1200Mile (roughly) round trip?

MajorPayne

Heya all,

This is a slightly weird thread, I'm new to road cycling, completely new to touring on said machines too. I'm fairly fit though (ex-armed forces, currently TA part-time) but really I'm out of work and unwaged.

The whole plan in action started when my Girlfriend who's studying at uni got an elective placement in europe, so 10 weeks alone, not really much in the way of funds.

I've come up with the plan I could quite happily bike from the UK into a ferry £30 to the hook of Holland, drive through Holland, Germany and up into Denmark where by I can stay for a few weeks before coming back the same way I first started out.

I've planned on maps.google the route from my house to Harwich where I will be getting on the ferry works out about just over 100miles, when I get into Europe I've about another 530miles to cover. if allowing I could upload the links for you all to see, of which I will add them in at the bottom of this post.

With my past army experience and current weekend warrior TA knowledge I do understand travelling alone is not the best thing to be doing. I'm also not sure about stopping at night just either by the side of the road or a few meters so I'm out of sight from the road in a tent for 8 hours sleep with the normal camping equipment food and medical supplies.

I'm currently buying a Carrera Racing bike off eBay and the auction ends in a few days, I've also just brought a bike trailer on eBay too, the tent and equipment for eating, warmth, washing would not come anything near £100 on top of that.

I've been or I should say trying to contact combatstress.org.uk so I can earn some sponsor monies for our serving and ex-serving armed forces support service's, not only that but I'm looking to propose to my Girlfriend when I get to my destination while taking a small holiday in the way of staying a week before heading home 'hopefully chuffed to bits' as if she says no.. Well going to be a long hard trip home eh!

I know this sounds all over the place and a complete logistical nightmare for the average person because in all honesty this will be the longest ride of my life let alone tugging a trailer along with me and being along the whole way there and back! But that's where my army training will help me out 'I hope' I know how to look very well after myself out-there in the middle of no-where I understand basic medical requirements, how to eat, train and how to keep myself amused (and I might add I'm not on about being in a tent alone with no-one around) lmao!

I'll be taking extras like Ipod, digital & video cam to document my lone journey and I'm even thinking if it does all go well getting to where I need to be I was thinking of taking it a bit slower home and rather enjoying things a bit more then I did starting out I'll be staying inside the Europen borders so insurance and things should not be a hassle to gather easily.

*I'm waffling, sorry.

But to be honest, all I need is a month or two training, getting more kit together, lighting the load as much as I can. Planning a strict food diet regime and trying to make it as cheap as possible. I think the sights and mental stress's are going to be awesome.

I'd like to know how people feel for a first journey out on what I would consider a huge long haul for someone who's never attempted anything like this before. it's not the the average person and I've always been the type to pick the hardest challenge, just about scrape through and still have a good laugh about it at the end. Everything in life's a challenge and I really do love long drawn-out torture( a bit like being in the army again). And I'm really looking forward to this event while helping out raising monies for our armed-services and possibly getting engaged

I'll try to be more clearer and update as much as I can with regard to equipment lists, training, food and preparation's for this tour, I'm really excited about the trip, even the planning is fun.

Kind regards,
Major Payne


Here's the links for travel:
Northampton to Harwich:
maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Northampton&daddr=52.095307,0.2750067+to:Harwich,+Essex,+UK&hl=en&geocode=%3BFUvpGgMdPjIEAClBob7h72PYRzExr3S9qBwOEw%3B&mra=ls&dirflg=ht&sll=52.235369,-0.781403&sspn=0.308658,0.617981&ie=UTF8&z=9&via=1

Hook of holland to Denmark:
maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Hook+of+Holland,+Rotterdam,+The+Netherlands&daddr=Amsterdam,+The+Netherlands+to:E47%2FR%C3%B6dbyhavn+-+Puttgarden&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&dirflg=ht&doflg=ptm&sll=53.383328,7.866211&sspn=4.810962,9.887695&ie=UTF8&ll=53.284922,7.723389&spn=4.822061,9.887695&z=7

MajorPayne

Just to be friendly, and if anyone got the time their more then willing to come along?

I'm looking to be leaving at the end of July ~ start of August and travelling on the ferry during week and out of peak-times is far cheaper

Kind regards,
MajorPayne

tardington

partly bopping this back up - it seems like a great trip. 8)

Most of the advice your looking for is around on this forum - I'd try and give some but my longest tour was just 6 days! :oops: All I can say is pack some loo roll, and you'd be amazed what you can wash in a public loo or the toilets in free public museums!

But wasn't there some lunatic who did 'stealth camping' on a sort of raised hammock/tent near town centres? It was like an of-the-ground tent attached to trees...

MajorPayne

tardington wrote:

partly bopping this back up - it seems like a great trip. 8)

Most of the advice your looking for is around on this forum - I'd try and give some but my longest tour was just 6 days! :oops: All I can say is pack some loo roll, and you'd be amazed what you can wash in a public loo or the toilets in free public museums!

But wasn't there some lunatic who did 'stealth camping' on a sort of raised hammock/tent near town centres? It was like an of-the-ground tent attached to trees...

Morning matey,
Thanks for the reply to my thread, had thought other users just found me out as being a madman! hehh

Oh'yeah plenty of ch-ch-cha-Charmin with Absorbbubbles of lovelyness aye!
I think I know the style of tents your on about, their the kind they use to affix on the side of mountians, while their climbing up'em, correct?

You know that's not a half sounding bad adventure tour to be on!
-I've gotta run in a while, going to pick up my soon-to-be touring road-ride myself. Travelling from the boring midlands over to south wales near bristol and we should be there about noon time, grab-it and drive home again in time for a BBQ staged at a friends.
It's a going away party for my partner as she's going to be in europe for 10-12weeks hence my inital idea of biking accross europe it's mainly a visit but also a fund-raiser and a holiday rolled into one

There be plenty of really good information on this site, like you've mentioned to me. I was on a route planner the other day, flipping awesome that one was too. Looked like a slight modification of google maps! I typed in my local town and it did come up with some maps so I've emailed the maker of the maps but no reply as yet. I was hopeing I could tag along with him while he's doing these runs!

-Right my partners just turned up with the car, I'm off mate.. And prolly in more ways then one!

Kind regards,
MPayne

-I'll be back!

MajorPayne

Heya matey,

Completed 12miles today on the road in just over an hour, went on some A and B roads, up & down hills while taking three phone calls and chasing some MTB rides that came out of Pitsford near where I live.

I did not even work up a sweat which I was surprised at, so I'll see how I feel in the morning and try again while altering my route and maybe adding or taking off a a few miles depending on how I feel.

I think it would be a good idea for me to get myself some weight-gain and other types of powered forms of nutrients so that I can keep my fuels up while building endurance for my trip, like I've mentioned I would like to complete about 50 miles a day if I can in europe.

I was contacted by CombatStress today while out riding and their going to send me a pack to help me raise funds for them along the way, which I'm really thankful for as it will give me a goal to really keep going, not to mention when I get there I'll ask my girlfriend if she wants to marry me and I've really got to get back to the UK afterwards on time as I've a family BBQ to attend the day after, eek!

I should soon have the trailer and I can't wait to be pulling that about and adjusting to the weight I'm going to be pulling around, it will slow me down so if I can work on my speed and endurance I should be able to cover 10~15 miles an hour if the conditions are al'right not to mention the terrain is kind of flat with not too many hills and drops.

I'm going to take my bike in for a service £35 and I'm thinking I should up-rate the brakes a little as I've found it does take me a while to slow, unless I just yank the rear brake really hard in which it just locks up an that's not good for the tyres after all.

I have to say UK drivers are not happy about bikes being on the road, but some are very kind.. Others just tail you right up the arse till you almost pull over in a bus bay and let them stream through. I don't mind moving over but sometimes I'm at the limit before my pedals are slapping the kerbs which to be honest can be scary when the bike jolts in such a manner!

Right lots of peas, sweetcorn, pasta, tuna, mayo and water meals for me over the next few weeks let alone some weight gain types of feeds to keep me wanting to move the bike around like it's a racer to build up my legs and stretch my endurance out. I would like to get to where I can almost race for a few hours then maybe take a break for 30~40mins and then head off again doing much similar.

Oh I might add, that feeling of pedaling around for a while and then stepping off the bike is weird, feels like your legs still want to pedal yet your brains asking you why your going so slow... Not to mention some arse ache but I think that's down to where the seams are on my shorts so I'll have to invest in some secondhand shorts and jerseys to get me through Europe as money for me is very tight all the time let alone trying to trek around Europe!

-Anyone have any older clothing kit that maybe does not fit them any longer and would be willing to either let me borrow or have it off them? I'm a slim fella with a 30~32inch waist and almost all Medium sized clothing will fit me for sure.
I'm going to have a gander on eBay and see if I can find some their too.

I'll update as much as I can, soon it will be about the trailer, then camping, food, tools and other kit I'm thinking of taking with me. I'm assuming like in the forces it's a question of get your kit together, try to half it and go what only what you really need rather then 70 pairs of socks and no trainers or wash kit.

Kind regards,
MajorPayne

MajorPayne

Heya guys and gals,

**Just to note, it's very loosely put on so you can see how it roughly works I don't ride with it like this

I could not fit my Cargo II to the rear of my racing bike because it does not have a flush fitting rather it has a cowl? over the it and it's been obstructing the bike and trailer allot, and really is over time just going to cause damage.

So I ad-hoc fitted it to the bike for a while until I could work out the best plan of action in fitting it to the bike securely. in the first set of images you'll see how I just made it fit and in the others a better design that really works and I've tested it on a few bikes too.

I'd also like to add my fiances brother has kindly given me the use of his older MTB style clip-on shoes and a wicked set of pedals to go with them! Now how awesome is that eh
So big thanks to Matt!!








So what I did was really, lower it slightly with the use of B&Q with regard to buying a piece of rectangular tubing to fit the hitch inside then drilling three holes two for support on the bike and one for the hitch itself. in all only cost around £15 and out of that I've got four complete spares, for some ease I used an old children's bike inner tube and slid that over the whole hitch to create a barrier if I ever caught my feet on it but honestly I've filled up the trailer past the 40Kg weight limit and been out on the bike..

Hard work pulling that kind of load with this gearing setup but even bouncing around on the bike and trying to take corners stupidly it's been absolutely sound and secure, not to mention it will now hitch to any bike with only a screwdriver and without having to adjust anything on the bike it's going to.. Takes less then two minutes honestly.

I'm going to make more and design them for other style hitches and see if I can sell them on eBay it will give me something to do and a way to earn money, anyone know how I go around copyrighting something like this? Or do I even have too?

Knowing me someone will come along and use the same idea or already has and I'll get busted for something!

Well if anyone would like one I'd be happy to make one for you and to your required specs, I'm even trying another type of hitch where I can still use the side but have it attached or modded so it's held on by the seat post!

Thanks for looking in all,
Very kind regards,
MajorPayne