[Closed] double-and-a-bit road century, how?

You'll be needing some arse cream

Take it steady & keep eating

Don't you just go really, really steadily? If you're fit, 100 miles on the road is not a long way particularly, it's just knackering if you're trying to go fast.

My longest haul was around 130 -150 miles. It took 15 hours, but despite some ups and downs mentally I got in in one piece. The average speed was absolutely pitiful but the overall progress was steady and not too painful. Good luck anyway. 🙂

Choice of route will be interesting - I assume the A1 is out. the minor roads have some interesting hills - not big just demoralising. Pretty (very) flat after Thirsk though. Have you considered the train?

Just take it steady, plenty of food/water and the odd cafe stop will see you through 🙂

[i]we'll be leaving edinburgh first light on saturday and hoping to arrive in york at some point before midnight...[/i]

Do you have to wait so late to start incidentally? IME, setting off into the dark is fun and you get a lift to your spirits as the sun comes up. If it were me I'd be heading off 2-3 hours before first light if I could I think.

Take it easy, start steady, eat regularly, be appropriately dressed.
Make sure that your bikes are in reasonable nick - no cuts in tyres etc etc as this is extremely annoying on a big ride.
Oh, pack your sense of humour, and a means of buying a train ticket (just in case).
That's still some decent average speed = 15mph, I don't know many people who dabble who could keep that pace for 17 hours.

think we're going as direct as poss - A68 and eventually A1 - we'll be loaded up with lights and high viz things!!!

might be an idea to start earlier... and yep, a credit card will be coming with!

what food do you suggest?
i'll be packing some of the caffine nuun tablets for drinking, but i think we're planning on buying food as we go to save carrying stuff.
hadn't really thought about the average speed 😕

A68 > A167 > A19 would be quickest/direct

Please don't use the A1

ah, yep, sorry - that was the plan (navigation not my strong point!)

You're doing it in one go?

You're an idiot and no one can help you. Cept those pies on ebay.

nice tasty cereal bars, lots of water avec some fruit juice.

Pie shops and erm, take it steady

Take it nice and easy, freewheel everything you can, enjoy the views and riding through the sunrising is awesome and lifts your spirits.
We did none of the above doing the C2C sunstrans route on mountain bikes and still managed 140 miles without any specific training. Knackered at the end and shocking weather and long food breaks made the whole thing a bit epic but still manageable.

I did similar back when I was about 15 with no particular prep. Don't go at it like a bull in a china shop and just get lots of calories down your neck. I think we survive on Mars bars, peanuts and water.

Also, like BigDummy said, why start so late? It would be better to start in the wee small hours while it's dark and finish while it's light and warmer. It's really horrible, when you're fatigued to realise that you've still got a chunk of miles to do as the sun goes down and it starts to chill.

be prepared for the fact that riding for that long (simply time, rather then distance) puts a lot a strain on bits of your body that aren't used to it - shoulders, wrists, neck. also it's a fair observation that 15mph for 17 hours seems *very* fast average, when you include stops. there will be stops!

also riding for that long on main roads, especially dual carriageway, whilst shortest and quickest, will be very tiring due to the traffic noise/wind blast from vehicles at 70. lots of riding without being able to talk to each other.

don't want to sound too negative, sounds like a epic plan, but best to go in with full knowledge than get demoralised early on as the unpleasant surprises hit home!

the escape plan option is a two edged sword! it can make to feel like you can push yourself really hard knowing you can get yourself out of trouble, or it can make you give up far before you need to simply because you can....

keep eating, even if you don't really want to , lots of calories to get through. mix savoury stuff in too - hours of eating sugary food can leave you unable to eat *anything*!

defo start as early as you can, 0300 or 0400, and make sure you're well over halfway before your 'halfway' stop. makes a massive morale difference.

enjoy!!

thanks for the tips 🙂

early and slow looks like the best option!!

I did a road 200 [u]kilometre[/u] and I'm not a very big mileage rider at all

I wouldn't have thanked you for suggesting I do another 50% but then I really wasn't prepared for it at all (the 2 longest rides in my life have been that one, then SDW in a day and after that we're down to about 35 miles). I didn't eat enough & near-enough bonked over the last about 20 miles; that's not a nice feeling at all.

Drop me an email if you want a phone number - you'll be pretty much going past my place in Darlington
I can help you out if you get stuck or need anything

I think you'd be surprised at how far a half decent rider can get. I've done the Dunwich Dynamo a few times and all sorts of people turn up to that, a fair few commuter types who normally ride 10 miles in town decide to ride 120 miles overnight and they can do it (much to their surprise). That's the longest ride I've ever done - ride to the start, 125 miles to Dunwich, a further 45 miles to Ipswich, train to London then ride home. Total distance 200 miles. On a roadie SS.

I'd start about 3am or so, it gets the worst part (of wanting to fall asleep) out of the way quite quickly and having the sun come up is a big morale boost.
I'd also avoid main roads if at all possible. Long journeys on A roads and through towns with loads of traffic and lights and confusing junctions is just grim. Have a look at the map and I'll bet that for at least some parts of it there's a route that more or less runs parallel to the main road but with hardly any traffic on it.

Eat and drink regularly, perhaps take a plastic bag with some energy powder in so you can just add it to your bottles whenever you fill up. Food-wise: whatever you like but try to avoid living on energy bars/gels especially if you're not used to them.

Have a back up plan. Nearby train stations, a mate's house you can stop off at if necessary, someone with a car to pick you up if it all goes wrong, a B&B to stay if you're really behind schedule or a combination of those.

Christ good luck 😀

Plenty of miles - get yourself to the point where you can ride 80 miles without trying, and 200 miles is easy.
May have left it a bit late for that though....

Get your bars as high as you can - neck ache can be a massive source of discomfort. And padded gloves with extra padding on them.
Try energy drinks and water and lots of carbo foods.

Make sure the map is on your bars so you don't have to stop to check it.
Enjoy!

Just get on the bike and keep pedalling until you get there. It really is that simple.

Quick question, on such a long ride with regular (lots) of food- you must need poo stops a fair bit?

Would suggest 2 pairs of shorts. And some Camillosan (?sp) on yer hoop (it's a cream for ladynipples when breastfeeding, much thicker than Assos chamois cream but nice and soothing and won't vanish after 4 or 5 hours).

+1 for the plan of leaving before dawn - it's going to take you a long time and the less miles after dusk the better I reckon (mainly from morale).

Oh, and good luck...you'll probably need it. 🙂

Quick question, on such a long ride with regular (lots) of food- you must need poo stops a fair bit?

I've never needed to stop much on the hundred milers I've done - typically you'd eat loads of carbohydrate rich food, not a load of heavy food that makes you need the toilet.

Joe

Good luck. Don't think about the distance left to go, think about the next cafe stop. Make sure you get some decent food down you. And pray there's not a strong southerly wind.....

As noted, set off before dawn and aim for a breakfast stop after maybe 25 miles. Then set off to ride until your lunch stop. Then ride until an afternoon tea stop. Then ride until teatime, then ride to the finish.

Setting off to ride 200 plus miles is a major psychological challenge, but a relatively minor physical one. Do it by dividing it into chunks, and try to avoid the plod plod plod as much as possible; have a target to aim for, have a set of goals to acheive.

Above all you must PACE yourself; riding easier than you can early in the day is much better than dragging your poor sorry ass over the last 50 miles.

Pay a truck driver to drive at 30mph and slipstream the beast all the way there. 7.5 hours and your done 😆

cheers guys, loads of quality stuff there... here's hoping its not gonna rain!!!!!

if i remember to take photos, i'll try and stick a photo thread up next week, perhaps.