0 to 100 Miles in 100 Days

[dlockers]

Hi folk,

I'm a super casual cyclist - I bought my Specialized CrossTrail Hybrid in April 2020 to get me busy during lockdown. I cycled fairly often but mostly aimlessly meandering. I have since started cycling more frequently but again, small distances - 2 miles a day taking my little one to childminders.

I've now signed up to a works charity trip where we are cycling 100 miles across the Dales/Moors. It is across two days - I assume day 2 will be worse than day 1 . The distance of the "event" means that most folk going have opted to rent a bike - which based on previous trips is of dubious quality. There is a decent amount of support volunteers who will be on hand to help us if we are in trouble.

Question 1 - am I going to die? I am not unfit but I am certainly not conditioned - i.e. I could probably throw myself into this and make it out through sheer brute force and ignorance but I literally have no idea how far 100 miles is (on a bike).

Question 2 - what practically can do to help out? I'm not the biggest fan of cycling/have lots of work and family commitments - would running 5ks again help? I have been reasonably good at running but again, I pretty much loathe it (record was 23:25 5k).

Question 3 - what clothes do I need? I am assuming we are not travelling back the next day so I'll need to bag whatever I want to wear. I have literally nothing cycling orientated (shoes, trousers etc).

Question 4 - what food do I need? I see folk sucking pouches and all sorts. Is this required?

Question 5 - what tech do I need? Is a FitBit sufficient to get decent data?

Question 6 - can I get battered at the mid-way point/on the train up?

 

[dlockers]

Cheers fellas! Lots of food for thought. I'll digest and come back with silly questions (y)

 

[dlockers]

I'm not actually sure - I imagine it'll be on-road versus entirely off-road.

Not had chance to digest the conversation above but really appreciate the input chaps (y)

 

[dlockers]

Hi folks! Back again --- 12 days to go and the extent of my training is wire brushing my shed and pleasure rides with my little one. Unfortunately the house move got in the way and other priorities cropped up!

I've been given a cheat sheet of things I should get:
* Camelback
* Trail mix?
* SIS Powder?
* Padded shorts

Is there anything else I should sort out?

Plan to head out this evening maybe...

 

[dlockers]

Think I'll stick to trailmix and standard energy bars. You guys reckon bottles rather than a camelback? Are there any specific tablets I should look out for?

 

[dlockers]

Cheers chaps - first bath of gear arrived. I went standard Amazon plonk:


Some padded shorts
Padded seat cover
SIS tablets

What's the score with backpacks to keep snack bars etc? Or do you guys attach something to the bike?

And what kind of water bottles do you use/can you expect to fit into the bottle holder? I have a flask type thing at the moment which works but is a bit of a pain to pop the lid off of. Considering getting 2 cheapie bottles.

 

[dlockers]

Sticking to the Amazon theme, just anything this shape would work.

Science in Sport Drinks Bottle, 800 ml, Yellow : Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Outdoors

Science in Sport Drinks Bottle, 800 ml, Yellow : Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Outdoors

www.amazon.co.uk

800ml is good depending on how frequent the aid stations are.

Ordered thanks.

RE: Backpack/bag to attach to bike - I guess I'll need trail mix (although backpack doesn't seem easily accessible?) and somewhere for a waterproof. Is there something I can attach to the bike itself quite easily?

 

[dlockers]

Even for 100 mile rides (in one go) I've not needed a bag to carry fuel. Granted, I expect to make a few stops for cake, but I only generally take 3 or 4 gels and bars, which will go in my cycle jersey back pockets.

Do they have feed stations planned?

OK so maybe I'll grab a jersey (hadn't thought about top half) with some pockets and that'll be sufficient. Yeah I think lunch is half way through. Support on hand at all times, too...

Bottom half - shorts over my cycling shorts - and then shoes - just any old trainers?

 

[dlockers]

Thanks. I was browsing my Strava account yesterday and saw I have done a few 13km cycles without evening thinking twice, so I have had a bit of a confidence boost from that.

I also didn't realise these shorts were underwear, so I've ordered a pair for day two.

Noted on antiseptic cream - where does that go through?

 

[dlockers]

I actually got encouraged to buy some Bum Butter which is absolute nonesense at £20 for a tiny tub but theoretically is made for the job.

Starting to feel a cold coming on which is annoying...

 

[dlockers]

Almost there boys. I have:

2x padded shorts
2x regular shorts
nike SB waterproof joggers (if it rains)
nike wind breaker/waterproof
2x thermal/base layers (plus 2 spare that I'll return if not required)
padded seat cover

to pack:
snacks
gloves



And best of all, the transport I'll be taking...

 

[dlockers]

Leg one done boys, not sure this is entirely accurate but it's all I had tracking me:



93km iirc (y). Had a hot bath (bad idea?) And just scoffing now. I'll share the story about the bike allocation debacle when I have more stamina but it's quite funny

 

[dlockers]

Nailed it! Ass pain and the sleep last night was tricky. Just at the after party. Cheers for the support!

 

[dlockers]

Right chaps... brief story for those interested.

Thurs:
* 0740 - left to drop my daughter off at child minder
* 0805 - man comes to start driveway project (and asks lots of difficult questions!)
* 0807 - taxi arrives to take me to an M1 junction
* 0835 - jump in the M3 CSL (this thing is the nuts)



* 1030 - quick shift at client site
* 1500 - hit the road to the Dales

</non cycling chat>

* 1800 - get assigned a ******* mountain bike. Like a proper Trek low PSI rock crawling thing. Fuming.
* 2000 - dinner
* 2005 - start to Gumtree for a road bike
* 2007 - find the only road bike available, grab the boss and his M3 CSL
* 2100 - arrive Lancaster - ask boss for money as I had forgot my debit card

</career limiting decisions>

My beauty! £140 beer tokens for a desperate student. This baby has carbon forks!



Fri:
* 0700 - gale force winds and torrential rain
* 0730 - departure
* 0745 - get mad at crappy water bottle holder and ask colleague to hold bottle for me
* 0747 - lose colleague with my water bottle
* 0930 - first puncture, same boss who has basically been my surrogate father provides me with a spare inner tube
* 0934 - lose mobile phone.....FML. Back track 2km and find phone, result!

<pain and suffering>

* 1230ish - hit lunch stop, SHEER nut that holds seat on...........FML!
* 1330 - after running about 5km to every shop in town, I find a legend of a bike shop who hasn't yet opened his workshop - despite that he walks me up the road to his unit and finds me a nut!
* 1400ish - back on the road

<pain and suffering>

Summary (no proper tracking data unfortunately):
+ 63 miles (at least)
+ 1749 ft elevation / - 148ft (hills were killer)

Saturday:
* Much more chilled, very flat.
* Only major event was the Irish lads realising they had no way home so I rented a one way van drop off and got them to the airport with their bikes, and heading on home with my new bike.

Summary:
+ 35.7 mile (at least)
+ 489ft elevation

Executive Summary:
Cycling isn't for me.

Thank you all for the advice and support! Almost £20k raised for BRC and Barnados so far.

 

[dlockers]

Mate if I’d known you were starting from Lancaster you could’ve borrowed mine!

You're joking!! If only I'd clocked you were local! To be fair I abused that thing with my ignorance of the sport (and I am pleased with my purchase as it a epic entry level road bike for me to get into!). I did really enjoy the road biking tbf - night and day compared to my hybrid!

Wow, you really were 'that guy'

Haha I did think that... however, one lad broke his arm and 3 ribs by not paying attention at a junction and slamming the front brake on!

Surely this isn't correct? I've got 53 rides of that distance or more and the lowest elevation is 2,434 ft? Is it meters perhaps?

Well done though.

I may not have interpreted that measure correctly - Komoot says:

Uphill: 1,120m
Downhill: 1,020m
Highest Point: 440m
Lowest Point: 50m

Thanks! Chuffed I made it. I don't think I'd have managed on a mountain bike.

 

[dlockers]

Yeah sounds more sensible. Glad you made it round, and shows what often we can be a bit over cautious and people can do fairly impressive things if they put their mind to it without masses of preparation.

Maybe this is the start of more regular cycling though if you enjoyed the road bike a little more?

More impressive was the young lass who managed the whole thing on the bike I binned. In all fairness though, they were 10 years younger than me!

Possibly - I'll definitely give the road bike a go again. I mean, I own one now

I'm guessing not from the executive summary. However looking at the bike, I suspect having a familiar and better setup one would do wonders for the enjoyment and likelihood of wanting to stick with it. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't enjoy doing so many miles on the bike shown above as it looks to be a small frame made to fit with a long stem. And then has the seat pointing upwards and far too much padding which will cause rubbing.

Possibly - it was a life saver for going downhill/ up small inclines though, compared to colleagues who were constantly pumping to go a similar pace.

When the seat sheared off I bolted it back on at a more sensible angle which cured a lot of discomfort. I did think the handle bars were far too forward though. Possibly a Frankenstein.