Glastonbury, or the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts to offer it its full title, is The Big One. Every yr a 1,000 acre space of Somerset farmland turns into probably the most densely populated place on earth as over 200,000 folks descend for a week-long get together. It very a lot appears like its personal metropolis, and when it’s on, it turns into the fourth largest metropolis within the southwest of England, double the dimensions of close by Bath. Most of the revellers get to the competition by automotive, coach, or practice, that means the competition is, for many individuals, bookended by hours of sitting in visitors as tiny rural roads grow to be clogged.
To keep away from this, my pals and I made a decision to cycle to Glastonbury this yr, and I feel it was the very best choice I’ve made in a very long time. Given we vary in skill from ‘very eager bicycle owner who works within the bike trade’ to ‘doesn’t cycle besides to get to basketball apply’ I reached out to Bosch and borrowed some electrical bikes for the journey to degree the enjoying subject, and to be sincere, make the homeward journey a bit of extra painless.
A comparatively new participant to the ebike area, Advanced Bikes offered the vary of steeds, from a full suspension off-road touring mannequin to a Dutch-style city bike. Only as soon as did I get accused of ‘dishonest’ by a volunteer as a result of our bikes had motors – this can be a actual pet peeve of mine, as ebikes are an unimaginable device for getting folks out and using who in any other case may not, and scale back automotive utilization, however folks nonetheless have their prejudices.
While it’s nonetheless contemporary in my thoughts, and yours too if you’re nonetheless lamenting the large queues, these are my take-home classes you can have freed from cost in the event you think about using to Glasto subsequent yr.
1 – It’s the simplest technique to get there and get out once more
If you’re not a bicycle owner, and particularly in the event you’re nursing a sore head too, this will not be simple to imagine, however attending to and from the competition by bike is a breeze. Having ebikes helped an amazing deal, and I’ll go into that later, however by way of simply getting out and in of Worthy Farm, a motorbike ticket might be second solely to a VIP ticket. We set off from Bristol at 8:30 AM on the Wednesday morning and had been in and arrange at camp by noon. Our pals who drove set off at 5:30 AM and arrived after us.
Because the competition desires to advertise inexperienced actions, cyclists get to return in by way of the hospitality entrance. The journey from Bristol isn’t large, and positively achievable for most individuals with a reasonable degree of health, and value it for by no means being in a queue.
Likewise, when leaving, all we needed to do was stroll to our bikes, saved in a safe park all the time staffed by a volunteer (so you may go away the locks at dwelling), saddle up and journey off within the morning; dwelling by lunchtime to begin the mountain of washing.
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2 – Make use of the bag drop
But how on earth do you get all of your stuff there?! Sure, some riders do take the whole lot with them, and I noticed a couple of bike trailers being put to good use, however the best factor to do is make use of a bag drop service. Bike to Glasto runs bag drops from Bristol, London, and a load of different areas across the southwest, and all it’s important to do is drop your baggage off a couple of days earlier than the competition and it’ll be there if you arrive. It’s low-cost (£15 or so from Bristol), after which the method is reversed for the homeward leg.
There are weight limits so you may’t ask them to carry 15 crates of cider, however all of us managed to simply match all we would have liked for the week throughout the limits.
3 – Take benefit of family and friends who’re driving
Given the dimensions of the competition there’s each probability that even in the event you cycle in there are folks you realize who will probably be driving, so in the event you can’t match the whole lot throughout the weight restrict for the bag drop (these 15 crates of cider for instance) then you may ask very properly for drivers to assist. Our pals took our tents this yr, and my companion’s dad and mom took our liquids. Sure, it’s important to schlep throughout the location to get your stuff off them, however simply deal with it as sightseeing and provide them a can of Bloody Mary for the morning.
4 – Ebikes are an amazing leveller
This one is maybe one thing you’d have gleaned from the title, however if you’re a bicycle owner and also you need to journey and you’ve got reluctant pals then think about ebikes as an choice. Beg, borrow, or rent them for a little bit of you do not have them. Even with somebody who principally by no means rides we had been all capable of fortunately journey as a bunch over the Mendips with out difficulty.
All of our borrowed machines from Advanced had been powered by a crank-mounted Bosch motor and battery. While the motor and energy packs differed between the fashions – the trekking fashions used the extra highly effective Bosch Performance CX motor and a bigger 750Ah battery, whereas the city fashions used the Bosch ActivePlus motor and a smaller energy pack – we discovered the extra weight of the bigger bikes offset the extra energy and all of us arrived inside 5% of one another by way of remaining energy.
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5 – Ebikes nonetheless get punctures
When utilizing utility-oriented bikes like these ones from Advanced Bikes, it’s simple to slide into the entice of assuming they don’t puncture. I had the identical difficulty using a cargo bike. Ebike tyres are typically extra sturdy, however the day earlier than we left a big staple meant I needed to stroll dwelling. Just like every other journey keep in mind to take all of the spares you want – on this case I needed to keep in mind a spanner for the wheel nuts along with the same old multi-tool.
6 – Bring a charger
On the best way out we had been fairly considered with our energy utilization – an excessive amount of so to be sincere, however extra on that later – however even when we had completely rinsed the batteries or ridden an extended route we’d have been effective as a result of we packed a charger for every bike. Power sockets had been out there on the bike lockup, and whereas I had to stick with them whereas they charged, there was no danger of working out of juice.
7 – Non-standard bottle cages
I discover commonplace bike bottles are likely to leak in a bag, and let’s be actual, no one desires lukewarm gin & juice leaking on their jumper midway by way of Sunday afternoon. Swap out the standard bottle cages for ones that may take one thing like a Nalgene. They’re more durable to drink from on the fly, however much more helpful within the competition itself. You might want to swap out your bottle cages although.
Velo Orange makes the Mojave cage, and Arundel has the Loony Bin, into which I stowed an insulated Yeti mug. I after all don’t condone boozing whereas using, so it was a good way to maintain a drink (of water) ice chilly for the journey in.
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8 – Batteries last more than anticipated
Range nervousness is actual, however ebike batteries now are so good that it’s misplaced nervousness. In the 2 and a half hilly hours there, we doggedly caught in ‘eco’ mode and solely used ⅓ of a tank of electrons. We may have gotten there and again on one cost, however festivals are supposed to be enjoyable – Don’t be a martyr, use Turbo to rise up the hills in the event you want, or at the least ‘Tour+’.
9 – Make use of the bike showers, even in the event you camp elsewhere
If you journey to Glastonbury you get entry to the cyclists’ campsite. It could be very a lot on the periphery, however it’s quiet. Moreover, it has the very best loos – compost bogs with a strict sit-down-only coverage – and its personal bathe block for which the queue is minuscule even at peak instances.
Even in the event you camp within the bowels of the competition you may nonetheless use the biking campsite services. A morning stroll, bracing bathe, and a breakfast wrap on the best way again set you up for the day very properly certainly.
10 – Take the bike paths, even the gravelly ones
As a roadie I are likely to view bike paths as an occasional annoying necessity, however for using to a competition with your mates they had been simply the nicest bits of the journey. Traffic free, often gravelly in the event you use the close by Strawberry Line, however by no means actually burdensome on a loaded bike. You’ll additionally seemingly stumble upon different cyclists going to or from the location and may get excited collectively or swap tales concerning the bogs.
11 – Do a correct check journey
If you’re not normally a bicycle owner, and even simply not used to using a laden bike, then it’s value doing a check journey earlier than you go. The sections the place there aren’t cycle paths are sometimes comprised of fairly slender nation lanes which will probably be extra filled with vehicles than regular – understanding find out how to deal with your machine with stuff hooked up to it prematurely will make these elements considerably much less nerve-racking.
12 – Panniers beat bikepacking baggage
Bikepacking baggage at the moment are much more frequent than bike panniers, but when you’re going to strap issues to your bike to take with you, which we did with some overspin, then bike panniers beat bikepacking baggage any day. It’s not a lot that they’re simpler to pack (although they’re), but it surely’s extra that they’re simpler to lug throughout the location. If you’re shopping for some, I like to recommend you get some with shoulder straps. It retains your fingers free to hold different baggage, or that frosty mug of iced water you haven’t completed on the best way.
13 – Eco out, Turbo dwelling
Another battery tip for all you ebikers is to make use of eco for the best way out to preserve as a lot juice as potential. This means you’ll need to spend much less time charging whereas the competition is happening. On the homeward journey if you could be lower than contemporary, on the finish of which charging is a breeze, we opted to make use of extra energy on the hills and don’t have any regrets on that entrance.
14 – Charge on Thursday morning
We arrived on Wednesday, and couldn’t face charging the bikes up the identical day, as a substitute opting to discover the location. Thursday is nearly universally thought-about to be the worst day; there’s much less on, and what’s on is all the time packed as a result of persons are itching for issues to do. The smartest thing is to go cost your bike on Thursday, after a pleasant bathe, that means you may dry your towel whereas charging too.
15 – Wells for breakfast
Yes, leaving by bike is considerably simpler than leaving by automotive, bus, or practice, but it surely’s nonetheless a little bit of a scramble. Bag drop for the homeward leg closes at 10am, so possibilities of an honest breakfast are slim, even for probably the most organised competition goers. My last tip is to move to Wells, the small metropolis close to to the competition, and get an honest breakfast there earlier than heading homeward. There are loads of cafes, and you’ll completely need one other espresso and what could also be your first correct meal at a desk for every week.