The sun streaming through the window of my study, window open to keep the tempearture down. I went out earlier and could have left the gloves and probably the coat at home. Please don’t get cold again!
Categories: Cycling
Cycling
Cycling
Spain to Norway (2017)
Along The Med (2013)
Crossing Europe (2011)
Cycling
Yet another advantage of the folded bike! I got a nominally 2-person lightweight tent (only 200g heavier than the 1-person of the same brand) and the bike fits under the “vestibule”, folded up, so someone would have to zip open the rain fly to get at the bike.
That said, I also clipped the bike to a tent-pole with my usual bike lock, so the supposed theif would have to disassemble part of the tent in order to take the bike away. Still not super secure, but good enough for me, while I’m there!
Re: Netbook, I wish I had one. I’ve been porting around my full-size laptop and am getting pretty tired of it. I’m glad I have it, though, as it’s a great way to make instant backups of photos and many campgrounds, hostels, and CouchSurfing hosts have free wi-fi.
The key thing is to attach the bike to something that is connected to you I suppose! I will keep thinking about the netbooks….
Hello again Andrew,
Have you firmed up a detailed route? I liked the suggestion of taking a netbook but fear the costs of internet access abroad, if only to get map access.What about one of those bike satnavs?
Personally, I prefer the map options because you can vary the route on a fancy. But on the priciple that the less carried the better, would not want to take a load of maps all the way.
One other question, what have you settled on for security for the bike? It is a tragedy when long distance cyclists have the bike stolen nipping in to a shop for provisions- so something has to do but anything effective is always heavy. What are your thoughts?
Hi
I havenโt made any progress on the route since we last exchanged messages. When I do โ probably during the Easter holidays which are coming up very soon โ I will put the details in the โrouteโ section of the site. It will be a case of modifying what is already there, breaking everything down so that it is listed day by day (some of the stages are currently two or even three day stages!) with a definitive town in which to stay each night. I then need to check up on camp-sitesโฆ so quite a lot of work to do.
As for the note/netbook computer Iโm not sure. Sounds like a great idea but it is an extra security riskโฆ.which brings me to the security of the bike itself. Again, a subject that needs more research. I did see this lock mentioned on a newsletter earlier this week: http://www.abus-bordo.de/gb/default.htm . It looks lighter and certainly more compact than the traditionally secure โD-lockโ. As for security at night, I have envisaged some kind of system which attaches the bike to the tent (or even me?) via a cable of some description, the purpose being not necessarily to make it secure (the wire I envisage wouldnโt take much cutting) but making it obvious when someone is tampering / moving the bike. Any thoughts appreciated!