Cycling UK Forum

hi there, i'm currently doing my DofE gold, after having walked bronze and silver (literally and metaphorically) it seemed that gold was going to be more challenging, and being a cyclist through and through, it seemed like the best way to do it. unfortunately our DofE coordinator is out of his comfort zone with me biking it, so i have to go elsewhere for it.
right, to the point. my family and i have toured on bikes many times in the summer holidays, through France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Denmark. and i am primarily a mountain biker, so doing Gold on a bike seems simple in my mind. provided you use a decent expedition bike, or a cyclocross. of sorts. the trails aren't the hard part, you just need to teach the people how to ride properly, not just pushing the pedals. the trails couldn't be too difficult or anything though, so a freeride trail is out of the question, and a grade 3 climb also. it just needs a little more thought than walking. in my opinion it would be reasonable to ride between 30 and 40 miles each day, as it's a whole day riding, at a good pace, but others might want to do slightly less.
in conclusion, it's not too difficult, take road touring, and adapt it to be a bit tougher, think about your route carefully (forest tracks, bridleways, byways) and from there it's pretty much the same.