Madrid-London
=============

The idea is to cycle from Madrid, Spain to London, UK in about one and
half week. My excuse is that I need to retrieve my bike which is in
Madrid.

route
+++++
Madrid-Santander (~530km?), take the ferry (~£100 and ~24h)
to Southampton then continue to south London.
Leaving Madrid by bike is a bit of pain (only possible by A-roads and
motorways?), maybe take the train for the first 20km or so.
Detailed route to be planned.
Can the ferry be booked last minute for the same price? This would help
to deal with unforseen delays.

accomodation
++++++++++++
Spain is a bit sparse on camp sites but wild camping is OK in most regions:
http://thespanishbiker.wordpress.com/bed-n-board/camping/free-camping/
Hotels can be very cheap in Spain. It's sometimes cheaper to show up
without a reservation than to book in advance.
Need to decide whether to stay at hotels all the way or to take camping
equipment.

dates
+++++
My bike is supposed to leave Madrid before the end of April 2014 (TBC).
April sounds like a convenient month as days should be long enough to
travel a fair distance every day and temperatures should be reasonable.
Need to check average rain fall and temperatures.
It may be best to avoid UK bank holidays (when is that?), at least for
the flight in and the ferry out.

cycling in Spain
++++++++++++++++
I have cycled from France to Madrid via Barcelona in 2013. There are
some useful things I learned.

Legally, helmets are mandatory for interurban travel. This law doesn't
seem to be enforced as I don't wear one and have never been challenged.
This is consistent with stories I found on the internet.

There aren't much long distance cycling paths and when they exist they
are usually pratical only for mountain bikes. Cycling on regular roads
outside of large cities is fine as there isn't much traffic, they
are wide enough, in decent conditions and drivers are fairly
bike-friendly (compared to France or England). Even cycling on the
motorway is not too scary in that country (not that it's legal or that
I would do it again if I have a choice).

Outside of touristic areas most people can't speak English or French.

Food is cheap. You can find three course meals and a bottle of wine
for 9€, up to 10€ in places like Madrid.

Taking a bicycle on a train is not practical. It is prohibited on all
long distance trains and at least on the one medium distance train
I tried to take. Trains seem to be infrequent in the country side
(about four per day). This means there isn't really a backup plan
if you get tired/injured or you suffer mechanical problems.

Spain is the second most mountaineous country in Europe depending on
the metric and when it's flat, it's windy.

getting to Madrid
+++++++++++++++++
There are some low-cost airlines going there. One-way from London
is ~£50 with EasyJet. Add ~£30 for checking in a bicycle. Plus ~£15
for the packaging of the bike? My bike is already in Madrid though so
I am probably not going to research this much further. I will need 0.5
to 1 day in Madrid to get my wheels trued and to replace my chain.

getting from London to wherever
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I am cycling home but if your home happens to be somewhere else you will
need to figure out how to get there. In my experience, taking a bike on
most English trains is free and pretty much painless as long as you
avoid peak hours. Taking a bicycle on the Eurostar to Belgium or France
costs 35.5€ (as of April 2012). It's free if you take it apart and carry
it in a box as regular luggage.

participants
++++++++++++
Krunch is organising and going.
Anybody who has a bike and is able to ride 70-100km per day is welcome.