My old man's 60'th is coming up this year, as a bit of a surprise I'm considering organizing a bit of a tour or him in/around the WW1 battle fields of northern France/Belgium, something I know he's quite interested in...
It's only a vague idea at the minute, my main concern before I start any planning is when sort of daily mileage I can reasonably expect to squeeze out of a semi retired 60 year old teacher who probably clocks up about 20ish miles a week of on and off road cycling, a bit of walking (but not a huge amount more excerise) and still have him able to enjoy the trip...
Any older chaps and/or friends there of who can estimate a sensible daily mileage... Anyone done a similar trip?
My 2p worth - build in plenty of flexibikity - short basic routes each day with side excursions possible.
40 miles a day sounds like a good number but 60 should be possible as well. 40 easy 60 might be a bit like hard work
10 mph on road is nothing for speed - and 6 hrs riding gives you 60 miles
60 is the new 40 🙂
He sounds fit enough. No reason to worry. Just ride until the day is done rather than draw up a schedule.
Start out at Ypres, the Flanders Field museum is excellent, and there is a signposted bike route around most of the important cemetaries and battlefields.
I'd choose a base, Gent would be my favourite, then take a ride down the canal to Oudenaarde and back; if you go on a Wednesday evening, you can watch or jump on the vets mad chain gang..
Ride out to Aalst, go in Van Eyck sport, the best bike shop in Belgium.
Riding in Belgium is easy, there's always another town or village around the corner to stop if you want to.
Get a local paper and check out the races, then ride out to see one.
Cheers Crickey that sounds like the kind of thing I had in mind...
I may have to investigate some guides, and having a Base rather than working our way around a route might be better, simply to reduce the amount of stuff we're lugging point to point, plus I think I’m probably going to be limited to just 1 week/10 days perhaps, thinking about available leave/schedules, handy pointers though, cheers…
I object to the idea that such an age requires any kind of mollycoddling!
Also check out the train services - it's easy to take bikes on many, so you could train out & ride back to a base or vice versa
I object to the idea that such an age requires any kind of mollycoddling!
I agree, but then you know your dad best.
I agree, but then you know your dad best.
?? I meant [b]I'll[/b] be 60 in 3 years and 2 weeks 🙂
?? I meant I'll be 60 in 3 years and 2 weeks
I mean't to say [b]he[/b] knows his dad best. But then I am nearly 60 so I can put it down to a "senior moment"
I object to the idea that such an age requires any kind of mollycoddling!
I’m not “mollycoddling” I’m trying to be realistic about what he can do, we will have a few daily goals to achieve (and most likely a ferry/Train to catch to at the end of the trip)…
I’m not really worried specifically about his age so much as his general condition, age is a factor as are his general levels of activity and diet, which aren’t bad compared to many of my Dads peers but still, I want him to enjoy the trip, so beasting him 80 miles in a day when he’s meant to be on a gentle tour isn’t really on…
I reckon he’ll do 40 comfortably in a day, 60 would be OK, on the odd day, but we do have to work in some sight seeing and museums so allowing time for those is the key and would probably reduce our mileage, plus neither of us has done much cycle touring, so who knows, I don’t want too rigid an itinerary as I think we could well need a bit of a buffer to allow for excursions and possible lack of pace…
100 is easy if you break it up and avoid rigid schedules, ie stop every time you see a decent cafe/pub every hour or so.
Biggest concern is chafe on old skin in sensitive areas.