Monday 8 August 2016

Cycling in Cuba






Speaking to touring cyclists in Cuba it is clear that some are unprepared for this unusual island. In 2015/16 I rode through 26 different countries. In Cuba I was faced with the steepest learning curve, this is what I found:
Note the temperature - at 7:30 on
a July morning.




1) Weather: I was there in July, it was very hot and very humid, the prevailing wind was easterly. So maybe get a coach or flight to the east of the island and cycle back to Havana with a tailwind. Carry plenty of clean water with you. There has been cholera in Cuba, the tap water generally is not safe to drink. In villages and small towns there may NOT be bottled water available, when you see it buy it. Or use your chosen method to purify the local supply.




2) Traffic: Havana is not very busy and many roads are wide. In other places traffic is generally light, most trucks, tractors and coaches are courteous. One exception was the road to Santa Clara to Remedios, other cyclists and I found trucks passing dangerously close.

Traffic in Havana - cooler than your normal stuff




3) Accomodation: (a) Casa Particular: These are the Cuban equivalent of Bed and Breakfasts. Many are in beautiful old places in great locations. For about $25 you can get a big, clean en-suite room, often with two beds, cooling fans, air conditioning and a useful fridge. Do not expect tv or wi-fi, the internet is banned in private houses. Breakfast is about $4 and four star quality. They often offer dinner at about $8, which is expensive as you can eat out at a local restaurant for one or two dollars, but if they are serving something tasty it can be a great feast. I sometimes haggled gently to get a deal for the room, breakfast and dinner.
b) Touts: When you arrive in a town touts will often offer to show you to a Casa.  They then expect to get a tip from the casa. The touts are sometimes dishonest and almost always unnecessary. Don't use them unless you are desperate. Instead download the mapsme  app onto your smartphone along with the map of Cuba. This will show you where hotels are located. Where there are hotels there will be Casa. They do NOT exist in every small town. Go to the streets around the main square or plaza, you will find Casa Particular, they have a blue I symbol (or a blue H on its side). Casas with a red symbol are for locals only. Check that the Casa is clean and well maintained on the outside, peer inside as well and you should be able to get a good place.
c) Hotels: $60 +. More than twice as expensive as a Casa and half as good. Don't bother.
d) Campsites: July is high season for Cuban holiday makers, campsites did not let me in as they were for Cubans only. In Cuban low season (around December) it could be worth checking these - many have cabins as well as pitches.
e) Wild Camping: If you speak Spanish you can ask the local police where to stay. They will probably direct you to the local baseball ground. Or you can ask at a small café which has some land. The police may check you out as wild camping is not common. The beaches may be suitable for stealth camping, but take insect repellent as sandflies are common.
With local currency, pizza cost $0.20




 3) Two Currencies: Buy your currency on arrival. Tourists mainly use convertible peso (known as CUC). Roughly $1 = 1 cuc. To take advantage of low local prices you also need "money nationale" (confusingly, also called peso). 1 cuc = 24 peso/money nationale. (The true rate is a little higher, but banks and money changers were always using this conversion.) Simply take a small amount of CUC and your passport to a bank and they will convert it to money nationale / peso. Then you buy food from street vendors and locals' restaurants at a fraction of tourist prices.

4) ATMs Most small towns have no ATM. Use the mapsme app to find what towns have them. Try and use them when the bank is open so if the machine swallows your card you can easily retrieve it.


5) Shops: A Cuban proudly told me that his countries trading partners were: Bolivia, Venezuela, China and North Korea. There is not much in the shops unless you want womens' shoes or plastic household goods. Bring essentials like sun cream, insect repellent and other toiletries with you. In most shops there are only one or two food shops and these have little appetising stock. You can use your money nationale to buy food from street vendors, 5 or 6 bananas cost $0.20.


6) Internet: This is not widely available. In the cities you can go to the telephone office (ETECSA) and buy a Wi-Fi pass for 2 cuc for 1 hour, or 10 cuc for 5 hours; take your passport as they sometimes require it. If they are closed someone normally sells passes in the main square for 3 cuc. You can then use wi fi in the main square / plaza. Even better, most of these telephone offices have an air conditioned room with terminals where you can access the 'net in comfort and probably more security.


 7) Safety:  I found Cubans very friendly and helpful. There were some towns where I didn't hang around - too many drunks, no police. Local people also told me to lock my bike or put it inside, so theft appears to be a problem.




8) Best Bits: My favourite road was from Sancti Spritus to Trinidad and onto Cienfuegos. Havana is a beautiful, fascinating city, somewhere I will return to.
When the blockade is properly lifted, Cuba will change.



Friday 5 August 2016

Surly Disc Trucker. A Road Test Around the World


Note: A Surly Disc Trucker weighs as much as a battle tank. If you are light, or travel light, a Disc Trucker might  NOT be the bike for you. Look instead at the Kona Sutra, Genesis Croix De Fer, a converted mountain bike or a titanium frame (Spa Cycles or Van Nicholls do these). 

Introduction

In July 2015 I set off from the UK on a one year cycle tour. My route took me 19,000 miles to the Himalayas, Australia, New Zealand and South America before finishing in Cuba. To reach the Himalayas before winter set in I needed a fast bike. It also needed to carry all my gear including camping equipment.
Big wheels roll faster than smaller ones, also I am quite tall, so I wanted 700c wheels. I choose mechanical disc brakes to prevent rim wear, give less maintanence as minor wheel buckles could be ignored and to give better braking especially in the rain.
This narrowed my choice down to a Thorn Raven (too expensive), a Kona Sutra (great spec. but I am not sure an aluminium frame is up to this job) and a Surly Disc Trucker. Spa Cycles of Harrogate, England could make up a Surly with a CHOICE of spec. for under £1200 including racks. I did make a couple of mistakes in my choice of kit - I will mention these later.

Performance

The fully loaded bike (62cm frame) and luggage weighed 44 kg. Pulling on the handlebars when riding up steep hills did cause flex around the rear stays. Also riding quickly over smooth undulations in the road caused flex around the rear stays. This is fine on a steel bike, but I would not want to subject an aluminium frame to this continual stress.
The dropped handlebars were a god send in head winds. Also they give you a choice of three or four different hand positions. This put quite a lot of pressure through my palms and so I had to wear padded cycle mitts.
 The Surly was a great mile muncher. Handling was slow but predictable. Top speed was 84 kph when it remained rock steady. At walking pace or below the weight of the front panniers did cause the steering to have a tendency to flop left or right so you had to keep a good grip on the bars.
The 35 mm tyres rolled easily over shallow gravel, steering on deeper gravel was unpredictable. Muddy tracks were also a pain as dirt got stuck between the wheel and the  mudgaurd.  Removing the mudgaurds, fitting a Crud Catcher on the downtube and bigger tyres (it will take up to 45 mm width) may improve its off road capabilities. Later it had a 38 mm tyre fitted and this was about the limit of what could used with the mudgaurds in place.

The Surly handles hardpack well. (Alps to Ocean Trail, N.Z. ).


The longevity of components was amazing. The Shimano 9 speed set up lasted the full 19,000miles. It got a quick clean with WD40 about every three days and then a little relube. Nine speed does give you a bigger chain than ten speed so its a wise choice. The Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres were brilliant. The front lasted the full distance, the back needed replacing every 10,000km. The Avid bb7 brakes provided reliable, progressive braking in any weather. Pads lasted about 10,000km, replacing them was a little fiddly, so keep the instruction booklet. I spoke to another rider whose rim brakes had over heated the rim on a long descent, his tyre had exploded and he was thrown off at speed. Disc brakes are a good choice for a loaded tourer.
I saw many other long distance cyclists, many rode Surlys, none had any complaints. It is a great bike especially if you can get it made up with your choice of well researched spec.

Mistakes:

1) I opted for a Spa Nidd leather saddle, this never really got comfortable. I would of been better getting a leather saddle from one of my other bikes.
2) Gearing. My biggest sprocket was 50 teeth, this was too big and I rarely used it. 48 teeth or fewer would of been more useful.
3)  Mirror and bell. I had neither. A mirror you could switch to go on either side would be useful. If you are going on cycle trails shared with pedestrians (like the Danube Cycle Way) then a bell could be handy.


Specification:

Tyres: Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700c, 35mm width. Great.
Wheels: 19mm Sputnik rims made up by Spa Cycles. Very strong. I did get one broken spoke so do ask for some spare. (There is a holder on the Surly frame for these).
Gearing: 9 speed Shimano. I used shifters on the downtube to keep the changers out of trouble.
Saddle: Spa Nidd - I didn't get on with this
Racks: Tubus. Great
Luggage: Ortlieb panniers and dry bag. Vaude handlebar and waterproof map case - really good.
Garmin: Not needed, the free mapsme app for a smart phone is very useful.


In action in the Himalayas.