Cycling to Spain

iakobski wrote:
My 40th is coming up, and in a discussion on Friday night 'er indoors
said that if I didn't do something else, she'd be organising a
"surprise party". You know, the kind where all the people you never
wanted to see again are dragged out of the woodwork - all very
embarrassing!

So I said - "No problem, I'll be out of the country". I must admit, I'd
had a fair few glasses of Stolichnaya at that point, so when pressed I
said I quite fancied cycling to Spain. So now I seem to be committed.

So. A few questions:
1. What to pack

Remember that h*lmets are now mandatory in Spain, with a number of
exceptional circumstances which makes the law almost unenforceable ;-)

"nobody760" wrote in message
...
Good luck with your trip. My pal and I use this cheap and cheerful
hotel group when in France.

http://www.hotelformule1.com/formule1/

It works out about £20 a night. They are mainly out of town in
industrial areas but not a problem with a bike. They are all over
France. Not sure I wouldwanna lug all that camping stuff around for
the sake of £20 a night - if you could find a companion it would of
courses only be a tenner each! They are usually very well sign posted.

I prefer Etap (same group, often co located) but they have a private bog and
shower for about 4 to 5 Euros extra per night.

Formula 1 has the bog & shower 'down the hall'.

T

On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 10:44:42 +0100, Tony W wrote:

"nobody760" wrote in message
...
Good luck with your trip. My pal and I use this cheap and cheerful
hotel group when in France.

http://www.hotelformule1.com/formule1/

It works out about £20 a night. They are mainly out of town in
industrial areas but not a problem with a bike. They are all over
France. Not sure I wouldwanna lug all that camping stuff around for
the sake of £20 a night - if you could find a companion it would of
courses only be a tenner each! They are usually very well sign posted.

I prefer Etap (same group, often co located) but they have a private bog and
shower for about 4 to 5 Euros extra per night.

Formula 1 has the bog & shower 'down the hall'.

T

IME both chains can be noisy at night although the F1 chain is probably
worse.
--
Michael MacClancy

"Michael MacClancy" wrote in message
...

I prefer Etap (same group, often co located) but they have a private bog
and
shower for about 4 to 5 Euros extra per night.

Formula 1 has the bog & shower 'down the hall'.


IME both chains can be noisy at night although the F1 chain is probably
worse.

There is a measure of 'you get what you pay for'. Both are bottom of the
market but OK. At least you don't get charged the sort of silly prices of
Travel Inn and Premier Inn this side of the water.

T

Zog The Undeniable writes:

Remember that h*lmets are now mandatory in Spain, with a number of
exceptional circumstances which makes the law almost unenforceable ;-)

I remember a few years ago to encourage wearing helmets they had a
couple on a motorcyle riding round wearing nothing but.

Jon

JLB wrote in message ...
David Martin wrote:

My opinion on taking bikes by plane is that it is best to do as little
wrapping as possible. Some airlines will take them unwrapped (my favoured
option), others will require them to be wrapped in which case a clear
plastic bag is ideal.

This ounds counterintuitive, but if you have something that looks like
normal luggage it will get treated like normal luggage. A large flat case
will go on the bottom of the trolley with every tom dick and harry's
suitcase dropped on top. Fragile stickers are read as 'kick me harder'
A bike on its own gets treated as a bike and is handled separately.

The alternative is a hard bike case that will withstand 100kg of samsonite
dropped on top.

The only time I have had problems flying with a bike was when it was boxed,
the rest of the time it was fine.

I've taken mine on Ryanair twice (with 2 buddies). Two years ago to
Treviso (Italy) and last year to Jerez (Spain). No protection either
time, just pedals off and hanadlebars turned. No damage to any of the
bikes yet. Only problem was last year - we arrived in Jerez but our
bikes seemed to prefer staying at Stansted. They arrived on next
flight but we lost a day's cycling. No explanation given.

This May we're off to Santander, courtesy of Ryanair, for a few days
tour of Cantabria and Asturias. Should be good. Bike charge has now
gone up from £30 to £34 return.

Andy

My experience is a bit different, though I agree with your reasoning so
far as the majority of airlines are concerned. I've always handed my
bike over to the airline with minimum preparation after riding it to the
airport; sometimes I've been handed a big plastic bag to put it in. It's
usually been all right, except perhaps some paintwork damage, but
Ryanair turns its planes around as fast as possible to keep the planes
in the air and its baggage handlers seem to be under orders to go flat
out with no respect for what they are handling. Therefore, Ryanair will
only take your bike after you sign a disclaimer and it will be treated
very harshly. It cost me over two hundred quid to fix my bike after the
last time Ryanair got hold of it, including getting a brake mounting lug
reattached to the fork leg after it was snapped off. This is not a
particularly delicate bike, its a Chas Roberts 531ST tourer. Anyway,
that removed any illusion that Ryanair is cheap.

Hey - see you there then! My current plan is to approximately follow
the Carmino Santiago from Paris to as far as I get, hopefully all the
way, but using the North route through Cantabria and Asturias, taking
in the Picos, then flying sleazyjet back from Asturias (Oviedo) at the
endish of May.

Andy Lewis wrote:
snip

I've taken mine on Ryanair twice (with 2 buddies). Two years ago to
Treviso (Italy) and last year to Jerez (Spain). No protection either
time, just pedals off and hanadlebars turned. No damage to any of the
bikes yet. Only problem was last year - we arrived in Jerez but our
bikes seemed to prefer staying at Stansted. They arrived on next
flight but we lost a day's cycling. No explanation given.

This May we're off to Santander, courtesy of Ryanair, for a few days
tour of Cantabria and Asturias. Should be good. Bike charge has now
gone up from £30 to £34 return.


Handy tip which may still be valid. Don't pay for bike both ways on
arriving. The authorisation to take the cycle was handwritten on our
ticket and didn't distinguish between a single and a return. So the
return leg was free. This has worked more than once with Ryanair.

Pete

iakobski wrote:

My 40th is coming up, and in a discussion on Friday night 'er indoors
said that if I didn't do something else, she'd be organising a
"surprise party". You know, the kind where all the people you never
wanted to see again are dragged out of the woodwork - all very
embarrassing!

So I said - "No problem, I'll be out of the country". I must admit, I'd
had a fair few glasses of Stolichnaya at that point, so when pressed I
said I quite fancied cycling to Spain. So now I seem to be committed.

So. A few questions:
1. What to pack
2. Where to find a good route
3. Suggestions for camping/washing
4. I'm fit enough - currently cycle 22 miles/day @ 17-19 mph and run
5-10 miles several times a week. What mileage should I expect per day?
Will I get there and back in two weeks while still enjoying it?
5. Am I totally mad?

--
iakobski.

I did the pilgrimage to Santiago in 2001, door to door.

Route: Berks to Newhaven (depends where you are starting from), Dieppe,
Rouen, up the Eure valley to Chartres, Orleans, Blois, Tours, Poitiers,
Blaye, Bordeaux, Dax, St. Palais, St. Jean Piere du Port, Pamplona,
Logrono, Burgos, Leon, Ponferrada, Sarria, Arzua, Santiago.

Return: Vilalba, Ribadeo, Cudillero, Oviedo (lost credit card, so) FEVE
train to Santander.

Altogether 38 days including ferry and train from Plymouth (one day in
St. Jean and two in Santiago). It was brilliant, despite the early
season (snow in France!). Met some very interesting people enjoyed the
food in both countries and the wonderful architecture (churchs and other
buildings). An experience not to be missed.

The route in France is relativly easy except Dieppe to Rouen and builds
up your fitness for the mountains in N. Spain including the Pyrennees.

--
Regards, Shane
"A closed mouth gathers no feet!"
Website: http://www.wonk.demon.co.uk/