100miles per day fully loaded?

[MacLean]

Hey dave,

Thanks for the arse cream advice lol!

And gearing wise, im actually not too clued up, I see people talking about 12 - 34 gearing (or something like that) and I have no idea what all this means! But I can tell you I have 3 cogs at the front and 8 at the back so I have 24 gears lol!


Dodgy our group cant afford the comforts of guest houses so its tents all the way unfortunitly, and we have one or two relatives with houses putting us up for some nights aswell. TBH im actually looking forward to the adventurous side of going with a tent..... although after 100miles I might not be so happy about it lol.

 

[e-rider]

100 miles per day loaded is possible but not much fun. If you've never toured before and generally don't have years of good cycling behind you it could well be too much - especially early on and without a rest day.

Combined with camping and bad weather - I'd say it was a silly plan!

75 miles per day would be a better idea.

 

[MacLean]

100 miles per day loaded is possible but not much fun. If you've never toured before and generally don't have years of good cycling behind you it could well be too much - especially early on and without a rest day.

Combined with camping and bad weather - I'd say it was a silly plan!

75 miles per day would be a better idea.

Well tundragumski, im just gonna have to train that bit harder and prove you wrong then eh? lol

Although seriously, we plan to do it in 10 days, however keep in mind that if things get really shitty I can stretch it to 14 days max!

So I think we need to push for 10 days training wise, but I have spare days should we need to lower the daily milage.


Edit *** for the record we arnt doing it for a holiday we are doing it for a challenge and to push ourselfs! ***

 

[Yellow7]

Hi MacLean. Sounds like you have the right spirit, doing it for the challenge, going outside your comfort zone, you'll feel an amazing sense of achievement once completed! I cycled US route 66 August 2008 doing 25 days of 100+ miles, this took more brain training to persuade myself I could maintain it more than physical training. Sure you'll be pushed at times & won't be able to dilly-dally around taking pics of everything, being in a group of three may slow things down a bit so maybe you need a rota where one of you each day 'cracks the whip' to maintain the distance.

You'll blitz it!

Mark

 

[MacLean]

Hi MacLean. Sounds like you have the right spirit, doing it for the challenge, going outside your comfort zone, you'll feel an amazing sense of achievement once completed! I cycled US route 66 August 2008 doing 25 days of 100+ miles, this took more brain training to persuade myself I could maintain it more than physical training. Sure you'll be pushed at times & won't be able to dilly-dally around taking pics of everything, being in a group of three may slow things down a bit so maybe you need a rota where one of you each day 'cracks the whip' to maintain the distance.

You'll blitz it!

Mark

Haha, nice encouraging post mate, appreciate it. Thats a pretty hardcore challenge you did there, bet you slept for weeks after that!


At the moment id say there are two of us that are whip crackers lol, but I see what you mean that group dynamics can change things after a few days of mega hard grind.

Thanks for your input!

 

[Joe]

Definitely doable. I did it last year, fully loaded and solo in 9 days with an average of over 100 miles a day.
Legs were generally fine but there was a build up of fatigue that left me particularly drained on the last day. My "training" was pretty minimal though, with one or two rides a weekend, rarely above 70 miles and I only recall one 100+ mile day in around March (I rode in August!).
My average speeds were between 10mph and 14mph and I was generally up at 7am or 8am and in a campsite by 5pm or 6pm. Mentally and physically I was very up and down for the whole ride and I think I would have struggled more if I had to maintain a four way relationship along the way!
I also used a bike and saddle I'd never used for more than a couple of miles before hand, which as you can imagine caused me some slight (major) discomfort (PAIN)
Don't regret it atall mind, it was a great experience and I have big plans for the future as a result

 

[MacLean]

Definitely doable. I did it last year, fully loaded and solo in 9 days with an average of over 100 miles a day.
Legs were generally fine but there was a build up of fatigue that left me particularly drained on the last day. My "training" was pretty minimal though, with one or two rides a weekend, rarely above 70 miles and I only recall one 100+ mile day in around March (I rode in August!).
My average speeds were between 10mph and 14mph and I was generally up at 7am or 8am and in a campsite by 5pm or 6pm. Mentally and physically I was very up and down for the whole ride and I think I would have struggled more if I had to maintain a four way relationship along the way!
I also used a bike and saddle I'd never used for more than a couple of miles before hand, which as you can imagine caused me some slight (major) discomfort (PAIN)
Don't regret it atall mind, it was a great experience and I have big plans for the future as a result

Thats fantastic mate. Did you have any throw in the towel moments where you seriously thought about giving in? Or did you find that although you were up and down, were still always mentally ready to fight on and finish it?

 

[Joe]

Thats fantastic mate. Did you have any throw in the towel moments where you seriously thought about giving in? Or did you find that although you were up and down, were still always mentally ready to fight on and finish it?

Thanks!
I never really considered throwing in the towel (too stuborn!) but I did question at times whether it was really the best way to spend my holidays
Had a miserable 24 hours of rain which exposed the innadequacy of my tent.... and putting on cold wet lycra to head out into a downpoor and spend 8 hours sitting on raw saddle sores is just unpleasant!
I had a really tough time riding into a headwind on the penultimate day (barely got into double figures speed wise all morning) but it was beautiful scenery and as always things eventually looked up. I pushed out a big ride to leave myself an "easy" ride on the final day. This then turned out to be the hardest of all! I'd left myself 100 miles to JOG, which was my routine for the ride and so mentally I considered it "in the bag", but I soon found out that 100 miles is still 100 miles!!
Having said all that it was definitely a positive experience and as a result I'm off to tackle the pyreness this year in a similar style
I started writing it up if you fancy a read (see my sig below) but sadly still haven't got around to finishing it (only 3 days written I think!).
Anyways I'm sure you'll make it and definitely won't regret it. But I'd agree with Redbike that 100 miles fully loaded is very different to unloaded - just make sure you're comfy on that bike for long hours!

 

[ColinJ]

I'd agree with Redbike that 100 miles fully loaded is very different to unloaded - just make sure you're comfy on that bike for long hours!

I'm about 35-40 pounds above my best cycling weight so I struggle on the hills compared to the lighter forum members who come out on my rides. It has suddenly struck me - every ride I do is like riding a fully loaded touring bike - yikes!

 

[RedBike]

I'm about 35-40 pounds above my best cycling weight so I struggle on the hills compared to the lighter forum members who come out on my rides. It has suddenly struck me - every ride I do is like riding a fully loaded touring bike - yikes!

I had exactly the same revelation when I was touring.
To reach my ideal weight I would need to loose more weight than the panniers added to the bike.

 

[robbiep]

Hi Maclean!

This is my first post as I came across the forum when researching our ride.

Like you, our team of 3 are embarking on the 'end to end' early September starting in Land's End. We are unsupported and will only have 10 days, failiure is not an option!

I wondered how your training is going, have you found out any snippets of information that you've found invaluable? I've read the thread and you've had some sound advice already. I'm training without panniers, really trying to get some miles in the legs and time in the saddle. How are you finding it?

Cheers Maclean!

Robbiep

 

[simon_adams_uk]

My advice with training would be yes get as many miles as you can in your legs but probably just as importantly is to practice your camping routine until it becomes a routine rather than organised chaos. It has the potential to save you valuable time everyday, allow you to ride at a slower average speed, have longer lie-ins, and quicker re-fueling in the evenings.

 

[MacLean]

Hi Maclean!

This is my first post as I came across the forum when researching our ride.

Like you, our team of 3 are embarking on the 'end to end' early September starting in Land's End. We are unsupported and will only have 10 days, failiure is not an option!

I wondered how your training is going, have you found out any snippets of information that you've found invaluable? I've read the thread and you've had some sound advice already. I'm training without panniers, really trying to get some miles in the legs and time in the saddle. How are you finding it?

Cheers Maclean!

Robbiep

Hi mate,

Lately I have been training with a cheap cycle bag pannier thing on the back loaded with two bricks and my food and stuff. At the moment we are at the 75mile mark and are working our way up to a 100/100miles saturday sunday weekend ride which will be a good test of what the actuall thing will be like.

I would try and get some weight on your bike sooner rather than later though, at first is very unpleasant (especially the uphills) but after one long distance cycle with the weight you get used to it and it feels normal - its a shock to the system that your gonna hit at somepoint so best get used to it now eh. (BTW dont use bricks they have completely ruined my cheapo bike bag lol)

We are getting close to our set off date now with only about a month before we start - so start your training now cos your set off date will creep up on you. Also assess all your mates commitment. We started as a team of 5 but we had to talk one out who wasn't fit/commited enough to do it - cruel but had to be done

If someone keeps making excuses all the time to not do the training rides and has a bit of a belly on them then they probly arent as commited as they should be.


No real gold nuggets of info really, its been a constant process of knowledge gathering and organising so theres just a huge swirl of stuff in my head but nothing in particular stands out lol.

Best of luck to you mate hopefully we will both be reporting in here with success stories in a few months!

 

[MacLean]

Oh yeh one important thing, once you start getting into the 50milers+ back to back make sure you're fueling yourself up with ceral bars or flap jacks, bannans and also some kinda sports drink aswell - all that type of stuff.

My first 50mile run was me solo and never ate a thing and was pedaling my hardest the whole time. Ended up getting the bonk when all your glycogen runs out (or something like that).

Basically you go all dizzy and your vision goes a bit swirly and no matter how hard you push you can barely turn the pedals - I actually had to have a nap in a farmers field it was that bad LOL.

So yeh eat and drink loads!

 

[robbiep]

Maclean,

We're treading the same path! I went out Saturday and did 50 miles on my own (wet & windy), 25 miler out and back. No food taken, great going out but the last 5 - 10 miles, sheer hell, bonked!!! Completely ruined my whole weekend as I was unable to do a thing, felt sick, a really unpleasant feeling, the missus wasn't happy! Honestly still felt rubbish Sunday and couldn't cycle again.

A nap in a farmers field! I know exactly what you mean, I was so cold that I just wanted to get home..........and eat a bag of sugar!!! I've got this horrible tendancy of attacking the pedals as if I'm Cavo coming up to the line!! I find it hard just to ease off and cycle steadily, especially if other riders ease on to my tail!!

I think Saturdays experience has taught me a valuable lesson, I'm gonna eat every hour at least and keep hydrated.

Really good to hear from someone going through the same, I'm told it's character building?? I hope to do the London to Bournemouth cycle (120 miles) July 11th, I think which I hope will set me up well for September.

Well mate, wish you all the best with your effort, I'll be checking in to see how you go, it's a month till you go is it?

I've had to explain to the wife about bonking..........she caught me writing it in an email which raised a few queries!!!!!!!!

Good luck........no surrender (my little mantra!!)

Robbiep