While looking for something else I came across these, which reminded me of a trip I did in 1960. I went over the St. Gotthard pass in the Swiss alps on a 3-speed bicycle with internal gear hub. No Lycra, high vis clothing, special shoes and socks, wrap around glasses, helmet etc.
The items in the picture were the only accessories.
.W.

Quote from: biloxi on Jul 31, 2024, 03:33 AMWhile looking for something else I came across these, which reminded me of a trip I did in 1960. I went over the St. Gotthard pass in the Swiss alps on a 3-speed bicycle with internal gear hub. No Lycra, high vis clothing, special shoes and socks, wrap around glasses, helmet etc.
The items in the picture were the only accessories.
.W.

Wow, respect to you Biloxi. Are they trouser clips? What gear did you carry? What support ie. villages? was available on the way? I've no experience long distance cycling and find the lycra presentation laughable, ie. the Emperor's new clothes. However, I did take my Brompton on a small camping holiday to Poole and the Purbecks a couple of years back.

That's a lot of gear. I only carried a backpack on a luggage carrier. When pushing the bike uphill, I carried the backpack.
Pushing an empty bike is a lot easier. Yes those are trouser clips.
.W.

Old Man In Lycra. That's me! Although I was a lot younger when we did bike tours. Thirtyish, fourtyish. Along the Meuse, Ourthe, Amblève, Our, Moselle and back along the Rhine. Another one into Germany, Fulda, Kassel, Paderborn, Munster. Until we both got fed-up with cycling through the pouring rain and put the bikes in the back of the Disco, drove to the south of France, parked the Land Rover on a campsite and started biking there.

I remember a stage in our trip to Belfort and back well. Modern bikes, lots of gears, Karrimor panniers front and back. Modern fibres for me, canvas for my wife (then girlfriend). I wore lycra, she didn't. Modern antics, ts... Nothing wrong with a pair of sturdy old Wranglers and hard-wearing nubuck booties. What's good enough for my grandfather is good enough for me. Of course dear, Pogacar and Vingegaard have got it all wrong... We drove from Oost-Maarland via Liège to Esneux, I think it was. It rained all day. Not the refreshing drizzle type. We had stood for an hour or so in a bus shelter to let the worst of the rain pass, which it didn't. When we reached Esneux, we were absolutely soaking wet, and we decided not to put up the tent, but to pass the night in a hotel to let our clothes and gear dry. After an hour our so, my laughable lycra had dried. The next morning, my wife struggled some fifteen minutes to get herself into her wet jeans and boots. The next trip the following year she wore lycra too

Richard