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[b]Strictly NOT a willy waving thread ![/b]
So, I thought it might be good to post up about “epic” rides that people challenge themselves with. The definition of “epic” is open to interpretation and clearly pertains to the individual, it’s not measurable against any other rider, it needs to challenge you, take you out of your comfort zone and cast doubt on achieving the goal. On the journey you’ll learn things which can be shared. No distance too small, no time too little.
For me, I recently set out on an “epic” road ride. An overdue visit to my parents & a friend wanting to do the South Downs Way in a day later this year were my motivations.
My aim was to ride from Stroud, Gloucestershire to my parents in New Milton Hampshire by road. I planned to ride down one day & back the next, approx. 100 miles each way.
I’ve probably ridden 100 miles 3 times before, having twice done the London – Cambridge – London, and I last rode 100 when I cycled back from my parents in 2012 which took me approx. 6.5hrs. Each time I’ve ridden 100 previously I’ve been absolutely knackered at the end, psychologically unable / unwilling to ride any further & physically haven’t touched my bike again for a week, so my challenge of there one day, back the next was most definitely an unknown.
I had a window off work (Mon-Fri) and planned to leave on the Wednesday & return on the Thursday allowing a day of rest before returning to work, but a whole day of heavy rain on the Wednesday postponed my departure until the Thursday.
My route from Stroud was: A46 to just before Bath (not a great road as its very busy), then a mix of B roads to Frome, Gillingham, Shaftsbury, Ringwood, New Milton), making 100 miles with 5000’ of ascent.
I set off at 08:45 on a dry gloomy day, a couple of miles in and the spring sun broke through causing clothing removal as I climbed out of Nailsworth. Before Bath on the A46 I stumbled across a pretty serious head on car accident, I rendered aid until an orange suited Dr arrived, followed by an ambulance, made my excuses and left, this probably stopped me for 30mins and I could feel the cold creeping in. My aim for day one was simple: no heroics, remember “it’s all about tomorrow”, produce no lactic, spin / don’t push the gears. My pace was easy; I got into the rhythm of anticipating the gradients before hitting them and ensured a healthy light cadence throughout. At each of the main towns I popped into a variety of coffee shops / florists etc for bottle refils and just kept moving, the best of these finds was The Coffee Works in Gillingham who popped in an electrolyte tab in my bottle for free – looks a great place. . Bar filling up my bottles, some navigation, and wee stops I didn’t “stop” on route and just kept my legs moving. Into Shaftsbury which the town sigh informed me was a “Hilltop Town” – great! I’d only had one cup of tea that morning & no coffee but was surprised how much I was weeing, loads, clear & plentiful though so all good, the day was warming and I was wearing some new thermal tights which were a little overkill in the mid-day warmth, so I just kept the fluid going in. Rolling into Ringwood I could feel the light grasp of the bonk creeping up so a rapid energy gel and food intake shook that off and I arrived at my parents around 18:30.
Brown rice, salmon, veg and some sweet chilli sauce for dinner, then bed. I had felt tired that evening but ended up having a restless night, I felt wired, I has some night sweats, and just felt an overwhelming urge to get on my bike and get going. Weird. I got up at 04:00 and ate some cereal, then actually slept. Up at 07:30, porridge & tea and the off around 09:00 into the unknown. My contingency for day 2 was that my dad could drop me up the road, and my wife could collect me close to home, but I didn’t feel the need, so set off from New Milton. A foggy morning saw me covered in damp dew, but I was cosy warm, my legs felt fine, but my butt was a tad tender from the obvious but overlooked fact that I was wearing a pair of brand new tights, not even washed, whose chamois was coming to terms with my contours. My pattern of easy spinning, eating and drinking plenty continued throughout the day continued, I dipped energy levels as I crossed the M4 so again I took on a gel and some food to see my through to home. Approaching home at Nailsworth I had a couple of options: a few extra flat miles to home, or less miles and “up the ladder” – the ladder it was, a short 130m ascent and then a fast blast down to home. I’d done it!
Apart from my clearly chafed butt I actually felt ok. After 1 glass of red wine I slept well that night. I was up at 05:00 and rode into work the next day (standing up a lot of the way).
Things I learnt:
My pacing strategy really seemed to work for me. At times I was travelling at speeds I deemed ridiculously slow, but I didn’t get much in the way of lactic burn throughout and my legs weren’t trashed at each days end.
My steady eating and drinking of real foods seemed to get me through for about 7hrs and only then did I resort to a gel and food bolus.
Lots of clothing layers (my normal attire) worked well, but I was at my limit of storage capacity with food and spare clothing in my jersey pockets. I can see the appeal of a small frame bag (my jersey weighed several pounds!).
My Endomondo ride times were about 8hrs but my door - door times more like 9hr15min - and i didn't deem that i'd "stopped", just wee stops, navigation stops really, its amazing how all that time adds up, something that needs taking into account for the SDW.
Oh - and synchronizing stops = thing of things that need doing and do them all at one stop, not many.
My only purchase for this ride was a bottle cage keg which allowed me to stash tools / tube etc on the bike and free up my jersey pockets for food and clothing layers.
I really shouldn’t have worn new kit. I think it was new kit syndrome (and the fact my old tights had worn through) that drove me to wear them. They may be top line Castelli, but they needed bedding in and a few washes first. Schoolboy error.
The roads were most definitely not smooth, pot holes galore, rough surfaces etc. I had considered some tubeless big road tyres but cost and amount of use prohibited this, in the end my town bike Land Cruisers saw me good despite their weight.
Intake each day: 1 loaf Soreen with jam, 4 hot cross buns, 3 Torq bars, 1 Torq gel, 4 or 5 750ml bottles water with elecrolytes.
Bike: Kona Private Jake shod with 35c Land Cruisers.
Inspired by [url= http://theadventuresyndicate.com/rickie-cotter/ ]Rickie Cotter[/url] (watch her go at this years TDR), and humbled by Mike Hall.
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[img][url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3946/32989602350_fdf523fc24.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3946/32989602350_fdf523fc24.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/Sgbkrq ]Route[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinddd/ ]martinddd[/url], on Flickr[/img]
[img][url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/749/33372256425_87feee61be.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/749/33372256425_87feee61be.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/SQZxat ]Thursday[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinddd/ ]martinddd[/url], on Flickr[/img]
[img][url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2839/32557944503_9f39b6fe56.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2839/32557944503_9f39b6fe56.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/RB2YAK ]Friday[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinddd/ ]martinddd[/url], on Flickr[/img]
Chapeau Sir! Knocks my 48km the other weekend into a cocked hat.
With regards to carrying stuff I have wrestled with this too, jersey pockets feel fine for a few small bits (phone, snack) but I don't like over loading them either.
My plan for bigger road rides is frame fit pump, 2 bottles on the bike and BigXTop saddle bag. https://www.bigxtop.com/collections/frontpage/products/mini-seatpack
For silly long rides or where the weather might be very changeable I'll move spares and tools to one of those bottle cage canisters on the 3rd set of bosses on the underside of my downtube freeing up space in seatpack.
I have probably thought too much about this whilst on conference calls and the like.
What I'm lacking is fitness...I'm in the process of getting myself back in riding shape in time for the C2C in September.
A combination of not much riding over the winter and too much time lifting weights means whilst i'm not (that) fat I'm heavy at 103kg and feeling a bit rubbish on the bike.
My plan is to ride ever weekend road/gravel or MTB steadily increasing mileage, chucking in some evening rides when the evenings are a bit lighter.
There comes a point where it is all in the mind.
Several years ago I went on a riding holiday with a friend. After we came back we decided to push it a bit further. We were comfortable with 200km on the road so stretched to out to 150miles then upto 200miles. Felt like a massive achievement. In 2015 we got the train down to London and rode back to Newcastle, inspired by the sportive. Last year we got the train up to Edinburgh and then rode to London in one go (700km, 32hours).
Few things I learnt along the way.
After a certain point it is a mind game. Having someone to ride with helps.
Having someone of similar mind makes things happen. Someone to motivate and help organise as well as not wanting to let them down.
Planning is key - kit, clothing, route, food. When you are tired you don't want to be making hard decisions.
Practice - get the right saddle, shorts and food. My tastes change on lnog rides, much prefer salty/savoury to cake.
On the road I managed 300miles with just my three pockets and a large saddle bag. Arkel think that I could get tool, pump, tubes etc in. Jersey pockets reserved for food, phone and light windproof*. The windproof was not much help in torrential rain, even in June. We owe a lot to the nice people of halfords in Lincoln who let us store our bikes in the garage while we went to KFC to warm up.
Support helps - on the 700km one we rode past our houses so had a good food stop and a change of clothes. We also had a car meet us toward london. They had our lights and proper warm clothes for the dark bits.
Pacing - riding slow isn't a massive problem. Stops take time. Over the 700km we too 32hours. 26hours of these were recorded as moving by strava. Proper food stops, toilet breaks, a few punctures all add up. Keep these to a minimum but factor them in. We had a maneagable overall average to maintain. Motivating but not impossible. We had booked fixed tickets to get us home from London. USed our contingency time and made the train with 30 minutes to spare!
There comes a point where it is all in the mind.
This the thing that both intrigues me & scares me. I didn't get there on this ride. I think I might on the SDW.
#6
Check out the raleigh program on BBC4
100 miles from huddersfield to rhyll and back again the next day.
In 1930
By an 10 year old
Puts it all into context !
LEL, 2013.
1400km, 100 hours total. (60 hours riding according to the gpx)
https://irbandito.wordpress.com/2013/08/13/lel-2013/
In 1930
By an 10 year oldPuts it all into context !
Yeah but in the context of epic it's more about the circumstances and what's going on at the time.
In terms of unprepared I pulled a sickie when a couple of mates were up in the lakes with me. Plan was nip up helvellyn from the King's in thirlmere along and back down. We had a map, compass was on the zip of my mates top, basic waterproof tops and not much else it was going to be a short fun ride.
Cloud came in, then the rain, the visibility hit nothing about the time the terrain gets featureless, the compass was good to within about 90 degrees. The map wasn't waterproof so it was kept hidden too much. After a lot of contemplating we decided we knew where we were and were heading down a path (matched the map and where we were pointing) I think a brief lift in the cloud happened to show us we were about to drop down to ullswater instead. About an hour later we were sat in front of the fire in the right pub by luck rather than judgement.
Last summer I challenged myself to ride all the trails in my local spot, so one evening after work I did it!
[b]QECP trailtopia 2016 [/b]
https://www.strava.com/activities/671678621
32.2mi
Distance
4:56:29
Moving Time
5,527ft
Elevation
Will take a look at that route qwerty, I used to live nr Stroud. 1st time I rode from the Chiltern end of the Ridgeway to the other end, then on road to Swindon to get the train to Stroud, was a big ride then. Planned to ride same way back but was broken by halfway, it took a few more big day rides and long back to backs to get to that point.
Eventually it is all in the mind though, as said above. Conditioning and re-setting your mental scale. Look at what Steve Abrahams can handle.
My most epic ride so far was the Bealach na Ba loop from Applecross in West Scotland.
My previous cycling experience had maxed out at a 20 mile loop in Calderdale, but my mate assured me I'd "be fine". I had one bottle of water, no food, and clearly no clue!
For whatever reason we saved the hill climb until last, and battled around the coastal road with the wind in our faces. I was regularly getting dropped on the climbs and starting to have doubts about my ability to ride around the loop, but again my mate convinced me that I'd be OK, so I pressed on. By the time we reached the pass I was completely done in, and ended up walking most of the climb in the by-now baking sun.
I was fairly sure at the time that I was going to die on that hill, and having fallen off the bike a few times since then I'm fairly sure I nearly did on the long descent back to Applecross, which was a lengthy high-speed affair over well-used Highlands tarmac.
It was a beautiful ride, though. Views to Skye, the silence of the moorland, and the ribbon of road winding its way up and down and ever onwards. I'd cycle it again in a heartbeat, just maybe with two bottles of water.
Love these stories of lessons learnt and character built!
Not sure if I learnt much here, apart from gearing choices. On/off road. I joined some work colleagues riding from Fareham to London. Decided I'd rather ride home via the SDW than ride into London on the main roads.
Had a stiff breeze in my back for the road leg east, got to the top of Ditchling Beacon, had an ice cream with the guys and girls, dropped a few psi from the tyres and then waved goodbye, feeling happy to be away from the traffic, happy to away from a large group, happy to have dirt under my tyres, generally smug about my life choices.
Until I felt the wind in my chest and caught a glimpse of Blackdown, the big hill just south of my house, 50 miles away. It got closer ever so slowly, and the 48T single ring up front didn't help.
The elevation profile still makes me laugh:
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Excellent. I have an eye on the sdw this year too.
At times I was travelling at speeds I deemed ridiculously slow
This sums up my riding style perfectly. 🙂
Oh - and heres a vintage one from me that didn't end well. My first bonk:
I was living in Kendal, i had a shiny GT Zaskar (with the atrocious elastomer Judys), i had some slicks on it and had agreed to set off with the guys from Bruces Bike Shop. A lot of these guys were retired mile munchers, roadies who'd cut their mettle on the Lakes roads, i was a Londoner finding my feet in big hills...
In the days before it had been toted as a 40 mile ride, on the day it was to be a 60 mile jaunt from Kendal to Keswick and back. We all rode to Keswick, stopped at a cafe where i had a cup of tea and a tea cake (my only food), and then we faced the return. One of the riders suggested to me trying a couple of "hills" on the way back..... i think (i could be wrong but it was definately two passes) we went over Whinlatter & Newlands and then rather than having made progress back towards Kendal, we were back in Keswick....
We were three and set off back towards Kendal, the chain gang involved the one at the back making their way to the front for a turn. I couldn't do it.... they buggered off and left me, i realized i was in trouble when i was on the wrong side of the road, i managed to find an ice cream van for some ice cream and limped into Ambleside where i raided the CoOp of biscuits, i limped into Windermere & caught the train home.
I think i'd ridden 80 miles (no apps or computer then). I was broken.
I learn't the importance of eating that day.