Is undertaking the TransAtlanticWay a completely unrealistic & foolish idea for me?

[crazydave789]

just do it, you have a basic fitness already which should be enough as you will improve as you go along. you will still get there it just might take an hour longer but life isn't a race.

[Ash28]

How old are the kids? My daughter has just turned 13 and won’t want to speak to me for about 9 years let alone go on holiday with me. Things do change as they get older.The last attempt at a family holiday was a disaster which has given me the excuse to go cycling on my own from now on.

[eileithyia]

I was thinking similar to above, they are young for such a short time, soon they will not want to be holidaying with you..... enjoy your time with them now and do the challenge when 50? Utilise the static holiday time to introduce them to cycling to places, the beach, local shops, slightly further afield. You never know even your wife might be tempted by some shorter trips on the bike... fitting in holidays with work and school becomes a bit of a nightmare, I must admit we used to take our son touring outside of school holidays when he was in primary school... but in those days no one was fined and cost was never the excuse (wild camping in ireland, Scotland or Poland costs the same whatever the time of year), juggling and getting holiday time off around work colleagues in one of the highest pressure times of the year was a big issue...

[meic]

and I need to search for an event which is shorter and less competitive to better meet my abilities and less racy approach.

I cant think of a better start than picking out a 100k Audax in the nearer future and a 200k Audax as a target for sometime next year.
http://www.aukweb.net/events/?From=19%2 ... a=&Region=

I think that more rides will be added to that Audax calender as time passes.

[John_S]

Hi Ash28,

My kids are 4 and 2 and my son has just started school. We do do cycling activities together as for example we'll cycle to the local parks, leisure centre and shops with me, my wife and son cycling plus my daughter in the trailer. Also my daughter is really starting to get the hang of her balance bike. Following on from what you've mentioned and speaking to family & friends I do appreciate that they're not young for long and there will come a time when your kids will no longer be wanting to spend lots of time with their parents. I certainly don't want to make a habit of disappearing off on my own whilst the kids are young and missing out on time together as a family. It's partly my wife who is encouraging me to undertake some sort of cycling challenge when I get to 40 because it's something I've always thought about doing without having got to actually doing it. I'm just trying to plan ahead so that if I undertake such a challenge when I hit 40 I'm not woefully unprepared for it.

Hi eileithyia, thanks for your message and I definitely do intend to make the most of family time on both weekends and the school holidays at the static caravan and that will definitely involve cycling as a family. My wife will also happily go on short cycling journeys it's just that for her personally long distance cycling doesn't hold any interest. She is however hoping to run a marathon in the near future which I admire her for & I'll support her as best I can but that's something which for me personally holds no interest and so our long distance ambitions do fork in different directions. Our son has only just started school for the first time and so we've only just been introduced into the world of having to very carefully plan ahead and manage our number of days holiday from work with covering school holiday time as well as managing to have enough time to take family holidays as well and putting up with the price hikes. But rest assured I'm doing my best not to let the years whilst our kids are young pass me by and the plan to go off on my own for a challenge when I'm 40 will be a bit of a one off. That is until I guess the kids are older and not wanting to spend as much time with you which will free you up again.

Hi meic, I've really enjoyed the audax rides that I've done so far and so I'll definitely be signing up to more next year! To date I've not done many but that's because I don't want to drive to the start of one and also especially whilst the kids are young I want to spend my weekends with them. So far I've done three and they've all been approximately 110km but I always ride to the start and home afterwards. The last one I did involved about a 39 mile round trip to get there and back so that's about 60km which in effect made that ride 170km and it was fine. Next year I think I'll be aiming either to sign up to say 200km audax rides that are still close enough for me to relatively easily cycle to the start and finish. Or I'll look at audax rides that are further afield from where I live and sign up to 100km rides but they'll involve a longer ride to & from the event so I'm still keeping the overall distance up.

Thanks again for all of the replies and advice.

John

[Username]

Hi All,

I've been a cyclist for most of my life. My mum has never driven and she used to take me around on the back of her bike before I started cycling myself to school etc. from about the age of 7. I grew up in Suffolk and when I was a teenager I would ride for fun on the weekends and during the school hol etc etc

John

What's the TransAtlanticWay?

[GasPipeWarrior]

Hi All,

I've been a cyclist for most of my life. My mum has never driven and she used to take me around on the back of her bike before I started cycling myself to school etc. from about the age of 7. I grew up in Suffolk and when I was a teenager I would ride for fun on the weekends and during the school hol etc etc

John

What's the TransAtlanticWay?

The Wild Atlantic Way ruined.

Fair play if someone insists on sprinting all the way down the West Coast, but there'd be more enjoyment taking the time to enjoy the views, the places along the way, and the craic.

[sbcoombs]

John,
You need to decide what is important in your ride and how long you have.
I’m doing LEJOG and Tonino Nice next year. Very different rides. For me an E2E is something I always wanted to do. TNR on the other hand just ticks all my boxes. The off road can be done on a CX bike, as this is what most appear to use. It is more road and gravel than anything technical. Having ridden both MTB and road through the alps, I know this will be fantastic. Doing it self supported will just add to the enjoyment.
TAW is a race where limited sleep and high daily miles is the norm. The weather could also be interesting. There are many other UK rides to be considered. You just need to determine your timescales and priorities.



I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my wobbly bog brush using hovercraft full of eels

[chocjohn9]

Instead of racing it next year, you could sign up for the audax version in 2020.
http://www.wawaudax.com/
It's 300kms per day for 7 days.

Fitness wise, I am about your age and I've been cycling for 20 years. 60-70 miles at the weekend and for 5 years I have commuted 8 miles each way. I got into audax riding about 6 years ago and thought I'd give London-Edinburgh-London a go. I completed it, having done 9 audax rides this year 6x200, 2x300 and 1x600 by way of practice. I came to the conclusion that the actual cycling bit is only one element. It was just as much about sleep management, what is in between the ears and mechanicals plus a bit of luck than anything else.

As for the family aspect, I plan on doing the WAW Audax. My wife and kids will be at the start and end and in the car for moments in between. They are doing it too.... sight seeing!

[mjr]

[...] I've also never done any cycle racing or club riding because for me although cycling is a great passion of mine for some reason I just never got involved in the organised sport/competitive side of cycling. [...] But it's not something I do very often at all because I work long hours and I have two young kids at home and so weekends are dedicated to family time.

There are non-competitive cycling groups in Norfolk too, but at this time of year, apart from a few short set pieces like a Christmas lights ride, that's riding mostly at weekends (KLWNBUG, for example) or during the working day (Norfolk CTC). But if you can get some time off other than audaxing, both of those groups contain people who have done a wide range of long tours and challenges and would be happy to talk kit and so on. Some may well be riding touring bikes this time of year, especially on rides of 50 miles or less (heck, I may well be riding a full-metal-guard roadster if it's 40ish...)

[John_S]

Hi chocjohn9,

Many thanks for your message and the WAW Audax sounds absolutely fantastic! I've just looked at the website and I can't work out whether it's already fully subscribed or not. However if it is possible to enter this event would coincide perfectly with me turning 40 in 2020. Thank you for your tip putting me onto this which is much appreciated!

Hi mjr,

Thank you for the info about Norfolk rides which is very helpful.

Cheers all,

John

[chocjohn9]

Hello John
I went through the same sort of questioning process when I looked at the website! Basically, it was written for the 2016 event, which is why it is stating places are taken/closed but in the FAQ part, there's just a little note to say it will be undated for the 2020 event.... so you have time. I emailed and received a friendly and quick reply, although I'm sure that has guaranteed my nothing!

From memory, the organisers are keen that you have done another long event beforehand. I get the impression it's quite "rustic" and they don't want the hassle of novices turning up. Fair enough. If you would like to do a longish, rustic event, by way of proof and training, then I'd suggest BOB - Borders of Belgium. It's 1000kms and yes, you have guessed it, it follows the border/sea. A mix of flat and hilly. Always windy. Organiser is a great guy. It runs every other year, the next one is September 2018. I'm doing this because I just can not bring myself to enter PBP - it's not my style!

See you on the road then! John

[gloomyandy]

Just a thought, but don't people say that 50 is the new 40! Maybe targeting something like this for when you are 50 would ease things with your family etc?

The route looks fantastic, but personally I'd want to ride it without time pressures and probably without a large bunch of others riding it at the same time, but that's just me!

[Racingt]

This is not a cycling issue, it’s a time away from the family issue. I know, been there! My suggestion is to try and get one five day weekend a year to yourself, say July, drive to the Pyrenees (easy in a long days drive form Cambridge), cycle three days in epic scenery, then drive home. When the children reach 13/14, take them and build fantastic memories.
This keeps the family happy, you happy, and the Transatlantic way will still be there when family have grown up and left.
Just my suggestion, based on personal experience. Be patient!