London Revolution 2012 Bike ride

EKE_38BPM

http://www.london-revolution.com/

Anyone heard of it? Anyone doing it?
Its two rides on consecutive days around London (102 miles on day one, 80 on day two) starting at the Excel Center (near the Thames in ELondon) and going up Box Hill, Windsor Castle and other places of note (I can't be bothered to list them, read the link).
Mrs EKE (who doesn't really cycle and is aiming to do L2B for the first time this year) wants to do it and apparently I am too.
A century followed by an 80 mile ride the next day will be a bit of a stretch for me (I think, I've never tried long back to back rides), but will it be too much for her on her BSO?

rick_chasey

EKE_38BPM wrote:

http://www.london-revolution.com/

Anyone heard of it? Anyone doing it?
Its two rides on consecutive days around London (102 miles on day one, 80 on day two) starting at the Excel Center (near the Thames in ELondon) and going up Box Hill, Windsor Castle and other places of note (I can't be bothered to list them, read the link).
Mrs EKE (who doesn't really cycle and is aiming to do L2B for the first time this year) wants to do it and apparently I am too.
A century followed by an 80 mile ride the next day will be a bit of a stretch for me (I think, I've never tried long back to back rides), but will it be too much for her on her BSO?

80 miles is a long way, even if you're reasonably fit. 129km!

Back to back won't be a problem for you.

EKE_38BPM

Thanks for your (possibly misplaced) confidence in me!
Mrs EKE is strong (she's a kick boxer), but I'm very uncertain that the rides (180 miles in two days FFS) is within her limits. 5 months is plenty of time to train, but does she have enough time to do the training (she's a busy lady)? She also has little confidence on the roads. Trying to train for a ride like this by riding around the park or up and down canal tow paths would be boring and not realistic. How can I improve her confidence on the road? The idea of enjoying cycling and cycling on the road seem mutually exclusive to her.

The bike is another concern. It is mechanically sound, but its a BSO.

sketchley

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Thanks for your (possibly misplaced) confidence in me!
Mrs EKE is strong (she's a kick boxer), but I'm very uncertain that the rides (180 miles in two days FFS) is within her limits. 5 months is plenty of time to train, but does she have enough time to do the training (she's a busy lady)? She also has little confidence on the roads. Trying to train for a ride like this by riding around the park or up and down canal tow paths would be boring and not realistic. How can I improve her confidence on the road? The idea of enjoying cycling and cycling on the road seem mutually exclusive to her.

The bike is another concern. It is mechanically sound, but its a BSO.

Get her commuting to and from work in London.

EKE_38BPM

Sketchley wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Thanks for your (possibly misplaced) confidence in me!
Mrs EKE is strong (she's a kick boxer), but I'm very uncertain that the rides (180 miles in two days FFS) is within her limits. 5 months is plenty of time to train, but does she have enough time to do the training (she's a busy lady)? She also has little confidence on the roads. Trying to train for a ride like this by riding around the park or up and down canal tow paths would be boring and not realistic. How can I improve her confidence on the road? The idea of enjoying cycling and cycling on the road seem mutually exclusive to her.

The bike is another concern. It is mechanically sound, but its a BSO.

Get her commuting to and from work in London.

Thats what I'm (regularly) suggesting, especially as she only works about 2 miles from home and the drive takes her 15-20 minutes whereas a gentle ride takes me 10-15 minutes (mainly due to traffic lights).
She works long hours and is on her feet all day (primary school teacher) so she is concerned at getting to work sweaty (?!) and being knackered after a long day.
I know these are non-issues but I'm yet to convince her.

veronese68

I'd think that's a big ask for a novice on a BSO. Whilst she may be fit her rear won't be used to a bike seat. Getting back on the next day with a sore butt won't be fun. Plus if she's a kick boxer you really shouldn't p!ss her off.
What about the London Bikeathon? I did it last year and really enjoyed it, choice of ride lengths and start venues.
I don't normally ride in central London, particularly liked the bits through Docklands.
Good cause too, but I am biased having had a Lymphoma.

notsoblue

I think you'll be fine EKE, and if she's as physically fit as you say she is then she'll probably ok complete the ride. But on a BSO it won't be much fun for her. Might be worth doing a couple 50-60 mile rides to prepare. If she can do those comfortably then the Revolution rides will be fine.

Monkeypump

I think the basic reasoning is that if she seriously expects to do the rides, she'll need to get used to riding on roads, for reasonable distances, back-to-back. The only way to train for that is to actually do it, building up the distances.

You might want to sugar-coat this is a little, epecially as she's adamant that you're both doing the rides but she doesn't like what the training involves.

EKE_38BPM

I think you're all right. I should be OK, she'll need a different bike and to do a fair bit of on-road training.

I didn't realise how badly kickboxing knackers your body. Mrs EKE has dodgy hips, knees and feet. Out of the ~150 people who use her gym, there are at least 3 hip replacement operations (including at least one double replacement) and one of the girls there has fractured her elbow (she believes its from punching someone in the head during a training session). They all love it though. One of the girls there has been told by her doc to give it up but after 3 months away, she's back again.