so i want to be fit to do 100 miles by August

The only 100mile pure off road rides I ever did were the Kielder 100. You don’t need to hit 100 miles in training provided you are working – it is about time and effort not miles exactly.

There is definately a bus stop at Kielder, I’ve seen the bus!

Also I’ve done it once on flats and once on spds. Spds everytime for me but you need to be used to them. Shifting your foot position and holding it there with spds for one ride of 100 miles is going to lead to a world of cramp.

Yeah the bus comes up to the Castle which is why we ask for the turning circle to be kept clear, it runs from Hexham.

If I remember rightly if you were doing the 100 and pulled out at 50 it didn’t get counted as your timing chip showed you’d entered the 100.

SS gearing wise I was going to run 36:18 on a 29er.

Yes I’ll ne there, I’m another one who has completed all the events so far. I have never done 100miles on an mtb out of an event and certainly don’t clock up 300-400miles a week, I wouldn’t have time! The biggest weeks I have are about 250miles and that will mainly be road commuting.

The biggest thing is being comfortable on your bike for the time and knowing what works for you.

.

Whats the camping like?

in a word, basic
Book yourself a bunk at the [on-site] YHA – if there’s any left[/quote]

I’ll take spare pads pants and lube

😆

All good advice

Finished it in 2011. Less than 10% of my training was on a mountain bike, and biggest MTB ride was about 60 miles. 300-400 miles a week training is crazy talk unless you are after sub 7 hours or something.

I’ve toyed with the idea of doing the Kielder 100 for the last 2 years but never done it. I did the etape du dales 2 years ago and the Fred last year. They both nearly killed me and I just don’t see how to make the necessary step up in fitness.
Yesterday I did three laps at Gisburn in an attempt to quantify what I could do. I managed a pitiful 3 laps in the afternoon and was gubbed. I guess Kielder is faster going, but to only manage 1/3 of the distance suggests it’s a non starter.
I’ve done some reasonably long rides like 4 laps at Degla or Beast, Dragons Back, RedBull and Afon at CyB but even that was only 105km, which is nowhere near 100 miles.

Is it possible for punters to do the Kielder or is it just for the elite?

Kielder isn’t harder than the Whitton. If you did that then you’ll be fine.

Someone asked about public transport from Carlisle. I live fairly locally and used to work in Kielder – the First Buses X95 will take you from just outside the Carlisle train station to Canonbie (just over the border) which is fairly close to Kielder. There’s also a small mini bus (Anderson’s Coaches I think) that runs to Newcastleton – closer than Canonbie. I think in both cases you might have issues with getting bikes on board – especially the coach to Newcastleton as it’s not a big bus.

(I was refused entry onto the x95 having just bought a dh bike and had to bike it 25 miles home. I think it comes down to the driver’s choice and we all know how much they enjoy the power of being able to say NO)

I’m not aware of any public transport that runs into Kielder but could be wrong

That was me. Thanks for the info, I will either convince someone else to do it or hire a car in newcastle or carlisle. Got the go ahead for the weekend away from the wife so not letting a silly thing like transport get in the way!

Kielder isn’t harder than the Whitton. If you did that then you’ll be fine.

I don’t mean to be argumentative, but how can it be? I’ve done a little bit of road biking and a fair bit off road and the off road always feels around twice as much effort as on road. I just can’t see how riding on trails can be any easier than tarmac, unless of course the height gain is much less…

Genuinely interested in your response, tell me more.

Transport from Hexham might be better the bus runs to the Castle.

Kielder vs Fred

I spose the Fred is 12 miles longer, but even then…

It’s only subjective obviously, but I think that the Whitton is more painful, whereas Kielder is slower and takes longer, but that means that your heart isn’t bursting quite so readily out of your chest.

And Hardknott at the 100 mile mark is just twisted.

Maybe it was because Kielder had the enforced natural breaks provided by pad replacements.

Is it possible for punters to do the Kielder or is it just for the elite?

Yes anyone can do it. Not win it, but do it. THe last men in are usually around the 14hr mark so it’s harldy quick at the back, just a test of survival. It’s silly-quick at the front, XC-race pace for 8hrs!
Took me over 10 and I was suffering a bit at the end.

Completed Kielder 100 last year in 13.5hrs. Hardest day ever on a bike. I’ve done many 100+ mile road sportives here and in the alps, often in reasonable times (6-7hrs) but these were nothing compared to the kielder. I ride a mix of road, mtb and time trials. Some points to think about and prepare for:

Think about time on the bike not distance. Can you ride for 10-14hrs ?
This duration off road is hard on your body and bike. I experienced new aches and pains….wore out chain, cassette, jockey wheels and brake pads in last years dry event.

Pacing and feeding will make a huge difference to your ability to finish in a good time. If you bonk like I did you’ll slow down to a miserable mind over matter crawl.
You will experience new lows, but if can keep it together mentally and persist you will be amazed at how far you can push your body.
Despite my comments it was a great event and i intend to enter again this year aiming for sub 12hrs.

I spose the Fred is 12 miles longer, but even then…

strangely enough i garmined kielder @ 100 miles exactly

kielder

and fred at 109 miles

fred

Whats tougher, kielder by a long shot. Hardnott @ 100 was o.k., bit hard 3/4 way up but wrynose was tougher i think.

You could use the drop bag facility to leave a spare top/gloves if the weather is bad. Some guys really suffered with cold the year it was bad. All the bags are taken back to the finish area for you to collect. Good luck R 😀

Hello Haggis , I’ve done it twice , dry & very wet.
Ride as much as you can & as many long rides as you can ,
if you’re offshore , batter yourself when you’re home and “rest” at work maybe?
I entered in December so did numerous 100k “challenges” in the months leading up to it.If you’re reasonably fit then its a very doable challenge but more of a mental one. The second time i trained for it I commuted on very tired legs , just to teach myself to keep pedalling under duress!ha.
There is a mph/cut off time chart which can prove useful on the day & as a training aid. Miketually off of here made it , if you search you’ll find it.
I didn’t camp – B&B for me , once in the village ,which was great(lie in)and once about 25 minutes away.This meant a very early get up to get to the start.
Drop bags, a mixture of snacks – savoury & sweet plus gels, hydration tablets & ibuprofen for me. ( the last drop bag was just gels!! I couldn’t face food by then!).If it has rained recently ,or is going to ,PRE-bedded in brake pads will be required.Oh ,and don’t forget a tool to push your pistons back in!!
If you use spd’s ,use them – it’s not a technical ride.
It’s an excellent challenge , I’m sure there’s something more extreme if you want it , but for an average person , fair play for having a go IMO. I loved it. missed last year due to baby arriving a month before ,would like to do this but unlikely to be able to get the miles in. 🙁
Best of luck to you.

This is how we found it….Never again until next time.

A bit tongue in cheek but don’t under estimate how tough a day your going to experience. 🙂

Cheers lads, am still taking notes here and my list of things to do/get is growing lol

Dont know if im being really daft or not but ive entered the Tour De Ben Nevis the following weekend as well 😆

Good luck with that mate.

Like many others I tried it in 2011 and failed (missed the 78 mile cut off by 20 mins), mainly due to disk pad problems (with a huge element of incompetence), but also suffered chain suck throughout.

Finished last year (in under 12 hours) and really enjoyed it. Not sure I’ll do it again, as I found the training made me a bit too intense and grumpy!

My tips:
Use the bag drops, but only for a few things (i.e. a couple of packets of shot blocks and a flapjack). Dont have too much of the same thing.
Carry several spare pairs of brake pads, but make sure you bed them in first, and get used to changing them.
Carry a sock – it’s great for cleaning your chain – and some lube (don’t rely on the tech stations – they ran out quickly in 2011)
Try to get a good start – the route crosses back on itself after 6 miles and this causes a jam on the first real climb
Carry midge repellant – they were fine for most of last year, but when I punctured at 95 miles I got eaten alive

I camped both years – I don’t think I’d get out of bed if I was anywhere cosy!

Another virgin here (for the event – honest).

Where can I find out detail about the bag drops. I have gathered the concept from the thread but could do with knowing the detail behind it.

Regards!

I did it 2011, didn’t have much of a clue really, over packed my camelbak, so carrying too much weight, first mistake, second mistake only had one spare set of pads,third mistake almost got hypothermia changing said pads at 75mile point. Finished 44th in 10:53hrs, rigid SS with 32:18 ratio, perfect for me, I can’t push anything bigger, non of the hills were that steep, its just milesssss

3 drop points I think, can’t remember distances, just remember them having loads at the last station 😆
chris-noble-mtb.blogspot.com/

Bag drops and other info can be found here.

http://www.sip-events.co.uk/kielder-riderinfo.html

See you there

Does anyone know how technical the riding on this is?
Starting to think about a training plan and wondered if I need to improve skills.
Ridden the xc trail at cwmcarn, the west highland way and a lot of the surrey hills but is there anything particularly tricky I need to start planning for?

Not very technical at all. There is the odd steep grass slope and off camber bit. Plus some trail centre blue/red stuff. Most is fire road though.

Not very technical – some sections of red, but generally blue or fire road.

I do remember one very steep grassy descent – I think most people walked down in the rain in 2011, and those who tried to ride it seemed to regret it (though providing much needed light relief!) – but it was fine last year

Might be up for this.

How much of the course is fire-road/triple track slog?

How much of the course is fire-road/triple track slog?

Lots, probably 80%+.

To add to the other suggestions of training. If you live in the south, if you can crack the South Downs in around 12hrs then you will be able to do Kielder. The weather will be more grim and bike more prone to mechanicals, but mentally if you can crack the SDW in a day then you can do Kielder.

Where mind goes the body follows and all that…

lol I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do SDW in 12! SDW seems the best benchmark we have down here tho. Maybe I’ll do the K50.

For comparison I did the SDW in 11h 15m (single speed) two weeks before the K100 2011.

I finished Kielder in 2011 in 12h 59m (single speed again).

I made it to the last cutoff (78 miles) with only 2 minutes to spare. But this mainly due to changing pads.

How viable on SS jimmers? (either?) Did you use a lower than normal gearing?

It’s doable on an SS if you are used to it. If you ride with gears then I would say you need a few months getting used to SS. Especially as it’s uses slightly different muscle groups (especially honking up a hill). Which can quickly tire over a long ride.

IIRC I only walked up a couple of climbs in Newcastleston on the 7stanes routes. But then everyone was walking because it was ankle deep mud.

I used a 32:17 (26er) ratio. You could drop to a 32:18 (26er) and still be ok. There aren’t many flat bits and as long you keep spinning you will be fine.

100 rpm with a 32:18 is about 20 – 22 kmh which is 12 – 13 mph. My avg speed was around 8 – 9 mph by comparison for the whole ride.

I’m used to SS, but for 20 miles not 100! Guess I better go try the SDW.