C2C or other challenges?

mxmike1991

Hey guys

So C2C has been in the back of my mind for a few years now. Since my Gran passed earlier this year I have always fancied doing a charity ride of some sort, so it would be nice to raise some money at the same time for a good cause.

I have seen the open cycling c2c is fully booked up. Are there any other organised rides doing the full route in a day?

Or any other good challenges, pref 100 mile plus in the day to look for what I can still enter now?

Thanks

cycleclinic

So many audaxs you could do.

ugo.santalucia

you can do c2c any time, it's fully signed

mrfpb

RideLondonSurrey 100 miles - You've missed the ballot but lots of charity places will be available.

Look at the sportives/audaxes/training rides forum for other suggestions.

ugo.santalucia

mrfpb wrote:

RideLondonSurrey 100 miles - You've missed the ballot but lots of charity places will be available.

But it sucks...

mrfpb

ugo.santalucia wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

RideLondonSurrey 100 miles - You've missed the ballot but lots of charity places will be available.

But it sucks...

Personally I wouldn't do it again even though I enjoyed it. Way to much faff to get organised for a bike ride. Easier than C2C in a day, I could have suggested Fred Whitton but that would be harder. And there are lots of opinions on the pros and cons of RLS in the Sportives... forum.

It would be good if mixmike let us know his experience/ability and location so that forumites could help him find a decent challenge.

ugo.santalucia

He's looking for a challenge... RLS is not a challenge... even Boris did it... people dressed like bananas do it... on closed roads in a large group it is a very easy ride

mxmike1991

Thanks for the suggestions. I have seen a few sportives I could consider. The local cycle club runs one however I wanted something a bit out of the ordinary, or a kind of proven one so to speak like C2C not just something that's been knocked up by a few down the pub.

I think anything 120 miles is above my station. I try and get a good 8 hours riding a week in if possible, but my longest ride so far is 60 so 100 would be a decent challenge!

I have seen a lot of various places offering coast to coast in 3-4 days but wouldn't really challenge me, as nice as the ride would be.

Thanks for the replies so far guys

mxmike1991

I'm Yorkshire area but don't mind travelling for a good event

cougie

If you can do 60 now youd be able to do 100 in a months time. Its not much of a challenge

rollemynot

How about an over night 100 like the Dulwich Dynamo or Ride to the Sun?

marcusjb

https://londonedinburghlondon.com

OK - 1400km in 116 hours might seem a big jump, but it is 7 months away and plenty of people ride it as their first long ride. I met a chap on the way back in 2013 who had never ridden more than 100 miles and there he was doing just fine at about mile 750 when I saw him. Riding a bike a long way at a moderate pace is really not as hard as it appears so long as you have mental fortitude.

Only once every four years. Superbly organised. Entries open in a couple of weeks.

Highly recommended.

ugo.santalucia

marcusjb wrote:

https://londonedinburghlondon.com

OK - 1400km in 116 hours might seem a big jump, but it is 7 months away and plenty of people ride it as their first long ride. I met a chap on the way back in 2013 who had never ridden more than 100 miles and there he was doing just fine at about mile 750 when I saw him. Riding a bike a long way at a moderate pace is really not as hard as it appears so long as you have mental fortitude.

Only once every four years. Superbly organised. Entries open in a couple of weeks.

Highly recommended.

Too big a jump... going from 100 miles in a day as a challenge to 200 miles per day for 4 consecutive days is a big step up that you cannot realistically bridge in 7 months (3 of them being winter). As I pointed out already in the other thread, what you see as normal is actually not...

marcusjb

ugo.santalucia wrote:

marcusjb wrote:

https://londonedinburghlondon.com

OK - 1400km in 116 hours might seem a big jump, but it is 7 months away and plenty of people ride it as their first long ride. I met a chap on the way back in 2013 who had never ridden more than 100 miles and there he was doing just fine at about mile 750 when I saw him. Riding a bike a long way at a moderate pace is really not as hard as it appears so long as you have mental fortitude.

Only once every four years. Superbly organised. Entries open in a couple of weeks.

Highly recommended.

Too big a jump... going from 100 miles in a day as a challenge to 200 miles per day for 4 consecutive days is a big step up that you cannot realistically bridge in 7 months (3 of them being winter). As I pointed out already in the other thread, what you see as normal is actually not...

Well, we will have to disagree, but I would see it as totally possible for anyone who wanted it enough to build themselves up to it in the timescale. My normal probably is different for sure, I find myself surrounded by optimistic and adventurous people who are prepared to push themselves to find their limits and the more people I can encourage to try stuff that will help them find out what they have inside, the better. We are capable of far more than we think and are generally only held back by negative thoughts from others, and ourselves. If there is not a good chance of failure in whatever endeavour you undertake, then you really are not aiming high enough.

Riding a little under 300km a day for 4 and a bit days is not beyond anyone with strong mental fortitude who really wants it. Look around the finish line of Paris-Brest-Paris, London-Edinburgh-London etc. And you will see plenty of people who are not examples of supreme athletes, but they are extraordinarily mentally resilient.

I am no athlete, I have knackered lungs, I couldn't get around something like the ride London 100 in the amazing 4 hour something times many here achieve. But I can pedal a bike (a fairly mediocre) 375 miles in a day, do back to back 200 mile days for a good number of days, but I really am nothing special at all, there are thousands like me.

But we can all do much more than we and others think. Just have to want it. Otherwise the single cell organisms might have well of stayed in the water.

I am passionate about encouraging others to really test themselves and learning how to think positively and embracing potential failure as the best learning opportunity of them all.

mrfpb

ugo.santalucia wrote:

He's looking for a challenge... RLS is not a challenge... even Boris did it... people dressed like bananas do it... on closed roads in a large group it is a very easy ride

And people have dropped dead doing it.

It was a challenge for me when I did it, but I would NOT recommend travelling from Yorkshire to do it as it works out expensive and a real pain just getting to the start line.

ugo.santalucia

marcusjb wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

marcusjb wrote:

https://londonedinburghlondon.com

OK - 1400km in 116 hours might seem a big jump, but it is 7 months away and plenty of people ride it as their first long ride. I met a chap on the way back in 2013 who had never ridden more than 100 miles and there he was doing just fine at about mile 750 when I saw him. Riding a bike a long way at a moderate pace is really not as hard as it appears so long as you have mental fortitude.

Only once every four years. Superbly organised. Entries open in a couple of weeks.

Highly recommended.

Too big a jump... going from 100 miles in a day as a challenge to 200 miles per day for 4 consecutive days is a big step up that you cannot realistically bridge in 7 months (3 of them being winter). As I pointed out already in the other thread, what you see as normal is actually not...

Well, we will have to disagree, but I would see it as totally possible for anyone who wanted it enough to build themselves up to it in the timescale. My normal probably is different for sure, I find myself surrounded by optimistic and adventurous people who are prepared to push themselves to find their limits and the more people I can encourage to try stuff that will help them find out what they have inside, the better. We are capable of far more than we think and are generally only held back by negative thoughts from others, and ourselves. If there is not a good chance of failure in whatever endeavour you undertake, then you really are not aiming high enough.

Riding a little under 300km a day for 4 and a bit days is not beyond anyone with strong mental fortitude who really wants it. Look around the finish line of Paris-Brest-Paris, London-Edinburgh-London etc. And you will see plenty of people who are not examples of supreme athletes, but they are extraordinarily mentally resilient.

I am no athlete, I have knackered lungs, I couldn't get around something like the ride London 100 in the amazing 4 hour something times many here achieve. But I can pedal a bike (a fairly mediocre) 375 miles in a day, do back to back 200 mile days for a good number of days, but I really am nothing special at all, there are thousands like me.

But we can all do much more than we and others think. Just have to want it. Otherwise the single cell organisms might have well of stayed in the water.

I am passionate about encouraging others to really test themselves and learning how to think positively and embracing potential failure as the best learning opportunity of them all.

Yes, you have to build the body but even more so the mind... but you don't turn into a long distance rider overnight... and 7 months is pretty much overnight, unless you have the luxury of training full time. Joe average between here and August maybe has 20 opportunities to go out for a day long ride and build from a "comfortable" say 80 miles to 200.
It's a big ask

mrfpb

mxmike have you looked at the Evans Ride it series or the Wiggle super series. They have events all over the country. Generally they only go up to 100 miles, but that may suit you. They generally run good events.

Sign up, create a Just Giving page for your chosen charity and start training.

marcusjb

ugo.santalucia wrote:

He's looking for a challenge... RLS is not a challenge

Make your mind up. RLS is too easy for you, LEL is too hard.

RLS in, say, sub 5-hours would be a massive challenge for me personally. My busted lung would hurt like hell doing that.

I see many people every year go from having never ridden a long way to riding events such as PBP, LEL. I myself went from having ridden a maximum ride of 100miles in October 2010 to PBP in August 2011. Did I train full-time? Of course not.

LEL might not be right for the OP, but if anyone is out there and reads this and has a look at the LEL website and thinks "can I do this?", then the answer is that if you want it enough, then you probably can (though you have only a couple of weeks to decide and try and get a place on the ride).

You don't need to train full time, 20 day rides would be way, way more than I reckon I have ever managed in the build up to a big event - I usually get out once or twice a month for a longer ride (if I am lucky). Get comfy, learn what your body can eat and drink over a long day and that's the two biggest issues solved. Physical fitness is way down the list of what is needed. Sure, it helps, faster equals more sleep; but it is rarely going to be the factor that causes someone to not succeed.

Certainly anyone who can ride 80-100 miles without too much discomfort can certainly be riding a 300km event (about 185 miles) in March/April without too much bother.

Once you can ride 300km in a day, then the rest is just repetition. LEL is 288km per day to complete it within the time allowed (there's a little bit more than 1400km, so it'll probably be around 295km per day once the final route is published).

7 months is more than enough time to get to being able to ride a 1400km event for anyone that wants it and wants to find out more about what they are made of. Will you suffer great discomfort and doubt along the way? Probably. I have taken myself into some very, very dark places over the years. But if you can tolerate yourself and push through to the other side, then the rewards are huge and will bring benefit to all aspects of life.

Right enough of the negativity and 'it's too hard, so don't bother'. I'm off out to ride a bike (not a long way today though!).

If anyone does fancy the challenge of riding something like LEL/PBP etc. - drop me a line and let's see if we can be positive about this stuff! It is, after all, only a bike ride.

Brakeless

I'm with Marcus on this one. I entered LEL in 2013 when my longest rides had been a couple of 100mile days. I rode a couple of 200ks a 300k and a 600k in the spring of 2013 and then rode LEL in 96 Hours.
It's a mental thing. Just stay on your bike, don't faff about for too long when you stop and try not to go into the red as you won't recover properly and most cyclists capable of 100 miles in a day can do a lot more than they think if they just plod away steadily all day.
I've also ridden RLS in 4.20 and anyone saying that RLS is easy is just being gobby. The most impressive thing on ride London is the people who have previously ridden about 10 miles pushing themselves to he limit to get round in 6 or 7 hours.

ugo.santalucia

marcusjb wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

He's looking for a challenge... RLS is not a challenge

Make your mind up. RLS is too easy for you, LEL is too hard.

RLS in, say, sub 5-hours would be a massive challenge for me personally. My busted lung would hurt like hell doing that.

I see many people every year go from having never ridden a long way to riding events such as PBP, LEL. I myself went from having ridden a maximum ride of 100miles in October 2010 to PBP in August 2011. Did I train full-time? Of course not.

LEL might not be right for the OP, but if anyone is out there and reads this and has a look at the LEL website and thinks "can I do this?", then the answer is that if you want it enough, then you probably can (though you have only a couple of weeks to decide and try and get a place on the ride).

You don't need to train full time, 20 day rides would be way, way more than I reckon I have ever managed in the build up to a big event - I usually get out once or twice a month for a longer ride (if I am lucky). Get comfy, learn what your body can eat and drink over a long day and that's the two biggest issues solved. Physical fitness is way down the list of what is needed. Sure, it helps, faster equals more sleep; but it is rarely going to be the factor that causes someone to not succeed.

Certainly anyone who can ride 80-100 miles without too much discomfort can certainly be riding a 300km event (about 185 miles) in March/April without too much bother.

Once you can ride 300km in a day, then the rest is just repetition. LEL is 288km per day to complete it within the time allowed (there's a little bit more than 1400km, so it'll probably be around 295km per day once the final route is published).

7 months is more than enough time to get to being able to ride a 1400km event for anyone that wants it and wants to find out more about what they are made of. Will you suffer great discomfort and doubt along the way? Probably. I have taken myself into some very, very dark places over the years. But if you can tolerate yourself and push through to the other side, then the rewards are huge and will bring benefit to all aspects of life.

Right enough of the negativity and 'it's too hard, so don't bother'. I'm off out to ride a bike (not a long way today though!).

If anyone does fancy the challenge of riding something like LEL/PBP etc. - drop me a line and let's see if we can be positive about this stuff! It is, after all, only a bike ride.

Well yes... between RLS and LEL there are about 700 miles difference or thereabout.. so maybe the "challenge" for the OP is somewhere in between the two.

It's not that simple... my experience of riding back to back is not as extensive, but we did a Raid Pyrenees in 2010... roughly 100 miles a day over the Pyrenees, so 8 hours or so a day.
I found it difficult to eat appropriately... I was eating too much, then I was not able to sleep because of that, kept waking up every 30 minutes... I finished it because 100 hilly miles were in my comfort zone, but I would have struggled to finish with longer stages.

dow8519

Either one of these: http://www.opencycling.com/
I have completed both and would highly recommend either of them.

mrfpb

I think the OP said that the Open Cycling events are fully booked for this year.

Etape du Dales is in Yorkshoire and looks like quite a challenge - in elevation rather than distance. It's in May, so the OP might not have time to train for it this year.

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/event ... Dales-2016

ugo.santalucia

mrfpb wrote:

I think the OP said that the Open Cycling events are fully booked for this year.

Etape du Dales is in Yorkshoire and looks like quite a challenge - in elevation rather than distance. It's in May, so the OP might not have time to train for it this year.

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/event ... Dales-2016

I'm doing it.
Depending on ability it is a 7-10 hours ride*. It's not for everybody, but anyone who is seriously considering anything in the 100 mile region, should be able to complete it... unless we are talking somebody really heavy that struggles with inclines. Whatever the level of fitness, it is a challenging day on the bike, no doubt about it.

* Subject to weather too

mrfpb

The OP seems to have moved on, but if his expereince is from cycling in Yorkshire, he may well be used to the inclines.

markhewitt1978

mxmike1991 wrote:

Hey guys

So C2C has been in the back of my mind for a few years now. Since my Gran passed earlier this year I have always fancied doing a charity ride of some sort, so it would be nice to raise some money at the same time for a good cause.

I have seen the open cycling c2c is fully booked up. Are there any other organised rides doing the full route in a day?

Or any other good challenges, pref 100 mile plus in the day to look for what I can still enter now?

Thanks

The people who organise Durham Big Ride are arranging a C2C Whitehaven to Sunderland it would be on the 11th June.

milemuncher1

ugo.santalucia wrote:

He's looking for a challenge... RLS is not a challenge... even Boris did it... people dressed like bananas do it... on closed roads in a large group it is a very easy ride

Try telling this bloke.

http://road.cc/content/news/199400-ride ... art-attack

Or him

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/r ... 34177.html

Only a monumental knobber / Faux pro would tell a relative novice it was "easy".

ugo.santalucia

Milemuncher1 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

He's looking for a challenge... RLS is not a challenge... even Boris did it... people dressed like bananas do it... on closed roads in a large group it is a very easy ride

Try telling this bloke.

http://road.cc/content/news/199400-ride ... art-attack

Or him

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/r ... 34177.html

Only a monumental knobber / Faux pro would tell a relative novice it was "easy".

I don't know why this time of the year everything has to become personal. I will try, within my remit of monumental knobbler, to steer away from personal remarks.
Like everything, my comment has to be put into context: the OP was considering a 140 mile lumpy ride that most reasonably fit people complete in 10 -12 hours and RLS is a 100 mile flat ride that most reasonably fit people complete in 5 hours or thereabout.
As challenge goes, they clearly have nothing to do with each other.

Then you take the comment out of context and find out that people die of heart attack doing RLS... and inded they do... being 10 times the size of a relatively large sportive, a couple of heart attacks per year are probably the norm, especially when you consider the spread of abilities and fitness among the participants.

What's that got to do with the level of the challenge? People have a heart attack in bed, in fact it is the most common place to have a heart attack. You put 25,000 people in a stadium to watch a game and quite likely one of them will have a heart attack

Let's try and elevate the discussion and keep it within the context, shall we?

iron-clover

I rode the Way Of The Roses last year with my brother- we took light pannier racks and had overnight stays at the Malham and York youth hostels, but if you did it in one day (or even two) that would be a challenging ride! The full distance is 170 miles with 2400m of climb- you'd be doing very well to complete it in a single day.

To York is a more reasonable 107 miles but you will have the majority of climbing to do in that section to cross the Pennines, so you could realistically do it audax style with an overnight stop in York.

The route is fantastic, all on metalled roads and paths, with the majority of the route being on very quiet lanes where you'd be unlucky to see a car. It is also incredibly scenic between Lancaster and Ripon in Dales country. It's very well signed although there are a couple of places where it's useful to have the route on GPS unit as I did lose it a couple of times- especially in Ripon and York.

I'd definitely recommend it if you haven't done it already- there are also train stations at either end which is very convenient!

mrfpb

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Like everything, my comment has to be put into context: the OP was considering a 140 mile lumpy ride that most reasonably fit people complete in 10 -12 hours and RLS is a 100 mile flat ride that most reasonably fit people complete in 5 hours or thereabout.
As challenge goes, they clearly have nothing to do with each other.

Ugo, to be fair, mxmike has given mixed messages, considering C2C in his 1st post, but later saying 100-120 miles would be his limit. Maybe he didn't realise how big the C2C actually was.

And to back up what Ugo said, lets keep it civil people. There are some real trolls about at the moment, and we don't want to put off every newcomer to the forum.

mxmike1991

Hey guys sorry, busy period for me!

I'll take a look at those rides suggested. I was thinking of doing a ride around June/July time, which would probably give me time to do some training. Might squeeze a smaller one in on the run up

I took a look at the Yorkshire one, I wasn't sure if the climbing would be too much for me as I live in the pan of york so it's incredibly flat.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll keep this thread updated on which one I choose

markhewitt1978

mxmike1991 wrote:

I took a look at the Yorkshire one, I wasn't sure if the climbing would be too much for me as I live in the pan of york so it's incredibly flat.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll keep this thread updated on which one I choose

I would suggest doing the traditional C2C route. Which is Whitehaven to Sunderland (or Tynemouth), it''s 130 miles or threreabouts as there's no hard rules on what route you need to take. Some hard climbing in the Lakes and Pennines, that's the nature of the route. Although the last 25 miles is downhill / flat.