Top Touring Tips

Tongue in cheek Arch of course. Time spent on the Cycle Tourer website is never wasted - it's a brilliant reference for cycle touring/camping. Highly recommended for newbies and seaoned cycle campers alike.

Make sure you take a bike........ha.......ha.............haaa

Tie-wraps came in very handy on my tour and I'd never leave without a travel towel now.

Take very good water proof clothing not the cheap crap that is designed for light walks.

If you crap in the woods wet wipes are better than toilet roll.

If you can't be bothered to learn the language of the country you are in you should at least learn all the foods. An easy way to do this is by word association for example apple in Spanish is Manzana (pronounced Man-thana) so just think of a man using a fan to fan a giant apple that is sweating.

They take much much longer to biodegrade though, much longer. Stick to toilet paper. Or, if you prefer, smear vaseline around your ringer before poohing, no need to wipe at all then, honest, try it. Special Forces trick, I can't tell you where I picked it up, I'd have to come and kill you

lol

Why cant I read the posts on pages 1-10 on this thread? All that is in the post boxes is 'page text'.

Why cant I read the posts on pages 1-10 on this thread? All that is in the post boxes is 'page text'. Been like this since last

dunno, i'll ask on feedback.

andy

I am having a similar problem

Look in feedback! There was a database problem, and the text got replaced. Admin is working on it.

I find I repeat things ad nauseam while on tour, and there are always what I call "set-piece" situations where you know what you're going to have to say. e.g. "Two cyclists, one night, one tent, no electricity etc." or "Sorry my Urdu's a bit rusty but I'm on my way by bicycle from Albuquerque to Timbuktu for my favourite charity Save the Lemmings".
Get it typed up in the language(s) you have not quite mastered and get it laminated so you can just hand it over with an apologetic smile.

or alternatively have a jolly good stab at saying whatever it is in their language and watch them fall about laughing when, instead of giving a explanation of your trip, your poor diction means that you actually say that you have "wienerschnitzel in your lederhosen"

The latter's more fun.

Just got back from a wee tour and thought of another.

Pack stuff you need to access during the ride in the left-hand side panniers, if it won't fit in the bar bag.

I dunno about you, but I always park my bike with me standing to the left of the bike and the bike's right side leaning on something. This means it's much easier to access stuff in the left hand side panniers. For me, anyway.

oh yes, how true!

Nice one.

Although it occurs to me that I nearly always approach my trike from the right. Weird!

Don't wake up or even annoy sleeping seagulls.
I did that one evening and was bombarded with (acid) bird-droppings and small rocks by the seagulls. I have yet to repeat that mistake. Always use helmet when cycling.

Treat every compartment in your bags as a room in your house. Simples.

Nice, but I live in a bedsit, so it's everything goes everywhere for me!

Is that why you use Ortlieb Rollers then?

Take a pair of jeans or trousers, the feeling at the end of the day - changing out of your cycle gear into a warm pair of trousers makes me relax, feel warm and my legs feel they deserve to be covered after all that air.

Carried one all for over 2000 miles on a two month tour, didn't use it once. Get back to London, cycling through Sutton to see a friend and a child's chain has stuck in his front chainring, bike is upside down. I stop, take the chopstick and say "That's why I carried it!" then pry off the chain. Another serendipitous moment whilst travelling.

One for the ladies. Pack a dress for touring. It felt a bit extravagent, somehow, taking a dress on tour but I must have used it every single day for the past 7 weeks. As modelled here:



It's very lightweight cotton and doesn't need to be ironed. I use it instead of a towel as it dries very quickly and I even throw it on to walk back from the shower block when camping even if it's still damp. It's also great for putting on over swimwear to walk to the beach. I like having something smarter to wear on occasion (such as out celebrating Canada Day in the photo, the colours just happened to be perfect!) and something that's non-cycling. For cooler days I team it with footless black tights which, in turn, double as warm sleep wear.