I’ve been looking at the car train for our next skiing trip. Basically you drive to Paris, park the car (or bike) on a train, and it goes off by itself. You get another train, with beds in it, and sleep overnight as it takes you to Nice. You then pick your car/bike up and drive/ride on. It looks like not too bad value compared to a car full of five people, and you get to the south of France near Italy well rested and ready to ride on or ski or whatever. Stuart - will be interested in your report in the summer!
Puncture kit - Essential Rubber do one, sticky cords/worms variety, I think they also do the compressed air canisters. I’ve used a bicycle pump before now but if you’re fitting a 12v socket you could get a small 12v compressor for about the the same hard earned and it’ll last longer.
Was just in at Essential Rubber and all the spare bits and bobs that used to be on the side wall were removed… so unless he has a stash of the puncture kit elsewhere they might not sell it, best ring Mick to ask.
Apparently people were helping themselves whilst they waited for their bikes to be fixed
by 3rd night Another Youth Hostel at Lovere on Lake Iseo
That included a one day scenic tour of a lot of Switzerland too.
Don’t go to Italy in September - we did, thinking to avoid the heat but apparently everyone does that and Rome had its busiest tourist week of the year when we were there. Also it rained a a lot - most days we got soaked at some point. When it rains in Italy it really rains. This apparently interferes with car drivers’ ability to function at all and in towns when it rained there was an RTA approx every 50 yards.
+1 for SP Engineering, they are very helpful their pipes sound great and are well made. The only company I have dealt with, that at the end of the conversation say “Well I better go and make them then”.
when I looked at going via Spain the mileage is not that different, the train as said are expensive and I think you’ll have to go to Holland or Germany.
All the best
John
