London to Brighton bike ride

SiHH

SiHH

SiHH

Soldato
Joined
4 Mar 2004
Posts
3,019
Location
Hemel Hempstead, Herts, U
Is anyone on here entered into this or planning on doing it ?

The race is in June I believe and I am starting to think i'd quite like to do it but I think I may have left it too late to start training and preparing for it... oh and I dont have a bike either :p

I have just started back at the gym but I would say my fitness is pretty average/poor at the moment. Thankfully im in good physical shape, not everweight or anything.

So anyone with experience of these kind of things - do you think i've left it too late ?
 
How far is it?

I did a 64 mile ride with no prior training other than the usual amount of mountain biking 14-16 year olds do after school (ie we never "went" anywhere, we just dossed around on ramps/jumps/short trails).

Is it a "race" or is it a "finish in your own time" kind of thing?

If its the latter, you shouldn't have an issue IMO.
 
SiHH said:
oh and I dont have a bike either :p


So anyone with experience of these kind of things - do you think i've left it too late ?
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You could get up to speed easily in the time you have. You do, however, need a bike.

A good entry level road bike like the Giant SCR3 can be had from Wiggle for £380.

Go. For. It

Start by doing a regular ten mile run. Once you hit the 30minute mark you are more than ready. Do some endurance runs of 50 miles too. Also get some padded shorts! :D :o
 
It's 55 miles, with a nice big hill about 45 miles in. I'm in no way fit, but managed it with a little bit of walking up the hills.
It's a finish in your own time kind of thing, I did it in a (due to my lack of fitness) reasonable time of 5 hours. Then again it was approximately 30 degrees celcius on the day!
 
I did it last year with a large group of friends in about 5 hours, but it took that long as one of my friends crashed and we had to get him sorted out. It wasn't too hard, and I even managed to cycle up the hill at the end.
Jonnyc90
 
My mate is doing it and he offered me a place but I declined. I'd have to get my bike down there for starters. :) He's got some sort of business sponsorship. It's a great day though. I've done a few 50 mile rides in my time and would quite fancy it.
 
I did the London to Cambridge a few years ago and ended up doing 60 miles that day. The only training I did was a trip to Bishop Stortford which was about half way. You'll be fine.
 
LordSplodge said:
1. It won't be cold in June.
2. If it is cold when you get out on your bike and start cycling hard you soon get very warm. Apart from your ears and chin. :( Oh and feet if you forget two pairs of socks.
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They all moan about global warming but this is the coldest it's been for a very long time :p
 
LordSplodge said:
You could get up to speed easily in the time you have. You do, however, need a bike.

A good entry level road bike like the Giant SCR3 can be had from Wiggle for £380.

Go. For. It

Start by doing a regular ten mile run. Once you hit the 30minute mark you are more than ready. Do some endurance runs of 50 miles too. Also get some padded shorts! :D :o
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30mins ? :eek:

I've just come back from the gym and done 10 miles in 41min 50sec avg speed of 14.3mph.

I thought that was good for a first go ! lol
 
SiHH said:
30mins ? :eek:

I've just come back from the gym and done 10 miles in 41min 50sec avg speed of 14.3mph.

I thought that was good for a first go ! lol
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I am a chronic Asthmatic and I can do a 10 mile run in an average of 40 minutes on a Mountain bike :eek: :D

I am hoping to drop below the 30 minute mark in a few months once I have got my roadie and had time to practice.

You don't have to do this, nor do you have to practice at staying in the saddle longer for endurance. It will, however, do a lot for your general fitness and confidence when you don't need t dismount on the hills and actually finish in a reasonable place.

You still need to get a bike first though! ;) :p
 
On these sort of long distance bike rides whats peoples average speed you rekon? Just wondering because when I am on my bicycle I feel slow, just got a road one aswell, can avaerage 20mph on a good day but most of the time I'm only averaging 15mph maybe less, just started the gym though buy due to college I only get sundays, mondays, fridays and possibly saturdays and tuesdays but cant go all 5 days due to not having any rest inbetween.

LordSplodge said:
I am a chronic Asthmatic and I can do a 10 mile run in an average of 40 minutes on a Mountain bike :eek: :D

I am hoping to drop below the 30 minute mark in a few months once I have got my roadie and had time to practice.

You don't have to do this, nor do you have to practice at staying in the saddle longer for endurance. It will, however, do a lot for your general fitness and confidence when you don't need t dismount on the hills and actually finish in a reasonable place.

You still need to get a bike first though! ;) :p
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:o

Is there any hills on that ride? I do a 10 mile run to college and it usually takes me around 45-55mins, this is on a road bicycle too and with minimal wind :o

On the run I have about 1 break maybe 2 for a drink of water.
 
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I've done it before and physically it's ok except for ditchling beacon at the end!

Be prepared for punctures etc though - we had a few punctures in our group and were quite lucky that one of us knew what to do!
 
willhub said:
:o

Is there any hills on that ride? I do a 10 mile run to college and it usually takes me around 45-55mins, this is on a road bicycle too and with minimal wind :o

On the run I have about 1 break maybe 2 for a drink of water.
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There are a few hills but nothing huge. I do live in Derby after all. The biggest problem I have is that my maximum speed is limited by the bloody gears on my mountain bike.

Oh and on a quick run I don't stop for refreshment but rather drink on the go as it were.

I'd have no chance of getting close at the moment as my lungs don't work to well in real cold air.

I am also rubbish at endurance runs. This could be a problem as I want to enter an Open 5 - a five hour endurance race. Don't quite think I am ready for the Open 24 yet. :eek: :(

http://www.openadventure.com/
 
Id really like to do this but not sure hot itd be on a fixed. Ill look in to the ride some more though, it seems like a fun ride out.
 
LordSplodge said:
There are a few hills but nothing huge. I do live in Derby after all. The biggest problem I have is that my maximum speed is limited by the bloody gears on my mountain bike.

Oh and on a quick run I don't stop for refreshment but rather drink on the go as it were.

I'd have no chance of getting close at the moment as my lungs don't work to well in real cold air.

I am also rubbish at endurance runs. This could be a problem as I want to enter an Open 5 - a five hour endurance race. Don't quite think I am ready for the Open 24 yet. :eek: :(

http://www.openadventure.com/
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Just makes me feel really unfit, I mean you said you were a chronic Asthmatic, I used to have asthma, I notice when I pedal really hard for a long time going fast I get weird pains up near my neck, but abit lower down, but I dont think thats to do with my lungs or anything. Do you have a speedo on your bike? I remember in my saracen I was limited by the gears, after about 18mph I was in last year and pedaling so fast, up to 30mph I was loosing track lol, but on my road bike I usually have 2-3 years free and only really need to use the last one if I was hitting 25+mph but I cant sustain high speeds at all unless the wind is pushing me and even on the drop bars I am still loose a lot of speed as the wind really does effect me. I have done 2 hours none stop on my bicycle and thats about it, but it was not fast all the way.

The races you mention sound interesting, but I think for me its going to be a long while untill I'm fit enough to take part in anything like that.
 
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