first cycling holiday.

marcthehammer

Hi. My wife and i are doing our first cycling holiday this september round dorset.We regular cycle 30 odd miles on a saturday and i cycle to work most days so we have a mulittool and basic riding clothes.
I have a general idea of routes and suchforth.We will be staying in b&bs so wont need tent and stuff. we are hoping to do about 3 or 4 days.My questions are these, what other stuff will we need?( we have racks and panniers) will we need more tools than just the basic multitool? Is 50ish miles a day too far in one day? Should i try and book b&bs in advance (bit reluctant to do this but dont wanna be knackerd and still miles away from one) Is a handlebar bag a good idea? Thanx in advance for your help.Im sure i will think of some more questions later on!!

alfablue

50 miles a day is okay, but you might find you soon exceed Dorset or go over old ground again. What seems to work for me is maybe 2 x 20 mile rides either side of a lunch stop. Depends on how you want to balance seeing places and spending time in them and achieving distance - as a first tour I would suggest you do the former, make it as pleasant and enjoyable as you can, even if it is leisurely. There are some tough hills in Dorset.

Bar bags are very good - ready access to stuff without getting off bike. They can interfere with gear cables on Shimano road shifters, but I have used them without a problem.

I would def book in advance, without a tent you have no plan B, and I have on occasions had to cycle a further 20 miles to find accommodation, which at the end of a long (and maybe wet) day, and maybe in failing light, is not fun, and it causes anxiety. Also, you use up time that should be spent relaxing in the pub or having dinner. You may also find your only B&B is somewhere you can't get a meal nearby. Unfortunately, pre-booking means your whole ride is pre-planned, so that's why I prefer to take a tent, but with the extra weight to carry this turns into a completely different ball game (and my g/f can't haul heavy panniers). If you pre-book, at least you know for sure that you will have a comfy bed at the end of each day, without worry.

Tools and spares I take on tour - at least 2 spare tubes (more if the bikes need different sizes), puncture kit, tyre levers, a good pump, a tyre boot (strong sticky patch for ripped tyres, Park Tools, £2 ish), spoke key (if not in multi tool), brake pads, electrical tape, some rubber gloves, several large zip ties (have repaired things such as broken front mech and broken pannier rack with these), chain tool and KMC quick links in the appropriate size, poss a few spare chain links saved from last time you fitted a chain (I have broken a few chains over the years), some allen bolts washers and nuts (mainly in case your pannier rack loses one, or the thread goes on a rack mount - a longer bolt and nut can fix this), brake pads, chain lube. Make sure the multitool has a spanner to fit nuts on mudguards and poss nuts on rack mounts. (My Topeak Alien II is the weapon of choice for tours, to which I add a Leatherman Wave, mainly for blades and pliers).

On longer, more adventurous tours I would take more stuff (such as spare spokes, gear cables), but the above should do you for this trip.

It is surprising how things you thought were fine suddenly seem to wear out (like brake pads) when you do multi-day tours, especially if the weather is bad!

alfablue

Also, consider taking bike lights, you may want to pop out to the pub/restaurant that may be more than a short walk from your B&B.

Hope you have a great time, and get the cycle touring "bug" (think you will).

marcthehammer

Thanx for the reply. In regards to pre booking b&bs ive sort of planned the route and at the end of the day we finish in quite a big town/small city so b&bs shouldnt be a probBut i can see it may be a prob with no plan b..First day Poole to Bridport, 2nd Bridport to Dorchester, 3rd Dorchester to Salisbury and last day back to Poole.
Im going to have a look at some barbags this weekend.

alfablue

You should be okay with B&B's then, but I was once caught out in a town in Wales, there was a wedding on and every B&B and Hotel was full. But you are probably going to bigger towns. If not pre-booking, I would google B&B's in each location and take details, that way you can phone around rather than cycling around to find one.

The Ortleib Classic bar bags are excellent, and DHB's bar bag is very good for the money, being completely waterproof and having a map window in the lid.

The Ortlieb is better because spares are available, 5 year warranty, generally better quality (and fully waterproof), but on a budget I was very happy with the DHB (my g/f has the Ortlieb). I reckon its better to have a waterproof one rather than one with a separate waterproof cover.

marcthehammer

the DHB barbag was ok with your shifters then?

alfablue

It worked okay with Ultegra and extra long cable outers, but on my g/f's bike and Sora shifters the bag interfered with the left hand shifting (too long a sweep required), but then her bars may be narrower, too. The Ortlieb bags come in various sizes and hers is a bit narrower than the dhb. Ortlieb also do an extension to the mount as an accessory, so you can move the bag further forward and out of trouble, if necessary. I was pleased with the dhb in terms of value for money (better than most other than Ortlieb), however it isn't possible to buy a spare mount so I couldn't use it between two bikes. If you think you may get into cycle touring then the Ortlieb may be worth the investment, it will last for years. Having said that, it would be handy on day rides or even commuting. My g/f has hers in situ all the time.

nicktheluddite

haha - I was going to reply but then alfablue said everything I was going to say.
Only thing I'd add - take less then you think you'll need. B&B touring for a week you just need a bar bag and a drybag bungied on the rear rack. Two panniers is too much stuff - it's just weight to drag uphill. Dry bag keeps the weight more central than a single pannier.

I'd book ahead - trying to find a B&B on the day generally wasted an hour or so of riding time when we did it. Also we didn't get such good places as the ones we booked ahead. However we did get a few gems - farmstayUK was a discovery from that tour.

alfablue

Agree with the above, not much required for B&B touring, I have often made the mistake of taking loads of clothes I didn't use.

andymiller

Nick

Thanks for that link. So good it's worth making it clickable.

http://www.farmstay.co.uk/

Crapaud

marcthehammer wrote:

... Is a handlebar bag a good idea?

An alternative, if you don't need access to very much (keys, mobile, money etc), is a bum bag. I see lots of people using them, but personally I prefer not to have to carry anything on my person.

alfablue

I use a bum bag for day rides sometimes, don't really notice it.

andymiller

Bum bags? Yes 80s retro is back.

nicktheluddite

bum bag?! that's something I'd leave in the 80s. Surely that's what the back pockets on your cycling top are for?

alfablue

nicktheluddite wrote:

bum bag?! that's something I'd leave in the 80s. Surely that's what the back pockets on your cycling top are for?

As a luddite you should celebrate the 80's stuff Nick

Mine gets used mainly when mtb'ing, carries tubes, pump, first aid, phone, waterproof jacket, wallet, multitool. tyre levers, lights. A bit beyond jersey pockets, yest a lot better than a backpack in terms of comfort, and I am not keen on a bike mounted bag when off road. Horses for courses really, I have a bike bag solution for every occasion

I use a Lowe Alpine Mesa.

On tours though, I go with bar bag and panniers.