Me and that Trevor Allen, he of road.cc and Ergon 24 MTB fame, are off on an attempt to cycle back to Colchester from Bath this week – Friday 1st of July to be precise. It’s 320km and should be a lorra lorra fun. Either that or a horrific, scarring experience.
Either way, it’s the furthest I’ve ever ridden by a clear 100km. So it’s a bit of a trip into the unknown. Here’s what I’m riding, and why. Any comments for improving the setup are very welcome…
Bike: Genesis Equilibrium. It’s such a comfy bike that there really wasn’t any thought of riding anything else. Plus, it’s pretty quick. Mine’s got a Kinesis 12k fork on which is pretty forgiving.
Groupset: SRAM Apex. More ’cause it’s on the bike than anything else, but it’s the best lower budget groupset I’ve tried so far.
Wheels: Shimano RS80-C50. Fair to say we haven’t picked the hilliest route so I’m hoping for some extra zip along the many flat bits to compensate for the extra weight over the standard RS80s I normally run. Plus, they need testing. Plus, they look the nuts.
Tyres: Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX. Superfly Vittorias with 320TPI cotton casing should be quick and comfy. They need testing, too.
Bars: Easton EA70 with Oval extensions. I reckon I need a tuck position and the Ovals are handy because they fit to a special stem cap, meaning it’s easy to fit and remove them. The pads I’ve just velcroed to the top of the bars rather than using the holders which made the extensions a bit short, the position seems just about right.
Saddle: Charge Spoon Ti. Best saddle ever.
Navigation: Garmin Edge 800 + backup battery + Google Maps on the phone as a backup.
Anyone that wants to join us for a bit on the way is more than welcome. This is the plan… 24kph riding average (dropping to 22 later on), three stops.
Bath 05:00 Malmesbury 06:30 Fairford 08:00 Burford a 09:00 30m break Burford d 09:30 Bicester 11:00 Buckingham 12:00 Ampthill a 13:30 1h break Ampthill d 14:30 Baldock 15:30 Steeple Bumpstead 18:00 Sudbury a 19:00 30m break Sudbury d 19:30 East Bergholt 21:00
Wish us luck!
33 thoughts on “320km: this is how I roll”
in the end i swapped the oval
in the end i swapped the oval stem for some ritchey clip-ons, and kept the oval extensions, the position on the extensions wasn’t quite right. but it’s right now…
Dave – eh? Does not compute,
Dave – eh? Does not compute, you swapped the Oval stem for Ritchey clip ons?
I know. but the Oval stem
I know. but the Oval stem just didn’t work for me, the extensions were at the wrong angle and because the mounts are part of the stem you can’t twist them round. So it had to go. I’m still running the Oval extensions though. just with Ricthey pads.
I can’t argue with the bike
I can’t argue with the bike selection, but would recommend ditching the sat nav, and giving your brain a workout along with your legs.
handlebarcam wrote:I can’t
😀
Normally I’d be with you
Normally I’d be with you there handlebarcam, I don’t use a Satnav and quite like the feeling of being slightly lost on unfamilair roads – adds to the adventure, but if I was trying to push 320km in one go (ahem… I’m going to be unavoidably detained that day) I’d probably want to keep other potential sources of stress to a minimum, which includes that sense of being slightly lost a very long way from home – a wrong turn on that ride that long could see you ending up in Bury St Edmunds or Bishop’s Stortford – both a very long way from Colchester
anyway if his brain gets any
anyway if his brain gets any more worked out it will explode
And if it rains for any
And if it rains for any extended period (it being british summer-time and all) you’re going to regret not going for anything in the way of mudguards.
There’s a Maison Blanc in
There’s a Maison Blanc in Burford for some very nice coffee and cakes 😀
Hell, I might even drag myself out of bed early and come down and meet you…
Simon_MacMichael
sounds good. see you there 🙂
People did do long distance
People did do long distance rides before the invention of the sat nav, you know. And if the Romans could find their way from Aquae Sulis to Camulodunum, two thousand years before Garmin launched the first Edge, surely you can. True, they had fewer roads to choose from back then – none in the first instance. But they did have to fend off tribes of barbarians like the Iceni, while you only have to worry about Essex White Van Men.
handlebarcam wrote:People did
Well I could walk it wearing leather sandals that lace up to my knees. Or i could ride it fixed with wool shorts and a spare tub in a figure-of-8 over my shoulders. But I’ve decided to do it in 2011, when the Garmin Edge 800 is available, so thanks all the same 🙂
I’ve done a few long rides with the 800 and I find it genuinely useful. I don’t ask it to tell me where to go, just to display the route. Otherwise it tends to beep a lot.
More the merrier. Think I
More the merrier. Think I might have arranged at least one rider to block the wind for the first stint from Bath.
re garmin, I aint going without one 🙂
Great adventure! Will you be
Great adventure! Will you be running the tracker as used on the FWC?
Tracker sounds like a good
Tracker sounds like a good plan. Dave?
yeah i’ll set it up
yeah i’ll set it up 🙂
The velcroed pads worry me.
The velcroed pads worry me. Without seeing how you sit on the bike, I would say this is a control point, and you want to be sure it will not give or move too much when you hit the huge pothole while the semi-trailer passes you.
Tour Le Tour wrote:The
i’ve swapped them out now for ritchey clip ons
dave_atkinson wrote:Tour Le
Ah, you said that right at the start, I just failed to read it. Sorry, my bad… Have fun
UPDATE: we’re doing it on
UPDATE: we’re doing it on Friday 1 July now, not Sat 2. For various reasons. But the plan remains the same, just a day earlier…
Seat looks in the clouds
Seat looks in the clouds
Stanwaysteve wrote:Seat looks
that’s how i roll. always have.
I’m glad to see you’re doing
I’m glad to see you’re doing this on the Friday now. At least I won’t have to choose between following you and Trev on the tracker or watching Stage One. Serious question re nutrition: will you start fueling on Thursday, and what do you plan for the ride by way of nutrition? Get the fueling right and the ride will still be tough, get it wrong and things could go very awry. I’m genuinely interested in how riders approach such all day rides.
simonmb wrote:I’m glad to see
I don’t think watching us struggle along on the tracker really compares to a tour stage, does it? 😀
so, it’s pasta o’clock on thursday night i reckon, late tea before the early start. on the ride i’ve got limited stowage space (a big seatpack and my jersey pockets), i’ll be taking a malt loaf and as many gels and bars as i can fit in the available space. plus coffee and cakes en route, and something starchy for lunch in ampthill. And sweets.
dave_atkinson wrote:And
Off to a flying start with your Tangfastics anyway! :))
re nutrition I aim for lots
re nutrition I aim for lots and often. You can’t soak up much more than 1gram of carb per kg of body weight, but hitting this consistently from hour one is often difficult. Unfortunately this is going to mean bars (homemade that is) from about 5:30 in the morning. Yum.
Looking at the weather taking on salt will be important too. On my long MTB races I am quit partial to salt and vinegar snack-a-jacks but logistically these wont work on this ride. Will be sure to take on some salt at our stops though and perhaps might sachet up so electrolyte drink for the saddle bag.
night before I will not be going too crazy, just large portions of my usual healthy meals and perhaps I wont be sticking to my no carbs after six rule (not that I do much anyway…) Fuelling up is good but getting to bed without 2hours of digestion before sleep is also important. Basically everything in moderation right.
I am no expert on this mind but just go on feel and experience from lots of rides in the 8hour and over region.
Good luck Gents, looks like
Good luck Gents, looks like an awesome challenge. hope it goes well for you.
mission control: managed to
mission control: managed to get my phone (for tracking) and edge (for routefinding) mounted up. plus there’s a backup battery in there too…
note the professional use of
note the professional use of zipties and gaffer tape 🙂
Hard to believe there’s a
Hard to believe there’s a bike under there somewhere! Good luck tomorrow fellas =D>
they’ll probably fall off
they’ll probably fall off after a few miles and we’ll just read the signs instead 🙂
Glad to see someone else
Glad to see someone else tilts their saddle forward. So much more comfortable, and something to push against as well!
I’m on the edge of my seat –
I’m on the edge of my seat – how did it go?