May / June 2017

[Newbiecyclist]

Hi all,

Sooo, I'm a completely newbie cyclist. When I mean completely. I mean I have literally never rode more than 5 miles on a mountain bike whilst commuting to work... LOL.

I have been wanting to do something really challenging for Cancer Research for a long time now. It was always going to be fitness / stamina / endurance related to give myself something to train towards. My research and searching for ideas threw up hundreds of options. But I always find myself coming back to this. So here goes. I'm still in the very earliest stages of planning (I don't even have a bike yet)! So I have a million questions, some of which I have read a little about and some of which I haven't yet. If anybody could help me out with any of these it would be GREATLY appreciated.

A little about me. I'm 26 (27 in 2 months) I'm a little overweight and I'm quite a large guy. 5ft 11. 92kg at present (I plan to lose a good few kg before taking on the challenge). I am of an OK fitness level. I have played amateur sports on and off over the years. But I am by no means an athlete and running any longer than a couple of miles is a real challenge at present. So I suspect cycling to be the same. I have no strict time scale. I have 26 days off from work the 25th May until my wedding day on 17th June. So it's not an issue if the challenge takes longer than originally anticipated. Are any casual (slow!!) cyclists planning on taking on the challenge around this time???!

I would like to ride LE to JO on a scenic route. Avoiding traffic where possible. I have found a few interesting routes that I may use as a base already. I would like to complete the challenge as unsupported as possible. Carrying all of my own gear (One man tent, Sleeping bag, Repair kit etc etc.) but I think I am going to stay in actual campsites, rather than wild. Purely due to water facilities to wash my cycle clothes, wash myself, etc.

1. Firstly, is it possible?! Can a pretty unfit, overweight lad train from absolute zero cycling experience to banging out 50-70 miles per day consistantly for 12 - 20 days?! Including all of the climbs that I will inevitably face?!

2. Power. How do people who have completed this challenge unsupported charge their GPS / phone? Or is it a case of not.. only using maps/compass?

3. Bike. I'm thinking that I want a hybrid bike. One that is suitable for both roads and the odd unbeaten track... thoughts? I know preference is key, but any specific pointers would be great.

4. camping essentials: other than a small tent, roll matt and a sleeping bag. What else do I need?

5. My plans with regards to day to day are to stop at a shop / cafe / restaurant just once per day. Eating there and then and stocking up 2 meals worth of food to carry with me. One for my evening meal and one for the following morning. I will be calculating approximate calorific expenditure per each day and trying to hit that within these 3 meals. How does this sound?

6. Water: I plan to carry only 2 x 500ml water bottles that will probably need replenishing every 1-2hours of cycling. I plan to utilise any / all suitable building establishments to re-fil. (petrol stations, hostels, cafes, cemetries etc) Any other suggestions on this?

I think that's enough for now. TL;DR I know, I know!

I know you lot probably see a million of these posts, but believe me. I will complete this one way or another. Even if it takes me 4 weeks!

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Starters-
Your young.
Not that overweight.
Water bottles are 700 cc up to I litre, take three, that gives you three hours at a pinch.

Wish I was 27 again.

[700c]

1. Yes. Get on the bike and pedal......some time on a bike prior to your trip to get your buttock used to sitting on a saddle all day would definitely be advisable. It doesn't actually take a great deal of fitness to do this journey, it does take mental strength though.

2. I purchased a cheapo solar charger. It is rubbish. It's been in the sun for two months and has not yet reached 25% charge.
I intend to purchase a hub charge such as https://www.alpkit.com/products/love-mud-juice which replaces front hub.

3. Any bike will do that journey, even a £20 old clunker (I've done a similar journey on such a bike)
I'd advise to buy second-hand, as this gives far far far more bang for the buck.

4. I'd also take a pillow and a cookset (eg for making tea/coffee and for boiling up pasta and so on)

5. Sounds good

6. Most village halls have an outside tap, as do churches. You can also just knock on doors and ask nicely.

Think about how you will be carrying your gear. Panniers? Trailer? Rucksack?

[mattsccm]

Electrics.
Many campsites have sockets you can use, officially or not , for a few hours. Get an ancillary power pack as well or a GPS that uses AA batteries. Phone is easy. Don't take it. If you must then surely any modern phone will do 1 call home every night fr a couple of weeks. For the rest of the time leave in the bottom of your bag. If most definitely doesnt need to be on. Get one of the cheap ones. Mines was a tenner with that much credit. That's weeks of calls home and a second battery is cheap.
Or do as I also do. 1 call day home when I pass a phone box.

[robgul]

Loads of resources and Journals from other riders at http://www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk

Rob

[Paulatic]

I think you'll find your water consumption a bit over estimated. You'll only be going at tourist pace and certainly won't be basking under a Sahara sun everyday.
I would find two bottles more than enough especially with a cafe stop and pot of tea at lunchtime.

[Newbiecyclist]

Many thanks for your replies so far. They're very much appreciated.

It's good to know I can carry more water if req'd and also good to know that I am over estimating my consumption! Everything sounds really positive so far.

I guess forst thing first is buy a bike and get some miles in. I am currently looking at 2nd hand bikes on ebay etc. Looking for a hybrid style bike but I will probably use road tyres.

Power is still my main worry. As suggested, I am sure I xould beg / steal / borrow a re-charge of my phone / gps at each campsite... If I was to decide to camp completely wild though. Which does interest me! Is a wheel turbine charger thingey my only option?! I'm not very clued up on electronic outputs etc! I would love to have my phone to take pictures along the way and document my travels for awareness / fundraising. Could I kill two birds with one stone and use my phone as my GPS? Or would the battery be more of an issue that way??!

Carrying. I'd ideally like my equipment to be minimal and strapped to my bike (i'm not sure what those bags are called!). But I could toy with the idea of a small trailer. Does this make hills a lot more challenging though? Or is it the same regardless of where the weight is stored?

I'm also toying with the idea of making this a little bit more extreme.. The idea being, the more extreme and 'out there' it is, the better the chance I have of capturing peoples attention and raising a substantial amount of £££ for charity. So, I live almost at the half way point of LE and JOG. My idea is to include riding from my home town (Widnes) to LE to JOG and then back to Widnes! So in effect, it will be 'lands end to john o'groats....twice'. Crazy I know, especially with my inexperience and lack of cycling hours. But I do have 25/26 days to do this. Depending on routes. I am looking at somewhere close to 2000miles, give or take. So for 25 consecutive days I would need to average ~80 miles per day. A huge effort. But do-able.

Part of this idea has come from the costs involved in travel to and from LE and JOG with my bike and equipment. An early purchased train ticket to LE is £190 alone. Without any additional costs for my bike. Flights back from JO and a boxed courier for my equipment back home and I am looking at a lot of £££... plus it will give me an extra 10 days of time alone to explore the great utdoors ! (I'll no doubt have had enough after a week!)... whats your thoughts? Am I being daft and should just get a LEJOG under my belt first? Is that enough of an effort to attract peoples donations for a great cause?

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

I think you'll find your water consumption a bit over estimated. You'll only be going at tourist pace and certainly won't be basking under a Sahara sun everyday.
I would find two bottles more than enough especially with a cafe stop and pot of tea at lunchtime.

500ml bottles?

My motto as an ex scout / boys brigade "be prepared", the later had Christian connections which I never gave that much thought at the time

[Paulatic]

80 ml a day for 25 days is a very large asking and will end up an imposition rather than a pleasure.
Have you thought of Wid to Wick via train £145, cycle JOGLE. Then turn round and cycle back to Widnes?
I carry one 700ml bottle. Cycled 60 mls on Saturday avg 13.2 mph and 3,000 ft of climbing. I still had some water left in bottle when I got home. Was a good pot of tea at lunchtime though.

[Newbiecyclist]

Yes Paul. That may be a sensible compromise. And would probably knock off 5-6 days worth of pedalling. I will see how I feel once I get into training and how comfortable these long days on the bike are. It may be wayyy too much for me. We will have to see.

Good work on your ride. That sounds an awesome effort.. plus mustn't have been too taxing for you to only consume that amount of water.

As I've already stated, this is still in the very early stages of planning. But my best man may be up for the challenge as well! We could finish just in time for the wedding... He's keen to do it unsupported and xamping wild on the smallest budget possible. Brings a whole load of new challenges doing it that way. It should be interesting to say the least!

[Mick F]

Water bottles are 700 cc up to I litre, take three, that gives you three hours at a pinch.

If I go out riding for two hours or less, I don't bother taking water with me at all. Even mid summer.
Two to four hours, one bottle is more than enough.

All day ride, two bottles, and if the weather is hot, I expect a refill at a cafe stop.

[Newbiecyclist]

Water bottles are 700 cc up to I litre, take three, that gives you three hours at a pinch.

If I go out riding for two hours or less, I don't bother taking water with me at all. Even mid summer.
Two to four hours, one bottle is more than enough.

All day ride, two bottles, and if the weather is hot, I expect a refill at a cafe stop.

Thanks for your input. It's great to hear from people who are out their regularly. I can't wait to get stuck in now.

Realistically I'll be pirchasing a bike around November time. Until then, I'll be hitting the "spinning" bikes in the gym a lot more often and reducing my weight lofting sessions. I know nothing will be quite like getting miles in on the road. But its surely a good place to start until I can purchase a decent bike.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

80 ml a day for 25 days is a very large asking and will end up an imposition rather than a pleasure.
Have you thought of Wid to Wick via train £145, cycle JOGLE. Then turn round and cycle back to Widnes?
I carry one 700ml bottle. Cycled 60 mls on Saturday avg 13.2 mph and 3,000 ft of climbing. I still had some water left in bottle when I got home. Was a good pot of tea at lunchtime though.

Sincerely..........weigh yourself before and after that ride
Its not rocket science
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/everyth ... ation.html

[Paulatic]

Hey NA I doubt I had any of those symptoms. I wasn't even thirsty otherwise my bottle would have been empty. I wasn't out on a top performance ride and knocking my pan in. There seems to be a modern day culture of keeping your fluids up. Recently I saw tv pictures of youngsters seemingly unable to sit an exam without clutching a bottle of water.
Like the OP I'm talking about a touring paced ride looking at the view. From memory I think I stopped for 3 pees as it was. That's enough surely?

[hilloverthehill]

1. Don't even worry about fitness! I lost half a stone on my JOGLE in November!

2. Power. I took a smartphone, and Strava'd my route every day. When I camped I always wild camped and carried a wee backup unit that gave 3-4 charges. I'd try and do a coffee stop late morning and would get a recharge in the cafe. I used atlas maps for sections with easy navigation, and OS maps for more difficult areas. I took out a yearly subscription to the OS and printed off what I needed, and sent a batch of maps down to my parents to pick up on the way through. A compass was surprisingly very handy on occasions.

3. Bike. I managed to do about 35% of my route off road on a Dawes Galaxy tourer with road tyres. Some of the canal towpaths I used were really hard going on those tyres, and I wished I'd carried knobby tyres for those sections. Also had 10 punctures on the canals - they cut the hedges in the autumn and leave the thorny stuff on the path! - and would use some of those puncture proof tyres next time.

4. camping essentials: other than a small tent, roll matt and a sleeping bag. What else do I need? It's worth paying the money and getting good lightweight kit. I use a Neoair mat which rolls up to a really small size, and a Vaude Power Lizard tent. As I was biking in November I took a 4 season down bag, but still managed to get all my kit in 2 rear panniers, bar bag and 12 litre dry bag. Took an MSR Pocket Rocket stove. One complete set of clothing which was OK unless I got soaked two days on the trot! There's a kit list of what I used on the last section of my blog hilloverthehill@blogspot.co.uk

5. My plans with regards to day to day are to stop at a shop / cafe / restaurant I used a 2 minute Porridge sachet for breakfast, bought sandwiches for lunch, and usually picked up that evening's meal en route. Really tried to keep food carried to a minimum

6. Water: I plan to carry only 2 x 500ml water bottles I carried a 700ml water bottle and a 500ml thermos due to the late time of year. I didn't always use the flask, more in Scotland where cafes were less frequent. I carried an Ortlieb 4 litre water bag. These water bags roll up to nothing when empty, and I'd try and get it filled up an hour or so before looking for a camp spot. Knocked on doors, went in pubs etc.

Have a great trip!!