Amateur 150mi tour in memory of a friend. Tips appriciated.

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JT599
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Amateur 150mi tour in memory of a friend. Tips appriciated.

Post by JT599 »

I have signed up for the London-Surrey 100 sportive, for charity in memory of a great friend & young father of 2 who sadly passed away last year to cancer.

I was thinking of cycling to the event (from Nottingham, along NCN 6) to accomodation near the Olympic park. I'm excited at the prospect and would hope the tour down to the event would raise extra awareness. The distance is roughly 150miles.

My current experience is general commuting to and from work on a mountain bike, about 40miles a week. I've never ridden a road bike. The main purpose of my commute is for fitness, which is why I use an MTB. I've never ridden over 35miles, although the terrain I pick is pretty challenging. On a fairly flat tarmnac road, with knobbies my comfortable average speed is about 15mph.

Anyway, the bike is a 29er hardtail. I understand that putting on some slicks, upping the PSI and locking the front susspension would help.

The event is Sun 31st July. My thoughts are to aim to travel over 3/4 days to London staying in B&Bs along the way, and leave a couple of days rest before the event. Could this be too much on my body - 100 mile ride after cycling more than 150 miles in that week already? I would travel light with a rucksack.

Purchasing a road bike is an option, although I would feel more comfortable on my MTB.
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: Amateur 150mi tour in memory of a friend. Tips appriciat

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,

If you are leaving two days rest after cycling 100 miles over several days I see no problem
DONT lose weight over the 100 miles this is an indication you are not eating enough.
And water should be drank freely on the bike.
( I was out today with a 23 kg bike and over 2.5 hours cycling at 14 mph 11 C temp, I lost at least 2 kgs excluding what I drank, I drank 2 litres over 3 hrs so same weight in the end.........................)

Drink and eat normal off the bike but remember to drink and eat freely on the bike.
After a ride you should have an appetite, if not, you may well have not eaten enough and certainly not drank enough.
Nausea before ride and sluggishness means you did not recover well and skipped fluid & nutrition.
Don't try to over compensate drinking before ride.

15 mph is optimistic on knobblies for more than an hour.
Slicks will take you to 16.5 mph flat out so at reduced speed aim for to gain nothing if you are carrying extra weight and there are hills.
Road bike with moderate tread tyres will gain you an extra 1 - 1.5 mph over the best you can fit on the mtb, flat out pace over an hour.
I would not go for a different bike unless you have time to set up and adjust.............you have time plenty I see but realisticly unless you want to gain a medal on the sportif the cost of bike and unknown problems maybe its 50/50.
Bar ends on the MTB would help aero positioning and climbing hills.

Rest off bike every two hours at least and always carry emergency rations, the idea is not to eat the emg rations just because they are there.

Don't copy others you see you will have no idea on their speed and experience until they drop you.

Good luck.
Prudence is the key.

Ah.......................I see its a 29er so what I said applies it still wont be quite as quick as a road bike as positioning and weight affect the style also.
If you can do 15 mph in the hour on mixed terrain with knobblies you are fit enough it sounds.
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whoof
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Re: Amateur 150mi tour in memory of a friend. Tips appriciat

Post by whoof »

Between now and next July ride at the weekend and slowing increase the distance until you can comfortably ride 75 miles with about 4 weeks to go. Pacing: you are not riding a few miles to work but a hundred miles. Therefore set off at an easy pace, I would suggest one that feels a bit too slow. Don't attack hill like they are some challenge with a prize at the top just ride up using roughly the same effort as you are putting in on the flat, your legs will thank you for this in the final 1/4 of the event. If you are feeling good in the last 25 miles then you can up the pace. Starting slowly and finishing strongly feels a whole lot better than the other way around even if you were to take exactly the same time to do the ride. When you are riding at the weekend work out what food and drink you stomach gets on with. Many of these events have food stations bulging with cake, gels, sweets and sports drinks. This can be very sickly after 5-8 hours, I would carry something savoury (a sandwich, nuts etc) to eat in the first third of the event. Above all enjoy it.
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TrevA
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Re: Amateur 150mi tour in memory of a friend. Tips appriciat

Post by TrevA »

I wouldn't bother with NCN6 unless you have a burning desire to follow it. There are on road routes following quiet country lanes that Are more direct. The A6 runs from the East Mids down to London and I would plot a route which runs parallel to the A6, heading across the Vale of Belvoir then down through Melton and Oakham, Market Harborough.

Also, you've got time to train up for this ride. As well as your commute, get out at the Weekends if you can and work on increasing the number of miles that you do per week, working up to 150-200. Also, try extending your rides by a few miles per month, so that by May/ June next year you are able to ride 70-80 miles in a day.
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pwa
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Re: Amateur 150mi tour in memory of a friend. Tips appriciat

Post by pwa »

A 29er could be okay for road riding with the right tyres. Does it have (or could it take) a pannier rack to allow you to have baggage on the bike and not on your back?

You are going to need water and food as you go along.
Merry_Wanderer
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Re: Amateur 150mi tour in memory of a friend. Tips appriciat

Post by Merry_Wanderer »

I would suggest following parts of NCN6 but stick mostly with quiet roads as they will be easier to ride and give better views, access to cafes etc. Go for a slick/semi-slick tyre and lock out the suspension on your bike. I did most of my touring on a cheap 26" MTB
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Re: Amateur 150mi tour in memory of a friend. Tips appriciat

Post by Vorpal »

Your MTB should be fine. Something like a Schwalbe City Jet or Big Apple MTB tyres for road riding, and should be comfortable for long distances. Don't put too much air in them; run them harder than you would knobblies, but a little soft will be more comfortable without being overly detrimental to rolling resistance.

Also, if you can, fit a rear rack to your MTB and use panniers or a dry bag instead of a rucksack. Your back and shoulders will thank you :D
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mjr
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Re: Amateur 150mi tour in memory of a friend. Tips appriciat

Post by mjr »

TrevA wrote:I wouldn't bother with NCN6 unless you have a burning desire to follow it. There are on road routes following quiet country lanes that Are more direct. The A6 runs from the East Mids down to London and I would plot a route which runs parallel to the A6, heading across the Vale of Belvoir then down through Melton and Oakham, Market Harborough.

An MTB will handle anything NCN 6 will throw at it and the Market Harborough - Northampton section is a former railway which may be nicer than crossing the Welland valley on roads despite being a stone dust surface. I've just got memories of how tall the Harringworth Viaduct is! There's a few places where I think you could cut corners out of route 6 easily and I'd be inclined to turn east onto route 57 (or similar roads) once south of Luton, then 61 then 1 to reach the Olympic Park down the Lea Valley instead of crossing London.

I'd check what time you need to get around the London 100 in (is there a broom wagon?) and remember that average speeds usually drop as total distance increases. With a few days rest beforehand, it should be possible, even if it doesn't sound like my idea of fun. Hope you enjoy it, though, and let us know how it goes :)
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TrevA
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Re: Amateur 150mi tour in memory of a friend. Tips appriciat

Post by TrevA »

No qualms about the surface, it's just that NCN6 does meander about quite a bit, so it's not a very direct route. It goes from Nottingham to Leicester via Derby, which is 2 sides of a triangle. It's quite scenic and if that's what you want then fine, but it wouldn't be my choice for a route to London.
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foxyrider
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Re: Amateur 150mi tour in memory of a friend. Tips appriciat

Post by foxyrider »

i don't want to drop a spanner here but check the event rules regarding bikes - some have quite stringent restrictions.

You have bags of time to get distance fit, as others have said, try to get out once a week for a longer ride which will help with stamina and take things steady - pacing is an art best learnt early on!
Convention? what's that then?
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mjr
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Re: Amateur 150mi tour in memory of a friend. Tips appriciat

Post by mjr »

TrevA wrote:No qualms about the surface, it's just that NCN6 does meander about quite a bit, so it's not a very direct route. It goes from Nottingham to Leicester via Derby, which is 2 sides of a triangle. It's quite scenic and if that's what you want then fine, but it wouldn't be my choice for a route to London.

Good point: taking country lanes or route 64 (I think) makes more sense to Market Harborough. Between there and Luton, it's difficult to be much more direct without using some unpleasant roads.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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