John O' Groats to Lands End

[jags]

Ah good stuff Jacki not a lot i know but if i had it
best of luck with the tour sure hope the weather is kind to you.
ah i hate being over weigh i'm 13 stone got a beer belly and i dont drink
but no will power to stay on a diet ive a sweet tooth which doesn't help.

have you got your sleeping sorted and your cooking,what tent are you using btw.

anto.

[bikerta]

Doesn't sound overweight to me.

Tent will probably be Vango Spirt 200+, not the lightest at 2.7kg, but has got a huge porch where all your panniers etc can go and I could also cook in there if weather not good. I could use a Terra Nova Voyager which is lighter at 2.1kg and I also like the way it goes up and is easy to stuff back into sack whether wet or dry, but has a much smaller porch which I would not cook in.

Sleeping bag - not ideal at moment - choice of cheap Tesco down bag, which is really light and small but not that warm. Ok for summer, but not sure about the North of Scotland temperatures. I am not a warm sleeper any more either. Other choice is a Mountain Equipment firewalker. Nice and warm (down to -5) but of course bulky and heavy. Could do with something in between like an alpkit pipedream 400 or Rab Ascent 500, but again it's all money.

Cooking, I have an MSR Superfly which I have had for about 5 years. Just a normal gas stove but it's been great. Pans are cheapie Tesco aluminium ones, but they do the job fine. Will take 1 larger cooking pot and the lid doubles as a frying pan sorted.

Clothing will be lots of thin layers that I can just add or remove depending on conditions. Will wash cycle shorts each night. Sleep in baselayers. Need light weight waterproof jacket and trousers though as I think my armoured BMW goretex motorcycle jacket and trousers may be a tad too heavy.

[Andybg]

Hi Jackie

Glad to hear all the prep for the upcoming trip is proceeding well.

Just a  note of caution about cooking in the tent. It can easily lead to disaster. I know it can be very temting when it is pouring outside but having heard some of the horror strories of accidents that have happened i think I would either get wet or go hungry.

Best of luck

Andy

[julk]

Jackie,
Stay in the porch if it is raining, but stick the stove outside.
At the worst you will get a wet arm.

Taking a long spoon can help
Julian.

[bikerta]

Thanks for the advice Julian and Andy, you are probably right and I would rather a wet arm than a burnt one. Mind you I am not going to have any rain during the waking hours at all on my trip.   

[lewis noble]

Of course, Jackie, rain is purely a matter of perception, not precipitation.  And I guess people were probably more worried about you getting carbon monoxide poisoning than burning yourself! A number of campers still die each year from cooking in tents / campervans with no ventilation.

What gearing option did you specify on your Sherpa, by the way??  I think you can get low or ultra low . . . .

Lewis

[John Saxby]

Stay in the porch if it is raining, but stick the stove outside.

  Good advice, for sure. But -- one can have it all: ventilation, cover from rain & wind so one has a nice dry place for cooking, pondering, tea in late afternoon, etc.  All you need in a quality lightweight tarp, as in the foto below, taken beside the Rhine a couple of years ago.

The tarp is an Integral Designs Siltarp, from MEC (Mountain Equipment Coop).  This is the big 'un, 2.9 m x 2.6, about 500 - 600 gms.  I was using only the flysheet of my tent, there being no bugs in Deutschland in Sept., so the fly + tarp weighed less than my full tent.  We were two people, but the tarp covered 2 bikes, & most of the tent's fly, and left space for cooking.  There is a smaller version of the Siltarp, 400 gms, well suited to one-person tents.

I learned about tarps from canoeing, but also from Colin Fletcher's books on walking. Wouldn't be without one now. The modern silicon-nylon tarps are crazy-light. One does have to carry a few more tent pegs, and likewise some extra QR rubber ties & maybe another bungee or two, but for me that weight is negligible against a tarp's advantages.  Biggest adjustment is the ritual required for selecting a site with trees the right distance apart, with branches at the right height, etc. -- sometimes you find a handy clothesline left behind by an earlier camper -- and then rigging the lot. Requires maybe an extra 15 - 20 minutes at the end of the day. But in a late-afternoon rainstorm, it is soooo nice to pitch your tent under cover, boil & drink your tea ditto, etc.

[jags]

john is that the title of the book just googled john fletcher he has a lot of books which is best to buy on tips on tarps and camping in general .i'm still a major fred when it comes to camping.

great ideas those tarps.

jags.

[John Saxby]

Thanks, Anto. I have "The Complete Walker IV", by Colin Fletcher & Chip Rawlins.  Mine is the 2002 edition -- don't know if there has been a revised edition issued. (Colin Fletcher was badly injured not long after the book appeared -- he was hit by an SUV while crossing a street.)  Fletcher is a great writer -- technically informed, witty, and obviously in love with walking.  His enthusiasm makes you just want to do it.  CW IV has a section on tarps, including several pages by Fletcher on setting up a plastic home-made tarp (he used that for his JoG-to-Land's-End hike in the early 60's.) When the book appeared in 2002, the trick new sil-nylon tarps were just appearing, so that section is good, but short.

Amazon also lists a 2012 publication by Andrew Skurka, "The Ultimate Hiker's Gear Guide" -- expect that has more on tarps.

Might be worth looking at a few suppliers to see what they show. Here's MEC's link to tarps, for example:  http://www.mec.ca/shop/tarps-and-light-shelters/50712/  (The two Siltarp items they offer are--wait for it--400 gms for the big one, and just 215 for the smaller.)  Hilleberg also have a section on tarps -- theirs weigh a bit more.

For cycle-camping, I use the larger tarp -- I prefer to have more dry space than less, softie that I am. (The bike also serves as a support for the tarp.) (Works really well if you find a BMW airhead just nearby -- see below.) (Especially in a forest in Northern Ontario, with lotsa trees.)  This isn't "minimalist", for sure.  And, not everyone likes the extra step involved in setting up camp.  Works for me, though.

Hope this is helpful. -- J.

[bikerta]

I like the idea of the tarp a lot, especially keeping your bike under there as well away from prying eyes. A place to sit, cook and be out of the wind. Unfortunately, in the UK (especially in the south) a lot of our campsites are just large open fields leaving it difficult to set the tarps up. Many people use walking poles, but of course you are restricted in height using these and of course you have the extra weight and bulk of carrying them. I guess if you are backing onto a hedgerow, you may be able to attach the tarp, or even a fence, maybe the more I think about it I'm sure you could find a way in most places.

Frogprince, I didn't realise that a copy of the helinox chair was made. £85 is a lot of money for a chair.

[jags]

John excellent set up, but yeah as Jackie said you need trees to use one,but handy to have one bottom of pannier. thanks John very impressed with your set up


anto.

[John Saxby]

if you are backing onto a hedgerow, you may be able to attach the tarp, or even a fence, maybe the more I think about it I'm sure you could find a way in most places

Thanks, jackie and jags.  Yes, for sure trees are handy, and as you know we have lots in Central & Eastern Canada.  But you're right, Jackie -- I managed quite well on my Rhine/Danube trip, even in the absence of trees.  See the photo below, for example, taken in a crowded urban site beside the Danube a couple of days west of Vienna.  In the absence of a fence, you could also put your bike square in front of your tent door (parallel to the tent or vertical to it), and use the bike (instead of a trekking pole or two) to support the tarp, with the rear two corners of the tarp going to the back of your tent.

One of the nicest campsites I had on that trip was in a farmer's field just outside Ottensheim in Austria -- the farm family also had a campground 50 metres away, with warm showers, etc. Lovely spot. Here's a link to a photo, which shows the tarp rigged between a tree and a big bush, with the bike ready to serve as a prop when I close up for the night:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nv88o0177k0kitm/134%20-%20just%20%E2%82%AC5%20for%20space%20beside%20a%20river%20in%20the%20late%20afternoon%20sunshine.JPG

[bikerta]

What gearing option did you specify on your Sherpa, by the way??  I think you can get low or ultra low . . . .

Lewis

I have the ultra wide range gearing consisting of 26/36/48 chainset and 11-36 cassette. This seems to be a pretty good set up as the lowest gear gets me up most of the local hills. Occasionally I feel that maybe a higher gear would be nice if pedalling downhill, but I usually just coast downhill anyway to give my legs a rest. 

[martinf]

I have the ultra wide range gearing consisting of 26/36/48 chainset and 11-36 cassette. This seems to be a pretty good set up as the lowest gear gets me up most of the local hills. Occasionally I feel that maybe a higher gear would be nice if pedalling downhill, but I usually just coast downhill anyway to give my legs a rest. 

Should be OK. I had 24/39/44 and 13-34 cassette when I visited the Picos d'Europa, same lowest gear and much lower top gear.

[allywatt]

Bikerta,

Regarding midgies, plenty on Skye and the small isles ( eigg, muck, rum and canna), but virtually none on the western isles (bara, uists, benbecula, Harris and lewis), flies can be a problem at times though.

There is a bit more mileage going via the western isles, but certainly no more than 100 extra miles ( I think!).  There's also the ferry from Oban to bara and the onward connection to eriskay to consider, that, although not many cycling miles, will take you a whole day - chance for a rest?  (Sorry, I've written this the wrong way round for you)

I would never ever cycle the a82 on the north side of loch ness, a real twisty turny, tourist infested death trap.  If you must take that route, follow the Dores road on the other side of the loch.  The glens route to the east is great, but as you say, the hills are a bit more of a challenge. 

My main concern is how I'm going to cope with the traffic in the deep south; Birmingham, and the Manchester - Liverpool gap don't fill me with joy!  I'm doing the trip with my sister in law, and we're planning to take 3 weeks, cycling between 50 and 100 miles a day, staying on the wee roads, and camping whenever possible.  If you wanted the option to meet up en route, we could swap contact details nearer the time.  It would be great to share stories over a glass of lemonade!

Regards,

Ali