Riding to Barcelona - Tips/Pointers

a friend of mine is thinking of riding from London to Barcelona this year prior to Primavera. It's going to be his first long distance solo ride and I am acting as the concerned friend.

He's got a route planned out already, taken from a trip someone else did, riding from London to Portsmouth, ferry to St Malo, then south through France in to Spain and on to Barcelona.

The journey is 908 miles over 14 days.

If anyone has done this ride before, or can offer any advice/pointers on how to cope or deal on such a long ride then that'd be really useful.

Don't get lost.

I'm interested in that route. Could you get him to post it here for discussion?

As a solo ride (I assume on a tourer) I think 2 weeks sounds about right.

I think eingang rode from Germany to Barcelona and have vague memories of jonny doing London to Barcelona (although this could be totally wrong).

Maybe PM them to find out if I'm correct/get advice

I'm interested in that route. Could you get him to post it here for discussion?

+1

This thread should be in the (slightly neglected) Travel & Tips forum.

This is the route he is planning on taking:

Day 1 - Trafalgar Square, London - Portsmouth (80 Miles)
Via - Putney Bridge, Richmond Park, Guildford, Petersfield

Day 2 - St Malo Ferry Port - Vitre (64 Miles)
Via - Vivier-Sur-Mer, Combourg

Day 3 - Vitre - Angers (67 Miles)
Via - Craon

Day 4 - Angers - Chatellerault (83 Miles)
Via - Loudun

Day 5 - Chatellerault - Confolens (70 Miles)
Via - La Puye, L'isle Jourdain

Day 6 - Confolens - Brive-La-Gaillared (91 Miles)
Via - St Yrieix La Perche, Arnac Pompadour

Day 7 - Rest Day

Day 8 - Brive-La-Gaillared - Villefranche-De-Rouergue (84 Miles)
Via - Veyrac, Alvignac, Gramat, Figeac

Day 9 - Villefranche-De-Rouergue - Castres (69 Miles)
Via - Albi

Day 10 - Castres - Carcassonne (42 Miles)
Via - Mazamet

Day 11 - Carcassonne - Perpignan (83 Miles)
Via - Narbonne

Day 12 - Perpignan - Empuriabrava (59 Miles)
Via - St-Cyprien, Figueres

Day 13 - Empuriabrava - Lloret De Mar (72 Miles)
Via - Saint Pere Pescador, La Bisbal D'emporda, Tossa De Mar

Day 14 - Lloret De Mar - Barcelona (44 Miles)
Via - Malgrat De Mar, Mataro, Badalona

+1

This thread should be in the (slightly neglected) Travel & Tips forum.

yeah, noticed that after posting. woops

Route looks like fun. A good mix of distances with shorter days.

I'd be tempted to have a day off in the middle somewhere in the south of France..

he's resting on the 7th day (like our savior or something...)

A friend of mine did this route when she moved over to barcelona two years ago.

Instead of flying she had a bob jackson touring bike made and road down there while all her stuff was being shipped over there.

I think it took her three weeks of taking it easy and sightseeing along the route.

Would be amazing to ride one day

had she done a long ride like this before? just wondering how much difference panniers will make; will it be noticeably different to doing a standard 80 mile ride?

What difference will panniers make as opposed to what?

Not ridden anywhere near this far but of the longer rides I've done, carrying a bag on my back is very noticeable.

She hadnt done distance like that before but she did take it easy on the ride. She didnt really have a time limit

What difference will panniers make as opposed to what?

Not ridden anywhere near this far but of the longer rides I've done, carrying a bag on my back is very noticeable.

say he does an 80 mile ride without panniers in practice for this, then he comes to do the ride with luggage, how much difference will it make. he's packing light, but will that extra weight have a big effect on his ride?

again, I'm not an expert but I'd definitely have panniers high on my list of things to buy for this sort of ride

oh no, he is going to have panniers. just wanted to find out how much difference the extra weight would make.

depends on how much weight ;)

this is where he needs to ask questions:

http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewforum.php?f=16&sid=fc6fc011948fb5e62eff548bd7046876

I nearly rode to Primavera last year but I was too much of a shambles to get it together in the end so rode as far as Devon and then got a plane. I'm currently mapping out this year's summer holiday, which is looking like Catford > Lisbon.

Very achievable at that mileage; the 91 miler will be a long day (yes, panniers do make a difference) but it's a pretty flat route until you hit the Pyrenees.

Is he camping?

The extra weight makes quite a difference on the hills. But it's fine (just slower) if you've got low gears.

I've been on a 2 week tour with a mate whose just an ocasional cyclist (he rides 5 miles to work, sometimes goes for a potter around town etc). He was champ and got on with it. It was a bit hard at times, like asking him to follow my wheel (which can sound a bit shitty unless you're used to riding with people stronger than you).

I had to remind him to keep drinking, and to choose the right kinds of foods and eat often... all the kinds of things that people who regularly ride more miles develop as habits.

Basically he'll be having some pain and discomfort whilst you're still fine. Not a problem as such... just something to be sensitive to.

We've already agreed he can have a single bed in the apartment in Spain and not have to spoon anyone. I would imagine he'll be getting pissed incredibly quickly too...

Thanks for the help, I've sent him over here to have a look too

Ha. That's not the kind of 'keep drinking' I meant but yes... that too.

:)

My mate always wants to eat pizza when we've still got 70 miles to do – fail every time!

Pizza? Jeez, laden with a dough baby for the rest of the ride!