The Fridays Tour 2012

[frank9755]

"In tents heat, and its effect on the sub-optimal cycle" A discourse by Tim Oddy, published by Jonathan Cape Canaveral.

...with less-polite translation available on request...

I could say that Tim, Claudine and other softies should MTFU, that camping is and always has been the purest form of cycle touring, that the dawn choruses are infinitely richer for the ears than in-room TV and that there is a real spiritual magic from being outdoors for 24 hours a day. All that is true and if you haven't done it, do try it as it is a heavenly escape from the modern world.

But actually I sort of agree with you for a group trip like this is likely to be. For cycle camping (and carrying my own gear and putting up my own tent) my limit is not much more than 80 miles per day. But that depends on me being able to ride when I want to ride and until I'm ready to stop. And in a larger group there are always compromises around when to set off and when to stop, which take a couple of hours out of the day. I think a larger group (10+) would not comfortably do much more than 50 miles per day if camping (slightly more with a support vehicle).

Also, cycle camping is perfect for solo trips and good for a couple of people but with a larger group, if I'm honest, I'd rather spend the extra time not on the bike drinking beer than messing around pitching a tent.

I don't think doing bits of camping and bits of hotels works, as you end up carrying too much gear that you don't need. I also don't think night riding on a tour works as hotels tend to work on the convention of people sleeping at night and moving on in the day.

Finally, it's been wonderful watching the Giro coverage the last couple of days. The pictures of the Italian countryside, the smooth roads and the little towns perched on their hills in the May sun has not done anything to make LEJoG feel any more appealing!

 

[theclaud]

I could say that Tim, Claudine and other softies should MTFU, that camping is and always has been the purest form of cycle touring

Pah! I'm glad you didn't run with that one. And if you're going to bang on in that vein, I trust it's wild camping you mean, and not all that wussy hot-showers and all amenities stuff, and panniers loaded with gadgetry? Camping is great...for a day or two... if it's dry... and you don't mind not sleeping much. The purest form of cycle touring would be to take nothing but the clothes you are wearing, to be unencumbered, and to trust to the hospitality of those you meet. Sort of Satish Kumar on wheels. I'm not quite brave enough for that, so I'll go for the best roof over my head that I can afford, and the lightest load I can get away with...

 

[Aperitif]

Satish Kumar!


"Jain's a bit slack."

 

[theclaud]

Satish Kumar!


"Jain's a bit slack."

 

[dellzeqq]

there's a bit of discussion chez DZ about the optimum luggage quotient (c TimO). One of us thinks spare shorts, spare socks, spare vest, tools and, if you really are going to stay at the best places, spare cycling top is it. Another of us has some kind of Queen of Sheba fantasy, with forty elephants bearing ball gowns, Prada shoes, lipsticks and the like. And, in the absence of elephants, there would be luggage ghastliness.

 

[theclaud]

there's a bit of discussion chez DZ about the optimum luggage quotient (c TimO). One of us thinks spare shorts, spare socks, spare vest, tools and, if you really are going to stay at the best places, spare cycling top is it. Another of us has some kind of Queen of Sheba fantasy, with forty elephants bearing ball gowns, Prada shoes, lipsticks and the like. And, in the absence of elephants, there would be luggage ghastliness.

Isn't there usually An Elephant In the Room around here? perhaps you could take it along...

 

[Aperitif]

Which rucksack have you got your eye on? Hire Stu or Marin as sherpas (relaxed, not tensing) maybe.

 

[frank9755]

What wise words from Frank!

Thanks TMN - when can I buy you a drink!?

Pah! I'm glad you didn't run with that one. And if you're going to bang on in that vein, I trust it's wild camping you mean, and not all that wussy hot-showers and all amenities stuff, and panniers loaded with gadgetry? Camping is great...for a day or two... if it's dry... and you don't mind not sleeping much. The purest form of cycle touring would be to take nothing but the clothes you are wearing, to be unencumbered, and to trust to the hospitality of those you meet. Sort of Satish Kumar on wheels. I'm not quite brave enough for that, so I'll go for the best roof over my head that I can afford, and the lightest load I can get away with...

Pah indeed!

If you are challenging me to a hardness of camping contest then my opening bid would be that last year I did 10 consecutive nights under canvas at 4,000m+ altitude in Tibet with no shower. Hope that is wild enough for you! In fact it wasn't quite that wild as we had a support crew who carried gear and pitched the tents - although the tents did leak...

I disagree with you about the day or two point. I find I get into the rhythm of being outdoors. If you are doing over a week then you can't have any electrical gadgets and you just get into a different, more meditative mental place. You don't sleep much to begin with but I find I sleep better after the first couple of nights because I'm so knackered getting into the spirit of it.

Even rain when you are in the tent is fine. Makes it feel even more nice and cosy. It's a bit inconvenient if it rains when you're packing it up but it's rarely that bad, and you're going to get wet anyway on the bike!

You've lost me on why it is more pure not to take a change of clothes or a tent, or for that matter, a spare inner tube and multitool. Leave the hair straighteners and the playstation behind by all means, but that sounds a bit daft to me!

 

[frank9755]

there's a bit of discussion chez DZ about the optimum luggage quotient (c TimO). One of us thinks spare shorts, spare socks, spare vest, tools and, if you really are going to stay at the best places, spare cycling top is it. Another of us has some kind of Queen of Sheba fantasy, with forty elephants bearing ball gowns, Prada shoes, lipsticks and the like. And, in the absence of elephants, there would be luggage ghastliness.

Sounds like you need the Mick F solution

 

[dellzeqq]

Ah - much as I admire Mick F..........I don't think so!

In general the idea is that people choose. So I'll put together a list of alternatives. Some will camp, while others will swan off to some hotel or other, and have their sprockets lubricated by uniformed flunkeys.

I'm open to a bit of persuasion on the time taken to do the 876 miles, but I think as it gets toward two weeks boredom will set in. At 80 miles a day it takes five days to get to York, where, arguably, the adventure begins. If only Cornwall wasn't so long........

 

[GrumpyGregry]

... I am not a fan of cycle camping because I am a very light sleeper and find it almost impossible to get a decent 8 hours under canvas even when really tired. and lack of sleep over a couple of nights makes me an even more of a sour grumpy foul moody depressed depressive bar steward than I am normally.

...also canvas reminds me of being broke in the early days of our marriage when camping in May was all we could afford for a family 'summer' holiday on my rubbish civil servant salary.

So give me a saddlebag with a spare change of kit and a credit card for the B&B and a hot shower and a comfy bed and I'm a happy boy.

 

[TimO]

... to get to York, where, arguably, the adventure begins. ...

Admit it, you're just dreaming of cake.

Where's User10119 ?

 

[Flying Dodo]

I'm open to a bit of persuasion on the time taken to do the 876 miles, but I think as it gets toward two weeks boredom will set in. At 80 miles a day it takes five days to get to York, where, arguably, the adventure begins. If only Cornwall wasn't so long........

Exactly. Everyone seems to do LEJOG. That's why I'm missing out Cornwall, and being different and going for the other diagonal for my epic ride. York to Dover = 2½ days.

 

[dellzeqq]

you'd be surprised, Adam, how few people are doing LEJoG. When I first went up there in the early 80s I'd have a cyclist in sight for perhaps half of the last 200 miles. On my last outing, in 2005, we were travelling like rockets and passed almost nobody on the entire route - a couple on a tandem somewhere near Tain come to mind, and two chaps walking JoGLE somewhere near Carlisle. It may have increased in the interim, but John O'Groats arse was hanging out of its trousers, and we were the only LEJoGers to arrive that day.

I know that it's perfectly possible to work out a better 'to' and 'from', and my own view is that the route from Bristol up to Carlisle and beyond is a bit dull, but, if you can make a good ride out of it (and I think I can), it's an almighty tick in a box.

 

[User10119]

Admit it, you're just dreaming of cake.

Where's User10119 ?

Back in posts 5, 15 and 80-something, offering cake and food and stuff