To all the cyclists/fitness people......

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by arcdef

My bike is an mountain bike jobby but is fairly light, and tbh will have to make do as im not forking out for a road bike!

if you havent get some slick road type tyres for it, it'll make life much much easier if you are riding on the road.

Turbo trainer is quite handy, but IMHO its not substitue for getting out there and putting the miles in on the road.

Your going to spend alot of time in the saddle, so you also want to think about clothing, if you havent got some get some cycling shorts.

I did my 95 miler in just under 7 hrs so even if you are sitting at a decent pace, your IMHO looking at 10 - 12 hrs of cycling.

that kind of riding is akin to completing a marathon, so that'll give you some idea of how much of a mountain you have to climb.

Originally Posted by arcdef

My bike is an mountain bike jobby but is fairly light, and tbh will have to make do as im not forking out for a road bike!

Is the route you are doing road or off road - if it is on the road and you have off road tyres on it is going to be hard. If it is on the road I suggest you invest in some road tyres as a minimum. It will make it easier and safer as knobblies on the road can be a bit difficult to control if the weather is crappy

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

that kind of riding is akin to completing a marathon, so that'll give you some idea of how much of a mountain you have to climb.

i would think its much harder than a marathon.

give your bike a good service beforehand too i suspect that trip's gonna strain it a bit brake's and cable's all that sort of stuff.

[mattSV]

Originally Posted by hovis

hang on......... is this in one go, as i guesstimate thats 10 hours in the seat?

I think an inexperienced cyclist on a mountain bike with off-road tyres would probably average about 10-12 mph over that sort of distance, depending upon terrain - I think 10 hours will be fairly good going.

Some good advice already, however it will be an epic effort to do 125 miles in a day. As Fizz said, you will need a good supply of drinks/energy bars/syrups etc to avoid the bonk - also, your knees will probably take a bit of a hammering, your wrists/arms will ache (get some mitts and bar end extensions if you do not already have them) and your back will be killing you.
Get some road tyres - they will make a big difference, get some spare tubes and a pump/tools (if you do not have that already covered with a support van).

Other than that, pace yourself on the day - do not set off too quick - aim to average 10-12mph, no more, as after 2/3 hours you will be knackered. Keep the liquids and foods up throughout the day - you will probably need up to 1 litre every hour, especially if it is hot.


My wife and I did 66 miles last year, mostly off road. She does very little cycling so I spent most of the time pacing her - we averaged about 11mph (there were some big hills though!), and at the end of it she was knackered - really proud of her though, and we raised about £400 for charity.

Worse case is, make a whole day of it, have a couple of breaks if needed and enjoy it.

Good luck!

Well, just done exactly 12.5 miles in 52 mins, didnt find it too bad but doubt id have managed another round as hills were becoming very very difficult and my legs are abit jelly like now lol. Will be doing it again Thursday and hopefully upping the distance next week.

Will take your advice on the road tyres too, anythign to make it easier lol.

I've just started riding again and am getting back in the groove. Miles are important, as are rest days. Don't overdo it at the start..... build up gradually.

What sort of terrain and ground is your trip, i.e. hills or flat, roads or cycle paths/trails? As others have said, the right tyres for the conditions will give you a significant boost. Deffo get road tyres if you're going on tarmac

I found when I started that I could ride a long way quite quickly on the flat but it was the hills that killed me. And there's a lot of them round here! I found that I needed to "calibrate my brain" for the hills, and tell myself that it is perfectly acceptable to go slowly up hills - set a pace/cadence that you are comfortable with and don't try to keep up with the quicker guys at the front.

Also, make sure that your bike is set up for you - seat height & position, bar height, etc. as that will make a huge difference to how far you can go. Set your seat height with your heel on the pedal so that your leg is almost straight at the bottom of the movement with your toes on the pedal.

I've bought a cycle computer from Halfords (wireless 12-function jobbie). As well as telling you how far you've gone, speed, etc, it has a "pacer" function which tells you if you're currently going faster or slower than your average speed. just a thought.

Oh, and clothing...... you don't want your bits chafed

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by arcdef

Well, just done exactly 12.5 miles in 52 mins,

Thats pretty reasonable IMHO so you must have some level of base fitness, so you need to start to rack the miles up and keep building on it.

But as Jabba says you need to build some recovery / rest days into your schedule.

You can either have a duvet day and do nothing or do a recovery ride, which is a ride where ride for a shorter distance and that you do it slowly and just spin the pedals round in a relaxed / gentle manner, this is often quite good as it helps to work the stiffness out of your leg muscles.

Two things.

1. GEL SEAT get one NOW.

2. Pedal clips. The thing with cycling is all effort is on the down push on the pedal. This means you are only cycling with 50% efficiently. Pedal clips means you can exert effort on the upstroke as well as the down stroke.

Originally Posted by Stig_Of_The_Dump

1. GEL SEAT get one NOW.

Seriously dude.