Top Touring Tips

Not quite double ups, just nuggets of wisdom.

Always carry a carrier bag, then if you need to put on overtrousers quickly, put the carrier over your shoe and slide your foot in, your shoe/boot will not get stuck on the lining of the trousers

Carryu a string bag. When you wash your kit at night and hang it out to dry, it'll probably still be damp in the morning. If it's a sunny day, stick it in your string bag and strap it to the top of your rack. The breeze will help dry the clothes within.

At least, that's the theory. They do end up drier than if you just stuff them in a pannier though.

Not sure if this counts but if you are fussed about shaving, King of Shaves shaving oil is much better than just using soap and saves carrying foam. The tiny bottle weighs about 20 grams and has lasted me the last four tours!

Tips I read on C+ before my first tour which I found usefull.

Disposable gloves - clean hands after a puncture.

Cable ties - still preventing a rattly mudguard.

Carry a small cheap compass. When you've taken a wrong turn and are hopelessly lost somewhere in the lanes and the sky is completely overcast, it's a real help to at least getting you to make the right decision at the next fork in the road.

And don't start me on GPS. Where's the adventure in that?

Put bin liners in panniers and other luggage to keep clothes etc dry - even the best panniers seem to let water in eventually.

... and I'm sure everyone knows about wringing out your washing by winding it up in a towel.

... and talking of towels, a small "magic towel" is a touring must - even if just to dry face and extremities at a tea stop when it's really raining hard

Rob

The adventure is that instead of doing the same old loops time and time again, I can plan a ride on previously untried roads and go out exploring confident in the knowledge that I won't end up stuck for miles on some horrible A road. I have found GPS tremendously liberating, and my new Venture Cx is even better than my original eTrex :?:

Which brings me to my top tip: if your handlebars are already full, a cut-down Cinelli Spinaci makes an excellent GPS mount - light, rigid enough for button-pressing, and it puts the GPS wherever you want it. I ride a recumbent, so mine is over the stem, where it doesn't interfere with my knees.

Or, if you don't like GPSs, it makes an excellent mounting point for a front light :?:

Nick,
Did you have to buy additional maps for the venture cx, or were the base maps OK? How much did the whole package cost?
Cheers

When completeley lost...seek out blonde in mini skirt for directions...also works when not lost at all :?:

Carry spare spokes.

Besides fixing your wheels with them, you can fix lots of other things.

They're also perfect for breaking into your car when you've lost the keys, but thatsanother story...

Hallo Mart... actually, on reflection I think it's a Legend Cx (it came with USB cable and 64Mb SD card). It was about £175 from whichever Internet supplier was cheapest at the time. The base maps are not very detailed; I bought the whole of Europe on eBay for about £16, plus a 2GB micro SD card, and managed (after several failed attempts) to load it all into the GPS last night. It's a job best done in small chunks, because the GPS doesn't seem to like having the whole of Europe thrust at it all at once...

I'm still getting the standard base map when I start it up, and I haven't yet had an opportunity to sit down and work out how to go to the detailed mapping - but I know I should be able to see every road and street in Britain at least, because I've used it on my PC.

On my yellow eTrex (no mapping capability) I was used to using the compass arrow display (in conjunction with tracks planned on Tracklogs), and got quite comfortable with that. The Venture Cx's compass arrow screen is better - it has additional displays for distance and time to next trackpoint, which are very helpful, and a bleep just before a junction which saves staring at the GPS all the time. So I don't really feel a need for detailed mapping, but I will get round to trying it out this weekend.

Where swimming trunks next to your skin as you can clean them easily with shampoo in the shower at the end of the day's cycling. They dry easily overnight. This guarantees a hygeinic ride every day and you get more use out of your underpants as you then only wear them in the period between cycling and going to bed.

I like the swmming trunks tip. I took two pairs of padded shorts, Ron Hill and a pair of Endura. The Endura are too heavyweight to dry out quickly. Luckily I was able to dry them out eventually by hanging them over the pavilion fence at Patrington CC. And drinking beer while I waited. :?:

You can't take enough plastic bags.

Instead of nylon swimming trunks you can get proper liner shorts (Gore, Endura) in soft polypropylene which dry just as quickly but have flat seams away from sensitive parts, etc. Two pairs don't weight anything and washing and rotating them each evening is no hassle.

Perhaps a less specific tip...
When starting on a long tour, you will usually have a moment of panic thinking "It's all too far!"
By day three, you won't care.
Always try and give yourself extra days to do a tour, rather than plan out every day as a 200km eyeballs-out job. You'll find a place that you really like, with a superb pint or a friendly waitress, and ...
The trip's the thing, not the time you do it in. It's meant to be fun.

1. Don't over do it - allow time to explore, get distracted or chat.

2. (Very Hitch hiker's Guide, but....) A towel, one of the packing ones. Roll your damp washing in it and kneel / stand on it. Dries clothing quicker than wringing and helps to improve the chances of it drying overnight.

If you need 'travel condiments' to make the camp cous cous more exciting, pop into any Wetherspoons pub in just about any town and help yourself to the plentiful and varied sachets of sauce, salt and pepper. The staff couldn't give a toss. :?:

To save carrying binoculars, stand closer to the thing you want to look at!