Retrobike Touring.

[dirttorpedo]

Anyone got plans of touring this year?

I'm hoping to catch a few day's away, if time / life permits. Really fancy the "Lon Cambria" route (see link below), however a friend mentioned that him and some other mates are thinking about riding a C2C route (Way of the Roses), so I would be up for that if it comes to fruition.

https://cycle.travel/route/lon_cambria

https://cycle.travel/route/way_of_the_roses

My wife and I did two credit card tours last summer and really enjoyed them (air BnB accommodation or family). This year I was thinking something similar, but we would loop south into the US and back. Since the election we've decided with the current political climate that we'll stay on this side of the border (which sucks because I wanted to do a fondo down there in June).

My wife isn't a big fan of bike camping any longer, but maybe we will try it out this year. Wild camping is frowned upon in Canada unless you are well out of the way on Crown Land so we will probably target Provincial or Regional Parks. I have a couple of suitable tents, cooking gear, etc. but I don't have a good compact sleeping bag so I may get a new one if we decide to camp.

There has been a lot of improvement in shelter technology since I bought my tent in the 90's and If I was going solo I'd be tempted to use a tarp and a bivy bag.

 

[KayOs]

My wife and I did two credit card tours last summer and really enjoyed them (air BnB accommodation or family). This year I was thinking something similar, but we would loop south into the US and back. Since the election we've decided with the current political climate that we'll stay on this side of the border (which sucks because I wanted to do a fondo down there in June).

My wife isn't a big fan of bike camping any longer, but maybe we will try it out this year. Wild camping is frowned upon in Canada unless you are well out of the way on Crown Land so we will probably target Provincial or Regional Parks. I have a couple of suitable tents, cooking gear, etc. but I don't have a good compact sleeping bag so I may get a new one if we decide to camp.

There has been a lot of improvement in shelter technology since I bought my tent in the 90's and If I was going solo I'd be tempted to use a tarp and a bivy bag.

Later this year I will try a hammock for the first time. Maybe this is an alternative?

 

[bikeworkshop]

Keeping off the cold ground seems to get more and more important with age.
Thermarest style blow up pad makes a huge difference -
night time temperature might affect hammock choice.
Oh, and the spacing of the trees!

 

[Rod_Saetan]

Keeping off the cold ground seems to get more and more important with age.
Thermarest style blow up pad makes a huge difference -
night time temperature might affect hammock choice.
Oh, and the spacing of the trees!

And the prevalence of bears!

 

[bikeworkshop]

And the prevalence of bears!

What part of the bear do you tie the hammock rope on to?

 

[hamster]

Hammocks are great - slept a week in one in December 2020 in the UK. The only problem is finding suitable trees, but for boggy / damp / sloped / uneven ground they are absolute winners.

For me I have a week's tour booked up in Normandy: from Cherbourg over to Rouen, see the finish of a Tour de France stage, then back to Cherbourg again. We'll be taking in some of the D-Day stuff that my elder son or I haven't seen, plus the Bayeux Tapestry.

 

[Titiritero]

I'm planning to cycle Germany to Spain with the family in summer, combining cycling with regional trains. There's inter-rail where you can buy tickets for only one country and decide how many days you will need it. Regional trains in Germany, France, and partially Spain are quite friendly to bike transport.

 

[bikeworkshop]

For me I have a week's tour booked up in Normandy: from Cherbourg over to Rouen, see the finish of a Tour de France stage, then back to Cherbourg again. We'll be taking in some of the D-Day stuff that my elder son or I haven't seen, plus the Bayeux Tapestry.

We cycled caen to cherbourg with the kids visiting d-day stuff and the Atlantic Wall
- stumbled across a v1 launching site, ramps pointing at Bristol.
Mesnil-au-val
49.581292,-1.543113

Little information anywhere, but bullet holes in everything!

Also worth a visit is the zeppelin hangar:
Hangar a dirigeables
D'Ecausseville
49.451517,-1.383752