London to Brighton off road 2010

Shmikuk

Yep, got my pack this morning as did my riding buddies. Looks like same route so I know we are in for some fun. Be good to put somenames to faceson the day. Anyone elsein Surrey doing it that would be up for some training rides? ( Guildford/ Woking areas)

paully617

bugger!!!!!!!!!!!! as per usual mine hasnt arrived yet. HOWEVER, the BB bearings arrived today so my bike is now good to go again!

As a group we have raised about 1k so far in sponsorship.


Last year my rider number was "69" which was lucky.

Dont think i will have such luck this year tho.

paully617

Our rider packs have arrived!!!
On monday i did a 40 mile on road ride with my MTB with brand new nobblies fitted for a bit of rolling resistance training.
To cap it off i loaded myself up with around 40lb odd pound of kit on my back.

Weather = 26 degrees.


the 1st 30 was fine but the last bit done me in!!!

Seems i need to get out training a bit more!!!

seanoevil

paully617; thats some serious training there fella!

Presently im dong about 40 miles during the week and then about 40 miles on a saturday or sunday, all of road.

Am thinking of heading out to do the latter bit of the course one weekend, just to see what those hills are like toward the end!

Anyone up for up, say pick the course up from Guildford or summat?

paully617

most of the ride is pretty simple. the only hard hill is the one going from upper beeding, over the south downs but that is prob coz you've just done 60 odd miles.

we are hitting sherwood pines on a weekly basis for some off road training as well

booldawg

Half of it looks to follow the Downslink which follows a disused railway line for a fair part of the way. Its smooth, fairly flat and easy riding. Crossing both North and South downs will be the testing sections.

monkey-moo

Hi all,
Me and a couple of friends are planing on doing this ride at the end of Aug.
Just wondered if anyone knew if the Rough Ride Gide book (north and south downs) has that route in it?
It's easy to find the route online, but i think we could do with a OS 1:25,000 scale map of it as doing it on our own and i think these books have those in them. If i have to buy 5 OS maps to cover the area then so be it....would rather have the one route in one book though!
What are anyones thoughts on this?
Many thanks,

paully617

hi all, well the training programme is underway with a few of us having a blast around sherwood pines today.
It was mint!!!!!

Just a thought, but does anyone have a particular "riding playlist" or "riding tune" that they listen to whilst riding??

I luurrrrvvve Just a day by feeder.

Dickeniffer

Hi all. I have signed up to this ride as well. However so far I spent more on my Specialized Epic Carbon Comp than I have raised (poor effort)

Good to hear from people that have done the ride before, currently I have managed 50 miles around thetford forest and my legs were done!!!

What to wear? what to eat? etc etc soooo many questions

paully617

Ask away on the questions!!! this is the place!!

Dickeniffer

What spares did you take? What did you take for food? What did you wear?
I'm thinking baggies padded shorts of course !

paully617

I took 1 spare tube, a full puncture repair kit, a basic first aid kit (v small one) compact tyre pump and some cable ties which actually came to the rescue for one guy who managed to snap hi s rear mech hanger!!

Food wise i just took some energy bars (powerbars are good) and some energy gels. Also took some of the kids snack bars and made a sandwich. Tried to keep it all as light as poss.

A under-the-saddle pack was a good option as it keeps the pump/puncture kit etc on the bike weight.

At check point 2 (the pub) there is a fruit and veg shop that does a blinding day of selling bananananas. Also, the boozer will be doing a BBQ when it opens but personally, i didnt wanna hang around for it to open and also risk cramping up/losing the motivation to get back on the bike/get pissed!!!

Clothing wise, i wore a normal bike top and some bib tights on the bottom. I chose the bib tights coz they keep your lower back warm and the padded bit in place. Sadly, the weather on the day wasnt your typical late september weather. the temp hit 26 degrees!!!

This year i have opted for some DHB bib shorts with my Troy Lee Designs moto baggies over the top.

I also purchase a lightweight shell jacket to stuff in my bag.

Oh, dont forget to get a camelbak but only put water in it as it will ruin it if you put juice etc in it.

As long as you are comfy, you will be fine.

I also took an Ipod (although other mp3 players are avail); and used it when i wanted to get the power down. BEWARE THO, your music choice will be the governing factor over your pedal rate(cadence) and your heart rate. Choose music that will keep you chilled out and more importantly, you can sing along to. Nothing more scarin"g than a mtb'er flying up behined ya shouting out things like "god is a DJ" or worse, Smack ma bitch up!"

LASTLY, invest in some ASOS cream. Its like sudocream that kids use on their arses when they have nappy rash, but it has the addition of menthol. This makes ya balls and arse crack tingle a bit but tis a god send!!!! Smear it all over ya arse and biffins bridge then smear a load in your cycling shorts over the padded bit.

Dickeniffer

fantastic thats brilliant, really looking forward to the ride now. Got all the gear but just hope the fitness holds out. Glad I bought a new bike though as it seems to be helping loads.

Thanks for the advice, we'll see you there.

paully617

I am sure you will be fine. Nice bike btw!!! Have you used it in anger yet? If so, where do you go?

Dickeniffer

Used it in anger a couple of times, it is amazing , the suspension system is very clever.

I can't wait for the ride , 6 weeks to go.

Dickeniffer

Thetford a couple of times so far, and mostly around the seafront area where I live.

Difficult trying to replicate the route but I'm trying all sorts.

paully617

Have you tried Epping forest? I have ridden there a few times and some of the hills make great training. We are hitting sherwood pines pretty much weekly at mo including night rides in the pitch black!!!

Yeah the epic brain system works well. You need to get it to some proper hills tho like Adam (south Wales) or begets y coed/coed y brenin in north Wales. They will show you how wank thetford is!

Dickeniffer

That's the only problem with thetford. I'm doing around 100 miles a week. Trying to do as much as possible.

paully617

100 miles a week is plenty of training. I am only doing around 30 a week at the mo as work is getting in the way. If you are riding this l2sc ride alone, feel free to tag along with my group. There are 10 of us and we have 2 support drivers. We will be the knobheads wearing royal air force t shirts at the start and finish.

seanoevil

Ello chaps...hope the training is going ok for you all! I have been unable to do nothing for last 5 weeks due to so much work, and went for a 40 mile ride on Saturday and really felt it after! Now my work has eased a bit I am able to do about 80/90 miles a week now, so will soone feel a bit better.
Am also able to ride a bit of the route too, as I live near the start, so end up cycling to Weybridge/Guildford/Woking along the tow paths etc...

jmillen

Morning folks,

Just come across this post whilst browsing and its got my attention...Do people think that doing this ride on a 140mm trail bike is OTT ? (its carbon so not overly heavy) but thinking it might be overkill?

Am tempted to give it a go this year (not sure if there are any places left?), but haven't really done much in the way of training, I probably ride about 30 miles a week at the moment, but have been known to step up to 40-50 miles occasionally.

Shall I wait for next year and do some training over the next 12 mths?

Grifcp

Well I've just registered yesterday so still places left it seems. I haven't got a bike though I'm more of a road rider so have 2 road bikes but sold my hardtail a couple of years ago :roll: Good excuse for a new bike and to get back into mountain biking!

Paully...as you have done it before is it doable on a hardtail or should I be looking for a FS bike, any advice appreciated

Shmikuk

Im doing it on a hard tail, and I've ridden all the "offroad" sections in training. I'd say it's possible on a hybrid (as my mate is doing it) but some sections are sketchy for him, but he'll make up for that on the long flat ish sections

paully617

Def poss on a hardtail. Last year there was a few people on hybrid fully rigid bikes. One guy did it on his singlespeed fully rigid. Go for a hardtail or a decent full sus with pro pedal or lockout for the non technical bits.

A few of us are off to sherwood pines for a couple of night laps tonight! Can't wait!!!!

paully617

Def poss on a hardtail. Last year there was a few people on hybrid fully rigid bikes. One guy did it on his singlespeed fully rigid. Go for a hardtail or a decent full sus with pro pedal or lockout for the non technical bits.

A few of us are off to sherwood pines for a couple of night laps tonight! Can't wait!!!!

paully617

Def poss on a hardtail. Last year there was a few people on hybrid fully rigid bikes. One guy did it on his singlespeed fully rigid. Go for a hardtail or a decent full sus with pro pedal or lockout for the non technical bits.

A few of us are off to sherwood pines for a couple of night laps tonight! Can't wait!!!!

Grifcp

Great stuff. thanks guys.....probably go for a hardtail then, there are a few bargains around at the mo!

paully617

ThE cube attention is a fair bike for the money and looks the nuts but my choice would be the giant talon 2. I bought the mrs the womens one and was gobsmacked by it!!!!

Grifcp

Cheers paully I'll check' em out. I wouldn't mind tagging along with you guys if that's ok as I'll be on me todd. What time are you thinking of starting?

seanoevil

Regarding start times; is it one start time for all or staggered? And what is the official start time?
What sort of time did others complete this in previous years?