OP
OP
Proto
Legendary Member
- Location
- East Devon/West Dorset
Sadly, she quit yesterday near Rossendale in the Pennines. 950kms in. An accumulation of niggles that grew and eventually overwhelmed her. Probably down to lack of experience and route knowledge, and the consequences of planning decisions made which reveal themselves to be poor over the ride.
Weather shocking weather through Wales and Lancashire didn’t help, either.
Where to start. One big factor was not appreciating the horrendous terrain to be covered. It's not just a bike ride, it's not an audax, it's a serious race. She's confident that she'd manage big distances on tarmac fairly happily, 18 hours in the saddle not necessarily an issue. She was entered in last years Transcon but it was cancelled so this looked a reasonable substitute. HaHa!
This, though, was very, very different. Bikepacking to the extreme, against the clock, Lots of the terrain unrideable, with and lots of pushing the bike up and down (!) hills, and took its toll on feet and knees. Others factors were kit errors stuff got wet, and stayed wet, nowhere to get dry, nowhere to dry clothes so riding wet through for a big part of 1000km does damage. Bum, hands, feet all bruised, blistered worn out.
She used her Trek CX bike (she’d used it in the Rapha Pennine Rally - 500km Edinburgh to Manchester - successfully) but it was the wrong bike. Not enough tyre clearance, limited to 38mm, which made for walking some sections where others could ride. Slow, slow, slow. Her shoes, great for cycling but less good for walking, and with the wrong bike forcing the walking issue her feet took a beating. Blistered, swollen. Not pretty. The amount of walking/pushing started to give her problems with tendonitis behind her knees.
Bigger tyres might have helped with cross country riding comfort. Her hands took a battering, gradually developing numbness and loss of strength, not to mention the blisters. Double bar tape? Specialized Diverge with front suspension? Hands got so bad it was impacting her ability to control the bike, and she was very concerned that if she suffered a mechanical or puncture somewhere remote she’d be unable to fix it, top of the moors in the rain, no one for miles. Help!
Kit issues. Her bivvy bag wasn’t good enough, she got wet, and cold, and with not much chance to recover, as the weather being so bad, all her kit eventually got wet, too. She knew there are better bivvy bags out there but for reasons unknown (!) nothing was available in the UK at this time. Riding/walking for 18 hours in wet shorts is not fun, after sleeping in wet clothes, and was starting to get nasty sores. Getting back on the bike an ordeal.
Her bike failed a couple of times - cable/shifter - and was a big pain to repair, the cable nipple coming out of its seat in the shifter and getting jammed. Shifter is probably worn out. Lesson is your kit has to be tip top. Losing your gears halfway up a mountain on a rainy night not ideal.
Her Wahoo Element Roam worked perfectly, her lights both, Glowworm and Exposure (borrowed from Emily Chappell, thank you). too. Take two phones, one as a back up. Her phone got soaked and stopped working for a while. Not ideal if you get in trouble, or are looking for a shop or somewhere to sleep. Luckily it revived itself after the hotel stop the night before she quit.
Tactical errors didn't help. For example, first day she did well and could have done more. Another 20km? 40km? Would have reduced next days burden, more time for rest. Who know what's coming so take those extra Kms when you can.
So, that’s a summary, lots of little niggles build up. As she says, you bike goes, your body starts to go and eventually your head goes too.
Very proud of her.
Weather shocking weather through Wales and Lancashire didn’t help, either.
Where to start. One big factor was not appreciating the horrendous terrain to be covered. It's not just a bike ride, it's not an audax, it's a serious race. She's confident that she'd manage big distances on tarmac fairly happily, 18 hours in the saddle not necessarily an issue. She was entered in last years Transcon but it was cancelled so this looked a reasonable substitute. HaHa!
This, though, was very, very different. Bikepacking to the extreme, against the clock, Lots of the terrain unrideable, with and lots of pushing the bike up and down (!) hills, and took its toll on feet and knees. Others factors were kit errors stuff got wet, and stayed wet, nowhere to get dry, nowhere to dry clothes so riding wet through for a big part of 1000km does damage. Bum, hands, feet all bruised, blistered worn out.
She used her Trek CX bike (she’d used it in the Rapha Pennine Rally - 500km Edinburgh to Manchester - successfully) but it was the wrong bike. Not enough tyre clearance, limited to 38mm, which made for walking some sections where others could ride. Slow, slow, slow. Her shoes, great for cycling but less good for walking, and with the wrong bike forcing the walking issue her feet took a beating. Blistered, swollen. Not pretty. The amount of walking/pushing started to give her problems with tendonitis behind her knees.
Bigger tyres might have helped with cross country riding comfort. Her hands took a battering, gradually developing numbness and loss of strength, not to mention the blisters. Double bar tape? Specialized Diverge with front suspension? Hands got so bad it was impacting her ability to control the bike, and she was very concerned that if she suffered a mechanical or puncture somewhere remote she’d be unable to fix it, top of the moors in the rain, no one for miles. Help!
Kit issues. Her bivvy bag wasn’t good enough, she got wet, and cold, and with not much chance to recover, as the weather being so bad, all her kit eventually got wet, too. She knew there are better bivvy bags out there but for reasons unknown (!) nothing was available in the UK at this time. Riding/walking for 18 hours in wet shorts is not fun, after sleeping in wet clothes, and was starting to get nasty sores. Getting back on the bike an ordeal.
Her bike failed a couple of times - cable/shifter - and was a big pain to repair, the cable nipple coming out of its seat in the shifter and getting jammed. Shifter is probably worn out. Lesson is your kit has to be tip top. Losing your gears halfway up a mountain on a rainy night not ideal.
Her Wahoo Element Roam worked perfectly, her lights both, Glowworm and Exposure (borrowed from Emily Chappell, thank you). too. Take two phones, one as a back up. Her phone got soaked and stopped working for a while. Not ideal if you get in trouble, or are looking for a shop or somewhere to sleep. Luckily it revived itself after the hotel stop the night before she quit.
Tactical errors didn't help. For example, first day she did well and could have done more. Another 20km? 40km? Would have reduced next days burden, more time for rest. Who know what's coming so take those extra Kms when you can.
So, that’s a summary, lots of little niggles build up. As she says, you bike goes, your body starts to go and eventually your head goes too.
Very proud of her.
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