15 days encounting– mild panic

I've Been finding out what I can about the 4 countries (Austria, Italy, Slovenia and croatia) Ill be cycling/camping through and just thinking in more detail about what challenges could lie ahead for me.

Ive looked at my route in a bit more detail from the 4 country maps I have now, but think I'll need to get more localiazed maps because I cant see the smaller roads that I might need as I go along.

My  intended route through Slovenia and Croatia doesn’t take me near enough to any campsites and I was assuming that I could stay at a few campsites now and again to take a shower, wash clothes etc.

I was hoping to wild camp most of the way anyway (as never done before) but I’ve found out a few things that could add some spice to the trip.

When I cycled coast to coast France last year, I was able to look at some of the roads on Google streetview, to make sure they were bike friendly enough. This time I cant do that because Google streeview doesn’t cover Slovenia or Croatia, so my route will have to adapt as I go along.

Not a problem in itself, but I do need to be careful not to get forced onto motorways if there are no bike friendly roads going my way.

Still havent got a solar charger so not sure  how Im going to keep my phone juiced up, except keeping it on airplane mode most of the time. I used a PowerMonkey solar charger last year that I borrowed, but it needed 3 full days of sun to be able to charge my phone 70%.

Cold in Alps and Hot everywhere else (probably) so Ill need clothes for very cold and very hot, not to mention rain in the mountains. This will add to the overall weight of the bike but the biggest extra weight will be food and water Ill need to carry for the climbs.

Some things I’ve found out..

Wild camping is Illegal in Croatia and Slovenia

I’ve read that camping is banned in Croatia because they have a problem with vagrants and there still could be uncleared landmines in coutryside away from the popular tourist trails. perhaps knock on some farm doors and see if I can benefit from local hospitality.

I’m sure I can cycle through slovenia in a day on the single lane motorway (E61) so wont need to camp there. I read one blog post from a lone cyclist who got detained at Slovenia/Croatia border and had to prove he wasn’t a vagrant by showing receipts from campsites he’d stayed at.

The only road from Reijka in north croatia to Zadar further down the coast, is a motorway. (E65)

This may only be a single or double lane motorway but the wind from lorries passing me could be dangerous and I cant check how wide the road is. So I’m considering Island hoping as far as Split which means at least 3 or 4 short ferry crossings between Islands (need to check timetables tho). The Islands are much  more tourist focused so there will be campsites there.

Whole day climbs in the Alps?

I’ve identified 4 separate passes that I need to cross. Each one could take a whole day to climb. The longest climb I’ve ever done is 2 hours (last year ) so I really don’t know how my body will withstand day after day of fully loaded climbing. Ive been training quite hard the last 5 weeks so Im in good shape but I will  have to make sure I carry enough food and water so I can be continually eating and drinking as I climb so I don’t dehydrate or run out of energy. One of the biggest mistakes I made last year was missing meals and not eating or drinking enough while I cycled. So I became dehydrated which meant that I had no appetite at the end of each day and didn’t eat well – Not good cos I don’t have much fat to burn!

Apart from all that, I’m looking forward to the adventure – I'll be happy when im off the plane and my bike is in one piece again in Innsbruck.

Solo Cycle challenge 2012 - Innsbruck to Dubrovnik via Trieste

I fly to Austria on 1st June 2012. From there I will cycle camp over the Alps into Italy, on through Sovenia into Croatia and fly back just over 2 weeks later from Dubrovnik.

here is my intended route, although when I get all the maps I could find alternative roads through the mountains more details soon...



View Larger Map

Veho MUVI HD10 Minicam Review

I've been looking for a small HD video cam with wireless remote, for a while- something I could attach to a helmet and record with while cycling. The Drift Inovation X170HD had been the best contender for my cash at £329.00 but thats a big splash for something I'll probably drop or break.  Thankfully I went to the Active travel show in London recently and got seduced by the price and size of this VEHO MUVI. £120 for a full HD action camera with wireless remote. Juicy!

Later that day, I decided to try it out and make sure it worked ok. I've used/owned mini cams before[go-pro hero, flip ultra,Kodak play sport] so didn't think I needed to bother reading the instructions booklet as all I wanted to now do was make a quick recording and then play it back on the view screen to see what it looks like. I remember when I got my Flip ultra cam, and straight out the box how easy it was to do this.

A quick look all over and I spot the on/off switch on one side - flicked that on - on the other side I noticed a similar switch labelled 'Vox' on/off. Yes, I do want sound, so flicked that on too. The view screen came to life and I was smiling.

I saw a large button on the side with a  big red spot on it. That has to be the record button, so I pressed it, and voila! The display on the screen confirmed that I was now recording. This is easy.

After half a minute or so recording myself talking to it politely, I pressed the red spot button again and the recording stopped. Easy!

Now to play back my recording.

The next hour and a half of my life was less enjoyable, more like an emotional endurance test that included distressed laughter, anger, disappointment and dismay. During this period I even resorted to reading through the accompanying instruction booklet - which, by the way, could only have been written by a software programmer who, long ago, lost the ability to communicate with anyone who's not plugged into the matrix. In a moment of desperation, I even forlornly loaded the enclosed CD in the hope that it would contain enlightening interactive  'how-to' instructions rather than the 90 megabyte, print-ready[crop marks included] pdf artwork copy of the printed instruction booklet I had already read cover to cover in 15 languages. Damn that CD! - It was my last hope!

The next morning, with renewed vigour, I tried again to find 'playback mode'. This meant that I would have to abandon all logical thoughts and suppress intuitive expectations because tt turns out that to playback a previous recording, you have to select 'record' option from the menu. Record?? what on earth were VEHO thinking? why not playback, or preview, or recordings even?

So now I could select and playback[record] the video I had made last night. I remember recording about 30 seconds but, I could only see about 5 seconds of recording, in fact, further random button pressing revealed that I had 4 very short bits of recording. This is one thing the instructions are clear about though. The 'Vox' button actually means that you want to activate record function with sound and since I was talking to camera while recording, I was turning the thing on and off without realizing. Ok, my bad.

So after an hour or so of faffing around with it, I got the cam mounted on my mountain bike helmet and all the enclosed attachments gave me enough options to strap the remote control to my handlebars. Now I could properly road test this thing. Would the 4GB card be big enough, would the battery last long enough, would the wireless remote always work. These questions and more would soon be answered. So far my experience with this gadget hadn't been good so my expectations were significantly lowered.

All went well out on the trails and I captured quite a lot of video footage without any problems at all. Here's the low down:

What's good? 

• It has a view screen[1.5 inch] to playback recordings so you can make sure you have got something good before you go home.
• It has a remote control that  works really well (could do with the beep louder so you know you are recording - beeps once when starts recording and twice when you stop it but cant hear if windy)
• Battery life is impressive (so far)
• Video quality as good as you can expect(for this price) - Really not good[grainy] in low light conditions though
• Small and light make it great for slipping in pocket of jacket or shorts.
• Auto sleep mode to save a battery works well but slow coming back to life from the remote
• Lots of really useful brackets and mounts to attach the cam in various ways.

What's bad about it?

• Unintuitive software logic and symbols on buttons are confusing
• Produces .MOV video files only . Pain in the arse for Windows on PC. ::sigh::
• Uploading videos straight to You tube which complains about .MOV format.
• Instruction booklet is rubbish. Product manager at Veho needs to be sacked for signing that off.
• You cant turn the display screen off while recording. I can't see it while mounted on my helmet so a needless battery drain.

This is what I recorded (720p HD)  and I think its worth saying that when I upload the original .MOV files straight to youtube, I always get this message "The video that you uploaded may have audio/video sync issues. Please refer to this article for advice on how to correct this issue should it arise.". some of the original HD quality is also lost.

What a flippin faf though!. The last time I had had such an unintuitive experience with a new gadget was with the Go Pro Hero. As with this camera, the actual videos are good quality but straight out the box it drove me to distraction. Hooray for the Flip Ultra, I had that sussed in less than a minute out the box, very intuitive design and sublimely easy to use.

If the VEHO MUVI could just allow me to choose my preferred output file format[AVI or WMV or MP4] rather than forcing .MOV files on me, I could forgive all other bad points, but really, I'm on day 4 now with over 5 gig of video that I want to edit in Windows MovieMaker. I can't though until I find a good free converter, or spend money on new editing software, converter software or just by an Apple computer.

What is it with the MOV files anyway?! - the Kodak playsport was the same arse ache, and even the pricey Drift Inovation X170HD saves in MOV only.

Hooray again for FLIP minicams, AVI, and MP4 formats.

One last thought. We live in a time where the likes of Apple have set new benchmarks for intuitive design, with gadgets that just work straight out of the box, without instructions. This isn't a new concept. An action camera is designed to be used by active people while doing active things like skiing, rock climbing, surfing and mountain biking who don't always  have both hands free and don't know when the best bit of action is coming along. These customers need robust simplicity and big red buttons. How hard can it be? 

Packing Panniers for Bike touring.

Leaving for Portsmouth in a couple of hours for the 700 mile cycle to Santander in Northern Spain, and just finished packing the panniers, pumped the tyres up, fitted a front mudguard (back one doesn fit!), and took the bike for a spin round the block. It feels really wobbly with the front panniers, very strange to ride and quite a lot of flex in the frame and wheels - think I'll  have to take it easy on the mountain down hills this time and keep a careful eye on the road surfaces. eek!

This is how I have packed my Panniers. I've packed according to task, this time, to try and avoid unpacking the whole bike during the day at every food stop. I've packed all things for food prep and eating in the front panniers and all overnight stuff in the rear panniers. Any quick access during the day (rain jacket, fleece etc.) will be in a dry bag strapped to the rear rack. Ive got one other dry bag spare just for food en route.

Rear Pannier #1 ( Clothes - Overnight access only)
padded shorts x 2
underpants (for off bike)
water proof socks x 1
socks x 2
Casual shorts x 2
t-shirts x 4
long sleeve merino base layer (chilly days)
short sleeve merino base layer (chilly nights)
long trousers (off bike- ferry crossings)
shirt(off bike)
plimsoles  x1 (much lighter than trainers)
Flip flops (may not need these by the look of the weather forecast)
Toiletries (tooth brush / paste /deodorant/ soap, razors)
phone charger and continental adaptor (charging phone at campsites)

Rear Pannier #2 (campsite access only)
Tent (Robens Voyager 2 man)
sleeping mat (blow up type)
Sleeping bag (3 season)
ground sheet (on rack)
Rolled up dry bag for food.(on rack)

Front Pannier #1 (Cooking and food prep only)
Stove x 2
pans x4
condiments (olive oil, detergent,salt,washing up liquid)
lighters

Front Pannier #2  (Cooking and food prep only)
kettle
plates
cups
gas cannister X 3
Rubbish bags

2 x dry bags bungeed to rear rack:

dry bag  #1 (rolled up on rack until needed)
Food en route only

dry bag  #2 (quick access during day)
towel
fleece x 1
high vis cycling jacket
rain mac
cycling gillet
Down Jacket (cold mornings/evenings and overnight ferry)

Handlebar bag
small first aid  kit
compass
insect repelent
hand wipes
Box of Tissues
warm gloves (thinsulate)
cable ties
spare nuts an bolts (small food bag)
Swiss army knife (thanks David)
head torch and spare batteries
baseball cap
Bike tools (alen keys, spoke key, small pliers, chain link tool,puncture repair kit )
video camera (Flip utltra)

Not sure how much the whole lot weighs but its going to take a little getting used to the bike wobble.

Cycle Touring on Mavic Askium Race wheels... mmm...

update: 09.10.11:

Well I've recently returned from another fully loaded continental cycle tour. This time with 4 panniers to keep the bike more balanced. I had about 20k on the back and about 10k up front. I rode over some very rough roads and hit more than one pot hole. My Mavic Askiums are, to my continued surprise, still in mint condition. The shimano hubs are still good, and I havn't yet, after over 2000 miles fully loaded cycle touring, need to tighten any spokes or make any adjutments. What can I say except, yes, it is possible to cycle tour on these wheels.

any questions?

original post:


Having trawled the internet looking for some information about how strong the wheels on my bike are, I still cant find what I need to know. The chap in the bike shop says they are strong wheels, and they 'should' be ok for my next cycle tour, but could present trouble if they break - which they 'shouldn't'.

The wheels on my touring bike are not typical 32 ,38 or 48 spoked super strong touring wheels. My Mavic Askium wheels are fairly skinny racing wheels with only 20 aero dynamically shaped [flat] spokes.

When I cycled through France in May, I was carrying roughly 15 to 20 kg on the back of my bike, and only a bar bag up front with no more than 3 kg inside. Although the back wheel did visibly flex whenever I leaned the bike over (against a tree or wall), I got back in one piece with no drama at all, despite hitting a couple of potholes en route.

The question now, is do I tour again on these somewhat unsuitable (and possibly weakened) wheels, or shall I buy super strong touring wheels with standard spokes? (Having 'standard' spokes is an advantage because most bike shops around the word stock them.)

Well, I cant really afford to splash out on new wheels now, and I set off in just over a week, so I am going to tour again on the same wheels complete with special speedy spokes.Worst case scenario? I get a cracked rim or spoke break when I am 50 miles away from the nearest bike shop, and it's raining hard. A broken spoke with these wheels will undoubtedly mean a buckled wheel too. My only option in that case will be to try and fix it. Never had to fix a wheel before so hope that doesn't happen.

Surely, I can't be the only person fool enough to cycle tour on wheels designed for racing?

Cycle route from St Malo to Santander

I'll be setting of with good friend and seasoned explorer, Emma, on 7th Spetember, aiming to arrive at Santander in northern Spain 13 days later in time to catch the 24hour ferry back to Portsmouth. W'ell be camping on route and hoping for strong tailwinds to help us up the 200 miles of hills in Spain. Here is the planned route:


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Life is short

Remember as a child, how the summers used to last forever, and how far away next year always seemed? Remember waking up feeling free and excited about the day ahead with a sense of optimism that maybe you can only get when you are young - when so much is unfamiliar and responsibility is something your parents have.

And now, all grown-up, how the years fly ever more speedily by and how my childish naive optimism has become charred by responsibility and consequences; and the freedom that I think I still have is actually chained up like a wild dog frothing at the mouth. These grown-up days are filled up with routines, clocks, facts and cynicism. I see the same things over and over, hear the same sounds day after day and every smell is so familiar, I don't even notice.

Maybe life isn't too short - it just seems like it is because the daily tastes, sounds, sights and smells don't really change much from day to day.