UK trains coker friendly?

Why use the train at all? 😉

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lleberg - Level 4 unicyclist

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Thanks!

Any other tip for a train/coker tour in the UK? Which part would be
particulary nice to visit on one wheel in June? I walked The
Pembrokeshire Coast Path in 1997 and remember I liked Wales and the
Welsh ...

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goldenchicken - Olaf Johansson
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goldenchicken said:

*Thanks!

Any other tip for a train/coker tour in the UK? Which part would be
particulary nice to visit on one wheel in June? I walked The
Pembrokeshire Coast Path in 1997 and remember I liked Wales and the
Welsh ... *

Trains are almost always cool with unicycles. Just try and make sure
they don't think of it as a bike. If you have trouble, say that it's a
folding bike and take off the seat to make them happy.

*Never* ask someone if it's okay , just walk onto the train like you
know what you're doing and put it with the other luggage. I've taken
unicycles all over the country like this.

The tube (underground) in London is sometimes funny about cokers, again
best not to ask anything, just bung it over your shoulder and walk
through the barriers.

Wales is nice if you're not English. If you're English everyone hates
you in a lot of places, it isn't very friendly at all.

A few places I've liked -

London - this is *the* place to coker, no contest, assuming you're happy
with riding with traffic. Unicycling is a great way to see the sights.

Scotland - Parts of the Highlands are nice, I liked riding round near
Aviemore, you'd have to be a real riding up hills person. Totally
amazing scenery.

Peak District - lovely scenery, classic hill climbs and descents,
friendly people, loads of places to stay.

South Coast - I've cycle toured round the south coast (from Hastings to
Bognor Regis) and it was lovely, it's not incredible scenery, it's just
a bunch of nice places and good riding in between. It'd be possible to
combine this with the New Forest:

The New Forest - this is lovely forest tracks, all easy riding, if
you're a flat riding type person and don't like major roads it'd be a
good place. Easy to get to with a coker (trains from London Waterloo to
Brockenhurst). There are a bunch of places to stay.

Joe

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joemarshall - dumb blonde
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joemarshall said:

*Wales is nice if you're not English. If you're English everyone hates
you in a lot of places, it isn't very friendly at all.
*

This surely needs some defence. I'm English (effectively, for these
purposes) and I've had no trouble or animmosity whatsoever. I'm at uni
in Wales (Sweet home Aberystwyth) and really quite like the odd bit of
Welshness. Certainly being in Wales doesn't affect the riding, which is
rather fantastic. There are plenty of singletrack centers. Phil will
now almost jump in his car at the mere muttering of 'Nant-yn-Arian', and
then there's Coed-y-Brenin, not to mention Snowdon, plus whatever
delights there are in South Wales that I'm oblivious to...

Though I've not seen Scottish mountains for far too long, I'm heading
steadily in the direction of thinking Wales to be one of the most
beautiful places ever. Come to Wales, it's *the* place to Muni 🙂

Sam (who's not being paid to say any of this)

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redwelly - summit rider
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I'd pretty much concur with Sam (redwelly) - on much of what he says
regarding Wales; the riding is fantastic, the scenery may not be the
very top Britain has to offer - Scottish Highlands and Islands comes top
(not just geographically) - but Snowdonia a close joint second with
Cumbria. and less remote to the majority of the UK population.

Some elements of the Welsh people can be a bit antagonistic towards the
English, particularly when they are clashing at Twickenham or the
Millenium Stadium, but this is also true of any of the subjugated celtic
nations; there is a collective national memory and resentment towards
the more powerful partner that goes back over 1000 years. Britain's
peoples are as varied as it's landscapes; to borrow a phrase from
another longstanding mutual dis-respect, "vive la diference!".

Quoted message said:

London - this is *the* place to coker, no contest, assuming you're
happy with riding with traffic. Unicycling is a great way to see the
sights.

Hmmm, if you like riding in heavy traffic and choking on the fumes, then
I guess London is as okay as any other city. Head for the hills.

Back on-thread:

There shouldn't be any problems with taking your Coker onto trains, so
long as it isn't a crowded commuter train during rush-hour. Long
distance coaches may be another option to consider, but I've never tried
it myself - anyone else any experience here ?

Enjoy your trip goldenchicken - there are Coker riders in most parts of
the UK who would be more than happy to meet up and ride with you. We
are a friendly bunch, particularly the English 😉

By the way redwelly - great avatar, "top" unicyclist in Wales !!

Chris

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munidobs - Level - whatever - who gives a ****

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firm commitment to Europe. We are part of Europe." George Dubya
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munidobs said:

*I'd pretty much concur with Sam (redwelly) - on much of what he says
regarding Wales; the riding is fantastic, the scenery may not be the
very top Britain has to offer - Scottish Highlands and Islands comes
top (not just geographically) - but Snowdonia a close joint second
with Cumbria. and less remote to the majority of the UK population.

There shouldn't be any problems with taking your Coker onto trains, so
long as it isn't a crowded commuter train during rush-hour. Long
distance coaches may be another option to consider, but I've never
tried it myself - anyone else any experience here ?
*

National Express Coaches sometimes randomly refuse to take normal
unicycles if they're not in bags. I know a couple of people got to BUC
last year by National Express OK, but I've known other people to not get
let on. I don't know what they'd be like about a coker.

I still think London is a great place to coker. If you don't like big
roads, you can see most of the sights without riding on any roads.

My experience of Wales is that it's okay in a group, but going there as
an English person on your own you really have to be careful about which
pubs you go into when you're out in the countryside if you don't want
any hassle. There is great riding though.

The really cool thing about the UK is that there's loads of variety in a
relatively small area, if you've got a few weeks of coker riding, you
could ride in so many different types of area, even without taking
trains.

Joe

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joemarshall said:

* you really have to be careful about which pubs you go into when
you're out in the countryside if you don't want any hassle.*

So what exactly do you do to offend the welsh so much?

wander in there waving the st georges flag and shouting?

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theamazingmolio - A Unicylist, a juggler, and a prat

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theamazingmolio said:

*So what exactly do you do to offend the welsh so much?

wander in there waving the st georges flag and shouting? *

I'd guess not speak welsh, judging from the way people start talking
Welsh instead of English when English people come in.

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munidobs said:

Long distance coaches may be another option to consider, but I've
never tried it myself - anyone else any experience here ?
[/B]

I've used National Express 2 or 3 times with a uni.

Like Joe says with trains, don't ring up and ask anyone if it's OK; I
would think they'd either say 'no' or refer it to a supervisor.

The unis I've taken on are a 24x3 and a 29-er (on seperate occasions),
and I've always assumed that refusal was possible, so I take the
approach of separating the wheel from the frame, and storing the
frame/seat in my rucksack.

The reasoning being that I don't see how anyone could have a problem
with putting a wheel on the coach.

I also take off the pedals to make it less likely to get damaged or
caught on other peoples luggage.

Thing to be aware of with National Express is that the drivers love to
get all your stuff stored, then leave the boots gaping open and wander
off. So you either need to get a seat on the side where you can keep an
eye on things, or stay off the coach till the last minute to keep an eye
on things.

I'd feel fairly confident that a 24/26/29" wheel will be totally fine;
not sure about a Coker though.

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onewheeldave - Semi Skilled Unicyclist

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redwelly said:

*There are plenty of singletrack centers. Phil will now almost jump in
his car at the mere muttering of 'Nant-yn-Arian', and then there's
Coed-y-Brenin, not to mention Snowdon, plus whatever delights there
are in South Wales that I'm oblivious to...*

<jumps in car> Sorry, what were we talking about?

Wales contains some excellent riding in the form of the singletrack
centres. There's nothing like riding trails made just for the purpose,
especially when they're in fantastic locations such as Nant-y-Arian.

In the south Afan has four excellent trails and Cwmcarn has one. Cwmcarn
is very handy for nipping across the border from civilization, erm,
England.

Take your pick: www.mbwales.com

The problem with Wales is that it takes blummin' ages to get anywhere.
Admittedly half of this is probably the English "Wales is just that
little blob tacked on the side, it's not very big" stereotype, but the
rest is that the roads are small and windy and the trains generally take
the very-extended-scenic-route. Enjoyable but not if you're in a
hurry.

Phil

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I've taken my coker on trains, its OK apart from in the rush hour in
cities when its not OK. On any train with space for bikes I put the
coker there. If there is no dedicated bike space I try and keep it as
out of the way as I can.
Nowadays I carry a small cable lock with me wrapped around the seatpost
so I can chain the uni up to a rail or a bike rack while I go and do
stuff like buying tickets / food / touristy sight seeing.

Sarah

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sarah.miller - unicycist

South West Unicycle Meet
May 21st 2005. Ashburton, Devon, UK
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