Generic Touring Thread

thing above broke badly, this is version2, stronger, simpler, slightly more flexible material. Rather yellow though.

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Apologies for cross referencing threads, I am planning my next cycling trip, this time it happens to be my honeymoon. We would like to cycle from Porto to Bilbao, going deep into the less known regions of Galicia, Asturia and Cantabria, rather than the more renowned coast and also not necessarily following the Camino Frances route.

Any input would be greatly apreciated as usual.

Inner Spain is great. One of the best countries I've cycled through. People very welcoming and relaxed. Seem to remember people often thinking I was on the Pilgrim route around that area and being inclined to offer things because of it :) it was a while ago, but you'll have a fantastic time.

Has anyone taken the ferry from Harwich to hook of Holland? Any good? Worth the £50 each way? Seems insane but go off I guess. At least it's overnight and you don't have to dismantle the bike.

It's a ferry, its fine.
Its mandatory to pay extra for a cabin on the overnight run so might be more expensive than you've seen.

I have. No complaints. £50 doesn't seem like a lot to me. The convenience of riding on and off transportation is worth it alone for me.

I think I was seeing prices with the cabin, fair enough.

I think I'll try and take a trip around Holland in that case. Should be good.

I'll buy the tickets soon, at least having a hundred pounds on the line will convince me to go.

I think I was seeing prices with the cabin, fair enough.

Nope, £50 tickets are without cabin (non overnight). Overnight with mandatory cabin is extra (minimum of £40).

I've got 3 weeks off work end of March/start of April and am struggling to decide where to go for a bike tour.

Would like to not fly ideally but also keen on warm(ish) weather. Also will be cycling from Bilbao -> Barcelona later in the year so northern Spain might not be the best option.

Any suggestions?

I loved Cyprus, made a weeklong loop last year, in 3 weeks you could visit every interesting place on the whole island and take your time there. Also the weather should be perfect in this time of the year.

Good shout, thanks. Have never been but heard good things.

Train to Lyon, ride over Mt Ventoux and through Provence. Could also take the train all the way to the coast and catch a ferry to Corsica

(Belatedly) I have, it's great - it's not really cheap, but when you compare the cost of a hotel room and the fact that you can get there of an evening after work and start your tour the following morning it's totally worth it. IME the onboard breakfast at the Dutch end is far superior to the one in the UK; at about a tenner a head I wouldn't bother getting it unless you were fuelling up for the day's journey, especially as there's a supermarket near the port.

The only annoying thing if training it to Harwich is that you can't take a bike on the rail and sail deal Stena offer, and you have to reserve a bike space on most trains (the express goes Liverpool Street to Braintree - the local service on to Harwich doesn't have reservations, and the conductors are cool with/used to cycle tourists).

How many spare tubes do people tend to carry when touring?

What would you do if you got a puncture, didn't have a spare tube left, and couldn't find the hole (don't have access to water etc.)?

I take two, and a patch kit.

I listen for the hole first, and that way always find it. Pump up the tube real good, and you're bound to hear it when you run it along your head/ear.

Another way is to look for the sharp object in the tyre. If you lined up the logos of your tyre with your valve stem, you can sometimes find the hole in the tube that way. Plus it looks nice!

If the puncture is too small to find it, it's probably small enough to make it to a shop with intermittent pumping.

I think I've normally carried 3, maybe 4. Depends on your luggage. And a patch kit.

Last year in Northumberland (not really touring, but away from home) I had 3 punctures in one day. I'd chosen a pretty rugged route and overestimated my tyres puncture resistance. I think one of my tubes was a spare that already had a slow puncture. But it wasn't a great feeling. Thankfully the weather was glorious.

Two tubes and a patch kit. If you can't find the hole by eye or hearing the hiss, another tip is to turn the tube round by your lips and see if you can feel the escaping air. Looks daft, but can be surprisingly effective. Would also agree with keeping the tyre logos aligned with the valves - being able to work out where you might need to check the inside of the tyre for tiny sharps that have made their way through is really helpful. There's nothing more annoying than sticking a new or patched tube in and immediately getting another flat from the end of the thorn that's hidden in the tyre...

another tip is to turn the tube round by your lips

I thought you were about to say lick the whole tube and look for the bubbles

Any advice for riding the Icknield Way? Planning on doing it East-West in a few weeks, taking it relatively easy over a few days. I may even continue it along the Ridgeway if I have the time. Hoping to stick to the 'traditional' route where possible as the official route seems to have quite a few deviations.

Which bike / tyres would be best - touring bike with 28mm & panniers, or MTB with chunky tyre & saddle bag etc?

@Gustav @Belagerent @dnrc

Patch kit and Park tyre boots.

Sadly am still yet to make it out. You should check platypus recent trip which followed the icknield and peddars way, probably only useful to you on the thetford to cambridge leg but could still be indicative. He recommends 40mm tyres (but rode what I guess is a 27.5 hardtail)

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/333177/?offset=225

Conditions around here (cambridgeshire) are that most of the bridleways are very rideable, but sometimes quite rutted with hardpack. Also a good chance footpaths etc are overgrown and you end up bushwacking a bit. Personally I would rather take the mtb. Won't need huge amounts of tread, but some cushioning wouldn't go amiss I think.

Rode few small bits last weekend where the vegetation was so thick to leave a slim trail just for walking (around Great Chesterford). I would not want to battle that with panniers. I'd go with chunky tires and bikepacking setup.

Hello. Bring the MTB. You can ride wherever you want, but of course I think my route is the best.

another tip is to turn the tube round by your lips and see if you can feel the escaping air.

The sexiest of riders (me) use their eyeballs to find the faintest of escaping air molecules.

I did it east to west around this time of year. on a cotic escapade with cheap 35mm tyres, went with bikepacking style luggage. it was absolutely fine. Bone dry for the most part. There are quite a lot of stretches along old roads so at times the cycling can be pretty quick

There are some really lovely bits, and as mentioned before some fighting through hedgerows and across fields with your gps happily telling you you are "cycling on the icknield way"

but do it. the beacon didn't seem all that far so i carried on to the ridgeway until eventually i ran out of gears in the chilterns and my knee started getting iffy. ended up at a place called radnage where i camped, turned round and cycled pretty much the same way home again.

are you camping? i can point you to a superb wild camping site if that's your type of thing?