Cycling UK Forum

bikepacker wrote:

thirdcrank wrote:

bikepacker wrote:On my 60th birthday in June 2003 I made a plan to cycle 100,000 miles in the next 10 years. Having done 95,818 of them as of today, my next years plans are geared to completing the target with a 70 mile ride on my 70th birthday. ...

On the theme of "make me jealous," this is the one that struck a chord with me. It was in 2004 - a few months short of my 60th birthday that I was diagnosed with heart disease. It was on a hilly ride in the Dales, reconnoitring the next multi-chevron ride, that I decided I better see the doctor about the chest pains I was getting riding up big hills.

My main reason for posting this is to say to anybody with ambitions of this type is don't find reasons to put things off. I know that people have all manner of commitments - having to work to earn a living being high on the list for many people - and I'm not suggesting they should abandon their responsibilities, but you never know what's arouind the corner.

Then, congratulations to bikepacker and good luck with the home straight. If I can diffidently offer a bit of advice to somebody who has done it where I didn't, don't concentrate to much on the big 70. Set your goals now for the next decade or whatever. Everybody is different of course, but if you at all like me, the counting down will not achieve much, but on birthday +1, you won't know what to do next.

Good luck to everybody with their plans and gang warily.

Thanks for the supportive posting. I do have plans for after 70 and hopefully like some carry on cycling into my 90s.

Wow, just done the maths, thats say 30 miles a day, nearly every day for 10 years. How did you manage it? I am just staggered(well jealous really) by that sort of mileage. Now I like my bike and try to get out as often as I can (read 4 or 5 days a week) but if I had to commit to that I think divorce may be mentioned.

BeeKeeper wrote:What makes me jealous of bikepacker's 100k target is the diligence it must require to actually record every mile done.

I keep a spreadsheet on my laptop. The file starts in 1998, but I had paper records before that. I've also recently started using www.mycyclinglog.com. All miles recorded using my various Sigma Sport computers.

I have been retired for all that time so have no work commitment. When at home I try to do a minimum of 20 miles every day (today I have done 25 and may go out again this afternoon) and the additional is when I am touring or longer summer rides. For the first 3 years before an illness debilitated her, my wife did most of the miles with me, now recovered she does almost as many at home but does not tour with me as much.

I do keep a log of milage originally it was done on a spreadsheet but I now keep a record in my notebooks and diary.

This thread reminds me of the simple fact that bicycle touring - wherever it may be, over whatever distance and at whatever age - is exciting. Here's to all the rides planned in 2013! *lifts a glass*

OP - your trip around southern England with the Good Pub Guide (might I also suggest the Camra Good Beer Guide?) sounds superb. You will have a fantastic time, I'm sure.

For myself I am hoping a tour of Shikoku Island in Japan may finally lay to rest a long held dream.

Happy cycling everyone. Must go now, I've just tipped sherry down my front.

Ellie Bennett

EllieMay968 wrote:This thread reminds me of the simple fact that bicycle touring - wherever it may be, over whatever distance and at whatever age - is exciting. Here's to all the rides planned in 2013! *lifts a glass*

Ellie Bennett

Nearly at the end of your book, Ellie, and really enjoyed it! Hope you have a great trip in Japan.

Thanks Phil. Glad you liked the book.

phil parker wrote:Nearly at the end of your book, Ellie, and really enjoyed it! Hope you have a great trip in Japan.

Great comment on Ellies book Phil and its a book I had missed so I have just ordered it.

I'm thinking cycle to Harwick then ferry across to the Hook of Holland.
Follow coast north to Hirtshals.
Ferry to Iceland.
It's around 2k miles around Iceland following the coast, so that's a couple of months on the road.
Reverse route home.

hondated wrote:Great comment on Ellies book Phil and its a book I had missed so I have just ordered it.

I wouldn't want to embarrass Ellie with unwanted attention or a false sense of praise (as she is also a forumite!), but I would recommend the book to anyone, cyclists and non-cyclists alike, it reminds me of when I first read a Bill Bryson book, over 20 years ago, that contained a mixture of fact and humour in an easy flowing prose...and of course so different from how I do my cycle tours, so I don't have to compare anything, just smile

Well done for ordering a copy - you'll definitely enjoy it!

I'm jealous..
But, its the places, people, scenery and atmosphere that interest me not mileage or achievement, that's for others but not for me.

Al

As a bit of a foot note to bikepacker's achievement averaging 10,000 miles a year for ten years, apart from all the other things like being able to ride a bike, I'll suggest the two main things are the time and the inclination. The main point is that they often don't exist together. eg Things like studying, working and family commitments limit spare time in many peoples lives, but when retirement arrives, there may not be the inclination to ride regularly. In my own case, our younger son started work full-time in 1990 when he left school. Around that time my wife also returned to full-time work. Although I had been a pretty consistent commuter, I'd always had the car as a Plan B. (Modern public transport is useless for shift workers.) That meant I had to be even more consistent as a commuter. I also used my bike for nearly all my solo travel, again because my wife had the car. With most of my days off falling when my wife was at work, that meant I could get in at least one decent (100+ mile) ride very week, sometimes more. I also had several familiar rides of about 60 miles which I could do on a Sunday morning - arriving at work for a 2pm start at 1-30pm so I could have a shower and get changed. Then a ride home at 10pm, of course. So, a typical 100 miles utility riding with a hundred miles of leisure and that's 10,000 a year. With retirement came the spare time to do some bigger one-day rides, but without the imperative of commuting that side inevitably dropped off, even though I bought a shopping bike. I'm no fair weather rider but setting off for a pleasure ride in heavy rain isn't my idea of pleasure. Cycle campaigning upped the mileage a bit, because I used to ride to look at every road development up for consideration, but that's not the same as riding to work 20 or more days a month. Perhaps touring for weeks at a time restores some of the imperative.

I've never bothered with mileage charts except as a teenager I'd start the New Year doing the one printed in the comic but it never lasted beyond January.

So, that's why I think bikepacker's achievement is notable. He's grasped the opportunity rather than just thinking about it.

phil parker wrote:I wouldn't want to embarrass Ellie with unwanted attention or a false sense of praise (as she is also a forumite!), but I would recommend the book to anyone...

What is it called? An unnamed book by an unnamed author is a bit difficult to track down

dodger wrote:All this is making my feet itch. But the choices are endless and all the tours mentioned sound good.
Been planning to follow the Pilgrim Trail to Santiago in N Spain for several years - think this is the year. Setting off from Cornwall in May, probably, to cycle/camp through France, over the Pyrenees at St Jean Pied de Port and across Northern Spain to Santiago and then, finally, Finisterra.
Back to Santander by train and from there, Plymouth and home.
About 1000miles. I'm always tempted to put it in kilometres; 1650 Km sounds somewhat more impressive somehow!

Hi Dodger - interested in your route. I'm currently planning a 2014 ride from Dumfries to Morocco and plan to cross the Pyrenees in the north. Is there any reason for you crossing at St Jean rather than on the coast? Also, does anyone have any experience of campsites in Tangiers?

LollyKat wrote:What is it called? An unnamed book by an unnamed author is a bit difficult to track down

It didn't stop Hondated tracking it down?

It's Mud, Sweat & Gears by Ellie Bennett! Land's End to John O'Groats via the pub!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mud-Sweat-Gears-Cycling-oGroats/dp/1849532206

I enjoyed 'Mud, Sweat and Gears' too and am looking to put Al's wheels to good use on my OH's (Ruth) bike this year. Ruth started riding on a Brompton in Jan this year and we've since had a lot of fun days of around 25 miles out in the UK, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium.

For 2013 we will be going to Holland for a week and doing some day trips then in May we're doing a mini-tour for 2 and a bit days on the Isle of Wight and if she enjoys that, the Devon C2C in August. I'm hoping if I make the rides fun (we enjoy the cakes and tea stops) then she'll want to do longer trips in 2014 (and beyond!). Are there any B&B's with hot-tubs on the Devon C2C route?