HotPhil's Blog - Beta

Biking Update

Saturday, March 17, 2007

As Chris mentions here, we're off cycling soon. A little too soon. My own biking to the office most days is going well (just need to ride it home instead of going to the pub). Most of the teething issues of my shiny bike have been ironed out - all the bolts that fell out the luggage rack now replaced and tightened, gears properly calibrated, brakes tightened and handles adjusted etc.
Today I bought:

• Replacement toe clips that don't have the straps on the side so look safer
• A spare chain link in case of snappage
• Two spare inner tubes
• Vertical bars to go on the end of my handlebars
• Two cycling tops
• Two cycling shorts (not the slick black kind, but ones that look normal but contain a padded lining that can also be removed)
• A water bottle holder (blue)
• A water bottle (blue)
• And most importantly, a new bell. Not just any bell, but one that has a compass in the top. Geographical genius!

These items all move me one step closer to the trip. But we still had nowhere to stay. I decided to sort out my part of the booking task and locate a hotel in Boston. I had a look at quite a few, but they all tended to be the wrong side of Boston and/or rivers (quite important when you may have to backtrack 8 miles just to get across the river you've thought would be nice to stay next to). Eventually plumped for the first, uninspired choice - a Comfort Inn. It's easily bookable, does breakfast and is in precisely the right location for us.
Jane decided to book her night. She had a harder task. She needed to find 3 of us a place to stay for one night in Wells Next to Sea. Here is a selection of the responses she received from B&B's and the Tourist Boards:

"We don't touch bookings for less than two nights"
"Most people book a year in advance for Easter"
"You'll have a job finding anywhere, luv"
"Nope, I can't find anything - have you tried any of the places that don't list with the Tourist Board?"

Jane was upset. She was then put in contact with a backpackers hostel in roughly the right location. It's incredibly cheap and "cyclist friendly". When asked if we could stay for one night, the lady said we could only book for three. Jane said we'd pay for three and only stay for one (at this price, we really would have done!). The nice lady then said she could find us space in the staff quarters for the one night. This suits both parties just fine, and could be a giggle.
Chris has also successfully booked our location in Kings Lynn. I'm yet to find out from him if it was a struggle.
Then I thought I'd have a look at the return leg of the journey - Cromer to Lincoln. I had a dig on the train websites to work out best route/times/price. If you don't know where Cromer is in relation to Lincoln, have a look here. Basically, if it you want to get from Cromer to Lincoln, it sucks to be you. Here's the problem:

• Bikes - only two bikes allowed per train. Not-prebookable.
• Route - Norwich to Ely is a bus service that day. Going into London means traversing London on bikes. Cromer-Ipswich then Ipswich-Lincoln was looked at but it takes many hours, involves many changes and comes in at £50 per person. And remember, we'd not be able to travel together as there can only be two bikes per train!

The solution:

• Rent a 1.8 Mondeo estate one-way from Norwich Airport to the centre of Lincoln. Cost: £96.

Even if it turns out we can't get our three bikes, ourselves and luggage into it, it's still going to be cheaper to drive it to the nearest Halfords and buy another bike rack than it would be to take the train.

Cue massive rant about public transport...

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 at 20:02. There are . If you want, you can leave your own response by clicking here. You may also send this post to a friend of yours via email, or bookmark it for yourself by using icons below;