In message <[email hidden]>, dailuggs <[email hidden]> writes
Quoted message said:im planning on doing a tour of wales with a mate, going and visiting every county.
sounds good.
Quoted message said:problem is im gonna need the OS maps and there gonna cost loads, just wondering if anyone knows of
say where i could download them in picture format.
Presumably you mean the Landranger 1:50,000 maps? While I tend to use these for touring, I am very
much a root about in the nooks and crannies type of tourer.
However, you might find that the 1:250000 scale maps give you enough info. They include pretty much
all of the roads, (a few minor ones are missing here and there) The main thing you miss is much
detail on the terrain. The OS 1:25000 mapping gives shading and some contours, but gives little info
really about the steepness of hills.
You can buy specific OS maps for this, but the cheapest source for this are the road atlases, just
tear out the relevant pages. Many makes don't include any relief info at all, but the OS ones do.
You can download mapping from the OS:
<http://www.ordsvy.gov.uk/>
Folllow the links for the 'Gett-a-map' section.
You can also access maps online at:
<http://www.streetmap.co.uk/> <http://www.multimap.com/>
However, these all present you with a pretty small mapped area, to view and print enough for a tour
like this would be somewhat time consuming (and cost a few quid in ink as well I guess). There were
some tools available to make the [roces easier, but soem at least have been removed from the web,
there may be other things out there (uk.rec.walking is a good source of info on mapping
availability)
Quoted message said:also for anyone who has done this sort of thing before any advice on roads i should definately not
take and those that would be good to take. do you rekon it'd be possible to avoid all them hills
and still go to every county?
Dunno about 'all them hills', Wales has plenty but if you stuck to the west and North coasts and the
English/Wales border area you would miss the biggest hills. However, you would miss some great
riding by doing that. One of the good bits of Wales is the hills :-) If I was to be planning such a
tour I would be looking at the map and thinking that's looks nice and hilly that looks like soem
good riding......
also, touching on the point about roads, the main roads tend to follow the flatter terrain, the A55
along the north coast is very busy and unpleasant in many places.
Quoted message said:oh and whats the crossing like to get to anglesey - is there a bridge or is it a boat job?
There are two bridges, both near each other the older one near Menai Bridge itself is probably a
better option for a bike than the one that carries the A5.
Quoted message said:also any advice about doing a long trip like this would be very welcomed.
What sort of bike will you be using? Will you be 'credit card touring', hostelling, camping ? How
used are you to the sorts of distances involved? Have you done much touring before? How long are you
thinking of taking?
If you don't do much in the way of longer rides (by this I mean say over 30 miles) then I would get
out and try to get your body used to the sort of thing involved. It doesn't need to be anything
fancy, but a few day rides of the sort of length you envisage to get you into the swing of things.
Maybe the odd weekend as well.
Once on the tour, give yourself a few days to settle into things and give yourself the odd rest day
- it gives your body a break and if plans go awry you have scope to catch up.
--
Chris French, Leeds
