100miles per day fully loaded?

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MacLean

Well-Known Member
Location
London
Hi all,

Me and 3 friends are planning on doing roughly 100 miles a day and completing LEJOG in approx 10 days.

We are planning on bringing one 4 man tent and rotating this round us all day by day, so everyday we willl have rear panniers with sleeping bag rollmat and one of the 4 of us with a tent... along with all the usual kit, clothes, supplies....

Question is, is 100 miles a day a reasonable target with this type of load everyday? Nope we don't have a support vehicle.

I am still waiting on my panniers on arriving so havent had the oppertunity to train with full weight, but presume it makes a considerable differance when doing this type of milage!?
 

jay clock

Massive member
Location
Hampshire UK
Have you toured before? I have and would think about 70miles a day would be a high level for laden touring.
 
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MacLean

Well-Known Member
Location
London
Nope haven't toured before, however we are training 3 - 4 times a week and have the mindset of, no its not a holiday, its a big mega challenge and wont be stopping for beers or going for wanders around towns or anything like that... its going to be a continuous hard grind and we all know it.

70 miles would mean it will take us 14 days which then leaves no real space for error as I only have so much time off work, would you say 100 miles a day would still be pushing it for 4 well trained 21 - 25 year old lads?
 
Location
SW London
I reckon on a fully loaded average speed of 10mph allowing for modest food/drink stops and a fair few hills thrown in. If you're happy with being in the saddle for perhaps 10 hours a day (NB day in day out) then go for it - 100 miles a day is certaintly doable.

I'm happier with doing about 70 miles (ish) a day and having slightly less pressure to get the miles in.

S
 

Amanda P

Legendary Member
There's fit, and then there's fit to do 100 miles a day. Every day. For ten days.

Fully loaded, if you've not done it before, that's going to be a serious challenge, particularly if you're starting at LE (it's hilly in cornwall. It's hilly in Scotland too, but by then you'll be fit, and they're better graded, steady climbs, rather than the constant steep ups and downs Cornwall is full of).

Loaded or not, your training should include some days of doing this sort of distance. 2 or 3 times a week suggests evening sessions. I would recommend some weekend days when you actually do 100-mile rides.
 

HelenD123

Guru
Location
York
Uncle Phil said:
There's fit, and then there's fit to do 100 miles a day. Every day. For ten days.

Fully loaded, if you've not done it before, that's going to be a serious challenge, particularly if you're starting at LE (it's hilly in cornwall. It's hilly in Scotland too, but by then you'll be fit, and they're better graded, steady climbs, rather than the constant steep ups and downs Cornwall is full of).

Loaded or not, your training should include some days of doing this sort of distance. 2 or 3 times a week suggests evening sessions. I would recommend some weekend days when you actually do 100-mile rides.

Very sensible advice. I'd also add do two 100 mile days back to back as part of your training. Even if you're fit, your bodies probably aren't used to cycling and any aches and pains will be magnified doing those sort of distances day after day. Make sure you're bikes are comfortable.
 
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MacLean

Well-Known Member
Location
London
Thanks guys,

I take your words of wizdom very seriously as one thing I can not do is come back home not completing the whole thing.


Training wise, during the week yes I do a relativly short, but extremely hilly 20 mile run after work to keep the legs pumping.

Weekends, we are training on both saturdays and sundays doing long distance.

However as I say i we haven't added weight yet but when my panniers come, i am thinking of loading it up with bricks or dumbell weights or something to make training as tough as possible! Hopefully if I can train to the point where two days of 100miles with very heavy weight is doable then when doing the full thing with slightly less weight, it wont be a show stopper.

Thanks for your wizdom so far guys and if you have anything further to add please do!
 
Location
EDINBURGH
You can do it but you will need at least a week recovery time afterwards, I couldn't do that these days, when I was younger I could but nowadays 50 - 60 miles a day over a week or so is my limit.
 
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MacLean

Well-Known Member
Location
London
HelenD123 said:
Very sensible advice. I'd also add do two 100 mile days back to back as part of your training. Even if you're fit, your bodies probably aren't used to cycling and any aches and pains will be magnified doing those sort of distances day after day. Make sure you're bikes are comfortable.

Thanks helen,

In two - three weeks we are planning on doing a 100miles run, stay the night in tents followed by 100 miles back. This will be the real test to see if we're up to the challenge, I can only hope what we are doing at the moment is enough to get us fit enough! :laugh:

If any of us can't handle the two 100 mile days this is when I will start considering extending our days and lowering the daily milage. That sound like a fair enough plan?
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
There's also the question how well you would sleep with four of you in one tent. I suppose being knackered after each day's ride would help but I'd find that difficult. I like space and peace and quiet when I'm trying to sleep.
 

dodgy

Guest
I reckon you'll do it fine, read up on nutrition and stick to what works for you. Eating is going to be a major part of your trip.
 

Amanda P

Legendary Member
After a 100-mile day fully loaded, most people could sleep standing up at a rock concert.

Perhaps more seriously, if carrying two smaller tents is an option, consider it. Apart from giving you the option of switching your sleeping partner if you just can't get on (snoring, fidgeting etc can be a problem if your companion is a light sleeper), a 4-man tent will be quite bulky and heavy.

Carry it in turns, yes, but whoever's carrying it, their luggage may need to be shared out among the other three. That means gear will be in different places every day. Packing up and setting up can occupy quite a bit of time, and streamlining these processes helps a lot (and avoids arguments)*.

With two smaller tents, you could carry an inner or a flysheet each, plus all your own luggage. You'll know exactly where each bit of tent is going to be packed in the morning, so you can get packed and on the road quicker.

* As in "No, I'm not going to carry Sid's clothes, even if he has got the tent today. He's brought 59 pairs of Y-fronts, and they all smell..."

Or "I thought you were carrying the tin opener, Bob? Oh well, no dinner tonight then if you left it behind".

Or "It's taken Eddie an hour to find his X because he had to unpack Sid's, Bob's and my panniers to find it. And then it was at the bottom of his own bag all the time. And now we're two hours behind where we should have been and I'm going home!"
 

RedBike

New Member
Location
Beside the road
Just back from a much shorter 100mile a day tour.

Prior to the tour I lengthened my commute so that I was doing 30/40miles each way on a road bike. I seemed fine with this sort of mileage. My legs seemed fresh most mornings and there were no obvious pains.

However, 100 milers on a heavily laiden touring bike are completely different. For a start it takes several hours longer, and even the smallest hills seem to take forever to 'winch' the bike up.
I found that I was getting progressively tireder. By the end of just 4 days I was on my last legs!
 
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MacLean

Well-Known Member
Location
London
Out of curiosity, what time was you leaving at in the morning and what time was you arriving at your 100mile destinations?
 

RedBike

New Member
Location
Beside the road
MacLean said:
Out of curiosity, what time was you leaving at in the morning and what time was you arriving at your 100mile destinations?

The ride time completely depended upon the terrain. We did a lot of off-road miles and there was the mother of all head winds against us.

I can happily do a flat 100miler on a road bike in ~6hrs yet I was riding for ~10hrs some days on the touring bike to cover this distance because of the extra weight and the tough terrain.

Winching 15kg of touring bike and 20kg of panniers up a climb is vastly different to powering 8kg of road bike up one.
 
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