My worst tour, and why..

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Gearoidmuar
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My worst tour, and why..

Post by Gearoidmuar »

A new thread for you folks.

In about 1995 in June I and three friends arrived in Bordeaux. It started lashing rain. Headed for nearest village. Stayed in nice hotel.
That was the start of a nine day tour in which we cycled over the Pyrenees via Bielsa Tunnel to Ainsa, then into Tremp and Catalunya, then over Andorra and eventually to Toulouse.
There was torrential all-day long rain on 6 of the nine days and at altitude it was very cold.
Even though we had three nice days it was awful.
On the last day, in Toulouse we went drinking with the Toulouse Rugby League team who'd just won the French Championship. Some were Aussies etc.

After that holiday, I needed a holiday.
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Vantage
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Re: My worst tour, and why..

Post by Vantage »

I can barely walk in the rain, never mind cycling in it! The smallest drop of water in my eyes blinds me and even if my eyes stay dry, it gets on my glasses and I still can't see.
At least you finished the tour :)
Something I've yet to accomplish :P
Bill


“Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” ~ Eddy Merckx
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Tigerbiten
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Re: My worst tour, and why..

Post by Tigerbiten »

My worst one was probably the summer of 2012 in the UK.
It had basically rained on and off every day for the first 3 weeks.
I had got grit washed into my IHG cables, so that was not shifting properly.
And then I did the 30 miles Eastborne to Brighton into the teeth of a gale.
It started to rain when I got on the trike and the only time it stopped raining all day was when it was hailing ......... :cry:
Dropping of the top of Beachy Head into the wind while it was hailing was not fun.
If you had given me a free lift home on the end of that day, I would have taken it.
I was almost blown off the campsite by a force 8 gale in Penbrokeshire and then went through a couple of two foot deep floods over the next couple of days.
When the top of the bent trike is only 2'6" of the ground, it makes it FUN.
By the time I had been flooded out of the campsite in Keswisk I had got a lot more philosophical.
I think the last week of the tour (week 17) was the driest ........... :lol:
mrjemm
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Re: My worst tour, and why..

Post by mrjemm »

Spring this year in SE USA. Florida. Dogs. Deep fried food. Smokey bars. Dogs. Straight roads. Flat roads. Dogs. Spring break brats. Dogs. Deep fried food. A virus.
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foxyrider
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Re: My worst tour, and why..

Post by foxyrider »

Never had anything quite so disasterous as those examples!

My worst was a Tirol tour in 2011 with lots of wet days.

Day 1 torrential rain to St Gallen, day 2 woke floating after more overnight rain, day3 damp start then more distance than i expected, day 5 damp turning to torrential, day 6 foggy and damp before later light rain, repeat for day 8 with overnight torrential rain at Berchtesgaden, day 9 damp with low cloud ending with a puncture caused by a sharp stone on the road. Phew, day 10 light rain on and off all day, day 11 low cloud and rain until mid afternoon so cancelled assault on the Gross Gloeckner road, day 13 (shoulda known better!) abortive high pass crossing resulting in three day diversion from planned route, more damp in afternoon. Day 14 wet afternoon and into evening at Solden, river close to overflow, day 15 rain and low cloud over Silvretta ending with a 2km 20% climb to campsite, day 16 ended with 5km climb to campsite before more rain, day 17 wet most of the day over three passes to Zurich then the final morning it chucked it down getting back to the airport. Not only that but my cash card wouldnt work so for the middle week i was severely at a financial disadvantage! This was in August! :lol:

Despite all of the damp i had a great trip, the dry days were brilliant, the tent kept me dry even when it was floating! I did complete 15 pass crossings and clocked up @ 1200km.
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
Bonefishblues
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Re: My worst tour, and why..

Post by Bonefishblues »

Probably, looking back on it, the one around the West Highlands which constituted my honeymoon with my first wife.

I'll leave you to fill in the details using your unrivalled powers of imagination :|

Not a long-lived marriage, but I've done much better since, I'm happy to report 8)
whoof
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Re: My worst tour, and why..

Post by whoof »

I've been thinking about this for a day or so and I can't think of a 'bad' tour.
This year we rode Wales end to end into a headwind for the entire trip and up the gospel path was into the end of a hurricane. My partner had to get off and push as she was being stopped in her tracks and was in fear of being blown over. However such things made the cream tea in Hye on Wye taste even better and we really enjoyed the whole trip.
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jezer
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Re: My worst tour, and why..

Post by jezer »

We've had the odd bad weather day on most tours, but the worst was a a week in the Scottish Borders a few years ago. It rained every single day, and as it was a moving on tour we had to set out in it every day for a week. It was July, I know that because the TdF was taking place. On the plus side the scenery was very good, when you could see it through the mist :lol:
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Mistik-ka
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Re: My worst tour, and why..

Post by Mistik-ka »

whoof wrote:I've been thinking about this for a day or so and I can't think of a 'bad' tour.

I think you've got it right, whoof. The miserable weather, impassible barricades, wretched meals, and sagging mattresses over the pub are all horrible at the time … but they make the best stories when it's all over, and often it is the moments just before and just after the worst weather that results in the best photographs.
:( :) :( :) :? :D :cry: :) :) :) :roll: :lol:
robing
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Re: My worst tour, and why..

Post by robing »

Tigerbiten wrote:Dropping of the top of Beachy Head:


Must have been a bad tour :roll: :shock: :D
Gearoidmuar
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Re: My worst tour, and why..

Post by Gearoidmuar »

foxyrider wrote:Never had anything quite so disasterous as those examples!

My worst was a Tirol tour in 2011 with lots of wet days.

Day 1 torrential rain to St Gallen, day 2 woke floating after more overnight rain, day3 damp start then more distance than i expected, day 5 damp turning to torrential, day 6 foggy and damp before later light rain, repeat for day 8 with overnight torrential rain at Berchtesgaden, day 9 damp with low cloud ending with a puncture caused by a sharp stone on the road. Phew, day 10 light rain on and off all day, day 11 low cloud and rain until mid afternoon so cancelled assault on the Gross Gloeckner road, day 13 (shoulda known better!) abortive high pass crossing resulting in three day diversion from planned route, more damp in afternoon. Day 14 wet afternoon and into evening at Solden, river close to overflow, day 15 rain and low cloud over Silvretta ending with a 2km 20% climb to campsite, day 16 ended with 5km climb to campsite before more rain, day 17 wet most of the day over three passes to Zurich then the final morning it chucked it down getting back to the airport. Not only that but my cash card wouldnt work so for the middle week i was severely at a financial disadvantage! This was in August! :lol:

Despite all of the damp i had a great trip, the dry days were brilliant, the tent kept me dry even when it was floating! I did complete 15 pass crossings and clocked up @ 1200km.


As I read this, I was certain you were going to be kidnapped by bandidos!
CliveyT
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Re: My worst tour, and why..

Post by CliveyT »

Don't think I've ever had a real bad tour, but I clearly remember my worst day on tour and it was in the UK. Crossing the fens, into a headwind, drizzling all day. For the most part the satnav showed a dead straight featureless line. I can remember feeling glad when I saw a leylandii hedge because a) shelter and b)it was something to look at that wasn't cabbage shaped.
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al_yrpal
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Re: My worst tour, and why..

Post by al_yrpal »

My worst was a 9 day tour in Brittany in June. Hosing down heavy rain most of the time. 50 to 70 kph headwinds, a sore bum due to an attrocious Brooks Saddle riding over stony canal banks and being with a couple of fitness freaks whose hobbies included swimming marathons, ice climbing and posing. These guys insisted on riding on main roads where we were frequently showered from large puddles. After 3 days I rebelled and took over navigation guiding us on back roads and slowing the pace. After that we stopped at village cafes, met the locals and saw some sights at a sensible pace without being continuously drowned in cold muddy water.
The lessons I learned were: Don't let people who have never toured before hassle you into a stupid race on main roads for the sake of their inflated egos, stand your ground. If the forecast is for continuous rain for days, pack it in, and ditch the Brooks.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
mrjemm
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Re: My worst tour, and why..

Post by mrjemm »

al_yrpal wrote:...and ditch the Brooks.


On our grim ride, Mme did just this, although it was not a Brooks she was swapping out (did that already). Got a far nicer (Terry) saddle, and a far happier bum. Too bad so much else was not to our preference... I still love my Brooks', but know how much she's suffered with them. My equivalent was using flat bars on that ride, which promptly got swapped out for drops once home, after having changed out the stem in an effort to improve things. Both bikes were relative new builds (finished mine the day before!), which was of course one mistake amongst others.

Mistik-ka wrote:
whoof wrote:I've been thinking about this for a day or so and I can't think of a 'bad' tour.

I think you've got it right, whoof. The miserable weather, impassible barricades, wretched meals, and sagging mattresses over the pub are all horrible at the time … but they make the best stories when it's all over, and often it is the moments just before and just after the worst weather that results in the best photographs.
:( :) :( :) :? :D :cry: :) :) :) :roll: :lol:


I understand your sentiments, Misti-ka, but prefer we enjoy our holidays at the time. Nice photos and anecdotes are a bonus, but not the reason for the trip. And much of our time in NOLA involving a tearful wife throwing up in a darkened hotel room don't make for nice memories... :(

Having a bike stolen in Amsterdam, another broken in China, and needing to sell one in Thailand to scrape enough to keep travelling however did not make for bad trips!
PJ520
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Re: My worst tour, and why..

Post by PJ520 »

I did a tour of NE Scotland in continuous heavy rain and headwinds. I found out when I got back that all the time I was doing it I had a UTI. (At the time I thought it was just a joy of aging.) So every 5 minutes or so it seemed I was stopping to take a leak which, when your wearing overtrousers, tights and Lycra shorts gets to be tedious pretty quick. I thought about packing it in but I'd traveled from the US to do this with a bunch of my old potholing mates and couldn't bring myself to wimp out. After all we were lads who did wet caves before wet suits were thought of. Funny what a difference 40 years makes.

One B & B we stayed at the landlady told us we were insane for setting off in such a downpour. She was right. Couldn't see a bit of the scenery thanks to low clouds. The last day on the ride from Tongue to Inverness was exquisite, sunshine, scenery even a tailwind to remind us what we'd missed.
You only live once, which is enough if you do it right. - Mae West
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