Pan Celtic Race / Adventure cycle 2019.

[landsurfer]

I have entered this event.
Feel free to shower me with conflicting advise on lightweight tents, sleeping bags and your experiences with this type of event.
I was part of the WIMPS band of brothers and sisters for our 2018 LEJOG. So i sort of have an idea of what i'm getting myself into.
My training for the LEJOG was compromised by child care ... ie no training ....
From a physical point of view i am working towards the following prep; 2K in my legs before the start (Jan to June) and a loss of 20kg in mass.
I have to achieve 60 miles a day to finish within the 14 day maximum, and i'm sure i can better that, but possibly not every day ...
So if you have any POSITIVE advice ... feel free to share it. The negatives loom large so lets stick with the positives.

[hondated]

I have entered this event.
Feel free to shower me with conflicting advise on lightweight tents, sleeping bags and your experiences with this type of event.
I was part of the WIMPS band of brothers and sisters for our 2018 LEJOG. So i sort of have an idea of what i'm getting myself into.
My training for the LEJOG was compromised by child care ... ie no training ....
From a physical point of view i am working towards the following prep; 2K in my legs before the start (Jan to June) and a loss of 20kg in mass.
I have to achieve 60 miles a day to finish within the 14 day maximum, and i'm sure i can better that, but possibly not every day ...
So if you have any POSITIVE advice ... feel free to share it. The negatives loom large so lets stick with the positives.

Ok here,s the first bit of positive advice you can do it and you know you can. You've clearly worked out your strategy to achieve your goal and I don't doubt the chart will soon be up on a wall plotting your daily progress.
And do not forget to keep us all updated on how training is going because we will all be waiting to learn how you did in 2019. Good Luck.

[landsurfer]

Strava ... it's all on Strava .... "If it's not on STRAVA it didn't happen" .....

[1982john]

Ah, that looks a really interesting race. So tempted!

Practice eating garage food and sleeping in bus shelters if my 4 years of following TCR on twitter is anything to go by.

Tent wise depends on budgets but you could try a tarp for ultralight and cheap.

[landsurfer]

Have an almost pavlovian response to the need to sleep, as a result of many years on guard and sentries and patrols in a previous existence ... i can sleep anywhere in seconds and make a good recovery in about 30 minutes.... ... i hope this super power will not fail me

[whoof]

I have entered this event.
...
From a physical point of view i am working towards the following prep; 2K in my legs before the start (Jan to June) and a loss of 20kg in mass.
.
So if you have any POSITIVE advice ... feel free to share it. The negatives loom large so lets stick with the positives.

On a positive note January is two weeks away. This gives you the opportunity to lose 2 kg by the end of the year and then only another 18 kg by June, rather than finding it's gone up to 22 kg when starting after new year.
Edit. I'm refusing to do it as it fails to go to Cornwall

[simonhill]

I have entered this event.

I have to achieve 60 miles a day to finish within the 14 day maximum, and i'm sure i can better that, but possibly not every day ...
.

Are you sure? I read that the course is 1440 miles. That is 100 miles per day. Edit, just seen the shorter route, reset this bit, but the rest still applies.

Nonetheless, given you are not flat out racing you have some very long days (daylight) to complete your daily distance. 8 to 10 hours in the saddle would see a very gentle pace - that's the way I would do it.

Re loosing weight, I reckon you could hang on to it and 'use' it once you start riding. I loose/use quite a few kgs when on a long hard tour.

What you need to practice is long back to back days.

[Vorpal]

Having done LEJoG, I'm sure that you know that more than half the battle will be in your own head, and preparation for that means at least as much as the physical part.

That said, having done LEJoG under the auspices of baby Riley, when the going gets rough, you can tell yourself that you did it with little training, and sleep deprived

As for light weight accomodation, you could try a bivvy bag? Or a hammock/bivvy bag?

I think that would be my choice.

Good luck & enjoy yourself.

[pwa]

Looking at some of those Welsh roads, I'm feeling tired and weary just remembering when I've done them in the past, and as they come towards the end of the challenge you will not have your freshest legs on. The Devil's Staircase is done "the easy way", except that there is no easy way. But long treks across Wales tend to mix tough sections with long easy bits, so you just have to be minded to suffer for twenty miles in the knowledge that you will then get a less difficult section where the going will be easier. How you cope with the dark moments of the soul is half the story.

[iandriver]

British Cycling have some training plans that might be of use to you, such as:
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowl ... -Builder-0

The upshot is just banging in the miles isn't the be all and end all. To really improve fitness, intervals on shorter rides can be a real winner.
Don't be afraid to listen to your body if you don't want to faff around with heart rate monitors. Big accelerations (say six strong pedals strokes from your normal cruising speed) then trying to stay on top of the gear for a while before having to ease off will give you a pretty good idea.

[landsurfer]

I have entered this event.
...
From a physical point of view i am working towards the following prep; 2K in my legs before the start (Jan to June) and a loss of 20kg in mass.
.
So if you have any POSITIVE advice ... feel free to share it. The negatives loom large so lets stick with the positives.

On a positive note January is two weeks away. This gives you the opportunity to lose 2 kg by the end of the year and then only another 18 kg by June, rather than finding it's gone up to 22 kg when starting after new year.
Edit. I'm refusing to do it as it fails to go to Cornwall

The long term plan is to go to Cornwall in following years ....and even an outpost of France at some point ... Personally the whole "Celtic" thing is not for me ... I'm British .... but the race / ride is attractive ....

[PH]

If you haven't already read it - The Long Distance Cyclists Handbook - would be a good start.
I've never done any race of any description, I do quite often fast tour, 100+ miles a day for 10 - 15 days. I think before you start training it'd be good to have a clear idea of the objective - race or tour. The little I know about training is that it's hard to train for speed and distance at the same time, so if all you do is long rides they won't necessarily make you faster. That's fine if you're treating it as a tour, less so if you want to do the best you possibly can, in which case pushing yourself hard on short rides and then increasing the distance might be the way to go. Good luck.

[PH]

Having done LEJoG, I'm sure that you know that more than half the battle will be in your own head, and preparation for that means at least as much as the physical part.

Even more so when the race rules are that you ride solo*, no drafting, no riding together chatting...

* unless entered as a pair

[pwa]

I have entered this event.
...
From a physical point of view i am working towards the following prep; 2K in my legs before the start (Jan to June) and a loss of 20kg in mass.
.
So if you have any POSITIVE advice ... feel free to share it. The negatives loom large so lets stick with the positives.

On a positive note January is two weeks away. This gives you the opportunity to lose 2 kg by the end of the year and then only another 18 kg by June, rather than finding it's gone up to 22 kg when starting after new year.
Edit. I'm refusing to do it as it fails to go to Cornwall

The long term plan is to go to Cornwall in following years ....and even an outpost of France at some point ... Personally the whole "Celtic" thing is not for me ... I'm British .... but the race / ride is attractive ....

Living in Wales, I find the idea of Celtic not being British amusing. When people refer to the ancient British that the Romans encountered they are largely talking about Celts, who remained in Britain in spite of successive influxes of Anglo Saxons, Vikings or whoever, and whose genetic influence passed down to most of us. You can't get any more British than that. What is this British that doesn't include Celtic? Or do you just mean non-UK Celtic?

I imagine Cornwall would be missed out simply because it is hard to include in a circuit without that circuit spending too much time on ships or on urban roads near Bristol that would detract from the remote feel of the ride. It is, after all, first and foremost a cycling challenge.

It's probably a mistake to call the event Pan Celtic because it obviously misses out lots of places where Celtic influence exists, including parts of mainland Europe.

[landsurfer]

I identify as male, heterosexual and British. I have the right to identify as such. Even though i am from a notionally Celtic place ..Ulster.