Preparing for a long (and money-saving!) ride (500 miles)

Tish_P

Wow, good luck! I've done 100 miles, but over 3 days so nothing like your feat. But FWIW: the second day is the worst, wear layers so you can adjust as you or the weather warms up, and remember it's unlikely you will will ever think "I wish these shorts had less padding."

Also if there are lots of people doing the journey, don't let the sense of occasion at the start go to your head to the extent that you hare off at an unsustainable pace. All the best and well done for taking the plunge and signing up! I'd love to do something like that one day (but slower).

krazyburd23

Dekazer wrote: »

There are still places available

haha, one day I will but unfortunately at the moment I just dont have the time

Dekazer wrote: »

Nice tip about 2 tops to double the pockets. Sounds especially good for this time of year! Thanks for the link - some quality bargains to be had!

Yeh, I have bought quite a few of my cycling clothes from there over the years. They are very good value and they look like they are made for ladies I always find it so tough to find reasonably priced feminine looking cycling clothes, there is so much for the guys but hardly anything for us ladies :think: Their padded shorts and trousers are also pretty good, the padding is pretty thick, although your booty should be ok after a while, once you've done lots of hours training in the saddle you'll not feel very much from then on hehe :rotfl:

Dekazer

Popped into Sports Direct on Saturday afternoon, having had a look at the website (link in krazyburd23's post above, #8).

The choice in my local store wasn't massive, but the discounts were pretty good. I got 2 Muddy Fox long sleeved tops, two pairs of gloves (one with fingers, one fingerless) and two pairs of padded leggings (complete with ski-pants strap to go under your feet) for under £60, so I'm pretty pleased with that.

I've been recommended to go for a proper bike fitting. A colleague had a really good one (in Putney, SW London) for £120.

If anyone knows of a good but cheaper place I'd be very interested!

bloghog

100 miles a day is going to be hard! But then you knew that already
You will need to build your mileage up gradually as you get towards the event, don't try and go too far too quickly just a steady weekly increase in mileage. The big factor will be riding speed, if you are pootling along at 10 miles an hour it will not be so bad as blatting along at 17-20mph. Are you riding in a big group? if so tucking in behind a stronger rider and sheltering from the wind will make a big difference.
Good luck, I am sure you will be fine if you put the training miles in beforehand.

JQ.

Dekazer wrote: »

Popped into Sports Direct on Saturday afternoon, having had a look at the website (link in krazyburd23's post above, #8).

The choice in my local store wasn't massive, but the discounts were pretty good. I got 2 Muddy Fox long sleeved tops, two pairs of gloves (one with fingers, one fingerless) and two pairs of padded leggings (complete with ski-pants strap to go under your feet) for under £60, so I'm pretty pleased with that.

I've been recommended to go for a proper bike fitting. A colleague had a really good one (in Putney, SW London) for £120.

If anyone knows of a good but cheaper place I'd be very interested!

I'd be wary of the stuff from SD. They just buy brand names and then have the items produced cheaply in China. Muddy Fox used to make reasonable quality bike stuff, but now it's very much cheap and cheerful. Same with the Karrimoor brand that SD sell, it's nowhere near the quality of the stuff that they used to manufacture before they went bust.

The stuff is not discounted, it's just cheap.

gingernm

Hi,

Good luck on your ride, I'm looking to do Lejog next year!!

For other clothing try waiting until the new year sales begin! Last year I picked up a 3/4 winter bib set, short summer bib set, bontegra top and another top from lakeland leisure (Daventry) for @80 quid!

Make sure you try on shoes before purchasing! Then see if you can get them cheaper on the web, I got a pair of wide fit shimano's for 40 quid new, Evans wanted over 70 for them. Can't for the life in me remember the website I got them from!!

As others have said build up your milage gradually, it's a journey full of sights, not a race and you're doing it to enjoy the experience.

Keep us all updated.

Rob.

Dekazer

I see my local bike shop has big posters advertising their January sales - time to snap up some bargains I reckon.

I'm thinking in getting one of those fancy pants pumps. With my hand pump I don't seem to be getting anywhere close to 120 PSI. Any recommendations you lot?

Also, first day back on my bike today (in over a week) - I hope I won't be having such a long break from it again for a while!

Marco_Panettone

A floor-standing 'track pump' is well worth the investment. You'll get 100+psi quickly and easily. Do this once a week at home, then use the CO2 on the road in emergancies.

A pair on overshoes will keep your feet warm and/or dry, and mudguards are worth their weight in gold in bad weather. You can get lightweight 'race blades' if the bike doesn't have mounts.

For long rides I'd advise against bib-shorts (especially for women) as they make 'comfort breaks' in the middle of nowhere much more complicated!

Dekazer

Hi all,

Training still going OK - 20 miles on Sunday afternoon, which is the furthest I've gone in one go before. Found a brilliant closed cycle track near where I live where I can whizz round and round concentrating on my gear changes and stamina etc without having to worry about traffic or getting lost - perfect for winter!

Thought I'd quickly pop on here to mention a good free app I've started using called Strava. I'd tried RunKeeper before, which works fine, but Strava has the advantage of being able to network with others. Me and the gang who are doing the challenge together have started sharing our rides. It's a great free way of encouraging each other (plus a little healthy competition to get the blood pumping )

Cheers,

Deks

PS Have also started fundraising - please PM me if you're interesting in donating

liz545

For this kind of distance, you might want to think about nutrition and staying hydrated on the bike. You can get electrolyte tablets in most bike shops (I like Nuun tablets, the lemon iced tea one tastes ok, but it's not a very pleasant colour!) which are helpful on longer rides to prevent you getting muscle cramps. There's also an interesting blog post here on making your own sports drinks (very MSE).

In terms of nutrition, don't forget to have some snacks like bananas, flapjacks, malt loaf etc on hand - running out of energy can be a miserable thing!