Generic Touring Thread

There seems to be an issue with the pictures.. Some pictures are on my IG, check the TP 2019 Highlight story

Great write up, how do you take the pictures of yourself? On a self timer? Do you have a tripod?

Sounds like an ideal tour, testing but rewarding

Both stopped, more notably Ben. That was his opportunity to try catch her. Guess he's fried.

No tripod on this trip, just timer and carefully balanced rocks or other props. I had a GoPro as well, which you can set on time lapse for more shots.

You'd have loved it!

On the train back from our trip to Ireland, looking forward to reading the write ups posted above when I have a decent Internet connection, so many good trips had! I'll do a small write up of Ireland soon too.

In the meantime, I'm doing my yearly trip to Bristol next week and am spreading it over more days so I'm not knackered for the whole festival. Does anyone have any wild camping spots I could use in or around Shropshire Hills AONB?

Pretty much all of the Long Mynd seems to be popular for bivvies.

Oh great, thanks!

Just did some digging, and found some gpx tracks a local rider shared with me.
Look up Little Stretton, and almost finish your day at the Ragleth Arms.
Then, head through Minton, turn west in Hamperley, and bivvy at the ancient tumulus just north of Priors Holt Hill.

(Never been there myself, but I know there have been a few group outings there, so it can't be too shit. And you'll be in a good mood having been in the pub.)

Ah that's great info, thanks. Last year I had the horrible anxiety of riding until it was late and pitching up in a field by the road to then leave crazy early to avoid disturbing anyone, this sounds far more pleasant

Just a brief write up of a lovely few days touring out of Barcelona and around Catalunya. If anyone wants any more route info do shout, can't recommend it highly enough!

Arrived last Monday and met up with friendly forumite @pepperedmunky for a few beers and some local knowledge. My mate arrived late afternoon and we set out as directed along a lovely cycle path out of Barca along the river, stopped for a golden hour beer or two and then made it through the rather interminable suburban sprawl of Sabadell and Taressa into the Parc Naturel de Sant Llorenc del Munt i L'Obac, where we found a decent wooded spot for a bivvy and cooked a chorizo and bean stew in the dusk before an early night.

Wednesday we got up early, coffee, tea and croissants and set off up the climb to the peak. Cool enough to enjoy the climb we reached the information centre by opening time and refilled our water, and were then firmly disillusioned of our vague plan to reach Andorra by the friendly lady who was also an experienced cycle tourist and said we had no chance. We slightly scoffed at this but it didn't take long on the local rolling hills and punchy climbs to realise she had the right of it. But the best thing about vague plans is how easy they are to change, so instead we looked at a map, picked a body of water and headed for that. We made it to the Sau reservoir after a lovely day of dreamy roads and stunning views - Catalunya really is a joy on the bike, beautiful - quiet - roads, considerate drivers and views for days. After a late afternoon beer in Vic (charming gothic town recommended by pepperedmunky) it was an hour to the lake. This was very close to the best hour I've spent on a bike - golden sunlight, no-one about and each climb perfectly pitched to be challenging but enjoyably so and followed by those wonderful sweeping descents that barely require brakes and just leave you grinning. Slightly less grin-inducing was the fact we arrived at the lake and initially thought it would be impossible to reach the water as the sides were so steep as to be inaccessible and certainly no good for camping... but, the touring gods were smiling and (having been eyeing up laybys and passing places as camping options) we found a little path, followed it down and ended up at the most perfect little beach with a flat woodland behind it. After a much needed swim and wash (it was 30+ our entire trip) we cooked up a ridiculous pasta including 20 Euros' worth of iberico ham, got stuck into a carton of Don Simon's finest fruity red and called it a night after listening to tunes as the stars came out. This really is why we do this!

We gave ourselves a gentle day on Thursday, having decided to get to Montserrat on Friday and tackle the famous climb. So ~40ks and many tiny beers later we found a nice spot in a wood and bedded down.

Friday was set to be even hotter, so we set off early as the sun was heating up and had a magical morning - 30km of gentle downhills, so hammering along with tunes on and grins fixed, absolute heaven! We got to the outskirts of Montserrat, had a late breakfast and made the ridiculous decision to take on the climb on in the midday sun. This was a mistake. I'm no climber, but in 35 degree heat and with a heavily laden bike it was painful. I'd put an 11-32 cassette on so I was happy with the gearing but the feeling of imminent heatstroke had me taking shade breaks and pouring water over myself every 15 mins. Reading the TCR thread of people pushing on for 300k days in 40 degree heat makes me feel more than mildly queasy in sympathy and only increases my admiration for those wonderful lunatics. But, it was worth it, the views were incredible and the climb a real joy, at least beyond the sense of sous-viding my innards. The top is a slightly strange mix of religious pilgrims and Russian tourists but the views more than made up for it. After all the cokes and icecreams we hooned it down the mountain and made our way out of town to another wooded bivvy spot by a river - we rode ~5km down a ridiculous path to find it, which seemed to veer between south east asian craziness (lush foliage and bamboo everywhere with crumbling industry on the opposite bank) and the dramatic gorges of the Ardeche.

Saturday was a very pleasant 55km back to Barca, largely down hill, passing many local cycle clubs. Being heavily loaded, we stopped trying to join them until we met a group of old boys and young kids going at just out pace. I'm not sure how thrilled they were with our company, but they seemed pleased when we turned the hiphop off and stopped riding off the front only to gently drift back towards them. Our spirits were soaring and we had a night out in Barca ahead of us...

TLDR, Catalunya is amazing and recommend it to anyone looking for a lovely time on the bike. We also met loads of locals who were keen cyclists and more than happy to recommend routes and tips etc...

Some pics:

Nice read! I can relate to a lot of the aspects!

Cheers man! Really enjoyed your Pyrenees write up too - that looked extreme but beautiful!

Thanks! I finally maged to embed the pictures in the text

That looks distinctly NotShit.

Nice! That is some seriously extreme cycling. I'd love a day or two of that but I don't have the legs/mind for that sort of effort. Plus I think I'd miss my gentle days and excessive consumption of delicious things!

Yeah, I realize this is not everyone's idea of "touring", but I enjoyed it a lot and it cleared my mind from recent stress. Only real downside was being alone and not having somemeone to share the epic moments with.

Trust me, plenty of delicious things were consumed - even before the restless food feast I enjoyed in San Sebastian

Yeah, I was talking about this with my mate, I know a lot of people love solo-touring/solo-travelling, but I think it would make me a bit sad not to share any of the highlights with someone! Still, you clearly had an incredible time and some of those views are genuinely to die for...

I'm very glad to hear it. The food in San Sebastian is genuinely next level. The best thing I've ever eaten in my life came from a little pintxos bar there...

I'm glad you did. They are stunning! I love reading everyones write ups but yours and @ough's give me chronic wanderlust...

I think it depends how long you're doing it for and where. If you're around areas with lots of hostels it can be quite fun.

My trip to Santiago d/C was about 2wks. Overall way too long and lonely (even for someone pretty happy with their own company). But places like Pamplona were awesome to go out and meet people.

A particular challenge with the pilgrims route is almost all the people are walking, so they get closer as the route progresses whereas you fly-by.

I did 3 weeks solo before, there are pros and cons imho: Being alone is undeniably more efficient as you do what you want when you want. But you are alone also for sharing highs and lows. You meet a lot of people when solo though, both because strangers see you as more vulnerable as well as because you are more prone to engage with strangers to avoid going nuts.

I know of people that do years cycling solo.. I wouldn't be able to do that I think.

Aye, we were talking more specifically re wild camping touring, so really isolated. Like when you see people cycling around the world on their own and camping. I just couldn't do it...

I did LEJOG a few years back and was on my own for most of it. Staying in hostels/pubs etc, didn't mind at all, meeting people when you wanted or just reading a book etc.

I met an Austrian in Colombia cycling from Ushuaia to Canada.

Lovely guy. But definitely a bit odd. That said I don't know what he was like when he started.

When I've travelled generally, I've ultimately drifted into travelling with others for bits of it. A bit like with my experience touring being on a bike puts you at a different pace and on your own.

I'm sure it takes a certain type to really want to spend that much time on your own...