Cycling advice

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Ballotbox

New Member
Hi,

I'm not a big cyclist, as a matter of fact I never ride. . . Anywhere ! But I have been offered the chance to take part in a sponsered Cycle leaving from Swansea to Glasgow. Cover around 50-60 Miles each Day.

I'm relativly fit and can acheive this target. But I would like to ask people about cycling. What Kind of Bike would be best for me ? How much is it to hire biks normally ? Etc. .

Any information is a great help and very much appreciated,

Thanks,
Conor
 

km991148

Well-Known Member
Id say it would be difficult to hire something semi decentfor that distance/duration..

any chance of buying?Budget?
 

AndyCarolan

Do you smell fudge?
Location
Norwich
I would advise getting the feel of riding the bike you are going that kind of distance on before attempting the trip itself.

Although you may be fit, I would have thought it best to build up to those sorts of distances rather than just going ahead and doing it. I may be wrong and maybe someone else can advise better however.
 

Brandane

Legendary Member
Location
Costa Clyde
I know you say you are relatively fit, but are you sure about taking on 50-60 miles per day (presumably for at least 6/7 days) when as you say, you never cycle?

Fitness aside, your backside has to get accustomed to being in the saddle for that length of time every day. It wouldn't be me!

If I were you I would try and borrow or buy a decent bike for the run, and get some training in before you jump in at the deep end. You might find you are using a whole different group of muscles compared to whatever it is you do just now to keep fit.

You need to make sure the bike is in top condition and that it fits you correctly as well, otherwise it could make things very uncomfortable and therefore difficult.

I don't know what kind of bike to suggest. If it was me I would be happy to do it on my Tricross, a kind of compromise bike lying somewhere between road, hybrid and touring bike. A jack of all trades, master of none. Depends on your route. All on roads? Some paths, off road, NCN routes?
 

HJ

Cycling in Scotland
Location
Auld Reekie
I would say that if you are reasonable fit it should be do able, finding a suitable hire bike maybe more difficult but not imposable, touring bikes can be rented for about £70 a week.
 

jimboalee

New Member
Location
Solihull
Just to put "Relatively fit" and distance cycling into context.

I rode with Alan Shearer and Adrian Chiles when they did their Sport Relief 500 km ride.

Now Alan Shearer is a 'relatively fit' kind of person, but in his words, "That's the worst thing I've ever done".

Adrian Chiles was gulping energy gel after energy gel and liberally splattered with sudocreme inside his shorts.
He trained for six months for that ride and really suffered with cramps at every stop.
 

jig-sore

Formerly the anorak
Location
Rugby
yeah, doing 50 miles in a day is possible for most non riders, but doing 50 miles day after day after day is gonna hurt, even for "fit" people.

if it's your first time on a bike then your going to be using an whole new set of muscles, and all that pressure on your bum IS going to hurt.

im not saying you can't do it, but you need to start riding NOW, at get some miles in.

find a good quality bike that you are comfortable on and get your riding position sorted (it takes a while to get it right).

don't go for a £100 asda/tesco/toyRus special, it will make the whole experience really miserable.

good luck :eek:
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
I'd second the advice to train a bit - almost anyone can build up to anything, but you need to get accustomed - to the saddle, the handlebars, the pedals, the posture, the hills etc

Tell us more about the ride - what sort of route is it? Will you have to carry your stuff, or will there be support? Is it a big group, or just half a dozen folk...

A bike suited for the road, as opposed to off-road, is going to be your better bet, unless it's all unsurfaced tracks or something. If a budget is tight, see about a second hand road bike or tourer.

Beware, though. You may not be a cyclist now. But just wait...;)
 

Kablinsky

New Member
Location
The Big E
There's being fit and there's being cycling fit.

Back in the day I did some charity rides with some fit people. People that would regularly tear me a new a'hole at squash etc. They covered the 60 miles okay but they were certainly in no condition to it the next day though, or the day after that.
 

mr browndog

New Member
i took up cycling last summer and must say the fitness is totally different to the likes of a game of five aside, or being able to do a few miles on the bike/running machine in the gym, it requires training not just for the fitness but also getting acustomed to the saddle

if you 'never' ride this is going to rip your arse cheeks off, you really do need to spend some hours on a road bike

good luck tho, if you train and are prepared then anything is possible
 

Jacqui

Active Member
I am signed up to do London to Paris in Sept and bought my bike last year going out seriously since early March but worried about getting some distance training . Did 20 Sunday , 18 Monday and 30 today but need to up that if I am not going to be miserable for four days.

I had a six week offer at a gym and think I will renew it been doing rowing , cross trainer, cycling and some light weights stuff but wonder if I now need to increase the difficulty on the machines or the times or both.

Am fitting in some hills and I do think they are marginally easier after 6 weeks in the gym . Just hope it is possible as people have given me money now.

Good luck with your trip

Jacqui
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Jacqui said:
I am signed up to do London to Paris in Sept and bought my bike last year going out seriously since early March but worried about getting some distance training . Did 20 Sunday , 18 Monday and 30 today but need to up that if I am not going to be miserable for four days.

What's the daily distance of the London to Paris? I think once you can do 30, you're getting on well - after, each jump of 5 or 10 more miles becomes proportionally smaller...

Do you/can you commute? That's a good way of racking up miles in the legs, and if it's a short commute, you can add some as a routine. I live 1.5 miles from work, but rode 10 miles home on Tuesday.
 

Jacqui

Active Member
Thanks


The longest is the first day almost 90 miles then I think an 80 a 70 and a 60 . I think the first may be the worse as you have a boat to catch once in France it might feel more like a holiday???? and there is not as much of a rush.

I think we may go through some of the First World War sites so will be interesting and any pain physical or emotional should be put into context when remembering what the many soldiers endured.

I teach part time at a college so finish the second week in June ( followed by a week in Paris by plane ) so am hoping to get some miles done over the hols. I also cycle to the gym and back making the route longer someday and turning left to ride up the hill instead of right to go down it.
 

photography27

Active Member
Location
Swansea
Ballotbox said:
Hi,

I'm not a big cyclist, as a matter of fact I never ride. . . Anywhere ! But I have been offered the chance to take part in a sponsered Cycle leaving from Swansea to Glasgow. Cover around 50-60 Miles each Day.

I'm relativly fit and can acheive this target. But I would like to ask people about cycling. What Kind of Bike would be best for me ? How much is it to hire biks normally ? Etc. .

Any information is a great help and very much appreciated,

Thanks,
Conor
hi, whats the ride called, i'm in swansea and have not seen this ride advertised anywhere, can you give me any info on it
 

HJ

Cycling in Scotland
Location
Auld Reekie
Oh come on, the OP is only doing 50-60 miles a day, they way some of you are talking, you'd think he'd asked if we thought he could tag a long on the TdF! A few years back some friends of mine decided to do LE-JoG, none of them where regular cyclist before they set out, but they were all reasonable fit. They said the first couple of days were hard and they struggled to do 50 miles a day, but after that it just got easier, by the end they thought nothing of doing 120 miles a day.

You lot make it seem like cycling is really difficult, some sort of extreme exercise it is not, let just put this in context. Here is Iain Boal's calculation of just how efficient the bicycle really is:

4606267371_dddb6d169e.jpg
 
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