Advice on a first cycle/camping trip?

[chillyuk]

I am very much into lightweight wild camping.

You don't say when you are going, but apart from midwinter I don't bother with a tent unless I am staying somewhere for a while. For overnight stops I just use a basic bivvi either against a hedge or wall. Sometimes I take my trangia meths cooking kit, sometimes a gas cooker and I always have my tiny solid fuel stand with a few solid fuel pellets as a back-up. I tend to buy army type ration packs, with boil in the bag meals. Wholesome and nutritious, and well worth the weight of the water they need to cook in. You can use the water you boil the bag in for coffee or towards having a sponge wash before settling down.

There is a big difference between going camping and having a night out during a journey. Good luck with it and I hope you have a great time.

 

[MrMonster]

That's exactly what i'd love to do. Cycle somewhere, camp out with minimal equipment, cycle some more etc. However, I need to learn one or the other, not go jumping in the deep end and have no experience with either on my first trip!

Where can you buy army ration packs btw?

Ty.

 

[RedBike]

There is no doubt what so ever that when it comes to road riding slicks are better than fat nobbly tyres. However, you will have VERY little grip when it comes to anything wet and muddy. If you're riding any distance on off-road (and by off-road I don't mean canal tow paths) then I would stick with off-road tyres. Depending on where you're riding you might think of a comprimise in the form of a semi-slick?

When you look at what other riders use for long off-road tours most use a frame bag and a SMALL rucksack. The problem is frame bags are expensive. The most commonly used make is Epic Designs. http://www.epicdesignsalaska.com/

Panniers, even when loaded unequally, don't seem to make one side of the bike feel any heavier than the other. They do however heavily load just the rear wheel. On rocky ground this made my bike feel like the rear wheel was crashing through every bump instead of floating over them.

 

[Matthames]

If you still fancy the idea of camping with a campfire, seeing as you are in the epping forest area, I know of a good campsite that allows fires. I can't remember what the rates were, but from memory they were quite reasonable. If you are interested I will PM you the details :-)

 

[Globalti]

Tyres, something like this: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Schwalbe_Land_Crusier_MTB_Tyre/5360042609/

or this: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Continental_Traffic_MTB_Tyre/5300003704/

or this if you're feeling rich: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Schwalbe_Marathon_Kevlar_MTB_Tyre/5360042616/#more

Buy in narrow size and pump up to maximum pressure as shown on the sidewall.

 

[Globalti]

On Polaris breakfasts were always a problem; we ended up just eating cake or filling plastic bags with Ready Brek or something like that and adding fruit and nuts if I recall. The worst aspect of living on high-energy low-bulk foods was that by the time you finished on Sunday you were always bursting with energy but starving.

 

[Arch]

There won't be any leaves lying around in spring or summer

I have a vision now, of MrMonster fighting a worm for the last leaf in the field.....

Forget about a compact frying pan, get a Le Cruset....

http://www.lecreuset.co.uk/Product-Range-uk/Cast-Iron-Cookware/Frying-Pans/Frying-Pan-28cm/

My Mum has one, she struggles to lift it two handed.....

 

[MrMonster]

RedBike, what can I use as an alternative to a frame bag? I've bought some slicks, i'll see how they fair, I might even carry my other tyres over my shoulder or something just in case when we get there we find some nice offroading to do, if I don't look too silly that is!


Matt, that would be very much appreciated! So please do

Globalti, I already bought tyres this morning, I think they were recommended in another thread of mine, http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=26231 These I believe.
For food, I think we'll eat on the way and settle for a nice hot cup of soup in the morning when we wake up, once we start riding we can always pop in a shop and get some more food when we're peckish!

Arch, haha I doubt that one leaf will be worth fighting a killer worm for! Were you being serious about that frying pan btw? Lol

 

[Globalti]

That looks a great tyre. Don't worry about carrying knobblies; you'll be amazed at what you can do on those tyres. They'll be OK in all but muddy conditions.

 

[MrMonster]

Ok, great! Thanks everyone. Should definitely make the journey easier!

 

[Arch]

Arch, haha I doubt that one leaf will be worth fighting a killer worm for! Were you being serious about that frying pan btw? Lol

No, not completely....

BTW, I often have as a quick snack lunch at the weekend, instant noodles in cup a soup sauce. Cook a pack of quick cook noodles - the sort you get in Sainsburys for 9p, that come with a sachet of seasoning, only leave out the seasoning. Put cup a soup powder into a bowl, and make it up on the thick side with some of the noodle cooking water, then drain the rest off and bung the cooked noodles into the soup, and eat/slurp. Makes it just that bit more satisfying than the noodles alone.

 

[RedBike]

I don't think there is an alternative to a frame bag. I use panniers on the road and a rucksack off-road. If you do use a rucksack then you want it to be as light as possible so its not uncomfortable. This will mean leaving ANY extra weight like spare tyres at home

 

[Dayvo]

Hello Mr M!

Everyone has covered all the relevant details, so I'll just post this, which IMO is one of the best short videos on here, that captures the true spirit of cycle touring!

https://www.cyclechat.net/

Have fun on your ride!

Touring is VERY addictive!

 

[MrMonster]

Arch, that actually sounds pretty good. Bit like noodles in a nice stock. But only the weight of a sachet. Thanks!

RedBike, yeah we don't have the biggest bags at the moment anyway, so we're not going to go and pack them so that when we stand we fall backwards. That would make the journey harder than it already is going to be! I'll have a trial run at packing my bag at the weekend, see how we go. Ty!

Dayvo, ill watch that video now, thanks! I will try my hardest to enjoy it, even if it's grueling effort! I hope it gets addictive, could do with the healthy lifestyle!

 

[Arch]

Arch, that actually sounds pretty good. Bit like noodles in a nice stock. But only the weight of a sachet. Thanks!

And you can choose from a wide range of cupasoup flavours - chicken is my favourite. Make it up as thick or thin as you like.