l4dva
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Has anyone here done this?
I really want to give this a go. I live in London now however Birmingham will always be "home". I could get on the canal in watford and then cycle to birmingham spend the weekend at my mums house, possibly get collected by my wife in the car or cycle back a few days later. Of course I'm thinking well in advance here when its safe to visit family & wishfully thinking of things to do when we are out of lockdown.
I've found the below useful article on someone else experience of doing this the other way round. Here they suggest you need roughly 2 or 3 days. I was hoping to do this in one day so don't need to carry too much with me & save time. Am I being totally unrealistic? Its 120 miles ish, which is fine on open roads but with people traffic on canals and the slower pace as result is it still possible?
https://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/cycling-from-birmingham-to-london/
I will be riding a cyclocross bike with decent 700x30 mavic all road wheels/tyres. So should be ok with the "off road" sections. I have a large saddle bag that will take enough food/snacks. Two water bottles on the frame. Spare tubes, multitool pump etc if they don't fit in the saddle bag with the food will go into my jersey pockets. I'll need to find somewhere to put my phone and a small battery pack to keep it charged up. I hope to only use it if I get lost, otherwise, stick to the canal and keep cycling till I get to Birmingham. I may buy a handlebar bag to carry other bits. Not sure what else I need to carry, overnight clothing etc I shouldn't need as I have everything at my mums house.
Any other tips or advice for someone taking on a solo ride like this?
Thanks in advance
I really want to give this a go. I live in London now however Birmingham will always be "home". I could get on the canal in watford and then cycle to birmingham spend the weekend at my mums house, possibly get collected by my wife in the car or cycle back a few days later. Of course I'm thinking well in advance here when its safe to visit family & wishfully thinking of things to do when we are out of lockdown.
I've found the below useful article on someone else experience of doing this the other way round. Here they suggest you need roughly 2 or 3 days. I was hoping to do this in one day so don't need to carry too much with me & save time. Am I being totally unrealistic? Its 120 miles ish, which is fine on open roads but with people traffic on canals and the slower pace as result is it still possible?
https://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/cycling-from-birmingham-to-london/
I will be riding a cyclocross bike with decent 700x30 mavic all road wheels/tyres. So should be ok with the "off road" sections. I have a large saddle bag that will take enough food/snacks. Two water bottles on the frame. Spare tubes, multitool pump etc if they don't fit in the saddle bag with the food will go into my jersey pockets. I'll need to find somewhere to put my phone and a small battery pack to keep it charged up. I hope to only use it if I get lost, otherwise, stick to the canal and keep cycling till I get to Birmingham. I may buy a handlebar bag to carry other bits. Not sure what else I need to carry, overnight clothing etc I shouldn't need as I have everything at my mums house.
Any other tips or advice for someone taking on a solo ride like this?
Thanks in advance