So 2020 has been a pretty wash out it started out positively, I turned 40 in January, we had tickets to go the Tokyo Olympic Games, and I’d planned a series of long rides. I’d though 2019 had been a bit of a rough year, but 2020 trumped that a bit. So along comes March and everything starts to fall apart in the UK and the rest of the world. The long rides I’d been planning on doing were for Papyrus UK a charity set up to prevent suicide in young adults, a charity close to me heart having lost my sister Becky to suicide nearly 30 years a go. The crux of the event was my brother and I riding from Macclesfield Cheshire to Coggeshall Essex, which was around 200 miles, and quite frankly I didn’t really know what to plan for? So what does it take to ride 200 miles, well, surprising not as much as you’d think, or rather not as much as I packed. In hindsight I think I had packed for several weeks away food wise (well maybe 2-3 days). Route Planning There are loads of ways to route plan these days, ridewithgps, Strava Routes, Maps, Google it something will come up, but I’m a big fan of komoot.com it has lots of maps for running, walking cycling etc. and gives you the option to select the type of riding you do, i.e. Road, touring, MTB… and that was guide of choice, that said I did check it out against Strava heat maps as I figured that I actually want to take in roads that have a high volume of cyclists as to my mind that makes them the safest roads. As it happens Komoot did a really good job of mapping that out and the only tweak I made to the ride was choosing to go south of Nottingham rather than up and over. I think with any route planner riding on roads you don’t know you are heading into the unknown, but my experience in using them has been really positive, 3 years ago I used Google Maps to plot and navigate a 500 mile ride Manchester, through Wales and into Essex, it worked really well. Where Komoot comes on top for me, is that fact it can be used offline with your phone, or if you have a Garmin or Wahoo etc. you can upload the route to that and have turn by turn directions. Im not big fan of having my phone out front on my bike so a little GPS unit works a treat for me. Snack Planning Man I cocked up on this, not in taking the wrong things (well kind of) but I just way over packed. Any long distance ride you want to be grazing the entire way to keep your calorie intake on a par with your burning. I think I’d packed enough food to sustain me for days, Bananas, gels, Energy bars, sandwiches, nuts, pretzles… and the energy gels and snack bars whilst delicious became a bit too sweet towards the end of the day, as did the my Kendal Mint Cake energy drink, I was actually craving water towards the end of the day. So what about the savouries, well don’t pack salted Pretzels if the weather is going to be hot, I think I ran pretty close to being dehydrated at one point, not because I wasn’t drinking enough, but because of the excessive salt. But in the grand scheme of things, given we were in the midst of a Pandemic, I think over packing on the basis that some of the shops might not be open wasn’t a bad thing, but unpacking at the end of the ride, I had handful of energy bars and gels left, but no savoury snacks, and arguably I wasn’t left feeling hungry. When my stomach growled on the ride I had a bite of something to eat. SO to say I cocked up, was probably a bit harsh, I had over prepared probably taking twice as much energy food as I needed which meant maybe half a kilo more food than I needed to carry, but if there had been a problem, maybe I would have been grateful for the extra snacks? Clothing This is wear things get really simple, you need to be comfortable, it’s as simple as that, the shorts you always reach for when your getting ready to go out cycling, your favourite jersey and what ever else, socks and shoes. Simple right. My choice for doing 200 miles were the Lusso Adventure Bibshorts, a) because the pad is so comfortable I’ve ridden multiple 100+ rides in them and b) the extra pockets are really handy and mean you don’t have to reach around to your back pockets. Matt on the other hand opted for the Lusso DRS Bibs, which have really excellent compression that somehow tricks your legs into thinking you've not ridden as far as you have!! Jersey wise, I love my Lusso Merino Jersey, is light it’s soft and it’s comfortable and being Merino it smells better after 14 hours in the saddle Gloves wise… well when was the last time you bought new gloves? I wear Lusso gloves as I find them comfy, but given that gloves are a main contact point, they get used to wipe your nose, brow etc. etc. etc, it’s time for some new gloves, but at least go out for a ride before wearing them on your long ride as they have to be comfy. Socks and shoes, well wear what you have and what is comfortable, so longs your current shoes don’t give you hot spots or numb spots you’ll be good. The weather forecast said it was going to be hot all day with not a chance of rain, I took a Gillet and arm warmers just in case but opted not to wear a base layer as really didn’t want to risk over heating, ultimately it was the right choice as I wasn’t cold at any point, and given it was a 4am start up into the Peak District it could have got pretty cold. The Bike I had wanted to do this ride on my shiny new Mason Bokeh… but the frame still hasn’t arrived yet (at time of writing) But that said my Vitus Energie is more than capable, 1x with a 42T upfront and 11-42 at the back. That coupled with 650b wheels and 47c WTB Horizon tyres, I was able to tackle every surface and been very comfortable with it. But in short looking at what your journey has in store for you is the only way to know if you’re bike is going to be set up for it. Whilst doable, cycling the Tissington Trail isn’t going to be overly comfortable on 23c tyres but it would be doable, and equally trying to ride 200 miles on a full susser is going to be doable but that will most likely be a lot of weight you’re pulling along. I also opted for the Ridefarr Aero Gravel Bars, which for endurance riding were a god send as you've got a few extra positons, i've written about these before, and can highly recommend them, even just for day to day riding. Komoot can really help with this as it gives you an overview of elevation changes as well as mile by mile surface types careful route planning and understanding what you’re riding is a must. That extra bit of preperation can really help make sure youknow what to expect and when before you set off. Overall
Riding any 200 in a day is going to be tough, but using the right tools for the job does make life a lot easier. Having ridden 100 miles + previously I knew that physically I’d be able to make the distance, but mental fatigue and doubt did plagued my mind a bit. Taking the time to plan a route and knowing what is coming up ahead is really important, there were parts of the ride around Leicester that were really hilly and completely took us by surprise I’d honestly thought riding out of Macclesfield would be the hardest part, but equally riding through Cambridge whilst we new it would be flat was really surprising as they had 20 miles of perfect cycle path, when I’d thought we’d be stopping every few 100 metres at junctions. Don’t think you need the fanciest or most up to date kit for rides like this, if you have kit that works and is comfortable use it, changing saddles shoes cleat portions etc, just before a long ride is likely going to make you hurt, as would an untested pair of shorts with a slightly different pad shape, back all the spares that you would normally take in your tool kit, unsupported rides with a failure is going to be pretty catastrophic, but a proper pump some tube patches (even if you’re tubeless) will be essential, although fortunately we had no mechanicals but I had serviced my bike fully before we set off so I knew everything was in pretty good shape. And for the cliche, just enjoy it, stop, take photos, enjoy the scenery. Unless you’ve got a time limit getting there quicker isn’t going to make it any less of an achievement, it’s 200 miles!!
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Since starting riding again (several years ago), anything longer than about 15 miles, especially when commuting with work laden back pack, was aggravating an old shoulder injury often leading to pins and needles and culminating in me waving my arm by my side every few miles to try to ease the pain. A bike fit initially helped, or certainly allowed me to ride longer and further without aggravating it, but, as anyone who has dislocated a shoulder(s) will probably know too much pressure in one place makes it hurt. I can't remember when it was but I happened to stumble across Farr or Ridefarr a company who specialise in making endurance inspired bike solutions aimed at making riding more enjoyable, easier and faster. At the time being and being pre lockdown I had several 200 mile in a day rides planned for charity and was considering getting a set of tri bars just to allow me to adjust my body position a bit more. Having seen a number of ultra distance riders opting for this configuration and personally finding myself stretching out into that position mid commute with my forearms resting on the bars if my shoulder was starting to hurt it made sense. During my trip bar search I stumbled across the Farr AeroGravel bar, I think on Instagram, a flared drop bar with an intergrate aero traingle welded out front, it looked really interesting and certainly seemed to tick a box. Typically unless you're planning on weight saving new bars wouldn't have been something that I would ever have considered, but the Aero Gravel bar seemed to be a great solution to the problem I had in terms of sore shoulders, but actually I think the benefits are more than that, i've found the positioning more ergonomic than most other bars with the wide flare. Yes i still use the hoods and the drops, but when im climbing or just relaxing on the bike i'm using the aero section. I'd probably liken it to when you're resting you arms on the table in front of you, you naturally (or at least i do) position your hands closer together, and for that reason it's my default position. Arguably comfort is probably the first reason to consider these bars, yes you can use them to go aero and you can get a really nice compact tuck using them, but I don't necessarily think Gravel riding is all about going fast, certainly not from my perspective anyway. When I was first getting used to the bars I found grinding out long uphills much easier out front than on the hoods. That said if you do want to go fast these bars won't hold you back, more positions means more opportunity to get comfy and if you can get comfy you can go further faster and for longer. Then there is the added bonus of all the space for mounting your stuff, from bags, to lights, GPS etc there is plenty of space... But, I did find that when I moved from an Element Bolt to and Element Roam I had to move to a stem mount rather than out front as the top LEDs on the Roam were hidden from view when using an out front mount. that said, I'm used to it now, and mounted on the stem works well, i've opted for a K-Edge adjustable stem mount (UPDATE: Farr have just released a new mount that will allow the GPS to me mounted out out front so go take a look) Overall I'm really happy with these bars I've ridden a few thousand miles on them including both an indoor and outdoor 320KM+ single day rides, which I think i would have struggled with previously. They have improved my ride comfort quite significantly, they look good and they function better than I anticipated. Actually on the back of my experience with the bars, I've also bought the aero top tube bag and a frame bag too, which were well and truly stuffed full for my 200 miler last month, and will now being utilised to carry my lunch to work. As of writing I'm in the process of building up a new frame and the Aero Gravel bar will definately be moving over onto that, and most likely when i convert my old bike into my winter commuter I'll be adding another set of these too, although I do quite like the look of the new bolt on (but i'd also need a new set of bars anyway) I paid full price for these bars, but their worth every penny!! Bars and bags are available internationally via Ridefarr.com or if you're in the UK ridefarr.co.uk
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Mike GaskellI started commuting around May 2017, mainly to save the £45 a week train fare and get ready for the Dunwich Dynamo. Archives
August 2022
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