Touring Equipment

As ed says. And do less miles option.

Geting off the ferry in St Malo and getting a coffee and pain au chocolat was awesome as the sun rose.

Not complaining but there is a travel section and this thread: Might be more useful for generic chat help :)
http://www.lfgss.com/conversations/238436/?offset=175#comment11753306

Cheers all. Will check that thread out. For some reason ever since Microcosm my UTFS is not working :(

I didn't know there was a travel section before microcosm. As this is in bikes and bits!! No sense!

@Hovis Yep! Did Paris to St malo via lehavre. Look at my strava in July 2012

@Hovis - I was planning on doing the same thing last month, but went to Holland for a week instead. I originally wanted to do it the other way round, so that we would do the overnight coming back from St Malo. Brittany Ferries force you to get a cabin on the overnight ferry which put me off.

Not true^ Or not in my experience.

I did have to book a seat. Which is what I did. But wasn't much money.

Last ferry i got made me do this as well, turns out its quite nice having a bed for the night and if you fill the cabin its quite cheep

@skinny - Yes, with other routes and operators I have been able to get a seat. I was talking specifically about Brittany Ferries with their route from Portsmouth to St Malo.

@mule - True - in this instance only two of us were going out, if there had been 3 or more then it would not have been an issue.

That's the route I took last September. Maybe their rules have changes since then.

I just checked. And you can book a seat for £5. No cabin needed.

Please note that reserved seats (or cabins) are not compulsory on day sailings.

Quite likely that there were no more seat left and the cabin was the only option to me.

Its possible the day I chose was a couple of days after the schools closed so they might have been sold out. That is good to know might go do that route in September.

I book a seat a month ago, there was no more return from Santander on the date I've chosen, so end up flying out instead.

Y'all make me want a cabin now, damnit.

mine was central so no windows and water tight door, so once you were asleep that was it until the PA for the morning wake up call, bed could have been softer but as i had been sleeping on the floor for the 5 days prior it was luxury

I'm looking to build up a touring bike for next summer, preferably steel with a quill stem, don't fancy a Dawes does anyone have any suggestions on a nice frame set to start with?

Psee's Faggin tourer is along the route I would like to take, something similar.

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Cheers for all the tips folks. All booked up. Were going to get an even train to portmouth and then the overnight ferry to le havre, and then over the course of 4 days ride to Cherbourg. Probably going to take a coastal route. Just getting out of Le Havre looks like a mission though.

Sounds like a nice ride you got planned. Enjoy!

Myself I just heard that my project at work might finish a week or even 2 earlier than I had thought, so I should start planning what I'm gonna do. I'm in Madrid so there are many many options all around Spain, Portugal and southern France. What to do, what to do?

Thinking about doing a mini tour during bank holiday weekend. Going to go with a simple Carradice saddle bag and stay in Airbnbs along the way. Thinking of:

Friday after 5p – cycle/train to Dover to Dunkerque overnight ferry
Saturday – Dunkerque to Bruges – overnight in Bruges
Sunday – Bruges to Rotterdam – overnight ferry from Hook of Holland to Harwich
Monday – Morning ride back down to London? Or Train?

If it’s possible to take these overnight ferries I’ll only have to book 1 night accommodation in Bruges. Wondering if anyone’s done these cities before, route suggestions, etc… hopefully it won’t be too cold… assume it may be windy as near the coast?!

Left sleeping bag on bike, so only a down jacket, long john and towel to cover me like a Sainsbury tortilla wrap.

Did okay, cabin felt like a luxury notion now.

Met others tourist, especially a woman who ride with no deadline to meet, really envy her.

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Ride with me on the Pyrenees!

Excellent! Have a good trip Ed!

Are they bolggers, since chappell's blog died been looking for a good new blog, yet to find one that is as well written!

When will you be where in Pyrenees? I might head up there as my project ends tomorrow!

We are back and our sleeping bags are stinky. They're both down. If I use normal detergent will the world end? I know everyone says you're supposed to use down wash but I haven't got any and I'm lazy.

Just air them out?