Long distance advice?!

Hello chaps, I'm going to be riding about 50 miles a day for 2 weeks Starting in London stoping at Newhaven, ?, Paris, ?, ?, Brussels, ?, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, The Den Haag-Harwich Ferry, Chelmsford finally arriving Back in London 2 weeks later all in the name of charity! (and having a laugh)

The ?'s are undecided stops between places, as we've only just started planning it.

Never done anything this long distance before so looking for info on:

what to eat and drink in preperation and during the ride?

bike set up?

Best places to look for info on routes?

Any places worth a look on route or at any of the destinations?

Any places good to stay on route or at any of the destinations?

Plus anything else i may have overlooked?

I'll be doing this near the end of summer, hopefully giving me chance to get back in shape!

Staf.

Normandy...Omaha Beach

sounds like it'll be road based? so without wanting to state the obvious, you'll be faster with less effort on a road or touring bike.

It'll be a combination of road and XC I'm going to build a bike especially for this, I'm going to use those halo Twin Rail tyres amoungst other bits.

I'm never getting on a road bike man!

Staf.

Narrower MTB semi slicks - panaracer pasela

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Panar ... 360043845/

Comfy well used to saddle, not some new thing that you've never used before or you'll regret it - make sure its one that doesnt make your nuts go numb

Bars with lots of hand positions available, I prefer drops but other designs are available

spare chainring bolts, spokes over the obvious spares. Quality rack and best quality mounting bolts to take the weight.

Mudguards prevent chuff hitting the chain and turning the lube into grinding paste

Any bike will do but and adjustable stem adds more comfort

Lose the beergut!

Or do what I used to do which is zip tie a rack to my Zaskar and ride from Huntingdon to Hunstanton with a rucksack....

Chris667 is a good man to ask.

Sudocreme. Before, during and after.

That is all.

Thanks lads, I do intend to shift the beer gut as well you cheeky bastard, we're doing laps of the local country park trying to get to a point where 50 miles is easy and doesn't need recovery time!

On that point, I could do with a cheap (preferably wireless) multifunction computer if anyone has one spare?

LGF pretty much has it covered there!

Nutrition-wise, porridge, bananas and fruit cake with plenty of water / energy drink. Get used to eating / drinking before you feel hungry / thirsty. I'd only resort to gels and PowerBars when you really need a sugar hit.

Motivation can be a problem in training, so plan a variety of rides and maybe put some tunes on too. A good plan is to drag your mates along too, solo riding can be tedious! My mate Ian trains on a cheapo bike loaded with a couple of litres of water and the panniers loaded with books, then when he races on his fancy ultra-light racer things feel really easy. Finally, tyre pressures are critical, run the rear to the maximum it'll take and the front 10 psi less. Using an mtb tyre means it won't feel too rough even blown up really hard.

Good luck.

SP

drystonepaul":2un45bq3 said:

Sudocreme. Before, during and after.

Click to expand...

Ting...

There's a man that's done it!

Food wise carbs before and protein after , bananas and peanuts are good , the salt helps stop the muscles aching and because they are so moreish you can get through a lot of protein without really trying .

You wont have to miss out on nice foreign cakes but just keep in mind not to fill up on empty calories ( stuff that doesn't include anything that your body needs ) and get full before you have the good stuff .