote: »

dfd great post looks like you had a fantastic tour.great pic's mind you you did pack a lot of cloths i done the same last year way to much stuff ,but i'm learning.
can i just ask your litespeed bike is it specific touring bike how did it handle i ride a thorn although it's a great bike i think i would like to go for a lighter bike with 700 c wheels any thoughts.
what was you favorite route in Ireland if you don't mind sharing thanks.;)

The kit list looks bigger that it was Base layers and cycling socks don't take up much room or space. In hindsight, for sure I had too much. But if the weather had been inclement, or if facilities had been unavailable (wild camping) then I think I'd have packed okay. It was a great feeling to know I had whatever I needed for any (conceivable) eventuality

The Litespeed Blue Ridge is Litespeed's idea of a touring bike. When they weren't making tourers, they spent their time making 'racing' bikes and I think this shows through. It is a lovely bike, but not without design flaws.

It will take mudguards and can take up to 32mm tyres (which is what I consider a minimum for loaded touring). But it's a tight fit. The front fork doesn't have lowrider mounts. I'm thinking of changing the fork which would improve mudguard clearance and provide rack mounts.

Toe overlap is an issue, even without mudguards.

The bike rides really well. Even fully loaded. It's a very stable 'package'. The only thing I'd change is the fork, to allow for a lowrider rack. I don't think I'd need to carry much more than I did for a longer trip, but I think distributing the weight across the bike might make sense. And to be honest, I like the look of a front rack

Thorns are lovely bikes. I'm not sure the Blue Ridge (at least as I've built it) could be described as a light bike. Like I said, I reckon it's 13kg all in, though admittedly that includes a Schmidt SON hub.

I think 700c is the way to go, unless you're heading for India/ South America etc, where road surface quality/ existence and spares might be an issue.

As for favourite route, I'm not sure. I enjoyed the coast roads of Northern Ireland, Donegal and Kerry the most, I reckon. Sorry I can't be any more specific. My head's still in France

DFD.

feck sake lads

dfd thanks for that, i only use rear rack and barbag but I'm getting the thorn front lowrider rack in the next few months ,i was told my bike will handle much better i do carry a lot o weight on the back.
it's a pity we don't have a really good frame builder in this country it's something i would love to do get a custom ti frame made just waiting for the lotto to come my way;)
anyway thanks for the reply enjoy your next tour.

DualFrontDiscs

@feck sakes lads.

Any pictures of the bike? Loaded?

DFD.

feck sake lads

DualFrontDiscs wrote: »

@feck sakes lads.

Any pictures of the bike? Loaded?

DFD.

ah love to oblige honest but i have no idea how to post pic's i'm useless on computers:(
but I'm a member of the fellclub in the uk if you go into there site www.fellclub.org.uk look at the meet section and check out the photo's on watlington i think theres one of me and my touring buddy .
that should be meet reports i also done a write upon our uk tour hope you like.

thebouldwhacker

Great to read all the blogs (logs?). Anyway My gf and I did a practice run around the Beara last weekend to see how things would go. She only started cycling in anger about 6 weeks ago and did really well, carried 2 loaded pannier bags too, so well done to her. We are off to Wales next tues, still no concrete route as we are trying to figure the most economical way to go. We'd love to use Cork Swansea (firstly cos its so close and secondly because I'd like to support the service)but its over €100 more expensive than the Rosslare service. However we are planning to drive to rosslare and leave the cars there while we are gone, this will cost over €50 in the ferry car park, anyone with any ideas about parking around there? Cheers

Lumen

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

My gf and I did a practice run around the Beara last weekend to see how things would go. She only started cycling in anger about 6 weeks ago

This is why I have not encouraged my wife to take up cycling.

feck sake lads

hope your girlfriend likes hill there's a plenty of them in wales.
so how far from a ferry port are you if your less than 50 miles why not start your tour from your front door.
i got the ferry from dublin port to holyhead cost me with bike 85 euro .

Peterx

Cycle-touring is the dogs.
Myself and the girlfriend went from Munich airport to Budapest airport along the Isar river and then the Danube over about 9 days. We both had cyclocross frames with flat bars, MTB groupsets and mavic Aksiums with continental 25mm Gatorskins. This is a combination I like (personal choice) as you can zip along quickly on Tarmac and it's rugged enough for the gravel paths you occasionally end up on.
It's all easy street following cycle path signs, especially along the Danube and there's loads of campsites. We only got caught out the first night and had to wild camp by the Isar river. Stinky humans, hot tent, yuk..
It's supposed to be the most popular cycle path in Europe and it would a fantastic first trip for anyone with the incredible ease of everything. You can even fly into Vienna, take a boat up to Passau and then cycle back down to Vienna if you wanna start with a nice short holiday.
The complete and utter lack of hills were a novelty and I had thought it would be boring following a river but there's loads to see and do along the way.

thebouldwhacker

Based in Cork, the initial plan was to cycle to the ferry but that was going to add time onto the trip which we dont have. There is pay and display in the town so thats not an option and I dont think I'd be happy just dumping the car somewhere for nearly two weeks. As for the hills... they're gonna test me not to mind her, for example we will be taking in the wonder of the the Devils Staircase ! Plenty of bananas for the way up, spare brake blocks for the way down. Not quite the Danube cycle that Peterx posted about, I reckon there may be a bit of walking involved!

TinyExplosions

DualFrontDiscs wrote: »

You can buy a mini Trangia that's basically a burner, a pot, a lid and a handle. That weighs in around 300kg

Is it made of osmium? :eek:

DualFrontDiscs

TinyExplosions wrote: »

Is it made of osmium? :eek:

Sorry about that. Obviously it weighs about 300g, not kg

DFD.

Cetyl Palmitate

First off , great thread with some great stories/pics.
Touring is something I reckon I would really enjoy and something I would like to look into getting started. Last month, I met a couple of Dutch guys at a festival in Serbia who had cycled from the Netherlands and were continuing on once it finished. They were averaging around 100km a day and staying in campsites etc. Sounded like a great way to travel.
Would anyone have any advice on what types of bikes I would need to be looking at? Are there specific touring bikes, or can pretty most road bikes be adapted to suit?
I have 3 bikes (an old Trek 721 hybrid which has been through the mills, a Dutch city bike and a 1980's 6 speed racer) at the moment but I know none would be suitable for anything resembling long distance so have accepted that a certain amount of cash splashing would be required. What brands/models would people recommend? And how much customisation would be required before i would be ready to hit the road?
From what I have read and heard it would seem to be fairly expensive to get started. Even leaving the bike out of the equation I would need bags, lightweight tent & sleeping bag, shoes, shorts/jerseys and probably one or two other bits and bobs but I guess i could build this gear up over time so I'm not too worried about that.
I am more interested in the bike problem though. I can use the BTW scheme and figure I would need to spend 1k, if not more, on a suitable bike. So, all you experienced tourers, what would be on your bicycle wishlist?

DualFrontDiscs

@ Cetyl Palmitate

So you were at Exit? It's some festival isn't it? Amazing location. Blorg cycled through Novi Sad recently. I'm sure he saw the fortress.

You can tour on almost anything. A lot depends on where you want to go, on road/ off road, what part of the world, how long you'll be going for, are you going fully loaded, or credit card touring?

You can get a feel for all the different type of bikes here.

I have two touring bikes, one titanium, one steel, both carbon forked. Both 700c wheeled. One with mountain bike gearing for ultra low gearing (maybe as low as 20 gear inches). One with a road triple, with maybe 28 gear inches.

One of the first decisions you have to make is whether you want 26" or 700c wheels. Then you're looking for a frame with rack and mudguard mounts, preferably rack mounts on the fork too. The geometry on a touring frame is 'slacker' that a racing bike, designed to be more relaxed over greater distance and more manageable with heavy loads.

Ken Kifer is a great resource and inspiration.

What's your budget?

DFD.

thebouldwhacker

Hi Cetyl, I will put a health warning on this, I have limited experience touring. I have many overnights and cycling around Ireland but am new to hitting the road for days/nights at a time. That said the bike you want depends on a number of factors ie if you like flat or dropped bars, the length of time you intend to go for etc. Without seeing your bikes none sound like bikes you would buy to tour on but the bike I use for touring is a retired mtb so each to their own.

Surly are very en vogue (especially the Long Haul Trucker frame) as are Dawes but for me such specialist bikes are wish list bikes or for those who are doing many more km than I.

If I were to build a bike I would go with mtb gearing for the hills, a nice Brooks touring saddle like these. I use flat pedals but many do use clip less. I have Vbrakes but more people seem to be going for disk brakes for better stopping power. Then you have to look at racks back with/without front, bags, strong wheels and tyre choice is always a good topic...... thats all before you think of destinations and routes.

Along side boards I find crazyguyonbike a great source for logs, blogs and gear recommendations
To finance all this you could clean up your bikes and sell them, you might get a few quid for the the racer.


I hope this is some help to you.

Cetyl Palmitate

Thanks for the links DFD & thebouldwhacker. Some helpful info there.

Ya, I was over at Exit. Had a brilliant time. Beautiful location, great weather and lots of interesting and friendly people. It took me about a week to recover though - those hills and long walks really take it out of you! I'd go again but I would like to look into some other festivals in other places first. That said, Exit would suit touring if you came from the north as it seems relatively flat until you go south of Belgrade.

I would prefer to go fully loaded and just stay in campsites or wherever and cook my own food where possible. It would be my intention to get into the swing of things around Ireland first - as much to get the hang of what I need/don't need to carry and to see what kind of distances would be reasonable for me to travel on a daily basis.

Looking at different bikes, This http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kona/sutra-2010-touring-bike-ec021823 Kona Sutra seems pretty nice, even though I don't really like the sloped top tube. They stock Kona in Cycleogical so I might drop in this weekend to check on price etc. I think 700c would be the way to go. I'm tall (6 2ish) so would need a large frame. I'm not certain if this would affect wheel size, but, even still, I think I would be sticking to roads the majority of the time.

I doubt I would be getting much change out of 1k for any of the Kona Sutra, Surly LHT or maybe the Dawes Galaxy. I also saw a Tifosi CK7, http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=26673 which would seem to be a little cheaper but, tbh, I never heard of them before. I presume Trek would have a few different options too. I'll have a look at their site.

I guess my budget would, ideally, stay below the BTW 1k. Touring type bikes do seem to be a little expensive but I guess if used as intended you will need reliability/quality.

Thanks for your help. My journey begins here I guess......