A pause

There are 155 days, just over 22 weeks, to go before the start of our cycle tour.  

With Christmas and the New Year celebrations looming, thoughts are largely elsewhere and activity in terms of tour preparation has diminished. Once we're into 2013, there's little doubt that time is going to fly by.

Rob's minor operation went well and he's making a steady recovery. His bike is expected to be delivered in  the New Year and we will publish a photo and further details then.

My base fitness programme continues and my weight loss has now reached 19.5 kg or 43lb. Although my original target was just 18 kg (40lb), I'm continuing just a little while longer to give myself a safety margin, especially as my wife and I are spending Christmas on our own and we'll have a whole turkey to ourselves!

In the meantime, our blog has been re-designed and we have added Pages with photos of ourselves, details of the charities that we are supporting (with links to on-line donation pages) and an overview of our route and our approximate travel schedule once the tour starts. The Bikes & Equipment page will be updated when Rob's bike has been delivered.

Although we have not actively sought sponsorship or donations yet, a generous donation has already been made to my charities. When 2013 is well underway and we think people have recovered financially from the impending celebrations, we shall be launching appeals for funds.

One thing worth mentioning is the Amazon Search Box at the lower right hand side of each Post and each Page on this blog. This is a portal to Amazon from which our charities will benefit. That is, if anyone uses an Amazon Search Box on this blog to look for a product, and then goes to Amazon by clicking on the product and then buys anything (even if it's not the product that was clicked on) from Amazon, via this blog route, Amazon will pay us a commission which will be donated by us in full to our charities. This facility will remain open for at least a month after our tour finishes. It does not affect the price that anyone will pay for an Amazon purchase.

We would ask please that you use these Search Boxes, anywhere on this blog, as your route to Amazon for all your Amazon purchases over the next 6 to 7 months.
Thanks.

Elan

Setback and Foretaste

A minor setback has occurred in Rob's preparations.  He has developed a niggling injury which requires him to have an operation in early December 2012, which will put him out of action for a few weeks.  On the plus side, it's probably the perfect time as the weather is closing in and there will be numerous distractions around Christmas and the New Year.  Rob hopes to be back to 100% by mid-January.

Rob has also ordered his bike and various bits of kit which will be the subject of a later post.

Meanwhile, I fled the English autumn and spent a week in Spain checking out various tapas bars (all in the interests of research, you understand). During my travels, I drove through some mountainous regions which I suspect will be typical of our route through northern Spain next year. 

The Spanish are very keen cyclists and there were many on the roads including some clearly touring with full panniers.  

Here's one climbing the hairpinned ascent in the photograph above. 

I just hope the weather is as good for us as it was in Spain when I visited!

Elan

Packing and panniers

In advance of a get-together with Rob to discuss our cycle trip, I have now laid out, photographed and packed virtually all items that I'm proposing to take.  Considering this is the first "draft" of the packing, it's pleasing that nearly everything has been accommodated. What minor problems there are do not really concern weight (total in all bags and panniers is 30lb),  but volume. In particular, the pack sizes of the camping gear and the tapered shape of the panniers has left pockets of unused space in the lower parts of the pannier. Whilst small items can be put down there, the aim is to keep things accessible in proportion to how often they may be needed.

Anyway, the photo below shows the items being taken:

Camping gear top right, off-road clothing bottom right, spare cycling clothing bottom centre, electronics and on-bike warm clothing top left, towels and toiletries bottom left, tool kit in 3rd bottle at top centre, with maps in the middle.

When packed, this is what it looks like:

All camping gear and bike tools (that are not in the water bottle) are in the rear  right pannier, the clothing and toiletries are in the rear left pannier and the rest is in the bar bag, with waterproofs in the orange dry-sack

 I had hoped that I wouldn't need anything other than the bar bag and panniers but if I'm carrying waterproofs (a lightweight set of golf waterproofs were much lighter and more compact than cycling-specific ones), they need to be quickly accessible without exposing the dry contents of the panniers to rain; hence the orange dry-sack that I will strap to the top of the rack.

I still intend to refine the packing list.  In particular, I will look for smaller measures of toiletries and may replace one or two items of clothing if I find better, or just simply remove some.

There's still time to ponder ...............

Elan

Holidays

Holidays provide not just a welcome break from training, but also offer the opportunity of packing and trialling things that you may consider taking with you on your cycle tour.

Spanish and French hotels rarely provide tea and coffee making facilities in the rooms and it's sometimes a chore having to find a place that serves a decent-sized cup of coffee when you want it.  If tea is your preferred drink, then good luck in finding anywhere that serves tea that is anything like a British cuppa!
One handy device that my father has given to me is a travelling water heater.  It is simply a heating element that sits in a mug of water and, when plugged in, heats the water up to near boiling point within a couple of minutes.  It's best used in conjunction with an enamel mug.  I used this a couple of weeks ago and it was fantastic (if you ignore the first 2 occasions when I tripped the Spanish hotel's fuses because the first socket that I used was clearly defective!).  It is only 350 watts (1.5 amps) so really should not overload any electrical socket.

Water heater

I'd also intended to take open-toed sandals for off-bike wear.  So, on holiday I wore them as much as I could.  Nahh!  They chafed and my feet kept getting dusty, so I've changed my mind on these and bought trekking sandals that look like trainers but have cut-outs in the uppers.  They can be worn as true sandals without socks, or as shoes, using socks to match the colour of the uppers.  They are not as light as the previous sandals but there has to be a sensible compromise between weight and comfort.  This goes for all items of clothing and equipment.  At the end of the 3 week trip, I want to be able to say that I enjoyed it; not that I was uncomfortable or continuously cold, wet, sore etc.  If that means taking a pound or two more in luggage weight, then so be it.

I dealt with the chafing from the sandals by applying Conotrane, an inexpensive cream, recommended by my dad again, as being better than Savlon and indeed it is.  Apart from being an antiseptic soothing cream, it's also a barrier cream specifically intended to prevent pressure sores.  It works a treat when applied to your "delicate parts" before climbing on your bike!

I deliberated for some time before ordering any of the camping gear that I'd researched and selected.  This week, I found out that my preferred tent from my preferred supplier (at a decent discount) had sold out.  Alarm bells rang in my mind.  I feared that my chosen tent wouldn't be re-stocked until the start of the next camping season in 2013 and I would have to pay near to full RRP.  I have therefore ordered all the camping gear now, while prices are reduced for end of season, and I await its delivery.  Although I'm hardly likely to use the tent before our trip, I can do a visual check when it arrives which should suffice (as the tent is mainly a fall-back option).  Having this gear now does give me the opportunity to check that I can indeed fit all the camping gear into one of the rear panniers, as the pack sizes suggest.

With the camping gear, the total weight of clothes and equipment (excluding panniers) is coming to just over 30lb.
My personal weight loss, after recovering from holiday excesses, is now 27lb.
Soon, I hope to be "in credit"!!

Training continues.

Elan

Changes and Training

There are now 9 months to the start of our trip and ferry tickets have been booked as the new timetables have been announced. 

It’s rather disappointing that we can’t get an overnight ferry back from Roscoff on the day we wanted.  There seem to have been changes in the timetables and we are now forced to get a day sailing back which drops us in Plymouth in the dark of the evening, which is not ideal.

Changes

Rob and I have met to discuss our plans further and have agreed a couple of changes to what we’d intended.

Firstly, we’ve decided to take camping gear.  This was because some hotel prices were found to be eye-watering near the coast and camping also gives us a “last resort” alternative if we find that there are no vacancies in hotels or if we have concerns over bike security. 

The default remains, though, as being a sensibly-priced hotel and bed and breakfast based trip.

Secondly, Rob has proposed that if we are going to be expending so much effort on our cycling trip and if people are willing to donate to an associated good cause, then we should raise funds for our preferred charities.  This makes good sense so we will nominate our chosen charities and start raising pledges nearer the time of our trip.

Training

Training by each of us continues on an ad-hoc basis.  I have referred to many books, blogs and forums for advice on preparation.  Some “tomes” make your eyes glaze over with the complexity and amount of training that they recommend but one book entitled “The Complete Book of Long Distance Cycling” has come up with something sensible which is easy to remember and doesn’t require quite the dedication of a Team Sky cyclist. 

It says, under the heading Loaded Touring:

“Train before the tour, not during it.  Some people figure that they can ride themselves into shape during the first week of the tour.  A much smarter approach is to start training about 3 months before the trip.  If you’re beginning from ground zero, ride 15 miles a day, 3 times a week.  Raise this to 20 miles after the fifth time.  Keep gradually increasing the distance.  As your form improves, check your trip itinerary and find your longest day.  If it’s 90 miles, you should work up to about 70 miles in training.  Full distance rides aren’t necessary.  At a touring pace with occasional breaks, you should be able to ride twice as far in a day as the average of your longest training rides”

As our longest day is likely to be about 45 days, this means working up to about 35 miles in training which is very “do-able”.

So, our ad-hoc training can continue, to maintain a base level of fitness, and then we can step things up as necessary in the New Year.

The same book also quotes a maximum of about 40lbs of gear, which is a helpful guide.

What I think I also need to do is add weight to the bike bit by bit and, at some time during the month before the trip, endeavour to replicate the bike’s fully-loaded state.  The effort needed will not only increase but it will be important to get used to how the bike responds.

Elan

Bits and pieces

The return to more seasonal sunshine has encouraged me to get on the new touring bike to put some miles in and start to break in the leather saddle. Thank goodness for Savlon!

Lights have now been acquired for the bike from the BikeLight shop http://www.thebikelightshop.co.uk – a Niterider Ultrafazer 5.0 for the front and a Niterider Cherry Bomb for the rear. (The service from this supplier was good enough for me to recommend them wholeheartedly).

Although, it isn’t our intention to cycle in the dark, we may well encounter bad weather such as fog and we need to ensure that we remain visible.

With a bar bag taking up all of the room on the handlebars, the question arose as to where to fit the front light. Spa Cycles, who also supplied my bike, sell a little tube stub for £8, about 40mm long, that is screwed onto the lower front rack braze-on for mounting a front light. This allows the front light to be fitted to the left or right of the front wheel, reasonably low down.

The rear light, unfortunately, doesn’t have a mount for fitting to the rear rack but it can clip to clothing or fit on the seat post. I can’t yet say how good the front light is in illuminating the road but the rear light is awesome and akin to a high intensity fog light on a car.

The care instructions for the leather saddle say that the saddle should not be allowed to get significantly wet. No problem when cycling but at rest stops etc, a cover was needed so I took a tip from a suggestion on a forum to buy a set of 3 Boots shower caps (around a £1). These seem to fit the bill perfectly and are light. In fact, you can wear one under your helmet to keep the rain off!

Just to give myself an idea of anticipated loading, I’ve started to weigh items of clothing, tools, panniers etc. I’ve only vague ideas of how heavy the kit is that people normally carry when using hotels but I’ve read lists totalling from 25lb upwards (one person who camped said that he took 75lbs!)

So far, I’m up to 20.5lb and I’d like to think I’ll be able to restrict everything to about 25lb to 30lb but it’s still early days yet.

Having been overweight for many years, the preparation for this tour is spurring me on to eat sensibly and exercise more. I have a target weight loss of 40lb (lost nearly half already) so I’m reasoning that once that’s been achieved, I won’t notice too much what I’m carrying on the bike. That’s the theory anyway…….

With 3 bottle cages, I’ve managed to get most tools in the bottom bottle, keeping the upper 2 for water/drinks. The helpful guy at Spa Cycles suggested that spare spokes could be carried in the seatpost with some foam stuffing top and bottom to stop them rattling around. I’ll do that nearer the time and also take some foam pipe lagging to protect the bike’s finish when locking it up. Damn, haven’t weighed the bike chain……….

The preparations and planning continue.

Elan

Elan's bike

A new bike has been bought for the trip.  Thanks to Spa Cycles http://www.spacycles.co.uk/ for their custom tourer and the helpful advice when choosing components and accessories.  Thanks also to Paul Barnes at The Cycle Centre in Alcester, Warwickshire for some "tweaking".

For the technically minded, the frame is titanium with steel forks, Stronglight headset, Deda stem and handlebars, Tiagra 27 speed gearing, STI shifters, a chainset of 46/34/24 and a rear cassette of 11-34.  This produces a bottom gear of 19" which will hopefully be low enough for the ascents that we will encounter.   Rims are Rigida Sputnik; tyres are Schwalbe Marathons 700 x 32; the saddle is Brooks B17; pedals are Shimano M520; rear rack is Tubus Logo; rear panniers and front bar-bag are Ortlieb; cycle computer is Sigma Sport's BC1009.     Phew!

Note the relatively high handlebars compared with out and out road-bikes.  This is designed to take pressure off the back when spending hours in the saddle.

3 ferries and a bridge

In planning the approximate route,  a lot of good advice from others has been read.  These are other cyclists who have ridden the same route previously and who've advocated the use of certain ferries to avoid hassle.

After we've landed in Santander on our first day, just after noon, it's likely that we'll take a ferry across the harbour to Pedrena and so cut out the heavy Santander traffic that many people have warned about.  This will set us on our way towards Santona and a modest first day's cycle.  Ferry times and fares are on the internet at http://www.losreginas.com/i/servicio.htm

Santander-Pedrena ferry

On day 2, there's a short ferry crossing between Santona and Laredo which will kickstart the next leg and save an unnecessary circumnavigation of the estuary between the two towns - about 5 km.

Again, the internet reveals fares and costs at http://www.excursionesmaritimas.com/

Santona-Laredo ferry

Thereafter, the next proposed ferry crossing (below) is in France, between Le Verdon-sur-Mer and Royan.  This allows busy Bordeaux to be by-passed and allows the route to stay predominantly coastal.  Information on schedules and fares can be found at http://www.bernezac.com/passages_eau_royan_verdon.htm

Le Verdon-sur-Mer - Royan ferry

After Royan, the next major river crossing is the Loire near St Nazaire.  There has been a great deal of discussion in forums about the wisdom of cycling across the 3.5km long, 3 lane bridge.  Some say it's too busy and too dangerous, especially in windy conditions.  The alternative is a significant detour east to a ferry crossing at Le Pellerin or taking the no.17 bus across the bridge, which travels only at limited times each day and means having to book a day in advance.

There's no doubt that the bridge crossing is spectacular - it leaves an indelible impression from having driven over it many years earlier.

Most of the opinions read were given before modifications took place in 2010.  Prior to 2010, the cycle lane was 500mm wide and the speed limit was 90km/hr.  In 2010, the bike lane became 1.25m wide and the speed limit was reduced to 70km/hr.  There is still no physical barrier between cycles and road vehicles however.

Whether or not to cross the St Nazaire bridge is worthy of more detailed consideration nearer the time.  Perhaps, we should see what the weather is like and how we feel before deciding.

Trip planning

We've decided that our trip will be hotel and B&B based.  When you see the weather that we've experienced in May and early June in the UK, it's a no-brainer.  We don't look forward to cycling in wet weather and certainly neither of us relish putting up or taking down tents in the pouring rain and then lugging wet material around the countryside.

We've used  http://www.viamichelin.com/web/Routes  to give us distances between towns (selecting the "cycling" option) and an estimate of cycling times. By doing this for every day, we can see that our overall trip duration of 18 days including rest days looks reasonable based upon 40 to 50 miles a day.  There is little point in saying we'll be at town X at the end of a particular day as we will have good and bad days and may wish to shorten or lengthen our day's cycle.  Thus our daily start and finish points, obtained from viamichelin, will be noted as a broad game-plan from which we may well choose to vary our daily distances.

The general route will be Santander > Bilbao > San Sebastien > Hendaye > Bayonne > Arcachon > Soulac sur Mer > Royan > La Rochelle > St Nazaire > Vannes > Carhaix-Plouguer > Roscoff, with perhaps some detours inland along the way as the mood takes us.

We need wi-fi access en-route to keep in touch.  Elan will be using a Blackberry; Rob will have an i-phone and  notebook p.c.

We will rely initially on McDonalds restaurants and their free wi-fi.  Their websites,  www.mcdonalds.es for Spain and  www.mcdonalds.fr for France, enable restaurant addresses on our rough route to be found and noted beforehand.  There is an icon against every restaurant which has free wi-fi.

Once we have reached a McDonalds, the excellent hotel search site, www.booking.com, can be used to find and book a hotel for the night.  Not only is this website mobile-friendly, but it lists prices, room availability and hotel facilities including wi-fi and luggage storage.  The latter, we hope, may mean somewhere safe where the bikes can be stored overnight.

We will be taking a full set of maps with us.
For northern Spain, the Michelin Zoom Espagne maps are 1/150,000 or 1cm = 1.5km.  They are not contoured, but they do show spot levels (terrifying in places!)
For France, the Institut Geographique National (or IGN) Top 100 maps are 1/100,000 or 1cm = 1km.  These are contoured which is helpful.
On the French maps, each town that has a tourist office has a large letter i beside the name and this will be used to supplement or even replace booking.com.  The tourist offices always keep lists of hotels and B&B's (chambres d'hote).

The first decision

One year to go!

We've decided to do our trip from south to north, taking the ferry from Plymouth to our start point in Santander, northern Spain, and cycling up the western (atlantic) coast of France to Roscoff in Brittany, from where we'll get a ferry back to Plymouth.

Why south to north?  Well, as this is our first long distance trip, we have no idea what daily distances we can cover.  Any delay which might prevent us catching our intended return ferry would be a real problem if we returned via Santander because the ferries from there only run once a week.  Roscoff ferries are daily; hence the south-north decision.
Furthermore, the prevailing winds should help a south-north run and the weather should be better in Brittany when we reach there in early June, as opposed to when we start our trip in mid-May.  We'll see !!

After reading the experiences of others, we're giving ourselves 18 full days including a couple of rest days (hopefully!)

The next few months will be spent considering a route in more detail, what accommodation we'll use and therefore how we'll equip ourselves.............and, of course, we'll have to get fitter!