Lake district expedition with heavy load.

geordiefreerider

Im drunk and bored so thought I would share my upcoming venture with the bike radar community,

Im planning on heading to keswick from ferryhill in co durham picking up the coast to coast route at consett and hopefully making it to penrith in the first day, about 75-80 mile, then head into keswick on the second day with the intention of setting up base camp getting pi**ed and heading up to the altura trail at whinlatter the next day which I've never ridden before, but im gonna be taking my own tent/sleeping bag and clothes etc in a 65 litre rucksack.

I've rode like this before but only over distances of about 30 mile so this is gonna be a whole new challenge the extra weight makes climbs hard work and descents tricky but im pretty sure it will be do-able.

Obviously there are things to be taken into account like do I stick my skinny tyres on which would make the ride across much easier or stick to my 2.3 fat tyres which will make the trails that much sweeter, am I taking on too much taking my own tent or should I try and find b+b ? I think you get a better vibe at a campsite meeting more people etc while you sup beers ! And im on a strict low budget expedition due to being an unemployed arse at the moment !

And no I dont have panniers I cant fit them on my bike being a susser, this whole idea sounds feasible in my head but if anybody can offer advice, advise on pitfalls or send some scornful remarks my way it would be much appreciated.

Whytepeak

Which coast to coast are you thinking of taking on?

Andy B

Sustrans if he's picking it up at Consett.

geordiefreerider

Er yeah sustrans I think, I head anywhere mate ha ha, I think some of it is called the waskerley way I dunno im not even taking a map coz I know the area so well (famous last words) and if penrith looks to be too far on the first day i'll stay at allenheads as I have a mate who lives there who I aint seen for a few year so will hit the ale with him !!

Whytepeak

I did the sustrans, good route, but some of it is a bit 'broken glass'.

I can sent you a route map if you like...

geordiefreerider

Yeah ok mate might come in handy, especially with a fuzzy beer head in the morning ha ha !! Just been on the phone to my brother trying to get him involved, he said im a idiot !!!!!

geordiefreerider

What do you mean by "broken glass" by the way ?

Dirtydog11

Hi Mate,

Go for it!

You can't fit panniers but you should be able to fit a beam rack.

Something like this http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Topeak-Beam-Rac ... k_1126.htm

You can buy cheaper ones Argos sells one for a tenner.

You could also look into fitting a bar bag. They're easily removable and good way of adding 7 litres of storage.

To give you an idea of what luggage options are available to you have a look at the Caradice site. They're a British company based in Nelson Lancashire.

http://carradice.co.uk/



I know your on a budget but here are a few ideas for future reference..............................

If you haven't got one, get yourself a Down sleeping bag .Vango Venoms are cheap (around £70.00) and light 700grams or so and pack down really small.

A self inflating sleeping mat is also a good idea. Try Multimat
http://www.multimat.uk.com/range.asp?Re ... ture&Nav=1
The superlite 25 is a good buy for a full length mat at 510 grams. They retail at £55.00 but I picked one up for around £38.00 IIRC.

The name of the game is to go light.

Have a look at OMM rucksacks something like a 32 litre would do you along with a rear beam rack.
http://www.theomm.com/products/packs.html
The classsic marathons a good size and comes in at 715 grams.

Its a good idea to take a travel towel (mines a Lifeventure) they're light and pack down much smaller than conventional towels.

If you take your tent try to bungee it to the bars (like a bar bag) the extra weight helps to keep the front down on climbs.

Fit bottle cages as you dont want to be carrying 3 liters/kilos of water around in your already heavy rucksack.

If you get a beam rack put all the heavy stuff on the rack leaving your backpack free for lighter items such as clothing.

Obviously you dont have to go out a buy this lot at once but once you start to get a few bits and pieces together things become easier.

Happy Camping.

geordiefreerider

^^^^Fantastic advice mate, however I only have one bottle point on my kona dawg matic so my bladder comes with me somehow, although the other stuff is good advice, especially the pannier racks, I didnt even know they were available for my kind of bike !! That has made my ride much more viable due to the quick release operation of it I will be able to remove it and leave it in the tent once I get there, fantastic stuff !!!

Plus I like the idea of bungying the tent to the bars which I wouldnt of even thought of - much appreciated !!!!

Northwind

Hopefully this is common sense, but give it a crack first, load your bike up exactly as you will for the ride and do at least one decent length xc ride first... You'd be amazed how many people set out for multi-day, high mile rides who've never even loaded the bike up once before, never mind tried it on for size, same with walkers... Sounds like a grand plan though, I'd like to do something like that myself again.

adb1006

I would say that 75-80 miles in one day, fully laden, up some of those hills is going to finish most* people off! One of the climbs, Hartside Hill, is about 5 miles long and reaches over 600ft at it's summit. That's not gonna be much fun if you've already done about 60 miles previously and are carrying a tent etc.

* obviously i don't know how fit you are - you may be Superman - in which please accept my humble apologies!

geordiefreerider

No apologies necessary mate im not mega fit but I wouldnt say unfit either, 50-60 mile rides leave me wanting more somedays but I ride my own pace depends what mood im in, like I say if it's proving to much I will stop off at allenheads on the first day but will probably do a trial run like northwind says.

Either way it should be a decent challenge and adventure might as well make the time I have being unemployed count for something - this is my holiday this year ha ha !!

*used to love sitting up hartside cafe in the summer watching the biker boys fly past !

deffler

sounds like some epic matey. Hope the plan gets off the ground. Me personally would look at b&b's but im a lightweight. sounds hard work carrying all that weight, are you planning on doing it alone?

I would love to do something like this in the future, sounds good hoot

Northwind

Are there any of those wigwam sites around there? I've stayed in a couple up here, they're a nice halfway house between camping and b&b.

tjwood

Youth hostels are also fairly sociable & cheap.

geordiefreerider

deffler wrote:

sounds like some epic matey. Hope the plan gets off the ground. Me personally would look at b&b's but im a lightweight. sounds hard work carrying all that weight, are you planning on doing it alone?

I would love to do something like this in the future, sounds good hoot

To be honest mate im doing it out of sheer boredom of where I live the local trails are crap and I love the lake district, yeah it will be hard going my kona weighs 34lbs standard and i've got 2.3 tyres with downhill tubes and bigger brakes as well as no lockout or anything for climbing so it will be a case of pump the shocks up hard to take the weight and eliminate as much bob as possible then set the bike up for the trails when i get there as I cant be doing trying to carry spare tyres im gonna have enough to carry as it is.

I have done this before but only over distances of around 30 miles and only for one night so wasnt carrying half as much as I will be this time round, im one of those strange types that try harder the harder the challenge is so im looking forward to this - probably looking within 3-4 weeks til I attemp it as I want a couple of bits of equipment invested in before I go - the reality is though it's not that far compared to what some people do

geordiefreerider

Ps yeah it looks like im doing it alone neither of my brothers sound too keen there more into trail centre riding.