Hey peeps,
I'm planning on doing a rather long endurance event next year. I have quantified all available information to formulate a strict training regime to build me up to godly like prowess.
My Training plan is "to ride lots"
With that in mind and wanting to make the year interesting I'm going to lots of long bivvy style rides. Think along the lines of coast to coast, Pennine Bridalway etc.
The only rules are...
- Has to be off road (Predominantly)
- Has to be a minimum of 6 hours riding
- Not too epic. Distance is more important than ascent achieved
To start with I'm happy to do shorter rides of say 6-8 hours then use a B&B and split the riding over two days but eventually I want to be building up to bivvying overnight and then shortening the length of sleep I have / riding through the night etc.
I'm thinking of doing a big ride every month for the next year. I'm also going to do Mayhem and maybe another 24 hour race as well to just trundle round at a nice pace with the aim of being up and riding for 24 hours.
So come on give me some inspiration!!!
[url= http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/ ]Inspiration and ideas aplenty[/url]
South Downs Way, Ridgeway, etc?
Yep exactly that kind of thing!! Cheers fella
The Mary Towneley loop is supposed to be a challenging ride. Between 5-8 hours. I'm planning on doing it soon. Ultimately i want to work up to the Pennine Bridleway Double, from Middleton Top to the MTL and back which comes in at about 197 miles. Probably over 3/4 days or so for me
+1 for the ridgeway, great slippy fun.
There's plenty of big rides you could combine for bivi awesomeness in the lakes.
high st + Ullswater singletrack + hellvellyn
back o skiddaw + up n down skiddaw.
& all through the borrowdale valley and over to buttermere etc.
just for starters.
Funnily enough we've just decided that our first tour ride of the year is doing the C2C in 2 days in may, we've done it in 3 before. Keeps it easy for navigation and accommodation. You could always do it the other way, or do it all one day and then the following day start back over 2 days or in one again!! there's a challenge.
Trans cambrian way (wales english border to the west coast)
sarn helen trail (wales north coast to south coast)
http://www.mbr.co.uk/routes/wales/sarn-helen-mtb-%E2%80%94-in-eight-easy-gps-files/
the guy who did the original sarn helen trail route did a few booklets of long distance routes, can't think of his name just now to google for them.
edit, my google powers have returned.
http://www.mbruk.co.uk/mbruk_guides.htm
Some ideas on here:
[url= http://www.selfsupporteduk.net/ ]http://www.selfsupporteduk.net/[/url]
And my own thing:
[url= http://www.aidanharding.com/ewe ]http://www.aidanharding.com/ewe[/url]
Some sections of EWE would make good point-to-point rides.
there's a couple of British Heart Foundation offroad rides - London to Brighton (75 miles) and South Downs Way (100). Both are mass participation, so not necessarily what you're after, but both are fast and fun.
Bear Bones 200? There's a new route for this years ride in Oct but I could email you a gpx for the route from previous years if you fancied?
[url= http://www.bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/pages/BB200.html ]BB 200[/url]
Might be helpful...
Cheers for all the info guys. Loads to mull over. Ideally I want to have 12 trips / rides planned out for the next month so I've continuously got a new target coming up. Building up in time, distance and severity.
Quite fancy doing a mass participation thing in the mix as well so I'm not trudging about on my own all the time, equally when I've got the routes planned out I'll see who I can drag out with me!
Stills8tannorm - that look mint. Not sure if I'll be fixed to do the Oct ride so a gpx of a previous route would be top!
When I looked at this for K100 prep 2 came up as being good/useful. What we found was that while riding natural trails in unfamiliar places you tended to stop an aweful lot to read the map. Over 6 hours of pedalling this could be an hour or more in the worst cases. Think about it because going out for 6 hours is different from pedalling for 6 hours.
Anyway, easy navigation, reliable trails and generally good fun were riding every trail at GT/Innerliethen. So GT Black, ride over to Innerliethen, do that, come back and ride GT red and then the blue for a laugh at the end. Works out about 65miles with an aweful lot of up (~3000m) and I find it enjoyable enough to do about once a year.
Similar theme at Kielder too. Lakesideway, Lonesome Pine, Bloody bush, over the border, Newcastleton, Back, Deadwater (about 50miles) then a lap of the blue and if you have time a blast round the lake.
I'm planning on doing a rather long endurance event next year
What's the event?
150km of snow fun in potentially -30 temperatures in the Arctic circle. Whats not to like!
It's my 35th the weekend of the race so wanting to do something memorable.
Keeping an eye on this thread....just the sort of info I am looking for... đ
Similar thing to what im looking at as well , kinda planning a devon C2C to do around april time đ
will keep an eye on this thread đ
I did a Wales coast to coast ride last year. Aberystwyth to Prestatyn over 4 days. Plenty of natural riding and passes a few trail centres on the way that you can choose to bypass if that's not your thing. Have a look at www.theedgecycleworks.com And click on the mtb routes at the bottom then scroll to the route description down the page. The descriptions and pictures should be enough to whet your appetite.
Right so I've started to get some plans together about what to hit and potentially when as it stands I'm looking at the following:-
Feb -
Mar -
Apr -
May -
June - Mountain Mayhem (24 Hour)
July - Lakeland Loop (200k)
Aug - Cairngorms Loop (300k)
Sept -
Oct - Bear Bones 200 (200k)
Nov -
Dec - Pennine Bridal Way section (100k)
Jan - Cairngorms Winter Loop (160k)
Feb - Rovaniemi 150 (150k)
Now there are still a couple of contenders but I thought I'd see if there's any obvious faults in the plan so far.
ie are some things better / worse at certain times of the year?
Any feedback would be tops. as well as more route recommendations!
Want to something Wales way as well. Sarn Helen for 4 - 5 days maybe...
A bit like jonba linking Mabie and Dalbeattie via Troston and Kinharvie forest roads, adding the coastal path makes for a 60ml or so ride. You could also link that to Ae and Drumlanrig without too much road work.
Sanquhar to Peebles on the Southern Upland Way would be a good 2 dayer ?
A mammoth ride you say? A world record indeed...
[url= http://www.davebuchanan.co.uk/ ]The Hobbits Tale[/url]
Just an idea but how about moving the Lakeland loop to June and doing 24/12 in July . Much more fun for 24 hours than Mayhem,and cheaper.
Not sure where you live, but just ride from there and aim north or south?
Also, from the top of the Pennine Way follow the St Cuthberts' Way, via the SUW onto the 'link' to the Clyde Walkway to the WHW.
http://www.scotlandsgreattrails.org.uk/
How about doing the StrathPuffer 24 hrs in January?
Gives you the opportunity to experience the effects of tiredness and subzero conditions combined, but with a nice bail out option.
(Don't go by the last 2 years weather - it's been very mild).
Pete - quite fancy 24/12. Only wanted to do mayhem as a few mates normally do it and I could Ming in with there camp to grab food / water / clothes and a bit of banter.
Live in Manchester. Want to be totally off road with little or no road use if poss. I'll be doing all this on a fatbike!
Welsh C2C. Really nice route.
Possible in a day. The route I did was 340km, ~8000m climbing.
Matt.. 340k in a day?!?!
Please tell me you did it over a more sensible amount of time!!
You got a route / log of the route you took?
WRT entries open in a few days. It's May 3rd-5th this year so takes care of the slot in May ... give you a good chance to try any kit out, etc.
Cairngorms loop in January could be somewhat troublesome. Low temperatures mean ice and snow plus you have little daylight.
I guess you are thinking of this as final race prep. Be aware that you'll likely be out there alone and unsupported.
You should probably start following Yeti Rides and Toni Lund's blogs if you aren't already. Both Finnish and I think Toni did the R150 last time.
What's the WRT?
scotroutes - yeh that's the aim. I know how bad it could be but that's the best chance I'll have of trying the environment t.
I'll use the earlier full loop to scout out a suitable route. Something not to far from civilisation and I'll not do a massive mileage. I'll use it as a last chance to test gear, tyres, gear ratios, setting up bivvy's in crap conditions etc.
Good shout Vorlich. I'll hunt them out tonight!
What's the WRT?
[url= http://www.bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/pages/WelshRideThing.html ]Welsh Ride Thing[/url]
[quote=gravitysucks ]
scotroutes - yeh that's the aim. I know how bad it could be but that's the best chance I'll have of trying the environment t.
I'll use the earlier full loop to scout out a suitable route. Something not to far from civilisation and I'll not do a massive mileage. I'll use it as a last chance to test gear, tyres, gear ratios, setting up bivvy's in crap conditions etc
Let me know when you're doing it. The very least I could do would be to be on "standby" đ
Matt.. 340k in a day?!?!
Please tell me you did it over a more sensible amount of time!!You got a route / log of the route you took?
I know 2 other people who have ridden under 24hrs now.
[url= http://www.acyclingteam.co.uk/welsh-coast-to-coast/ ]Blog write up[/url]
[url= http://www.acyclingteam.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Outdoor-Fitness-C2C-Wales.pdf ]Outdoor Fitness Article[/url]
North Pennines MTB Marathon, July 19th:
Had a great time doing a Cairngorms loop over 3 days ....
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/simon_r/sets/72157634621943428/ ]http://www.flickr.com/photos/simon_r/sets/72157634621943428/[/url]
Looking at a few options for a Lakes 3-dayer for this year ...
[url= http://www.gpsies.com/mapUser.do?username=SimonR ]http://www.gpsies.com/mapUser.do?username=SimonR[/url]
How about doing the StrathPuffer 24 hrs in January?
This actually looks like a really good option. Gear testing, snow, ice, -0 zero tempretures and I could even set a bivvy up next to my car to test sleeping etc with really easy bail out options!
Good call fella. Think I'll push Cairngorms winter and Pennine Bridal way back a month to squeeze this in.
gravitysucks - Member
"How about doing the StrathPuffer 24 hrs in January?"
This actually looks like a really good option. Gear testing, snow, ice, -0 zero tempretures and I could even set a bivvy up next to my car to test sleeping etc with really easy bail out options!...
That strikes me as the safest way to get some valuable experience.
Until you've been exhausted and hypothermic at the same time it's hard to recognise the symptoms, so it's handy to have someone around to tell you - by then you're too doolally to act rationally. The wet slushy conditions we get at most 'Puffers suck the heat out of you much faster than nice dry -20ÂșC stuff.
You might become a fan of big ugly mudguards too. đ
The next time you'll know when to take a feed/warmth break, or to stop - which is important when you're on your own.
Looks great Simon. Wanting to this myself in August. I'm thinking 3 days at the mo but to be honest the biggest unknown at the moment is what pace i'll be hitting on a fatbike!
Its hard to see over how many days i'll be doing these longer routes but I reckon the Feb - May rides will be a lot of experimenting and see how I get on. Should be able to set some definitive schedules up after that!
Manchester to Goole can be done on inland waterways with a bit of route finding preparation (which is all part of the enjoyment. You can get back by train.Its gonna be a slog though.
Epic - Yeh It'll be good to have the safety net around me. I'll likely still do the winter cairngorms route but keep it to a sensible level, mileage etc. I'll make sure Scotroutes is on standby as well!
The Puffer will be mint for pushing it though and seeing how i react and the warning signs for when I really should stop!
You might become a fan of big ugly mudguards too.
My brain's been trying to convince me for years. The tart in me remains defiant though!
Cairngorms Winter Loop (160k)
How well do you know the Cairngorms? I would stay well away from the Caringorms in the winter months unless you are an experienced mountaineer, even walking, let alone pushing a bike.
I would imagine the conditions in the Cairngorms would be more extreme than where your race would be ie they dont get winters that create nice rideable snow. You could be in deep powder one minute to unwalkable ice sheets the next, to slush the other. All this in 100mph winds and driving rain.
Cairngorms in winter = crampons and ice axe.... or no snow at all and cold and wet. Not really an ideal training ground if trying to get similar conditions as the race venue.
For Cairngorms in December, the limiting factor may be water levels in the rivers, rather than ice and snow. December is traditionally a 'changeable' month in weather terms, so you could get cold and dry, cold and wet, or just very wet indeed with rain and snowmelt combining to make river crossings like the Tilt, Geldie or Feshie potentially lethal.
However, knowing where the bothies and mountain shelters are and with a flexible attitude to route plans A, B & C throughout, you can do this reasonably safely. Comms will obviously be an issue in the extended remote sections and daylight too, with no better than 7 hours of daylight on a bright day and less if it's minging. Local knowledge will get you details of bothie locations, where to expect phone signals to return and the locations of remote but occupied cottages.
If the weather turns really sour on you at the start of this sort of winter trip, it is possible to pull together some properly large loops around say the Aviemore or Braemar trails, without crossing major rivers and staying within reasonable striking distance of both civilisation and phone signals. There are bothies with camping space alongside in both Feshie and in Rothiemurchus, so I'd suggest if you are going to plan a winter Cairngorm loop, start and finish at Aviemore or Newtonmore. This gives you the bad weather option of staying local but still getting a good thrash around and kit test.
Good shout guys. The Cairngorms winter loop is obviously in the planning stages. I'm a fairly competent climber so have total respect for the elements. I'll be doing the full loop in the summer to get an idea of the area and then look towards devising a plan for a suitable route.
At that stage I'll be shouting up here again to get some advice on potential routes.
August for the full Cairngorms Loop is a good shout. I did it in July last year and had as good weather as I could possibly expect in the Cairngorms. Dry underfoot, low rivers and no rain to speak of.
I wouldn't consider venturing into the Cairngorms alone in winter, especially not on a bike as you tend to be riding the valleys and not the ridges - perfect avalanche run-off in places.
