First tour advice

fill_d

I'm doing my first cycle/camping trip this may. Devon to Santander through France then back on the ferry. Does anyone have any top tips? I'm particularly interested in thoughts about wild camping. Oh, and I will have a reasonably broken in Brooks saddle by May- do you recommend liberal application of vaseline every morning(somebody suggested this to me and I wasnt sure if they were joking!) or a decent pair of gel shorts?

Also, I am taking a MSR Whisperlite international stove which recommends the use of White Gas- what is this? Whats the best alternative fuel (cheapest that doesn't damage the stove).

Final question- whats the minimum range of bike tools youd recommend to take?

Thanks

Bike- Raven Tour with Rohloff gears
Tent- Hilleberg Nallo2 GT
Panniers ortleib front and back rollers plus bar box and rear rack box (might not take)
Thermorest mat
Mountain Equipment Dreamcatcher sleeping bag

Tourist Tony

Bin the rear rack box and use the rack to carry things using a bungy cord or two., tent for example. Pack several times as practice and see if you really need the bar bag. Keep all yor aluables such as cash in one pannier, or the bar bag if you use it, so you can take it with you on short stops.
Get a decent pair of shorts, don't have to be gel, and get used to them. Two pairs; one on, one drying after washing.
Forget aseline and take sudocreme. You shouldn't really need it with Brooks'n'shorts, as long as you keep clean down there.

fill_d

sounds like good advice- thanks!

CyclepathToHell

you going to San Malo, Calais ??

mark1956

fill_d wrote:

Also, I am taking a MSR Whisperlite international stove which recommends the use of White Gas- what is this? Whats the best alternative fuel (cheapest that doesn't damage the stove).

White gas is a generic term for Coleman fuel. Here's a link with more information than you ever wanted to know about the names of different fuels:http://fuel.papo-art.com/.

You can use unleaded auto fuel in a Whisperlite. It will clog the stove eventually and it tends to be smellier and produce more soot than white gas/Coleman fuel IME, but it won't do any permanent damage to the stove. I've also mixed auto fuel and white gas in my Whisperlite and in my MSR X-GK stove. Get the cheapest, lowest octane petrol you can find, higher octane fuel won't do you any good.

Some people have had difficulty buying extremely small quantities of auto fuel. I have had filling station owners in the US express concern about spilling fuel while filling a small fuel bottle.

HTH,
mark

fill_d

CyclepathToHell wrote:

you going to San Malo, Calais ??

Plymouth-Roscoff then Santander back to Plymouth

fill_d

markfelber wrote:

Get the cheapest, lowest octane petrol you can find, higher octane fuel won't do you any good.

I've got a domestic oil burner (kerosene I think) for central heating- do you think I can use this if I syphon some out of the oil tank? its 42p/ltr at the moment, less than half the price of petrol and a lot cheaper than the coleman fuel you mention.

CyclepathToHell

fill_d wrote:

CyclepathToHell wrote:

you going to San Malo, Calais ??

Plymouth-Roscoff then Santander back to Plymouth

Nice. So you're going to do the West coast down to Spain?

If so that's a nice first trip..not too crazily hard and plenty of campsites if you feel like crashing early or riding on until dusk

My only advice is simple: lay out everything you're taking on a bed and then get rid of half of it. I was told this ten years ago and it's without doubt true (particularly for a first tour). I still found myself junking stuff a few days into the tour and many people end up doing the same and/or sending stuff home.

fill_d

West coast,yes. I've built in a few days spare so I can hire a board and a suit and spend a couple of days in the sea if the swells up. Really looking forward to it!

Definitely going to go as light as possible. Bikes pretty heavy already with just the essentials in, tent, bag, stove etc so the fewest clothes I can get away with the better. TBH the bit thats causing most pre-conception of pain is getting over Dartmoor on my way to Plymouth- France should be a breeze after that!

mark1956

fill_d wrote:

markfelber wrote:

Get the cheapest, lowest octane petrol you can find, higher octane fuel won't do you any good.

I've got a domestic oil burner (kerosene I think) for central heating- do you think I can use this if I syphon some out of the oil tank? its 42p/ltr at the moment, less than half the price of petrol and a lot cheaper than the coleman fuel you mention.

http://www.msrgear.com/support/stoves.asp

The MSR website says that you can run kerosene if you have the kerosene jet. If this did not come with your stove you may have to buy it from MSR. I found kerosene to be difficult to light in an older MSR stove when I tried it, I had to use alcohol to preheat the stove and get things going.

I remember being horrified at the cost of white gas in the UK, I was used to paying $5 per US gallon (70p/liter, maybe less), then the first shop I went to in Edinburgh wanted GBP 6.50 for 1/2 liter! I don't think MSR would have introduced the Whisperlite or any other white gas stoves if Coleman fuel cost as much in the US as it does in the UK.

It might be just as easy to get a cheap gas cartridge stove for your trip, the cheap Camping Gaz piercable cartridges seem to be available everywhere in France.

DomT

Make sure you check out the Picos de Europa before you catch the boat back home - they would make a great conclusion to your trip!

I have a Raven Tour and would pack a chain tool, possibly a cone spanner (for front wheel), a few useful alum keys, the eccentric chain tension tool spanner (I'm sure Thorn has a special name for it!), some oil and all the relevant bits for mending a puncture as well as a spare inner tube. I'd also recommend doing an oil change before you go - so that you don't need to worry about doing one mid-tour.

andymiller

Personally I'd recommend Assos Chamois Cream (form Parker International).

djmc

I normally use a mixture of vaseline and zinc oxide cream. Vaseline is quite useful as it can be used as emergency lubrication (I once had all the lubrication washed out of the jockey wheels of a derailleur once), it is also useful for improving electrical contacts. Any of the ingredients of chamois cream might be allergenic but I think that vaseline is less so than lanolin.
I've done Dieppe to Santander, but staying in hotels. Really enjoyable. Seeing the countryside and building styles gradually change is terrific. The Spanish part is great but avoid Bilboa and San Sebastian if you can. They are both interesting big cities but murder to cycle in.

anagallis_arvensis

normal everyday unleaded is fine in a whisperlight, its all I use. The stoves with the shaker needle thingy in the jet (unlike the older models) dont really clog. Just make sure you have the right jet in place.

CyclepathToHell

djmc wrote:

The Spanish part is great but avoid Bilboa and San Sebastian if you can. They are both interesting big cities but murder to cycle in.

everytime i've cycled out of San Seb i've ended up on the motorway with cars honking at me as I sprint down the shoulder.

i spent hours searching for a smaller road to get me on the coast road towards bilbao (can't remember the number) and everytime I go 'sod it' and do five minutes on the motorway to take the turn off onto it.

this guy was beeping me and I just gave him a wave and a smile..

xilios

There are many lists out there and my wife and I have put together our own. Check out the packing list on our page there might be a tool or idea that you could use.
cheers

vernonlevy

fill_d wrote:

I'm doing my first cycle/camping trip this may. Devon to Santander through France then back on the ferry. Does anyone have any top tips? I'm particularly interested in thoughts about wild camping. Oh, and I will have a reasonably broken in Brooks saddle by May- do you recommend liberal application of vaseline every morning(somebody suggested this to me and I wasnt sure if they were joking!) or a decent pair of gel shorts?

Also, I am taking a MSR Whisperlite international stove which recommends the use of White Gas- what is this? Whats the best alternative fuel (cheapest that doesn't damage the stove).

Final question- whats the minimum range of bike tools youd recommend to take?

Thanks

Bike- Raven Tour with Rohloff gears
Tent- Hilleberg Nallo2 GT
Panniers ortleib front and back rollers plus bar box and rear rack box (might not take)
Thermorest mat
Mountain Equipment Dreamcatcher sleeping bag

I strongly recommend a shakedown trial one weekend so that you can try out the making and breaking of camp and packing unpacking your panniers.

An appraisal of how you see your self on tour:
A cyclist on tou or a tourist on a bike will influence your packing list regarding clothes.

As for your stove - I don't have direct experience of using a white gas/petrol/paraffin stove on tour despite having a collection of 1/2 dozen or so of them - they're old, brass and look nice

I have heard of one technique to get free petrol. Wait at a filling station and approach a motorist who is filling up holding out your fuel bottle and some money. The motorist will either decline to fill your bottle or deline to accept the money.

The faff can be avoided by using a trangia

Plenty of fuel available cheaply in supermarkets as 'alchool a brulee' and failing that, calvados - you can drink what does fit in your fuel bottle

I don't bother with fancy shorts or exotic unguents to rub into my bits. Marks and Sparks best cotton undies and a pair of loose fitting shorts do the job nicely.

You seem to have a lott of baggage. The rear rack box can be discarded and your tent etc can fit on it. Use the bar bag for camera, phone cash, documentation and lightweight snacks. I used a Camelback for this so coped with four panniers.

Wild camping works did it a couple of times on my Channel to the Med ride last year. It isn't officially condoned in France thoughif you pick your spot carefully there won't be a fuss. I was once directed by a vilager to a nice grassy patch of grass in the village square next to a nice clean and odour free toilet block and re-assured that it would be OK to camp there though i felt uneasy and found a nice quiet walled vineyard instead. If your motives for wild camping are driven by finances, you won't necessarily save a lot of money as quite a few of the municipal campsites cost around €5. Do look out for the municiapal camp sites - they are normally heavily subsidised by the local cahbers of commerce and are much cheaper than the privately owned sites.

fill_d

Such a lot of great advice from everyone- thanks very much!