First 100-miler soon!

[Zaphod]

Hi!

Right, on Tuesday I'm planning to cycle from my house (Midsomer Norton, 10-ish miles south of Bath) to my friend's house in Watford. This will be my first ride of over 75 miles, and my first ride over 30 on my Spesh Allez.

I'm most probably going to go to Bath and then from thereon mix it up a bit between the good bits of the Avon & Kennet Towpath and roads, until I get to Reading at which point I'll go on roads to Watford. I'm going to leave pretty early in the morning as I have absolutely no idea how long it will take me!

So my questions to you folks are; do you have any tips? any parts of the towpath particularly good/to avoid? I've done Bath to Devizes before but that was on a mountain bike, I'll probably stay mainly on roads because I'm not sure how well the Allez will cope on the rougher bits of the towpath...

Thanks! Jake.

 

[HLaB]

I personally wouldn't fancy the Allez on too many off road parts but eat and drink plenty and you'll be fine. Good Luck :-)

 

[2Loose]

Can't echo the eat and drink plenty bit enough. Make sure you are fully fuelled before you go and stay topped up.

Enjoy the ride, I am sure it'll be great.

 

[Zaphod]

Thanks, I'll make sure to keep topped up during the ride

I'll probably stick to the roads, it's a shorter journey if I do anyway, by 40 miles!

 

[Moss]

Hope the ride goes well for you! Probably a 5,hour + ride maybe even a 6, hour + . eat small amounts but often; and drink lots.

Regards

M

 

[Zaphod]

maybe? I was planning for it to be about 10 hours! Oh well, I'll just have to wait and see but I don't want to be too quick, otherwise the people I'm meeting (my girlfriend and some friends) are still gonna be in bed!

 

[zexel]

Hope the ride goes well for you! Probably a 5,hour + ride maybe even a 6, hour + . eat small amounts but often; and drink lots.

Regards

M

5 Hours! at average 20mph and on a bit of towpath sounds rather optimistic

You're already half way there, don't worry about time, just get your pace right and you'll be fine. If it was me I would use the road as much as I could. Ten hours will be a long time on the bike, hope you've conditioned your saddle.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.