Security while you camp

devans · Post by **devans** » 28 Nov 2008, 9:44pm

Hi all,

If you're camping solo, how do you keep your bike secure? I've seen plenty of threads where people suggest leaving your bike outside (albeit tied to the tent etc)

Aren't your bikes getting pinched left right and centre?

I'm just getting into cycling and want to do some solo touring - camping seems like the easy option but I can't help worry about my lovely Claud....

Any advice gratefully received..!

eileithyia · Post by **eileithyia** » 29 Nov 2008, 8:58am

Don't worry too much about it, the British countryside is not littered with gangs of roving thieves seeking to pinch an odd bike from a campsite at night time.
There are easier pickings elsewhere. A simple lock will keep the opportunist at bay, ie they cannot just walk off with your bike in order to use it as transport home from the local.
Bike thieves target much easier pickings ie races/events/ and the bike cafe where there is a lot of choice piled up outside.

Only problem I ever had on tour was when my saddle and front wheel were nicked from Copehnagen YH bike shed, large city YH, say no more.

Ambermile · Post by **Ambermile** » 29 Nov 2008, 10:08am

I agree, the hordes of opportunist tealeaves mostly do not hang around campsites (except in some of the receptions). I also doubt that wild camping would attract them to your pride and joy since you will most likely be in the midle of nowhere - too far for them to drag their little bods!

A couple of cable locks, however seemingly flimsy, is enough of a deterrent though should the worst happen and your bike become an object of desire.

Arthur

MLJ · Post by **MLJ** » 29 Nov 2008, 3:56pm

I have a green 6'x4' sheet which can cover the bike lying down; pegged to the ground it provides a lumpy camouflage to disguise the cycle. Otherwise see that yours is not too obvious from the roadside.

Asdace · Post by **Asdace** » 29 Nov 2008, 4:30pm

I agree with MLJ, using a 6'x4' sheet. I've a basha and use that for disguising the bike and keeping it dry if it rains. One idea is take off front wheel and saddle and thread a cable lock thru and lock to frame, also tie some empty cans to the bike or make a trip-wire.

zenzinnia · Post by **zenzinnia** » 1 Dec 2008, 9:43am

I don't think you should have any problems whlst you are camping if you just use a cable lock but I tend to look for plots close to trees/ fences etc to which I can attach the bike. If I'm leaving the bike at the site during the day whilst I go somewhere else then I tend to take the bike over to any reception where there there are often better places to lock it up and more people to keep an eye on it.

Helen · Post by **Helen** » 2 Dec 2008, 4:37pm

I’ve camped solo in France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Slovenia, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Italy. Not much in the UK!

When wild camping, I sometimes don’t lock the bike, in case I want to make a quick getaway from lurkers. (No need, so far…)

On camp sites my priority is pitching by a tree or fence, where I can lean the bike for convenience, as I leave the panniers on. I don’t often leave the site once I’m there for the evening. I especially like parking it in sight under the eaves of the toilet block so I don’t have to worry about rain or dew.

My bike’s small, old and distinctive. I’d hate to lose it, but usually feel safe with just a cable lock. If there are any dodgy characters on the site, I keep a closer watch. I don't often spend more than one night in the same place.

banjokat · Post by **banjokat** » 10 Dec 2008, 11:24am

I use a Vaude Mark ll light, big enough to get my recumbent inside if necessary, there are quite a few tents on the market with a porch big enough to take a normal bike.

simonineaston · Post by **simonineaston** » 16 Dec 2008, 4:32pm

Helen wrote:I’ve camped solo in France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Slovenia, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Italy. Not much in the UK!
.

Cor - you're brave

I've just begun solo cycle camping again - mostly in Brittany so far, which is full of cheap, decent camp sites so I've never tried going wild yet... I take a mini U Lock with me, that's made from hardened bar, so probably better than a cable. It's v.light (for a U lock!) and needless to say I can't recall where I got it - mail order from a Geezer trading as Hard To Get or something like...
Have toyed with the idea of using some sort of loop, put down before pitching my tent, to attach the bike to overnight on the assumption that its crafty nocturnal removal would drag said loop out from under me, and wake me up.
Have always been tempted to lock the bike up 'cos having a bike taken in normal circ.s would be abd enough, but to happen in the middle of a holiday, in the middle of nowhere would be classed as a disaster :-o

simonineaston · Post by **simonineaston** » 16 Dec 2008, 4:41pm

PS - I have taken to having with me a loop of that ubiquitous blue poly-something chord, a few inches long, that I wrap round which-ever brake lever presents itself to me at the time, as a hand-brake, after the occasion when my loaded cycle rolled off down a gradient, while I was off persuing croissants :roll:

and I am labouring under the amusing illusion that so effective is the hand-brake that it would thoroughly deter any opportunist tea-leaf from leaping on the bike and making off, while I'm preoocupied by munching the aforementioned croissant - now how naive is that???

frank · Post by **frank** » 16 Dec 2008, 5:05pm

Get yourself a bike alarm off ebay for a fiver. It sets off an alarm if moved this will wake you up

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