Generic Touring Thread

Old comment but yes please do a write up thread!

It’s interesting to hear about the border crossing - every border I have crossed on a bike has been really easy, was wondering if it would be similar crossing into the states by bike as have heard US borders can be a nightmare.

From Victoria > Seattle I was asked a lot of detailed questions but ultimately it was fine. Didn’t have a return ticket or definite end date for my trip.

Any recommendations for campsites in or around bormio or corvara? I've always stayed in cortina in the past but fancy something different.

Do they check your phones / photos / social media etc? I’ve shared a couple of anti trump things - do I need to worry about them?

Didn’t last year, things might have changed.

Not sure where I saw it mentioned, but someone said about the newer design MSR pocket rocket.
It packs a lot smaller than original, thanks for the shout. Worthy investment.

Also anyone want a Rab continuum jacket. Black small. Worn a handful of times and surplus now.

https://www.lfgss.com/comments/14754133/

Possibly this lad is who you're thinking of.

Yeah likely. Either way it worth the upgrade.

Does anyone have experience of riding/touring in Livradois-Forez Natural Regional Park - near Vichy in France?

Planning a week-long tour/camp there from August 1.

Slightly OT but this Anker USB power bank is heftily discounted on Prime Day.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-PowerCore-20100-Capacity-Technology-Black/dp/B00VJSGT2A

Good shape for a frame bag and has served us extremely well on multiple tours.

Anyone got any route advice for dieppe down towards Brittany. Heading out this week for 10 days or so, no real plan but loosely thinking ferry to dieppe, ride down to St Malo, ferry back. Will be riding fixed and camping

pinging @cgg

London to New Haven if you want to ride down as well, starting from Coulsdon South (Thameslink train from up North and going through London Bridge, cut out all of South London sprawling suburbia) : https://www.strava.com/routes/10935300

Cross the Seine on the Pont De Normandie, the map says it's a motorway but there's a sidewalk as well as a bike lane (I used the sidewalk!). Crossing upstream on the Pont de Tancarville is forbidden to bikes/pedestrians apparently (haven't gone and checked myself), or there's a foot ferry at Quillebeuf-sur-Seine.

Then honestly I would just use a paper map and go through places that look interesting (you can't really go wrong). This is nice and should get you across Normandy, from Le Havre to Mont Saint Michel I reckon. I can lend it to you if you want.

Quite a detour up the Cotentin peninsula, but check out Bricquebec if you want to sleep at an abbaye (and be woken up by bells ringing at 4:30)

Check this out for cycle routes suggestions as well, but really take a map and you'll be fine :)

Lots of great suggestions, thank you!

Cheers! Last suggestion from my limited ramblings in the area; the hotel at Thury-Harcourt is nice as is the countryside surrounding the village. Look up 'La Suisse Normande' for more!

Might have posted already, but came across these chaps who make entertaining touring videos if you're in the mood for a sit down :

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9mI3W7Kpw7RoOKtPn9XpWQ

I've done Dieppe to Mt St Michel on a fixed gear with a tent on the back in a Carradice. Was an ace trip! Was a bit spontaneous but got me over a broken heart...

I went overnight from Dieppe to Pont de Brotonne which is another bridge you can cycle over. Velo Route de Lin got me quarter of the way there and then it was small lanes. Get on OSM cycle maps on RideWithGPS and you'll see you can get most of the way to St Malo using almost exclusively cycle routes.

I reached the bridge early in the morning which was dramatic as there was lots of hanging mist below. The run off to the south side of the Seine was super fun on a loaded fixed gear! Not sure I'd have enjoyed it at a busier time of day though...

Followed the coast from Honfluer (which is a nice stop off) to Arromanches-les-Baines to see the remnants of WW2 landing jetties. There's a good viewpoint on the D514 coming in. But the coastal roads are quite testing fixed - quite up and down.

I then followed the Velo Routes through Bayeaux, down to Mortain and then across to Mt St Michel. Bayeaux to Mortain was lovely winding lanes through small villages and farming landscapes.V40 from Mortain to MSM was seemingly a former railway line mostly covered by trees and was a welcome break from the heat (I'm ginger). Nice gentle inclines though for one gear.

Turned around to Avranches to get a train back to the ferry in Ouistreham. Municipal campsites and hypermarches all the way.

Damn, had one of those in my basket wish I had checked this thread yesterday !

Heading off to Ireland in a week or so and have nothing planned apart from probably getting the train from dublin straight across to galway - it seems that the best is in the west when it comes to ireland?
Any strong recommendations as to which direction to push off in from there? We only have around 9 days or so. I'd thought about heading back across the country and trying to arrive back in dublin but maybe staying in the west and exploring around there more might be better

This is also relevant to my interests! Hoping to get out there in 10 days time. Nothing planned - sounds like we might overlap... Definitely planning on heading west. See you for a Guinness...

https://ridewithgps.com/ambassadors/341-ridewild?preview=true

This is a good starting point maybe? I'm investigating a northbound route from galway to westport at the minute.
It sounds like we may overlap definitely, I plan on drowning in guinness the entire time i'm there so i'd be game if we were to cross paths ( & gf is on board)

Nice! I'm going with a mate and we're planning on catching as much live music as possible so once I've had a look at the route options I'll let you know if anything particularly exciting crops up...

Can't remember if I posted in this thread, but I wrote something for someone somewhere. I can forward a pm I definitely wrote if you like.

The short version is you are right, the West is good, but there are some other nice bits. I think I had the best time in Kerry and Cork, but if you look for some small roads you'll probably find what you're looking for. I found the midges around Galway were a bit of a bummer though.