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Hey folks, I'm off with the wife and kids for three weeks of cycle camping in East Anglia from tomorrow. I'll be mostly offline, so won't be posting here for a while.
We're taking the train to Peterborough, then off cycling around the Norfolk coast, stopping at various places along the way. If you have any tips for sightseeing, good food, kids' activities, let me know.
Otherwise I'll try and post a brief report when we get back.
Have you packed coot club and the big six?
might be too late but my favourite village on that coastline is Cley - good shingle beach for swimming, very excellent RSPB centre with reasonably priced food, pottery run by German community, windmill with cafe and shop, bookshop, very dear but good deli. Just after Blakeney and before Salthouses which has a crab cafe that Stephen Fry/Islington crowd all love. Interested in the link from Peterborough to Norfolk - presume via Kings Lynn which I liked (we were picking up family retainer who holidays with us every year - very good on the bevvy and telescope front). After Lings Kynn all cycling very good. Holt has the hilariously expensive artisan's clothes shop. Their newsletter is very very similar to Madam Raven from these pages [but for the whole magazine]. Holkham lovely beach, more kiss me quick but still decent beach at Wells Next The Sea. Inland some medieval villages one with a Slipper Chapel - TRUE.
Got back on Wednesday. Lovely time had by all, except the missus who grumbled about the hills (not all of Norfolk is flat) and my route plan, which saw us visiting six camp sites in total over three weeks.
Route: Peterborough, following NCN63 and 1 to Elm, then on via King's Lynn to Sandringham. NCN1 for a bit further, then onto A149 to Stiffkey. A149 coast road (fewer hills) to West Runton/Cromer. By this point my wife had had enough and the rain was upon us after mostly sunny weather for the first fortnight. Extended stay in Cromer area, then train to Norwich for a few days, then home.
Bikes lasted well, one mid-range Specialized Globe hybrid and one 'hybridised' (slick tyres, touring saddle, north road bars) Giant Boulder W MTB. No flats, no mchanical issues apart from my kick stand thread shearing and it subsequently falling off. The Carryfreedom Y-Frame trailer was excellent, despite being piled high with stuff. Train journeys were also trouble free I'm pleased to say, even travelling with three different operating companies (Bike reservations essential for longer journeys of course). All guards and staff very helpful. It's nice when it works like that!
The main problem was the sheer weight we were carrying, which slowed us down: about 110kg between us. 40kg of that was our two kids, a 25kg 6 year old on my bike (Bobike junior seat) and a 15kg 2 year old on the missus'. Around 30kg on the trailer, plus approx. 20kg each in panniers front and rear. Also every day we cycled was hot and sunny, so avoiding sunburn became an issue too. Young children need frequent stops to stretch legs, play, etc. so our mileage was very low: the most we did in a day was about 28 miles.
Some pics here for those interested, including a shot of the bikes on the last day.
28 miles is pretty good going with kids though!
Sounds like a great time had by all (and a bit of strength training :)
We both have quads of steel now! :)
Norfolk is lovely
Sounds fab. Kudos for carrying the 6 year old, and finding a seat to fit him (but perhaps time for a tagalong - if only to keep him from boredom??).
But your trip is a seriosuly inspiring example to us all.
He does prefer the recently acquired tagalong, which we'll use exclusively until the next camping trip. I only used the seat because it was impossible to tow the cargo trailer otherwise. It fits up to a 32kg child (maybe 9 years old) and is great as it folds down to form a sturdy luggage carrier when not child carrying. Also you can fit Dutch style panniers underneath. Even has a small folding luggage carrier at the rear behind the seat back.
it was impossible to tow the cargo trailer otherwise[i]
yup - been there. definitely a defect in the design.
Looks like a great trip. Well done - many people think this sort of thing can't be done or needs to be 'car aided'.
You do have to plan but that's part of the fun. We did many family holidays this way.
Next stop France?
@SRD - Theoretically one could attach the trailer to the rear axle of the tagalong, but apart from producing an unfeasibly long vehicle, such an arrangement would likely be dangerous. The torsional force on the seatpost of the main bike would surely produce an unstable ride, or even snap the tagalong hitch or deform/snap the seatpost itself. Braking on a downhill would be challenging, to say the least.
This raises the issue of what to do when my eldest grows out of the tagalong. Kiddyback tandem looks most likely, then towing a trailer is less of a problem (except for the braking downhill). Dawes do a reasonable one, or there's the Helios option if I'm feeling flush...
@Laidback - We did get a lot of comments as we rolled into camp sites. Most people expressed incredulity that we would carry so much gear on bikes (drivers/caravanners mostly); a few professed admiration (but with expressions that indicated they regarded us as eccentric/slightly insane); very few were critical except one lady who, while showing us to our pitch said "Backpacking on bikes with two young children? That's brave."
We met a handful of fellow cycle campers, who were all naturally very supportive, swapping tips on gear, tales of touring., etc. Also it was interesting how many cyclists emerged from motorhomes to come over and chat cycle touring. On the boat trip from Morston Quay we met a German family who were cycle touring with their three boys. They were all riding hire bikes though and credit card touring, with luggage couriered to their B&B/hotel each day. When they heard we were doing fully loaded cycle camping the father opined "Hmm... that's too tough!"
On reflection, I must be some kind of nutty masochist as I'm raring to do the same thing again. My wife is not so keen however. Next time I think we'll do less fully loaded touring and stay in one place longer, doing day trips without our bags. Haven't really considered France as yet, but looking at the Netherlands/Denmark/Northern Germany as possibles for next year.
My next step some weekend in the near future is to do a solo cycle camp on the wee Raleigh folder somewhere in Scotland...
@gembo - We passed through Cley on the way to Cromer. Very beautiful village, I recall commenting on it as we ate our sandwiches on a bench with a view to the windmill.
Trailer on tandem okay, but agree that not safe to attach to tagalong.
We had a good experience last year with cycling to Bothy in borders and camping there. Might be the sort of thing your wife would find easier too in that it gives a base.
I think we may try train to Glasgow and bike to Loch Lomond, which we did pre-kids, so not unknown territory.
@SRD - Only problem with Loch Lomond is midgies. I recall camping there as a child and my baby brother was so covered in bites we had to go home early...
Borders sounds good!
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