How do you keep physically fit when cruising?

IanCC said:
😮 What boat is that? What dinghy? Presumably you have to dismantle the bikes some.
Click to expand...
M31 and a 2.3m dinghy - and still room for a (skinny) 12yo in the forepeak next to the bikes! Need to take the wheels off.

2 main hobbies are boats and bikes, this saves me having to decide how to spend 6 weeks in the summer! Alongside a pontoon got it to just under 10 minutes from bikes secured for sea to ready to pedal. At anchor there's the moment of risk when handing them down; and you get some very strange looks in places like Coll when you arrive at the landing stage!
 
arc1 said:
M31 and a 2.3m dinghy - and still room for a (skinny) 12yo in the forepeak next to the bikes! Need to take the wheels off.

2 main hobbies are boats and bikes, this saves me having to decide how to spend 6 weeks in the summer! Alongside a pontoon got it to just under 10 minutes from bikes secured for sea to ready to pedal. At anchor there's the moment of risk when handing them down; and you get some very strange looks in places like Coll when you arrive at the landing stage!
Click to expand...
Braver than me - 3 people and no bikes would be very crowded in most 2.3m inflatables. 2 people and 2 folding bikes is very precarious in our 2.7m dinghy. And that’s before attempting Coll pier landing
PS. Coll bike hire is much simpler :-)
 
dunedin said:
Braver than me - 3 people and no bikes would be very crowded in most 2.3m inflatables. 2 people and 2 folding bikes is very precarious in our 2.7m dinghy. And that’s before attempting Coll pier landing
PS. Coll bike hire is much simpler :-)
Click to expand...
£40/short day if i remember!! Adds up.
 
IanCC said:
£40/short day if i remember!! Adds up.
Click to expand...
Wow, was 3-4 years back I last hired bike on Coll but don’t think it was more than £20 then.
Hired a bike on Rousay (Orkney) this year to visit the many chambered cairns and brochs (amazing) and was so cheap I felt they should increase the price for adult bikes. If anybody had been there on return would have added a fiver, but nobody around.
 
The last time I hired a bike it was in Poland. I can’t remember why, since we carried 2 Di Blasis anyway. Maybe we left one behind that year. The bike was fine but I had to show my passport to get it. It cost about £14, which is what I paid for a hire car in Yarmouth once.
 
I too was worried (too strong a word, 'mildly concerned about' might be better) about retaining muscle strength. Like a lot of previous replies I normally return lighter than when I went away. So I carry a set of Resistance bands, different lengths and thicknesses. They are extremely portable, cheap, easy to use, and loads of free info online on how to use them.
 
Last time I hired a bike, well they loaned it to me without charge was from the marina offices at Ijmuiden, it was a fixed wheel and I very nearly came a cropper when I forgot that and decided to freewheel.
 
Fr J Hackett said:
Last time I hired a bike, well they loaned it to me without charge was from the marina offices at Ijmuiden, it was a fixed wheel and I very nearly came a cropper when I forgot that and decided to freewheel.
Click to expand...
I doubt if it was fixed wheel, more likely the brakes worked by back-pedalling. We were offered free bikes at Scheveningen when they changed the marina layout, generating a long walk, but as we were headed for the tram it didn’t suit us. The free bikes at Cuxhaven were exciting, being clapped out old machines with limited roadworthiness and fewer brakes, in other words, ideal for shopping.
 
johnalison said:
I doubt if it was fixed wheel, more likely the brakes worked by back-pedalling. We were offered free bikes at Scheveningen when they changed the marina layout, generating a long walk, but as we were headed for the tram it didn’t suit us. The free bikes at Cuxhaven were exciting, being clapped out old machines with limited roadworthiness and fewer brakes, in other words, ideal for shopping.
Click to expand...
Definitely fixed wheel nearly had me over the handlebars.
 
Fr J Hackett said:
Definitely fixed wheel nearly had me over the handlebars.
Click to expand...
I went over the handlebars once when racing a schoolmate along a narrow path and a pedal got caught in a fence. Peter Pan had nothing on my flying ability on that day. It was a delightful feeling and I got up from my somersault without a scratch.
 
johnalison said:
I went over the handlebars once when racing a schoolmate along a narrow path and a pedal got caught in a fence. Peter Pan had nothing on my flying ability on that day. It was a delightful feeling and I got up from my somersault without a scratch.
Click to expand...
I have done it twice once when I was about 12 going like a bat out of hell down a steep hill and hit a loose manhole cover in the road, I don't think that I was badly hurt and don't remember much about it after all the years. Second time was about 4 years ago racing down a hill I hit 57 KPH according to the computer on the bike, the van I was about 50M behind decided to stop and chat to his friend in another car on a narrow bridge, not much choice but to apply the brakes back first quickly locked up and sliding then front brake gently but eventually well very quickly no alternative but to apply more pressure and hope which was better than the alternative of planting me and the bike into the back of the van. Result was front locked up and I went arse over apex and landed just at the back of the van. Pretty badly bruised and cut and my BPPV seems to have been coincidental with it. I was lucky given my existing neck and back problems.
 
I found I lost weight in Cherbourg.

Up early to go to loos, back to boat, sent to town to get croissants for breakfast, after breakfast, back to ablutions for shower back to boat to dry out towels , amble into town for a wander, back to boat sent to offie to get forgotten bottle of wine, laze in afternoon doing minor odd jobs on boat, out to town in evening with long wander trying to decide which restaurant will get our euros. Glad to get back to sea it was more relaxing.
 
First Mate and I often spend 4-5 months cruising. We seem to keep fit enough just by being on the boat.

Without any wheels we walk, use our bus passes if possible, or other public transport if outside of the English bus pass area.

We eat well, very much like we do at home, local produce being chosen where possible.

People we meet seem surprised we are as old as we are. Looking at members of our various sailing clubs, it appears sailing DOES keep you quite fit on its own.
 
rotrax said:
First Mate and I often spend 4-5 months cruising. We seem to keep fit enough just by being on the boat.

Without any wheels we walk, use our bus passes if possible, or other public transport if outside of the English bus pass area.

We eat well, very much like we do at home, local produce being chosen where possible.

People we meet seem surprised we are as old as we are. Looking at members of our various sailing clubs, it appears sailing DOES keep you quite fit on its own.
Click to expand...
Low level exercise can be as good as or better than strenuous exercise, and the effort of clambering around the boat an coping with its motion is likely to be more than I might do at home. I was once surprised when my sister remarked that she was very tired after what I had though was a normal sail of about four hours, and realised that we can put quite a lot of effort into sailing in anything more than a light breeze, though the more experienced of us will be better at relaxing and going with the boat. I would take my camera and binoculars out for walks as often as possible, and seemed to develop a fetish for climbing up anywhere available, whether a hill, tower, or in one case sand dunes (Leba), though no mountaineer myself.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top