Supreme Cycle

rf6

lost_in_thought wrote:

@suzyb Smartphone, innit! :-)

Bivvy bag? No chance! I've got a terra nova duolite tourer, google it, it's massive! I also have a coleman sleeping bag, a full length blacks thermarest type thing, a mammut inflatable pillow, an MSR stove and kettle and a cafetiere for my morning coffee, all in 2 34l panniers with clothes etc and room to spare!

What about the kitchen sink????

Edit - that tent does have have big old porch space, handy for getting the bike out of sight me thinks.

Wallace1492

Gussio wrote:

rf6 wrote:

This is all quite tempting? I'm interested in what kit people are carrying?

BIvvy tent sounds small and light, but what about sleeping bags and rolls? Mine would use up a lot of pannier space - any recommendations?

Terra Nova Jupiter bivvy bag is excellent and has a hoop which keeps the material off your face. Quite a spartan approach though, and I would recommend the Terra Nova Voyager Superlight, which isn't much heavier but has loads of room inside for 2 people and a great awning for cooking in (and for sheltering bags during the night). I own both and think that they are wonderful.

Field and Trek are currently selling Thermarest 3/4 length mats for £35 rather than £70, which is a great deal. They are tiny when packed. Any 2-season sleeping bag will do the trick in summer (down, if you can afford it, packs smaller).

Suggest putting the tent longways ontop of the rear rack, leaving more space in the panniers.

Had a look - couldn't see, that is a superb bargain!!

Gussio

Wallace1492 wrote:

Gussio wrote:

rf6 wrote:

This is all quite tempting? I'm interested in what kit people are carrying?

BIvvy tent sounds small and light, but what about sleeping bags and rolls? Mine would use up a lot of pannier space - any recommendations?

Terra Nova Jupiter bivvy bag is excellent and has a hoop which keeps the material off your face. Quite a spartan approach though, and I would recommend the Terra Nova Voyager Superlight, which isn't much heavier but has loads of room inside for 2 people and a great awning for cooking in (and for sheltering bags during the night). I own both and think that they are wonderful.

Field and Trek are currently selling Thermarest 3/4 length mats for £35 rather than £70, which is a great deal. They are tiny when packed. Any 2-season sleeping bag will do the trick in summer (down, if you can afford it, packs smaller).

Suggest putting the tent longways ontop of the rear rack, leaving more space in the panniers.

Had a look - couldn't see, that is a superb bargain!!

Looks like they have sold out - sorry. Mine arrived on Tuesday morning.

rf6

Does look like they sold out. Just fetched my old small tent from the garage. That with blow up lilo bed thing and sleeping bag weighs in at just under 5kg, which doesn't seem too bad, and would save a bit of cash for more liquid "essentials".

I'm getting awfully tempted...

lost_in_thought

I don't know if others would agree, but for me weight is far less of an issue than packed size. The weight is on the bike, not you, and within reason it's surprising how little a difference weight makes.

ETA: only managed 115km today, legs were feeling the strain after weeks of illness-induced laziness. Still fun though!

Wallace1492

lost_in_thought wrote:

I don't know if others would agree, but for me weight is far less of an issue than packed size. The weight is on the bike, not you, and within reason it's surprising how little a difference weight makes.

ETA: only managed 115km today, legs were feeling the strain after weeks of illness-induced laziness. Still fun though!

Think it is a combination of the two... weight and size,,, different reasons. Weight on the hills, size with the wind.

lost_in_thought

In the spirit of helpfulness, a tip: if you want to ride nigh on 180m over 50 hours, try not to do it in really hot weather, and maybe do some regular riding to prepare. Saying that, I managed it, so you lot will be fine. Today was really hard though, headwind, some hills, not much sleep, but am now in the train feeling rather smug.

stuaff

lost_in_thought wrote:

In the spirit of helpfulness, a tip: if you want to ride nigh on 180m over 50 hours, try not to do it in really hot weather, and maybe do some regular riding to prepare. Saying that, I managed it, so you lot will be fine. Today was really hard though, headwind, some hills, not much sleep, but am now in the train feeling rather smug.

Well done, nothing to be smug about given the conditions and your recent lack of miles!

rf6

lost_in_thought wrote:

In the spirit of helpfulness, a tip: if you want to ride nigh on 180m over 50 hours, try not to do it in really hot weather, and maybe do some regular riding to prepare. Saying that, I managed it, so you lot will be fine. Today was really hard though, headwind, some hills, not much sleep, but am now in the train feeling rather smug.

Somehow I know you'd kick my ass on distance! I was thinking 40 ish miles per day, which is more than enough for my level of fitness. Hopefully a trip will help with distance. All I need to do now is decide on which bike to use, then get a pannier rack, and I'm all set.

Does anyone have any photos of their trips?

lost_in_thought

rf6 wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

In the spirit of helpfulness, a tip: if you want to ride nigh on 180m over 50 hours, try not to do it in really hot weather, and maybe do some regular riding to prepare. Saying that, I managed it, so you lot will be fine. Today was really hard though, headwind, some hills, not much sleep, but am now in the train feeling rather smug.

Somehow I know you'd kick my ass on distance! I was thinking 40 ish miles per day, which is more than enough for my level of fitness. Hopefully a trip will help with distance. All I need to do now is decide on which bike to use, then get a pannier rack, and I'm all set.

Does anyone have any photos of their trips?

Here you go - Normandy tour 2009 http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/alb ... aid=154597

TBH, 40-ish miles a day would be a good plan, I was trying to get to Wallace levels of mileage which, frankly, was stupid! And I was mostly in Norfolk, which I'm led to believe is somewhat flatter than Scotland...

183 miles all in, from Thursday midday to today 1600, with 2 hours on the train thrown in for good measure. Am now home, washed, and having a beer!

Aidy

Sorta the lesson we've learned in the past with touring is to take the first day or so fairly easy, and build up the mileage as you're more comfortable with it.

We'd been told previously with multi-day hikes to get the longest mileage days in at first, on fresh legs. And then buggered ourselves trying to do the same trick with cycle touring.

When we've gotten into the swing of it, I reckon we probably hit around 90 to 100 miles/day without problems. And that was on mountain bikes with silly tyres - I'd expect to be doing more now on more suited bikes

Building in rest days for longer tours, and taking suitably relaxed lunch breaks (particularly on hot days) makes a difference, too.

Haven't been touring for a while mind, tho' I'm sorta thinking about one next year...

Wallace1492

Well done LiT!! No touring at the weekend. Just relaxed with 2 Munro's in Glencoe, then a lovely 73 mile cycle round Morvern and Loch Leven. Next toring is Mallaig to Durness towards the end of the month, but think I may have planned enough miles each day!! Might throw in the road to Applecross for good measure.... :shock:

jimmypippa

Slightly OT, Wallace...

But if you are in Mallaig, and it isn't a Sunday, you can do worse than go to The Cabin for a fish supper (or proper seafood inside). (Just got back from a week there - played around with the family, and only did one long day's walking into the North Morar/Loch Nevis area).

AFIK, the Cornerstone is now supposed to be quite good as well.

A couple of years ago we made the mistake of going to the other one (the Fish Market?) and they had breaded fish, and what seemed to be oven chips.... Nooooo!

Wallace1492

jimmypippa wrote:

Slightly OT, Wallace...

But if you are in Mallaig, and it isn't a Sunday, you can do worse than go to The Cabin for a fish supper (or proper seafood inside). (Just got back from a week there - played around with the family, and only did one long day's walking into the North Morar/Loch Nevis area).

AFIK, the Cornerstone is now supposed to be quite good as well.

A couple of years ago we made the mistake of going to the other one (the Fish Market?) and they had breaded fish, and what seemed to be oven chips.... Nooooo!

Cheers Jimmypippa, I will remember that. Will be there in a few weeks and might spend the night in Mallaig. Thinking of checking into the backpackers place in the centre of town. The train journey there is amazing, looking forward to doing it again!

suzyb

Assuming the train doesn't derail on the way there :?