Forum menu
I always sleep shit after exercise. The more exercise, the worse I sleep, and I have a dreaded skin disease that means I need to shower every day.... So doing this sub forty with a bivvy has no appeal.
And mainly, I fancy a challenge the next step up from the WHW.
So, I was thinking, sat in the comfort of my warm, dry home, after a nice 50 mile road ride, and a few beers.... That looks like a good idea.
But given that WHW took me 17.5 hours in total, I think I'm a good few hours off the pace for this.
I have on occasion been pretty fit for a punter, but never to the extent of pinning on a number. So leaving aside all you endurance psycho proper racers, have any of you Average Joes tried it in a day?
How did it go?
You can do it as I sit in front of the fire with a hot chocolate. I’m doing it over 3/4 days bikepacking with a mate as we plan on enjoying it. Good luck.
I take it you've seen this page http://www.selfsupporteduk.net/routes/Lakeland200.html and noted the completion times?
Looking at some of the names (and knowing them personally) and their completion times and then looking at their times for other ITTs I'd say that in terms of effort it's more like the 300km routes such as the YD300 and the Cairngorms Loop.
If you want an "in a day" challenge then I'd suggest the following:
Trans Cambrian Way
Inner Loop of the Cairngorms Loop
One of the YD200 routes (it changed each year so there's four or five of them)
One of the BB200 routes - a sub 24hr time would get you a black badge (probably only during the darker months)
If you are interested in the GPX files for the YD200 or BB200 I got most of them. I took 25hrs for the TCW but with an eight hour bivy, typical times for the YD200 have been 14-15hrs. The two BB200s I've done have taken 18 & 21hrs. I've done a 5 day HT550 and my best time on the YD300 is sub 29hrs.
I've not done the LL200 but it's on my todo list (well it has been for some years now). Based on the above times I reckon something like 28hrs for the LL200 for me as a "non-punter"
Cheers Pierre Blanc.
Do you know if any of those times include zeds or if they just went right through?
Would love to do the gorms loop, but too far away really. The advantage of the lakes is gay logistics look easier.
Likewise trans Cambrian suggests that it ain't a circular route. I'll have a Google for the BB and YD routes.
Wouldn't have a scooby what to do with a GPX🥵
What a weird autocorrect....
Ho hum
TCW is a point to point.
The YD200 and BB200 routes are loops. Not sure if the files are on-line, the GPX file for each BB200 is sent out to those who are entered. Worth checking Strava for anyone who did one and logged their ride. Here's my efforts on the 2018 version https://www.strava.com/activities/1904965223 and the 2016 version https://www.strava.com/activities/739914226
Edit: I thought you were being ironic in a French translation of my username!
Ian Barrington has a blog of his ITT rides - https://ianbarrington.com/
If you don't mind spending a bit of money you can prob work the Cairngorm route into the sleeper train timetable?
I did a really fine ride from Dalwhinnie to Fort Bill going up on the sleeper from Manchester in a day. That's small beer compared to the routes Whitestone posted above, but it was a hard ride for me at the time, and felt like an adventure going through the mountains to link the trains up.
Prices are steep, though, no getting around it. But then it's a unique form of travel in the UK.
I’ve not done the LL200 but it’s on my todo list (well it has been for some years now). Based on the above times I reckon something like 28hrs for the LL200 for me as a “non-punter”
Is that 28 hours riding time or time including a bivvy?
Thanks
Lakeland200 is not a great ride lots of pushing and swearing fancy a day challenge try the Jennride 100 miles of rideable trails/minor roads the challenge is to get back before the Hawkshead Brewery closes 🙂
GPX available donation to the just giving site would be ace
Rich, didn't you post up a link to a 'rideable' Lakeland 200 at some point? Avoided the big hike-a-bike by going further west? That looked pretty tempting.
That's 28hrs from start to finish, ITT times always include everything. Whether I'd bivy or not would depend purely on tiredness. When I did the YD300 in 29hrs I did a 2hr shiver bivy rather than ride through. From memory my riding time was 25hrs so there was only another two hours spent stopping.
Sometimes a power nap actually gains you time - I compared my YD300 time and "strategy" with that of my last day on the HT550 where I was on the go for 31hrs.
YD300: 300km with a 2hr bivy in 29hrs with 25hrs riding time.
HT550: 262km in 31hrs40, no bivy or power nap, 27hrs riding time.
Slightly skewed comparison in that for the YD300 I hadn't been riding for four days prior but even though I didn't bivy on the HT I still had nearly five hours stopped time. Try riding the Kinlochleven descent or the Devil's Staircase after 24hrs of riding it's not fun. So I'm confident that *for me* having power naps or short bivvies is the way to go.
Anyway there's nothing in the ITT rules that state you can't use a B&B or hotel. The only restriction is that you can't book same prior to setting off.
@martinhutch - there's the Lakeland 300 which has more road on it. It's also linked to from the selfsupported.net site I linked to earlier.