Chris`I Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Sorry Chris, got a wedding to go to on the bank holiday. If you want to carry on up the motorway a couple of hours though... lol We're booked onto the Dirt School session in Peaslake on the Sat, so a bit far to go to the Lakes for just 2 days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted August 19, 2012 Author Share Posted August 19, 2012 JOGLE day 17 Epilogue: Penrith to home. I would have been a nice 40 mile ride back to good old WC. Actually what happened is my pannier rack broke 15 miles from home and Fran had to come rescue me. Fail! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted August 22, 2012 Author Share Posted August 22, 2012 So, the final write up. Maybe put the kettle on for this one! I'll talk about the logistics a bit and some tips in case you fancy undertaking this madness yourself! 1) The Kit The weapon of choice for this trip was a new, via the magic of cycle-to-work, Specialised Tricross: The lasting impression of the bike is one of stiffness! Being aluminium, there is absolutely no give what so ever on the road. Every little lump and bump is transmitted up into your hands and arse. If you roll over a painted line in the road, you virtually can tell what colour it was. Traditionally, touring bikes like the Dawes Galaxy are made of slender steel tubing, primarily to reduce such road chatter, and provide some damping on a fully rigid bike over long distances. Now, on the UKs often less than perfect surfaces, an alloy frame can be a real nightmare. A couple of times I was reduced to a virtual crawl by the road surface, normally when it was a worn old road composed of big chippings where the tar had worn out. Similarly, any washboard type surfaces were met with gritted teeth and a hope they were going to be sort lived. Stretches of modern low-noise tarmac proved the best, and pleasingly a common feature of modern rural A-roads these days. There is one advantage of an alloy frame though - power transfer. Every last scrap of power is transferred to the road through the pedals. Thanks to that stiffness, you can really sense that all your effort is going into the climbs. The gearing on the bike was a regular road triple on the front, and a fairly wide 10 speed cassette on the back, the largest cog being a 30 tooth. I did consider getting a MTB chainset, but that would have cost too much. A cheaper option would have been to fit a MTB cassette and gain a maximum of a 36 tooth ring, but after doing a couple of hilly test rides I reckoned I could just about get away with it. The next most important bit of kit was my panniers. There was only ever going to be one choice here; Ortlieb. Those good old Germans have had it covered for years with their bombproof, roll-top waterproof bags. In fact they are virtually immersion resistant if you get a few rolls on the top, and come with an IP54 rating I think, certainly the downpours I endured at each end of the trip didn't trouble them much. Complete with accompanying bar bag, all specced in please-don't-hit-me yellow. The panniers were going to be attached to a Tubus rack, but time and money ran out to get that ordered, so I ended up with whatever KMB had in stock (probably Topeak). That failed on the was home after just 1000 miles, so suffice to say the Tubus is being ordered at the earliest opportunity for future use. The tent was my trusty Vaude Taurus Ultralight two-manner, a rather luxurious for one choice, but I always prioritise sleeping comfort, and a one man tent or bivvi style job just wasn't going to cut it. That was coupled with a Thermarest sleeping mat and a Marmot 3 season down bag. The sleeping bag was total overkill for the UK summer, but again, it was a case of take it because you already had it. One thing I noticed about the assembled mass of kit was that I probably could have chopped the weight by a third with a well placed spending spree. However that would have been over a grand easy, and obviously that wasn't going to happen! The panniers were divided into a clothing side, and a camping side. The tent and roll mat were strapped to the top of the rack in a dry bag. Approximate kit list: Vaude Taurus Ultralight 2 man tent Marmot 3 season down bag + liner. Stuffsack filled with spare clothes as pillow. Thermarest Trail Pro mat Primus Express Spider stove and GSI Pinnacle Soloist cookset. All packs down into one unit. Spare gas - not used in the end. Bike pump, spare tubes, and misc bike spares. Alpkit head torch. Two full changes of cycling clobber. Two full changes of non-bike clothes. Windproof gillet. Waterproof jacket and 3/4 shorts. Toilet bag. Microfibre drying towel - yes, an actual car one. Very useful! Bar bag containing camera, penknife, wallet, phone, snacks etc. I didn't weigh it all in the end, but it's probably an easy 20-25 kilos worth, and it doesn't include a couple of kilos of water and food. If you are thinking of doing some long distance cycling, definitely do some practice rides with an honest full load, it all adds up surprisingly quickly. I tried to be as judicious as possible with the kit list, but again, being self supported, I wanted to cover just enough bases to be comfortable. The British summer can, and did, throw it's usual selection of elements at me. 2) The Body Only 3 things matter in touring, your contact points with the bike. Your hands, legs, and above all, your arse! There's no getting away from it, even if you do a bit of riding previously, arse care is your number one priority! Saddle sores or chafing will stop a trip in its tracks, so you must start lubing up before any problems start. Various emollients are available, mostly I used Sudocreem, the main advantages being that its water resistant so doesn't get sweated away, and it's cheap! The other point is try to have different makes of kit to swap between. Seams are a main cause of chafing when your spending 8 hours plus a day on the road, so having all you undershorts from the same manufacturer normally mean all the seams will rub in the same place too. After a week or so you do get used to it, but I had to be quite carefull initially, as the number of saddle hours per day was over twice what I would normally do. Nutrition wise, I was fairly careful, at least for the tough first week, to eat properly and keep the machine ticking over. Extra calorific intake is a given, but I made sure to concentrate on low and medium GI foods through the day such as porridge, bananas, nuts, oatcakes etc. Eating a small snack every hour to hour and a half during the day. Having said that, fuel is fuel at the end of the day, so if I passed a nice looking cafe in the morning, it was straight in for the full english baby! Post trip, I wish I'd weighed myself before I left, but I think I've lost at least half a stone on the road, probably more like 12lbs. And thats even with eating 3-4000 calories a day. 3) The Ride Up until Birmingham, I was averaging 80-90 miles a day. This was mostly due to having a deadline to get to (the Midlands meet), and then just working the plan backwards from that until a couple of days after finishing work. Of course, when you're just sitting at home in front of Google maps, it doesn't really occur to you that you will actually have to cycle it at some point! This was the main cause of the somewhat hot pace for the first week, the 11 hour day through Inverness and the Cairngorms being a particular, errr, highlight! After Birmingham, and a much needed day off, the last third of the trip took almost as long as the first two thirds. I dropped the average down to a much more relaxed 60 miles a day average, and that is a much more normal pace for self supported trips. My chosen route was to go down the east of the Pennines. The normal Lands end to John o'Groats route takes in less than 900 miles, and for the most part, avoids any large amounts of climbing by virtue of coming up through the Welsh marches and Cheshire plains, then passing east of the Lake District and following the Great Glen from Fort Bill to Inverness. My 1045 miles took in the Cairngorms, the Peak District, crossed myriad river valleys in County Durham plus the unavoidable and infamous west country hills. I don't know what the total ascent was, but 10s of thousands of feet seems fairly plausible. During the trip, I didn't get any punctures, and only really had one near miss. While riding down past Tain to the Nigg ferry, an old biddy in a Micra (what else!) started to overtake me. The only trouble was she started slowing down almost as soon as she started to pass. Looking up I realised that I was coming up on a left junction, surely she wasn't going to turn in to there??? Oh yes she bloody was! She was barely passed me when she turned in, I had realised what was going on, and thankfully was already reaching for the brakes. I managed to slow down just enough to see the side of the car passing no more that two inches from my front wheel. So trip over, would I do it again? Not any time soon thats for sure! It's a hard trip make no mistake, but I could maybe be pursuaded to do the regular route with a bit of company It's been a great way to see the country, you see all sorts of random and wonderful things on the way, as well as talking to some great people. It's maybe not been life changing, but it was a challenge, and one I'm glad to have done. Here's to the next... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted August 22, 2012 Author Share Posted August 22, 2012 4) The Pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted August 22, 2012 Author Share Posted August 22, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Excellent work buddy! With regard to the bike, its so stiff because it can go offroad! Its no tourer thats for sure. My out and out racer (Boardman) is far comfier to ride, which is why I got (getting) shot of my Tricross, its just too harsh on the road! Roll-top bags are also waterproof, I used to use them kayaking and found out they are waterproof with a few visits into various rivers in Wales So shall we do the normal route next year then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogyRev Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Nice write up and some great pics Glad you made it from top to bottom. Just one question...... did you cycle back home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 Excellent work buddy! With regard to the bike, its so stiff because it can go offroad! Its no tourer thats for sure. My out and out racer (Boardman) is far comfier to ride, which is why I got (getting) shot of my Tricross, its just too harsh on the road! So shall we do the normal route next year then? Yes, I'm aware of that! Hacktually, overall it made a good tourer, good position for long days, and of course it dealt with some of the bloody unscheduled off-road bits no problem - shame the pannier rack wasn't up to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Excellent work buddy! With regard to the bike, its so stiff because it can go offroad! Its no tourer thats for sure. My out and out racer (Boardman) is far comfier to ride, which is why I got (getting) shot of my Tricross, its just too harsh on the road! So shall we do the normal route next year then? Yes, I'm aware of that! Hacktually, overall it made a good tourer, good position for long days, and of course it dealt with some of the bloody unscheduled off-road bits no problem - shame the pannier rack wasn't up to it! Did you put some nice tyres on it or leave them stock? I hope you didnt have 23mm road rubber on there Standard tyres are good as they are wide, but not slick so slow you down a bit. I had Gatorskin 28mm on mine which was a nice balance. Maybe you should do an offroad version next year and take a month to do it! Or do a tour of the UK trail centres like they had in MBUK this month Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 I kept the standard spesh semi slicks on, they are more like 35mm so worked out well for big loads and puncture resistance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vik54 Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Hotub - and you can almost see the house in the photo you took on the Tay bridge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Fantastic write up and pics matey, great to read even though I'm not a cyclist myself. Congrats on doing it, that's a great achievement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT4 Zed Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Welldone Andy Very good info for those who are contemplating such a trip i maybe tempted to do this next year if you would do it again There is no way i can do this alone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 Fantastic write up and pics matey, great to read even though I'm not a cyclist myself. Congrats on doing it, that's a great achievement. +1 One of the pics stood out for me: that was certainly somewhere familiar to me and when you made it there in 2011 with 4 wheel assistance and few more bhp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 Great write up Some really cool pics as well nice one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted August 25, 2012 Author Share Posted August 25, 2012 Fantastic write up and pics matey, great to read even though I'm not a cyclist myself. Congrats on doing it, that's a great achievement. +1 One of the pics stood out for me: that was certainly somewhere familiar to me and when you made it there in 2011 with 4 wheel assistance and few more bhp Yep, I stopped at **** Bridge for tea and a sticky bun too Colin. It all looks a bit different at cycle speeds, although the downhill just after that photo got me up to 42mph! (lol @ swear filter! thats C.o.c.k. Bridge by the way! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 (edited) Looks like this was quite a trip Me and a few mates are doing the it the other way round LEGOJ, end of May this year (2013). Training has started in earnest, aiming for a rather ambitious 15mph average. Any tips on training??? (we're lucky and having our wifes come along in a support van ) Edited March 31, 2013 by gangzoom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 (edited) I'm a bit worried about the bikes we've chosen to ride on the trip....We're all on road bike, no triples, and been averaging 20mph on some training rides, which I think is far too quick..at least thats my excuse when I'm sitting at the back of the group drafting off everyone . One of my mates have lent me his "hack" bike for the trip....A few years ago Lance Armstrong was using something similar (along whole load of drugs) to win the Tour, but my mate considers it to be outdated and slow compared to his other bikes . Edited March 31, 2013 by gangzoom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted March 31, 2013 Author Share Posted March 31, 2013 Looks like this was quite a trip Me and a few mates are doing the it the other way round LEGOJ, end of May this year (2013). Training has started in earnest, aiming for a rather ambitious 15mph average. Any tips on training??? (we're lucky and having our wifes come along in a support van ) 15mph average shouldn't pose any problems at all if there's a few of you and are travelling unloaded, especially if that's a representative bike! I averaged 10-12mph on a 'cross bike with about 20 kilos of baggage, so you should be fine. If you are doing the normal 9 day route, 20mph would mean you'll only have to keep it up for maybe a couple of 3hr sessions a day to make the milage, just depends on how enjoyable you want the evenings in the pub to be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Great to hear the you think the overall speed isn't too quick. Theres 5 of us in total, but I cannot get out of work so have to miss a few days in the middle , but will still end up doing a large part of it. Went for a quick ride on the new bike today, no cleats due to my old look cleats not fitting, and seat position was all wrong, still managed to do PB on just about every part of the ride....so the bike might not matter, but it defiantly helps to have a good one . The bike I was going to use for the ride was the weak-link of the group, been everyone else has carbon frames and at least 105 group sets, so overall I think we certainly have the equipment to keep the speed up.... How did you manage to feed your self on the trip?? I can manage a 1hr of hard riding without eating, but any longer and I have to chew on some sweets/bananas otherwise I just end up hitting the wall. Did that once, and had such bad leg cramp had to walk up a hill . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 5 of you will make a good draft when road conditions permit too. I got a great tow off a few guys out for a ride in Yorkshire, I asked to tag on the back, and before I knew it I was flying along at 20mph average! Even with panniers and all my kit. Of course you will swap round, but it does make a big difference getting a peloton going. Food wise, for an average 10 hour day (80-90 miles) I'd have porridge for brekkie, mid morning snack of wholemeal pitta + babybell+ saucisson/chorizo, cafe lunch of soup/sandwich + cake, thenmid afternoon another pitta as before, then pub dinner in the evenings (with beer) In between all that i always kept a selection of jelly babies/fuit and nut mix/oat cakes in the bar bag for nibbles. I also had 2 x 1 litre water bottles that I normally re-filled at the lunch stop.After nearly two weeks of that little lot I a) never ran out of energy through the day - complex carbs and protein are key, and b ) I still managed to loose nearly a stone! I was peddling a very heavy bike though, so your calorie intake might be slightly less. I didn't use any sports nutrition products or gels, just ate fairly well and drank a pint of milk in the evening after finishing riding as a recovery drink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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