K2 / Proflex Riders Group
General => Tech Forum => Topic started by: AndySV1K on February 29, 2008, 02:39:07 am
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Anyone done any long rides?
Or what is the longest ride you have done. I have rebuilt my 856 to get cycling again, but its mainly for my target of a long ride in August.
Im gradually building up the kit, just got a handlebar bag yesterday. ive got my tent and sleeping bag sorted (ultra lightweight ones)
Ive just swiutched my tyres for nasty looking road tyres (it does give me pain seeing a beautiful proflex sitting on skinny tyres, but the road advantage is undeniable!)
Andy.
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in one day it's a measly 40 miles offroad, but it was in the Lake District and took 8 hours because of the terrain!! (A lot of climbing!)
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i did the c2c (whitehaven to sunderland) a couple of years ago on my xpx, 157 miles in 2 days, best cycling days ive had so far.
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I've done a bunch of long distance multiday rides, mostly on road bikes. but I did a six day 350 mile ride across the Upper Penninsula of Michigan using mostly fire roads, two track and snowmobile trails on a mountain bike. The longest single day ride on my EVO was around forty five miles over dirt roads and three different trail systems. Longest single day ride, 110 miles (road). Longest multiday ride, 510 miles over 7 days (also road). Hardest, 405 miles over four days (road). As soon as I retire, I hope to do some longer ones. A great touring information site is www.crazyguyonabike.com
There is a guy from England riding around the world on a penny farthing!
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100 km on a mtb metal /gravel road with a few fords,45 km uphill anf then 50 km down the up and over a another hill in the last 5 km,or 160km round lake taupo on a raod bike...also hilly,no multi day stuff though
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did the polaris last year (7hours one day 5 hours next) - can't remember how far I rode.
normally do between 60 - 80 km on the 3 hour trailquest events, depending on terrain, wind and colleagues ability to keep up! Unfortunately it's never the most efficient kms I ride so I've not won one yet.
Ade
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Do we have to talk about this? I'm getting the itch again! Long distance touring is the bomb. (I've only done it on road bikes though). My brother in law is trying to get me to ride the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands this spring. My father in law is organizing a group to do it in one day (103 miles). In the past, I think my longest off-road ride was about 52 miles, but that was on a fully rigid MTB back in about '91!
On the road, I've done 374 miles in 3 days (including my longest single day ride: 151 miles thanks to a misunderstanding by our wives as to where to meet us!)
Most memorable ride (and longest overall) was when I was 17, my best friend and I rode up the Pacific coast starting in northern California and ending up in Canada. 1000 miles in 10 days. Some of the most amazing scenery in the world, and a lot of hills! Amazing how fast your body recovers when you're that young! I used toe-clips with Vans shoes, borrowed a saddle I liked from my $59 Wal-Mart type bike, rode a borrowed 10-speed Bottechia with very high racing gears, and wore tighty-whities under my bike shorts the whole time! Ah the memories!
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Do we have to talk about this? I'm getting the itch again! Long distance touring is the bomb. (I've only done it on road bikes though). My brother in law is trying to get me to ride the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands this spring. My father in law is organizing a group to do it in one day (103 miles).
wow i hope it not too undulating,thats a big day matno...you gotta do it...start organising the training and time of NOW.....F/S for sure on that ride!
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I have done the White Rim Trail in three days. Great ride. Only down side was that it is all dirt road with no singletrack. If you go, hopefully someone in your group will know where the native American ruins are. They are worth a visit. The Oz made the journey no sweat.
A few years ago a bunch from Eugene, Oregon connected a bunch of singletracks into a 40+ mile ride. It was 90-95% singletrack. It took a solid 8-hours and was called the Saddleblanket slam. One of the bike haulers was an Isuzu Trooper with the typical bike rack on top. Dave, the owner, had also bolted on several front wheel quickrelease holders on the back and sides to hold more bikes. What a machine . The ride was epic. I think I ate an entire pizza after. It was before my Proflex addiction; I rode a Nishiki Alien.
Thunderchild
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The reason i started this thread is because im planning a UK end to end, provisional date is mid-late august.
The distance varies, but the current route i have will be around 1100miles. im hoping to do it in two weeks on my 856. Ive started riding again recently after a very long break and its challenging already. Did a horrible 25miles yesterday in the howling wind, was carrying a little luggage to add weight, but nowhere near what i'll need to carry for the ride.
Im about to start looking for local corporate sponsors. I get the feeling that the actual ride will be the easy part! its the organising and collecting sponsorship that will be challenging.
Andy.
Keep the stories coming by the way, its good inspiration!
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wow - 1100 in 14 days on a mountain bike (loaded)! Hope you're going from southwest to northeast so at least generally you'll have a tail wind!
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Yeah, starting in the south, but not just because of the prevailing winds as many who have done it dont seem to gain that much, in fact ive read a few reports where there has been head winds for a good percentage of the trip. I guess its just down to luck with how the weather conditions are at the time.
The main reason im going south to north is that i want to be fairly quick on the southern half of the country where i have travelled and seen a lot of, then i can slow down a bit and take in the scenery when i get further north and in to scotland where i have only been a couple of times.
Im just starting to try and get companies on board, starting yesterday with a local bike shop. Not sure if they will help or not though as the response was luke warm to say the least.
Andy.
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Andy
I'm including a link to our clubs website and December News letter. I hope it works. Our club secretary is from England and he wrote up an article on a ride he did from Lands End to John O' Groat. Nice read.
http://www.flyingrhinocc.com/newsletters/NewsletterDec2007.pdf
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Excellent thanks Dave.
Ive been reading loads of online accounts of peoples experiences of this, its great as inspiration (usually).
Im glad im planning it this year and not last year, the summer was a wash out last year.
I'll have a read of the newsletter now...
Andy.
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any idea of your route andy? i live in county durham and if you were passing close by i could possibly put you up for the night.
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ditto in Derby potentially
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The route is not definate yet, but im planning an 'east of the penines' route is its more rare to do and i would like to pass through my home town (northampton)
I have a website partially built in the form of a blog type site, once i get my new server up and running i will get it finished and post it here so people can have a look. It will be updated with all sorts of info and a few pics of the 856 too.
Thank you to both of you for the offer of overnight stays! if the final route takes me near either of you i will be certain to call! I hope to finalise the route in the next month or so, but it will also be determined by how the training goes. If it starts to look unachievable in the time frame, i may ditch the idea of passing through Northampton in favour of a shorter route. (think i will stick to an east route though)
Interestingly, when i mentioned to the bike shop owner that i was planning to do it on my proflex he rolled his eyes and offered a 'you t**t' kind of expression. Well there is no other bike i would want to do it on, without my 856 the rides off! i cant think of a better bike to be in terms of how happy i will be with the event at the end of it.
Andy.
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yeah why is that when you mention pro-flex at your LBS some spotty grungy (mechanic/i know what im on about) t**t gives it the kevin & perry
whats one of them never heard of em.. kids know nothing..god i had to get a f/mech from germany cos the geeks dont know s**t. good luck
with the training..
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The reaction i got was from a guy whos im guessing in his late 40's early 50's >:(
But i know exactly what you mean, when i was rebuilding the proflex, i went into a shop not too far away that deals mainly in high end bikes (they used to sell proflex) only one person in the shop had ever heard of one and he wasnt in the slightest bit interested in helping me. Obviously more hassle than its worth trying to help with something that isnt current and easy to deal with.
No wonder people buy from the internet. Im all for supporting local shops, but paying extra has to come with some benefit ie better more personal service, otherwise i might aswell save a few quid, not have to travel and just click the mouse button! ::)
Andy.
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My LBS built my 957 frame up for me and didn't think I was at all mad. They remembered them from back in the day 'cos a local guy used to race them (I'll find out his name).
Mind you the owner still rides is original Eldridge Grade ("nothing wrong with cantis, just bunny hop stuff") the other guy only rides hardtails, doesn't like squishy bikes, but he rode it and his reaction was 'that rides quite well - I don't normally like full suss.'
That's why I support my lbs though, and they fix stuff for me while I wait if they can.
(George Halls Cycle Centre, Market Harborough) - not an employee, not on commission.
cheers
Ade
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the bike shop im on about is leisure lakes in breaston derby. it used to be called funsports and i used to go in the back and use there tools and
fix the odd bike in return. they was always helpful. even used to go on bike demo days with em showing off the latest and greatest.
these were the main pro-flex guys even had some local rides with jez avery (still doing stunts find him on net) the guy fell about laughing
when i snapped my 552 saying he aint broke one like that before (ripped off rear shock mount from s/stube) on cossal ski slope at ilkeston.
he made sure that it was replaced. bike shops nowadays wont even lend you a chain extractor.
soz for hi-jacking your thread.
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I went to that shop (the one in Breaston) with my XP-8 when I first got it as I was told by my LBS (Samways) that there was a guy there who knew about Proflexes - turns out he didn't and they hadn't a clue even though they were the Proflex poeple a few years back...
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I think one of the problems with bike shops is they tend to employ very young people, or those looking to earn a short term living while going through education etc, this means most of their knowledge is on the latest gear and with bike stuff changing and evolving so rapidly, things soon get changed and updated.
Enough about bike shops though, this is a thread about long rides!!
Talking of which im off for a ride now, will keep fairly local though as the weather is not good. Im a fair weather biker!! ;D
Andy.
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Talking of which im off for a ride now, will keep fairly local though as the weather is not good. Im a fair weather biker!! ;D
Andy.
you may need to change your outlook ...considering....
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Talking of which im off for a ride now, will keep fairly local though as the weather is not good. Im a fair weather biker!! ;D
Andy.
you may need to change your outlook ...considering....
I know :(
I went out yesterday and it started to rain, but as a pshycological step forward, i turned in a direction away from home and carried on riding.
Ok, i didnt do the distance i wanted to (and to be fair, it didnt rain very hard, or for very long ::)) but atleast i didnt turn for home at the first spot of rain or go cowering under a tree. I stupidly went out without food or money, thats the reason for my shorter distance as i hit the wall after an hour or so.
I managed 20 miles though.
Andy.
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thats a good start andy.....its a weird feeling isnt it hitting the wall....Yes you must carry money and food...
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I remember hitting the wall in one of my first long off-road rides. First I started feeling a bit cold, then my legs became shaky, I started pedalling slower and slower until I couldn't balance any more, so then I pushed the bike on foot, then I couldn't even do that, my mates had to push it for me (still several miles to get back to the cars). We had no food with us. Eventually I was within 20 feet of the car and I just couldn't do it, I sat down where I was and couldn't move. Nothing could have made me budge right then! I was lucky I wasn't alone or that the weather wasn't too bad. Had a couple of scrapes since then, but have learnt my lesson!
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thats a good start andy.....its a weird feeling isnt it hitting the wall....Yes you must carry money and food...
Just bring your wife or girlfriend ;D ;D ;D
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My kid and I did the Hummingbird trail(very nasty trail) on a hot morning last summer. Towards the bottom my arms went weak and I barely made it to the trailhead. At the trailhead we started the road climb back to the car, when we spotted a bar(pub to UKers). We went in for sodas and the barmaid treated me to a brewsky, best I ever had in my life. Re-energized, I floated up the mountain. The bar has since gone bust. :'( :'( :'(
Terry
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hmmm beer whilst "bonked"..not sure i could handle that combination...
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I remember hitting the wall in one of my first long off-road rides. First I started feeling a bit cold, then my legs became shaky, I started pedalling slower and slower until I couldn't balance any more, so then I pushed the bike on foot, then I couldn't even do that, my mates had to push it for me (still several miles to get back to the cars). We had no food with us. Eventually I was within 20 feet of the car and I just couldn't do it, I sat down where I was and couldn't move. Nothing could have made me budge right then! I was lucky I wasn't alone or that the weather wasn't too bad. Had a couple of scrapes since then, but have learnt my lesson!
Dont think ive ever had it quite that bad before!
Ive gone through it a few times in the past, the worst was while training for the London to Brighton years ago, i was with a group of 25-30 riders, it felt like i was the only one who was suffering, i was trying so hard to stick with the group as i didnt want to slow them down, luckily we made it to a rest stop and as soon as i fuelled up i was fine again and at the front of the pacK!
It happened to a few people while training for that ride and i put it down to mixed pace abilities, as soon as you begin to run out of steam, you seem to try and increase your pace just to keep up and that compounds the problem.
I think the reason it wasnt too bad at the weekend was that i was on my own, no one to keep up with so i could just slow right down and take it easy for a while.
Andy.
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Long Rides in the UK...............over 3/4/5 days
1995 - Ridgeway - 85 Miles plus 29 miles to Warminster via Imber Army training area
Marin Pine Mountain (Fully rigid)
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/27/Ridgeway_mongwell.jpg/500px-)
1996 - Icknield Way/Peddars Way - 105 miles plus 46 miles
Marin Pine Mountain (Fully rigid)
1997 - Tour of the Lake District - 150 miles XP-X
1998 - Ridgeway - 85 Miles plus 29 miles - XP-X
1999 - South Downs Way - 94 miles - 4,150 metres (13,600 ft) of ascent and descent - XP-X
Plus day rides:
1999 - London 2 Brighton
2000 - L2B
I found the XP-X (856) to be fine for on road use, I just put on skinny tires and firm up the suspension.
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Anyone doing the London to Brighton this year?
Ive done it twice now, cant remember which years, but would be around 94/95 then again probably 97/98
First time was on my Kirk Revolution (remember those? ;D)
Then second time was on the trusty 856.
Andy.
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Andy,
I've been using SIS's products for a while now.
Smart gel and Go gel sachets give you about 40mins of flat out energy.
Could be a good idea to buy few to keep in reserve in case of Knock or Bonking.
ProBikeKit.co.uk do some good deals on SIS products if you want to take a look.
Paul
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Hi chaps, on the subject of the London to Brighton ride Mrs Tels doing it, Im driving her and her brother to the start and then bringing them back home again. Its all happening on June the 15th farthers day and my b^%y birthday, some day Ill be having.
Enough moaning and back to the long rides, Mrs Tel once talked me into riding 120km to see a stage of the tour de France, her on a coppi campinissimo and me on the XPX loads of hills, all I could do was to try to hang on her back wheel until the next hill when it would quite rapidly dissappear, but a great day out lots of French folk looking at my bike made me feel a lot better before the long slog back home.
Cheers, Tel.
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Hi chaps, on the subject of the London to Brighton ride Mrs Tels doing it, Im driving her and her brother to the start and then bringing them back home again. Its all happening on June the 15th farthers day and my b^%y birthday, some day Ill be having.
Enough moaning and back to the long rides, Mrs Tel once talked me into riding 120km to see a stage of the tour de France, her on a coppi campinissimo and me on the XPX loads of hills, all I could do was to try to hang on her back wheel until the next hill when it would quite rapidly dissappear, but a great day out lots of French folk looking at my bike made me feel a lot better before the long slog back home.
Cheers, Tel.
So whats your excuse for not doing the ride then?? ;D
I think its such a great days ride, really good atmosphere when i did it. (Apart from a few upety folk who insist on treating it as a full on race, then whinge when someone in front slows them down)
Andy.