More than doable. You’ll be able to ride that entirely in daylight. Put some lights on the bike, just in case anyway.
I think I have to get a feel for eating while cycling because hitting the wall after 2 hours with no food is what I mentally envision from most of my previous rides.
Why not make overnight oats, take them with you on the bike in a small tupperware, remember a spoon lol
Or, maybe easier, take a couple of flapjacks with you.
From your username it seems I should be taking your advice given my average speed, lol.
I could take any other manner of food I wanted but the whole point is dried oats can just be tossed in via gravity whereas the overnight ones couldn't hence your note to take a spoon!
The whole point of dried oats is they are easy and no sugar like flapjacks. Yea I know you can make your own oat biscuits or whatnot but not as easy as dried oats! Prep is a nuisance. It is about grabbing something 'off the shelf'. I only like cooking one pots for the same reason. Don't want to muck around with having to tend to a meal, just chuck it in and come back in a while and it is ready.
With regards weather, unless all the major forecast sites are showing heavy rain all day then I will go out. One thing I have noticed the last few years, light showers no longer exist in the UK! Light rain as forecast by BBC/Met Office invariably tends to be far heavier than suggested.
If the forecast is lower than 5 degrees I also tend to avoid it just because it will usually be a few degrees colder than that and the risk of ice, particularly in the morning is too high for me.
First time I hear about that. There are all manner of rain variations still for me. Rain is the most consistent and varied weather this time of year! It is the sun which is a rarity right now.
Not knowing what you are riding or fitness etc I would say 5mph average is incredibly slow. Like ridiculously so.
Close to Olympic level. 😏
What bike are you riding and what is your feet climbed per mile on average?
I said several times, don't put too much stock in the 5mph. It is based on a 40 min ride which was mostly hills and it seems @collinj has gone some way to explaining it. I don't understand the science/maths but sounded impressive.
A rough rule of thumb I use (and I believe quite a few others similar) is 0-300ft per 10 miles is really flat. 500ft/10 miles pretty flat.
1000ft/10miles is a hilly ride.
Anyway, as others have said 30miles even on the shortest day "should" be easily achievable. Caveat is bike/terrain/fitness/whatever.
As for doing rides like that this time of year, absolutely. I rode 32miles yesterday, 2700ft climbing. Several of sections were 10-15%, pretty regular ride I do.
As above too many other variables to say yet. I am waiting for a not too nasty day and will get out again. Friday looking decent here. Another heavy rain day today last time I checked.
Hmm quote got snipped but thanks for the explanation. Sounds like the ride I did to get that one single data point. All hills at 2-3mph average when I was looking and when I came back down again was something like 10-15mph.
While that is very true, it will be rare that 2.5mph uphills will make up anywhere near half the ride distance. 2.5mph is slow enough that many of us would be falling off at that speed, and we certainly couldn't keep on going up a hill that reduced us to that for more than a very few minutes.
And 6-7kph is still around 4-4.5mph.
As I noted, it was a short ride with hills right out from where I started. I climbed and climbed then came down back to base again. I am about half way up a valley starting at 14% then it goes on like that for about 1/2 mile the a bit level then a slight down then went up a short steep ramp I read at 17% then slower incline then sharper again then gentler and then coasted back down. That is the general gist with 3.8 miles reading the distance when I got back.
Anyway, let us see what my average comes out at when I do a 'proper' ride. Besides the 30 mile goal I am also interested in finding that out now.