Ways to Save Money on a Cycling Trip

Long-distance cycle trips are a matter of endurance. Physical endurance; your muscles are going to ache, you’re going to get hungry, you’re going to sweat an awful lot. Mental endurance; you’ll struggle with concentration and fatigue, as well as loneliness if you’re doing a solo ride. However, one of the main endurance tests one needs to bear on any kind of long-distance cycling trip is financial endurance.

They don’t come cheap, bicycles. If you’re heading out on a serious, cross-country, long-distance trip, it’s of the utmost importance that your equipment is of the highest quality. Not just the bike itself, either; you’ll need the correct clothing and headgear, as well as bike accessories like racks to hold your luggage, and safety features like lighting equipment. All this adds up, so try to find second-hand equipment where you can. You obviously can’t compromise on the quality and safety of your kit, so make sure that nothing is too worn-out; but you’ll find that there’s a decent market for high-quality second-hat kit out there, meaning you can save a few pennies here and there.

The other way to bring down your costs is with accommodation. When you’re on the road, it’s worth checking for Hotels.com voucher codes to see if you can bring down costly accommodation fees. There are plenty of great hotels out there that needn’t break the bank, so make sure that you look around at a wide range of options, and plan ahead to get the best rates. Many hotels will offer a discount if they know that you’re in the middle of an impressive endeavour such as a long ride, especially if it’s for charity, and Hotels.com discount codes can help to reduce the costs.

Finally, try to wash your own clothes wherever possible. Obviously, laundry is an essential part of being on the road, and you’ll need to give your cycling gear a thorough clean when necessary. Some hotels or hostels will have laundry facilities that are free to use. However, if you’re not fortunate enough to find one of these, avoid using a Laundromat. It’s much cheaper to buy some laundry soap or detergent in a supermarket at the start of your journey, and simply give your clothes a scrub in the sink or bathtub. It might take half an hour, but your wallet will thank you for it! Hopefully, our helpful tips will help you bring down the costs of your long-distance cycle trip, making that financial endurance aspect of the trip a little easier to bear.

Cycle Hire Schemes: An Easy Way To Get Around Your City

Picture the scene; you’re strolling around in London, enjoying the scenery, when you suddenly realise you need to be moving a little bit quicker. You’re not going far, mind; only a few stops away on the Underground, or a short cab ride. But given that the cash fare for a single Tube journey within Zone 1 is currently £4, and that London taxi meters seem to automatically start at around £5, neither of these are great options. You could sit in the choked central London traffic on a bus, but that’s likely to make you even later. What to do?

The answer, of course, lies with the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme. The bicycles, which number around 6,000, are rented from over 400 docking stations dotted across central London (with an expansion into east London only months away), and are known by locals as ‘Boris Bikes’, after Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who launched the scheme. After paying a daily access fee of £1, the first 30 minutes of bike use are free, and the price escalates as time wears on.

A Barclays Cycle Hire docking station in London. Image credit: Steve Bowbrick via Flickr

It’s been credited with making London a much easier city to navigate, and as the scheme’s coverage area is restricted primarily to central London, the main benefactors of the initiatives are tourists travelling around from their cheap hotels to the many attractions that the capital’s central area has to offer. Cycle hire schemes are a great way to see the city you’re visiting; there’s nothing like travelling around and discovering how it all fits together, as opposed to spending most of your visit crammed into an underground train. Other cities have also adopted cycle hire schemes to better facilitate travel for tourists and locals.

Paris and its Vélib’ scheme

One of the key inspirations for the Boris Bikes initiative is the Vélib’ scheme in Paris, launched in 2007. The system launched with 7,000 bicycles across 750 rental stations, but has steadily expanded around the city to encompass around 18,000 bicycles and 1,200 docking points. Parisians have fallen in love with the Vélib’ – a combination of velo (bicycle) and liberté (freedom). One immediate advantage the Vélib has over the Boris Bikes is the presence of a basket, which is useful for carrying purses, backpacks, and shopping bags. The Boris Bike has a ‘magazine rack’ style storage space, but it’s not as useful as the Vélib’ basket, which is used by 90% of Parisians. It all contributes to the easy and convenient service that the Vélib’ provides, helping locals and tourists navigate the city from their Paris hotels and see more of the great City of Lights as they ride.

Vélib’ station in Paris. Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/61463679@N06/ TK01 via Flickr

Montreal and its BIXI scheme

The largest cycle hire scheme in North America, BIXI was launched in Montreal, Canada in May 2009, with around 3,000 bicycles and 300 docking stations dotted around the city’s downtown area. Having now expanded to a scheme of 5,000 bicycles and 400 stations around the city, the BIXI scheme reached one million journeys within the first six months of operation, and has helped to make Montreal an easier city to navigate for the many tourists visiting the area on cheap hotel deals.

One of the area’s most outstanding natural habitats can be found at Mugdock Country Park, near Milngavie and Stirling. Here lie the ruins of Mugdock Castle, built in the 14^th Century, and once home to the Grahams of Montrose. And Craigend Castle, a stunning gothic revival mansion dating back to the 1800s, is also close by. It features an impressive walled garden and visitor centre, built into the former castle stables. Other local attractions Mugdock Loch, Drumclog Muir, and the Allander River give the tourist a sprawling natural playground to explore.

Hillwalking is the name of the game in this part of Scotland. Just East of Loch Lomond is Ben Lomond, the southernmost mountain of the Munro range. As the nearest large mountain to the city, Ben Lomond is often referred to as ‘Glasgow’s Hill’. Indeed, if skies are clear, you can see its peak from some of the higher points in the city. There is a well-walked trail leading from Rowardennan, a hamlet on Loch Lomond’s east shore, right up to the summit, making Ben Lomond a comparatively easy hill to climb. The path leads you gently up Sron Aonich ridge - a lovely hike in its own right - but if you want the really good stuff in terms of view you need to traverse some rockier terrain en route to the summit.

The less adventurous might content themselves with a walk to the Falls of Dochart, a waterfall on the River Dochart, close to Loch Lomond. A bridge crosses over the river (on the way into Killin) with a great view of the water splashing over the rocks and around the island of Inchbuie.

Loch Lomond is the central belt’s gateway to Untamed Scotland. Drama and romance in spades, all within short driving distance from Glasgow, have helped keep Loch Lomond at the top of the British holiday agenda for years.


Image of Ben Lomond by Cynewulf

Travel statistics of any kind have always fascinated me, as I am always interested in where people are travelling to, how they are getting around, and what they are seeing when they are there. This gives me ideas for future trips that I might like to try myself one day.

AVIS, the car rental people, recently came up with an interesting little infographic that caught my eye, which you can see below.

Its actually quite a clever little chart, listing not only which nationalities tend to hire the most cars whilst they are on holiday in the UK (its visitors from the USA, by the way, representing a massive 28.5% of foreign nationals renting cars in the UK) but also listing which countries people from the UK are most likely to hire a car in. Unsurprisingly perhaps, this is Spain, although I didn't expect to see Italy ranked third.

I have rented cars abroad a couple of times during various trips, once in Australia and once in New Zealand. Both times, I found it to be a convenient way of getting around, especially when combined with camping as it made things surprisingly affordable. Australia and New Zealand also have the added advantage that everyone there drives on the left.

Perhaps the most interesting thing that I took from the AVIS infographic though, was the use of the Facebook “check-in” statistic. It gave a list of destinations in the UK and throughout Europe that the most people had “checked” into. Alton Towers came out top in the UK, and Euro-Disney in France was the number one over the channel. I haven't really used the Facebook check-in function before, and it got me wondering how it would be possible to integrate it with my site and perhaps use google maps combined with a GPS system so that visitors to my site could monitor the progress of my next trip.

I am always happy when people write in and leave a comment so if you have rented a car abroad and have an interesting story to tell, why not leave a comment here. In addition, if you use the Facebook check-in facility for your own blog, or can think of other uses for it, I would be equally pleased to hear from you.

For more information, visit www.avis.co.uk.

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