My wife and I will be in Newcastle in two months. Going to bicycle Hadrian's Wall from the Irish Sea to Newcastle.I am about 40 ish miles from the scottish borders in a great party city but close to coast and countryside. Just had my first ever cruiser ride with others at the weekend as i have been a lone soldier championing the cause as i never see other cruiser bikes here but had some guys come up who have a club around 30 miles away as a meet and greet, lots of attention, great little ride so hopefully the numbers swell by time summer comes so i can get my own club started.
That's real generous, I'll take you up on that. We are spending 3 days in London, then the train to Norfolk for 7 days of hiking in Norfolk and Lincolnshire. Then on the train to Newcastle for the 4 day ride along the wall. Wish I could be there longer. Last time I was in the UK was in 1965 and I can't wait to see how things have changed. I was going to buy us bikes and just dump them but I found a place that rents them and will pick them up and return them as a part of the deal. They also booked us into bed and breakfast places in route so it will be a no brainer. In the 60s when I was there I bought a motorcycle and had to sell it in two days before leaving. That was the plan, just to dump it, but it was harder to do than I thought. I was trying to sell it for 30 cents on the dollar and got an offer for that and was ready to sell when someone offered me 60 cents on the dollar. It was a little hectic so I thought I would avoid having to give away two bikes and just rent. The motorcycle ended out being cheap transportation, even with the loss of money. Gasoline was high priced then compared to the States. Gas prices were real low here in January but have risen about 40 cents a gallon since then. I figured out the cost in British pounds with the then exchange rate for a liter of gas here in Michigan when it was low in January: 30 pence/liter. What do you pay now in the UK? The USA is now an inexpensive place (completely reversed since 1965 when the UK was a bargain). I only have one friend that makes a decent wage and a few are out of work which seems to be the new norm here so there isn't a lot of demand so things are here cheaper than in Europe. Now is a good time to visit us as far as cost.Cool you will like the nightlife, the River at night is fantastic, you will be riding through some of the best countryside ever and to top it off your close to the coast on the coast to coast cycle route, if you need any info on the area nearer the time give me a heads up and I will keep you informed of some great places to go to and places to avoid!
http://wikitravel.org/en/Newcastle_upon_Tyne
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Touris...pon_Tyne_Tyne_and_Wear_England-Vacations.html
And our local bike central meeting place on the river
http://www.thecyclehub.org/
Gas here has been close to that two times in the last 6 years, over $5.00/gallon.Around £1.30 per litre give or take.
The hard way. Pint paint can, cut off top of a rattle can for a reflector, flashlight LED bulb cluster inserted into the rattle can reflector in a hole drilled with a hole saw, canning jar lid jammed into pint paint can to hold the rattle can reflector, jelly jar lens screwed into the jammed in lid, 1/2 inch electrical conduit for a stem clamp. Then soldering of the switch, battery pack and LED cluster. Home fabricated mounting strap reinforced to prevent bouncing with U channel. The pint paint can lid on the rear is pried off with a screwdriver to change the batteries.
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