Planning a trip - how do you decide daily miles?

[summerdays]

I know I'm only doing a small trip ... but its my first... Devon Coast to Coast. The thing is how do you decide where to stop each night... I cycle in Bristol (so have hills but not the size of the Devon ones), and normally do between 12-20 miles per day commuting. The furthest I have cycled in a day is 37 miles.

So how do I decide how to break up the journey ... I was thinking of doing it in either 3 or 4 days? Is it better to split the milage up approximately equally per day, or start slowly or get alot under my belt on the first day and plan less when tired?

 

[jags]

well the way i look at it is ,you have all day to do as many miles as you like .so break up the miles like if you intend doing 50 in the day how adout 25 in morn the rest in the afternoon ,mind you im sure you already taught on this one yourself.

 

[goo_stewart]

It really does depend on you - I do a rough plan, but it usually changes on the road. Don't sweat it, do a basic plan and be prepared to change it on a whim. That's the beauty of cycling. You can go with the flow. If you wanna stop and see something, then stop, you can make up the mileage another day.

In SEA, where I do all my cycling, I plan a day's mileage by the accommodation probabilities, the hills and the heat, but I always change and deviate from my chosen route. I do more one day, less the next. The freedom of cycling is what you should concentrate on. Do not be too precise about your planning (although some folk may be along soon to disagree with me...)

 

[jay clock]

In terms of energy/fitness the commuting will have set you up perfectly. When I started commuting a long time back I was doing 10-12 miles a day. After about 3 weeks someone dragged me off to cycle from London to Brighton (not the big ride) and amazingly I did it inside 4 hrs!

And having lived in Bristol, the hills there will have trained you up too!

Have a great ride

 

[mcr]

A lot of it will depend on whether you're camping in organised sites, wild camping, staying in B&Bs/hostels or living it up in hotels - there's presumably only so much accommodation en route of your chosen variety, so that may play a significant role. I tend to decide where I'd like to stay (usually small hotels or youth hostels) and make sure they're each within my comfort zone apart, distance-wise. For example on my recent French tour it was my choice to ensure my overnight stops were where the cheaper Logis de France hotels existed, so if I ended up with a shorter distance than I wanted for the day, I just meandered my route a bit more, with 80km/50 miles being my max. Remember you've got the whole day to fill and can pace yourself over 8 or more hours if you need to.

 

[summerdays]

I'm intending to B&B it, but I'm assuming that I need to book them as it will be during the summer holidays (starts on Friday here ... we seem to be about the last folk to break up).

I would like to have a go at the camping tour too but I want a gentle start to touring.

I guess it all feels strange to me... as normally on a ride I'm either commuting to a fixed location or doing a loop so I'm ending up back at home or the car. I'm excited but equally I don't want to hate it and fail if I over-estimate what I can do. And I haven't even decided what I'm going to pack ... (apart from too much).

 

[Cathryn]

I normally decide where I want to start and finish, and anywhere I want to visit en route. Then measure the distance, divide by the number of days and you have a rough daily mileage. Then you can tweak it dependent on availability of accommodation or places you really want to spend a night.

Distance-wise...it so depends on your fitness level - you'd probably be the best judge of that. We do anywhere between 30 - 65 miles, but usually aim for 50 as a rough guide.

The planning is my favourite bit of the trip

 

[Cathryn]

I'll PM you my packing list, if that would help.

 

[andrew_s]

If going to predetermined accommodation, I would advise that it's generally best to do more than half your riding in the morning, and to restrict bumbling about to the afternoon. I like to have about 2/3 of my mileage done by the lunch stop.
I've seen a fair number of people arrive very late, or almost miss ferries, because they'd spent the early part of the day bumbling (untargeted sightseeing), and then found that the rest wasn't as straightforward as they'd expected (missed route, headwind, slow service at cafe, multiple punctures etc). It's much more relaxing if you don't put yourself under time pressure.

 

[Muddyfox]

I'm doing the Devon c2c this summer as well and it'l be my first big ride and i'm hoping to do it over 2 days so i'l be doing 50 miles per day which is quite a big step up for me as i generally only ride for about 25-30 miles per ride

Have you ordered the route guide ? i got mine a while back and it looks pretty imformative

Simon

 

[summerdays]

Yes I have the guide but its split into 4 sections in the guide, and I think I'm going to aim for 3 days... so its deciding how far can I get on the first day, what with getting there as well. I'm intending to arrive by train so do I arrive the night before... stay in Ilfracombe or somewhere else maybe easier to get accomodation. Its decisions decisions!!!!

 

[Muddyfox]

When are you planning to do the ride Summer ?

I would imagine (if circumstances permit) that it would be nice to get the train into Barnstaple the day before and ride the 13 miles over to Ilfracombe and have an overnight stay before setting off

Simon

 

[summerdays]

Possibly next week sometime if I can get organised - panniers arrived yesterday... haven't looked at trains or accommodation yet (planning isn't my speciality). Not on the Sunday night though ... they seem to be forecasting lots of rain - an inch overnight!!!

 

[Muddyfox]

Should've done it this week the weather has been Gorgeous down here

Given the choice i would have an overnight stay in Ilfracombe the night before ... that way you can get up in the morning have some breakfast and set off

I really really must organise my c2c

Simon

 

[summerdays]

Yes but term doesn't finish until Friday ... and I'm not ready yet, and the grandparents need to be available to come down and look after the little darlings.