Touring - worst fear?

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
Tangled Metal
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Re: Touring - worst fear?

Post by Tangled Metal »

wirral_cyclist wrote:
maxglide wrote:Eat something dodgy... Busy Town/City... Diarrhoea.

Better in a busy town for toilets surely? Dropping your pants in the wilds maybe easy but then you start to think - nettles, ticks, midges, bog roll...

A Lakes backpacking trip and pints of old peculiar left me with an uncomfortable second day walk heavily loaded to the car. Was very hard to find privacy in a very busy Lakes valley when the urgent need arose. Took a lot longer to walk it than normally and tiring too. It got so bad that I just.dropped my pants when the urge came. Not popular once in front of a resting group.

The squits are not nice but TBH nothing like hell hounds with nail collars. Town or city squits are nothing once you learn to spot toilet opportunities.
eileithyia
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Re: Touring - worst fear?

Post by eileithyia »

Dogs. Have survived a dodgy tummy while hosteling, bike breakdowns and the fun of finding accommodation, even in a village where the only hotel was closed.
I stand and rejoice everytime I see a woman ride by on a wheel the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood. HG Wells
TonyR
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Re: Touring - worst fear?

Post by TonyR »

maxglide wrote:Eat something dodgy... Busy Town/City... Diarrhoea.


Surely an issue for everyone, not just cycle tourers? Get the squits in the car and its compounded by congested streets and one way systems plus finding somewhere to park.

But the secret is to pack some Imodium
TonyR
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Re: Touring - worst fear?

Post by TonyR »

Waking up and finding it was a dream and its Monday morning and time to go to work
mcallaghan
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Re: Touring - worst fear?

Post by mcallaghan »

Injury...especially when riding solo in a remote area in a foreign country.
pwa
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Re: Touring - worst fear?

Post by pwa »

Missing a train or a ferry. Bike mechanicals are just part of the game.
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foxyrider
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Re: Touring - worst fear?

Post by foxyrider »

So over the years i've had dog chases (Germany), extreme fatigue (Switzerland), had a tree fall on my tent with me in it (Germany), been stung by very nasties (Germany again), woke up floating in the tent (Switzerland) , had tent flattened by wind with me inside (flippin' Germany again!) and had my pump cease to function. Then there was the broken wheel in Denmark, same trip the bike arrived with Ergo twisted and of course nearly frozen to death when I didn't make allowances for camping at altitude. There was a split tyre, a broken shoe both on the same trip. Of course I got stranded with the Icelandic volcanic ash too.

It sounds like a right catalog of disasters but I got through them all, completing all the trips sometimes by luck, others with patience and a few euros.

The thing that worries me most on a trip is access to cash - having enough and getting it. I had one trip where I had ample funds set up but was unable to access it due to a faulty card. A second trip was blighted by a similar scenario but instead of aa card problem it was a bank issue.

I try to take precautions, an emergency stash and pre paying for as much as I can - I can get by on not much food but the vital train back to the airport has to be paid for.
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!
PJ520
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Re: Touring - worst fear?

Post by PJ520 »

Riding the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park I asked the warden of the hostel I was leaving if I should carry bear spray. He assured me that if there were bears around the road there would be cars stopped looking at them. What he didn't tell me was what to do if a bear walked in front of you and there were no cars around. I had to brake to avoid hitting this one, a huge grizzly walked across the road right in front of me, in the middle of the traffic lane he or she stopped, looked at me and then carried on ambling across the road. It's amazing how much they look like teddy bears only this teddy bear had a head the size of a cow's. I was terrified. I didn't take any pictures because I didn't want to get its attention any more than I had already. After what seemed like ages but was probably ten/fifteen seconds Cars started pulling up and the bear disappeared into the bushes.
You only live once, which is enough if you do it right. - Mae West
whoof
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Re: Touring - worst fear?

Post by whoof »

In about 25 years I think the 'worst' thing that has happened to me whilst touring is arriving somewhere and there was no campsites and all the hotels full for miles around. After searching all afternoon and into the evening I just put up the in a bit of woodland and went to sleep. Probably why I don't have any fears about touring.
Jon Lucas
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Re: Touring - worst fear?

Post by Jon Lucas »

The third day.

The first day you sail along on the elation of starting your journey.

The second day your elation keeps you going but you start to realise the mental and physical efforts needed.

On the third day the aches and pains suddenly materialise, and any doubts you harboured about your ability to do the trip come to the fore.

On the fourth day your body has adapted to life in the saddle and all those pains and doubts disappear as you settle right into the swing of the journey.

I once met a couple of men who were doing LeJOG and back. They said they spent the whole of the third day fighting each other on top of Exmoor, but then got into enjoying the journey and never looked back afterwards.
tommaso
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Re: Touring - worst fear?

Post by tommaso »

foxyrider wrote:So over the years i've had dog chases (Germany), extreme fatigue (Switzerland), had a tree fall on my tent with me in it (Germany), been stung by very nasties (Germany again), woke up floating in the tent (Switzerland) , had tent flattened by wind with me inside (flippin' Germany again!) and had my pump cease to function. Then there was the broken wheel in Denmark, same trip the bike arrived with Ergo twisted and of course nearly frozen to death when I didn't make allowances for camping at altitude. There was a split tyre, a broken shoe both on the same trip. Of course I got stranded with the Icelandic volcanic ash too.

So next travel to Lourdes?
Last edited by Graham on 21 Jul 2015, 7:11pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Correction of quotation
psmiffy
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Re: Touring - worst fear?

Post by psmiffy »

tommaso wrote:
So next travel to Lourdes?


Don't - I think one of my greatest fears is I might consider going back to Lourdes
mercalia
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Re: Touring - worst fear?

Post by mercalia »

psmiffy wrote:
tommaso wrote:
So next travel to Lourdes?


Don't - I think one of my greatest fears is I might consider going back to Lourdes


You cant leave it like that? whats wrong with Lourdes?
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shane
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Re: Touring - worst fear?

Post by shane »

Or this when daytime temperatures are at 45+

https://vimeo.com/38267443

That, " I should make a video incase they find my body here in a couple of weeks" moment :?
irc
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Re: Touring - worst fear?

Post by irc »

maxglide wrote:
hounds.


I thought it was just me. Believe it or not, dogs are one of the biggest considerations, giving me qualms regarding a possible E to W trip across Turkey.


If I was going to Turkey that would be my biggest fear. A tourer on Crazyguyonabike was seriously injured by a dog attack in Turkey.

Warning - post contains fairly graphic text and pic of inury.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?page_id=273087

But for my tours bike theft is a main one followed by fear of bears when camping solo in grizzly areas. The odds are very low with proper precautions but the feeling of not being top of the food chain persists.
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