UKC

My girlfriend and I fancy doing our first cycle tour this July.

Apart from a week spent cycling around Orkney when I was 9, which hardly counts, I've never done anything like this before.

We're both relatively fit and will be riding road bikes not tourers.

I was thinking about doing a ten day tour (including two rest days) plus a travel day either side.

Is 80 miles per day realistic or is that a bit on the long side.

We'll be staying in YHAs and B and Bs so we won't be camping and therefore should only be carrying 10kg or so.

Any idea of where to go? Ideally it would be good if we didn't have to fly. (Am I right in thinking that flying with a bike is PITA?)

I fancy doing some sort of journey.

My girlfriend fancies doing LEJOG but I think it sounds a bit naff/three peaks challengey.

I quite fancy either cycling from Bangor to Holyhead, getting the Ferry to Dublin and cycling all the way around Ireland. Is that feasible?

Other places I fancy visiting are: Slovenia, Sweden, Holland/Belgium/Luxembourg.

Does anyone know any classic cycle tours or have reccomend a touring equivalent of Hard Rock?

I'll do my classic Ripley geek gear list later

Any idea of other holidays to do with road bikes?

Cheers,

Tom

In reply to Tom Ripley: I know some folk who very much enjoyed tandeming around Iceland.Sounded fab.

In reply to Tom Ripley:

Other options include the Western Isles and NW Scotland. Norway's a great place for biking too (if somewhat pricey).

My experience of touring is that setting big distance targets can take away from some of the fun of visiting a new place. If the aim of the trip is to get really fit & strong then big miles are great, but of you want to actually see where you're going it's worth taking some time to slow down and relax.

Cheers... any more tips?

In reply to Tom Ripley: Sardinia and Corsica get my vote.

In reply to Tom Ripley: 80 miles a day sounds a bit far for a tour. I did cycle round southern Ireland many years ago, Dublin south, across through Cork to Glenfinnan, up to Killarney and Shannon, back across the middle,took us two weeks but we were experienced riders. My first foreign tour though was over the Pyrenees to Barcelona and back, starting from Pau. Why not check out the CTC tours? Not necessarily to join one, but you would certainly get some tried and tested routes. There are some that are almost entirely car-free, like the Danube cycleway.

In reply to Tom Ripley:
My wife's first cycling tour with me was the pan-flat Landes region south of Bordeaux. Very easy cycling country which takes you the Basque country. You can get to the area with European Bike Express.

Flanders region of Belgium is another great area. Loads of cycle paths criss-crossing the region. There are numerous waymarked routes called LF routes. One particular LF route which may appeal is the one from Breskens in Holland to Watten/Watou in France. Forget the number of the route.

Have fun.

In reply to Tom Ripley:

Holland is a firm favourite for 1st tours. 80 miles a day is feasible but depends how fit you are and how well rested you are. I averaged 70 a day around the pennines / dales and lakes with full gear.

10kg sounds like a lot for B&B / YHA touring. I think I had about 12kg in total when camping solo.

FWIW Cornwall is not flat.

CTC forum is quite good

http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewforum.php?f=16&sid=55e08c34f8fcdf27a6b05243...

In reply to Justaname:

And a rule of thumb I've heard is to estimate a daily total of 2/3 of what you'd do on a normal all day ride.

In reply to Tom Ripley:

Hi Tom

I've done a but of touring in France and Spain.

The SW of France gets my vote for scenery, roads, people, food and variety thereof. If you don't mind hills, try the Pyrenees. Even the big cols are long rather than steep and you soon get into a mellow groove spinning away for three hours or so while taking in the scenery, not to mention the joy of not havng to turn a pedal for up to 40km on the other side. People and traffic are very welcoming to cyclists, the only trouble being that when you return to the 'roads are for cars' mentality of the uk you may want to sell your bike.

In the UK, Sutherland and Caithness, The Hebrides and the North Pennines/Dales are all fantastic.

I'm not looking in here very often these days so if you want any specific advice or opinions pm me.

Stuart (biped)

In reply to Tom Ripley:

Some more ideas.

S (b)

http://www.randonneurs.bc.ca/odds_and_ends/cycle_tour.html#anchor114900

In reply to Tom Ripley: Recommend the Outer Hebrides - sailing out from Oban to Barra then on to Sout Uist and up through Harris and Lewis and back to Ullapool - cyle back over to Inverness for train. Some lovely hostels coutesy of Gatliff Trust. You can buy a cheap Island Hopscotch ticket for all the ferries from Calmac.Quiet roads. Enjoy the scenery dont' hammer it - 8-0 miles a day is hard work day in day out and it's yuor first tour so don't be over ambitious. Carry a stove and some food as shops/cafes etc are few and far bewteen out there.

In reply to Tom Ripley:

There is some invaluable information on this site:

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/

also many tales of some very inspiring rides..

In reply to Tom Ripley:

Denmark! Nothing but pretty girls and fattening cake. And bacon. And beer. And even more lovely danes.

In reply to Tom Ripley:

I did the Tour Du Mont Blanc a few years back. It's actually being run as a single, 1 day sportive now (Nuts!!) but is great for a 4 day trip.

http://www.sportcommunication.info/letourdumontblanc/images/parcours1.jpg

If you're away for 10 days then there will be a whole load of other little additions you can throw into the mix.

An absolutely great trip...

In reply to Tom Ripley: Just remembered there is a special cyclist coach with trailer fitted to carry bikes that goes out to France every week in the summer. A convenient area would be the gorges of the Tarn, Ardeche etc - enough hilly to give interest, spectacular views into the gorges from the corniche road - easiest to stop to look at the view on a bike than in a car. I think there are several B&Bs catering for cyclists.

Cheers for all the advice... but flicking through Classic rock last night I had a cunning plan.

Cycling from the Lakes to North Wales ticking off various Classic Rock routes along the way.

We won't need to carry much extra kit so we shouldn't be weighed down too much!

In reply to Tom Ripley: Yes, sorting out your own route is the best way.

In reply to Tom Ripley:
I reached this point three years ago when I got my first proper road bike. We did Bristol to Paris in four days. I have since done Paris to Lyon. FWIW, I would suggest that with 10 kg on the back of your bike, 50 miles will be a slightly short day (makes a bit of a rest day, or allows a bit of sight-seeing) while 90 miles makes a bloody long day (don't want too many of those back to back). Obviously, as it gets more hilly, those distances will come down a bit. 70 miles a day is a reasonable long term average to stop it becoming a bit of a slog. We typically did 1.5 hrs between pit stops, 2.5-3 hrs before lunch and the same after.

I can thoroughly recommend France for touring. Lots of lovely patisseries for breakfast, considerate drivers and good weather. Only downside is that it can start to feel pricey when you eat out three times a day, every day. We ate like horses on the Paris-Lyon trip - I didn't want to know what we spent on food!

In reply to Tom Ripley:

Germany's good too, with lots of official long distance routes. Some examples would be the Danube cycle route, the Rhine cycle route (potentially alps to the coast), the Mosel cycle route (follow the wine!) and the Bodensee-Königsee route, linking two lakes on the edge of the alps. Certainly here, Aldi have a load of books of the tours with maps etc for a couple of quid next week, so perhaps they've got them in the next week or two in the UK as well.

Tim

In reply to Tom Ripley: Corran Ferry, down to the Mull ferry, round Mull, ferry to Ardnamurchan, up to the Skye Ferry, over Skye, ferry to Outer Hebrides, up the Outer Hebrides, ferry back to Ullapool, and back down to Fort William. That would take some beating. Miles of traffic free, single track roads in stunning landscape, and lots of free camping or B and B's