Doing a Cross Country / Tour on a budget - advice please

Thebigbee

Hi -
am looking to do a cross country ride soon, to start with.
If successful I would like to to the end to end.

Am looking to do it on a budget and have kind of looked into joining the YHA as I don't really fancy the hassle of carrying a tent and all the shi7 that entails.

Can anyone advise on what are the best apps, websites etc to plan the journey?

I am in Dorset so it is either Brighton way or Cornwall way - as a warm up to hopefully increase.

Also when partaking in a ride like this is riding home part of the whole "experience"?

I.E - when you do a Lands to O'Groats do you cycle back the whole way or are trains involved - lol?

Sorry for being so naive

godders1

A traditional end to end is just that; from one end t'other. I don't think anyone would look down on you for flying/driving/getting the train to and from your start and finish points. I've never done it but plan to one day and this is definitely what I'll be doing!

Tons of info (and experiences from people who've actually done it) here:

http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewforum.php?f ... 4c83738fe3

random man

You might get more replies if you post this on the Tour & Expedition forum, but to start you off, I'd say it's your tour, there are no rules, do it however it suits you.

YHA is ok but don't rely on there being a hostel where you are going, quite a few are closing. Carrying a small tent isn't much hassle and can be more enjoyable than some of the hostels I've stayed in. Find a nice pub for a meal and a pint and you're sorted.
You don't have to cycle the whole route if you don't have time. I rode round the south-west last summer in a week and got a train down to Bristol and one back from Exeter. It all depends where you want to ride and how long you've got.
You're fortunate because you live in a lovely part of the country so you can set off from home in whatever direction you like (except perhaps south )

The main thing is to enjoy the ride!

Thebigbee

random man wrote:

You might get more replies if you post this on the Tour & Expedition forum, but to start you off, I'd say it's your tour, there are no rules, do it however it suits you.

YHA is ok but don't rely on there being a hostel where you are going, quite a few are closing. Carrying a small tent isn't much hassle and can be more enjoyable than some of the hostels I've stayed in. Find a nice pub for a meal and a pint and you're sorted.
You don't have to cycle the whole route if you don't have time. I rode round the south-west last summer in a week and got a train down to Bristol and one back from Exeter. It all depends where you want to ride and how long you've got.
You're fortunate because you live in a lovely part of the country so you can set off from home in whatever direction you like (except perhaps south )

The main thing is to enjoy the ride!

OK thanks for the info - I was being lazy. Didn't know there was a specific forum.

Cheers bye.

Thebigbee

Godders1 wrote:

A traditional end to end is just that; from one end t'other. I don't think anyone would look down on you for flying/driving/getting the train to and from your start and finish points. I've never done it but plan to one day and this is definitely what I'll be doing!

Tons of info (and experiences from people who've actually done it) here:

http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewforum.php?f ... 4c83738fe3

Thanks for the link and info.

I think you have answered a big question as to what happens when you "do it"! Most people will be knackered and chuffed at that.

Then they have to get home!

Will look into the site you suggested. You hear about people doing the E2E in a week but you generally don't hear about the return journey.

And that is gonna cost quite a lot £ for me. A CtC seems a good start.

thanks

MichaelW

On one tour I had difficulty booking a hotel on the first night so I bought a Gelert Solo tent for the same price as a cheap hotel. I ended up sleeping in it almost every night. Leave all the cooking gubbins at home and eat in pubs.
You need a tent, small bag and a 3/4 length inflatable mat, which can all fit inside one pannier, that is all.

craker

There's a trade-off between speed and luggage, which might also depend on what bike and how much time you have.

I'm toying with trying an 8 day Lejog (~120 miles daily) which will need some serious training and a light fast bike. The last cycle tour I went on was about 40 miles a day in Tuscany, catered and luggage carried.:-)

desweller

YHA is a good shout, their new website is a bit rubbish though. Don't forget pubs and B&Bs. Prices of these can vary hugely though.

I don't know what other people do for maps but I use the OS Landranger series and mark every waypoint on my cue sheets with an OS reference. It's time consuming and possibly over-detailed but it means that I can quickly find out where I'm supposed to be if/when I get lost.

For route planning I use Bikely to plot the route and store the cue notes but I work the route out with the Landranger maps at the same time. This is possibly not very efficient but I find it very helpful to know how my route relates to my paper maps. You also get a bit more elevation detail with OS compared to Bikely (which just uses the Google maps) so you can organise your route to avoid doing too many hills (or too many flat bits, whichever way you like to go).

Take a compass.

As for trains, a space for your bike is by no means guaranteed. You will need to book fairly well in advance. Make sure you have tools for loosening the headset as the bike will go into the space better if you can turn the bars through 90 deg (although that may be less problematic if you're using drops).

Good luck, post any photos!