PH does the (UK bit of the) Tour de France
Discussion
j00pY said:
When exactly would you look at doing this?
TBC but May would seem like a good month to aim for. I'm still debating whether a bank holiday weekend would be a positive (no time off work, availability of support drivers) or a negative (busier roads, busier hotels, busier restaurants, clashes with other commitments/events). I think probably a non-BH weekend makes more sense overall.I think the trick is actually becoming more proficient off the bike. I'm new to cycling but not endurance and the lesson I've learned is that it's all about recovery when it comes to multi-day efforts. Recovery nutrition, stretch, ice, foam-roller/massage, food & drink, sleep, repeat.
This is a real challenge in more than one way, as some of the points have already been covered I will focus on the riding part.
The distance each day is a big ask for non elite or seasoned endurance riders. Please do not underestimate this.
The amount of climbing is a large and a lot steeper than normal TdF climbs.
The weather in the Yorkshire dales can be very harsh. It can also be very good, train and prepare for the worst weather.
Some of the road surfaces are not great in the Dales.
As noted earlier rider recovery is key for the next day, the pro riders have every thing done for them at the top level, the rest of us have to sort these things out for ourselves just waiting around to put your bike in the support van cuts into recovery time, carrying your own bags to your room will be a chore on the second day,
Quality and quantity of sleep, people will want to sit up and talk when they could be sleeping and then you find the bed is not the same as the one at home (Team Sky send a mattresses to the hotel so the rider is on the same one each night)
Quality and quantity of food needs considering. The right breakfast and evening meal, food in the day on the bike will be the easiest to sort out.
I have riden the Etap de Dales a few times and that is 112 miles and takes me 7:20hrs.
I hope that those that set of to complete this challenge are successful and wish them all the best with it. If I can be of any help please let me know.
The distance each day is a big ask for non elite or seasoned endurance riders. Please do not underestimate this.
The amount of climbing is a large and a lot steeper than normal TdF climbs.
The weather in the Yorkshire dales can be very harsh. It can also be very good, train and prepare for the worst weather.
Some of the road surfaces are not great in the Dales.
As noted earlier rider recovery is key for the next day, the pro riders have every thing done for them at the top level, the rest of us have to sort these things out for ourselves just waiting around to put your bike in the support van cuts into recovery time, carrying your own bags to your room will be a chore on the second day,
Quality and quantity of sleep, people will want to sit up and talk when they could be sleeping and then you find the bed is not the same as the one at home (Team Sky send a mattresses to the hotel so the rider is on the same one each night)
Quality and quantity of food needs considering. The right breakfast and evening meal, food in the day on the bike will be the easiest to sort out.
I have riden the Etap de Dales a few times and that is 112 miles and takes me 7:20hrs.
I hope that those that set of to complete this challenge are successful and wish them all the best with it. If I can be of any help please let me know.
Day 2 looks like the problem day.. but for another viewpoint, a bunch of about 20 of us did the tour of wessex (http://www.pendragonsports.com/Tour_of_Wessex_2015) this year. Similar miles/elevation overall if a little more spread out.
In terms of athleticism, it's a tri club so we're generally fitter than average, and most folks will ride 40-50miles on a fairly regular basis, but everyone got through it without any real difficulty, half of us staying in tents (and half the group were girls for whatever that's worth). Nutrition was along the lines of bacon and egg brekky, pub for evening meal along with a couple of beers, and the usual energy / feed stations on the bike. So long as you ride yourself into it sensibly / don't kill yourself on day 1, and ideally do some back to back days in training I'd suggest it's very achievable. Steepness of hills can be solved with gearing - forget the 'rules' and have a compact.
For that matter, I highly recommend wessex, although it isn't the tour de france route. Pretty, and comes back to the same place at the end of every day.
WRT the route in the thread, I shall keep an eye out, if it fits in I could be very tempted, although I'd rather pay my own way - I'm not really up for a sponsored thing.
In terms of athleticism, it's a tri club so we're generally fitter than average, and most folks will ride 40-50miles on a fairly regular basis, but everyone got through it without any real difficulty, half of us staying in tents (and half the group were girls for whatever that's worth). Nutrition was along the lines of bacon and egg brekky, pub for evening meal along with a couple of beers, and the usual energy / feed stations on the bike. So long as you ride yourself into it sensibly / don't kill yourself on day 1, and ideally do some back to back days in training I'd suggest it's very achievable. Steepness of hills can be solved with gearing - forget the 'rules' and have a compact.
For that matter, I highly recommend wessex, although it isn't the tour de france route. Pretty, and comes back to the same place at the end of every day.
WRT the route in the thread, I shall keep an eye out, if it fits in I could be very tempted, although I'd rather pay my own way - I'm not really up for a sponsored thing.
I'm under no illusions about the difficulty of it. I've ridden individual days like these and have always been happy to take a few days off the bike afterwards - and I consider myself relatively fit.
But, the human body is a remarkably adaptable thing and we have around 5-6 months before this would happen. That's plenty of time to train and grow more accustomed to back-to-back efforts. For anybody thinking of trying the full monty I would definitely advise building this kind of work into your training. Throw in a back-to-back big weekend each month, slowly ramping the distances up towards 150km in the month before. This would be a great excuse for some more PH meets and group sportives in the New Year.
But, the human body is a remarkably adaptable thing and we have around 5-6 months before this would happen. That's plenty of time to train and grow more accustomed to back-to-back efforts. For anybody thinking of trying the full monty I would definitely advise building this kind of work into your training. Throw in a back-to-back big weekend each month, slowly ramping the distances up towards 150km in the month before. This would be a great excuse for some more PH meets and group sportives in the New Year.
I'll keep an eye on this and definitely be up for joining you for stage 3 as that's not too bad to get to from Ipswich. I'm planning to cycle from Peterborough to Dundee in August so this would be pretty handy as part of my training, I'll drag the other guy that's doing my trip along with me too!
Black can man said:
Sounds a good idea but i'm not sure i could do the distance either, Wouldn't a 100 mile jaunt around the New forest seem more do able ? or maybe a London to Brighton run
I do like the idea of a PH run though & would be very interested if i felt i could do it.
No reason we couldn't do both. A London to Brighton would make good training for the TdF run. Those doing the full monty could do London to Brighton to London.I do like the idea of a PH run though & would be very interested if i felt i could do it.
Time for a list to help gauge provisional interest…
1. Gruffy - Full Monty
2. M3John - TBC
3. Tony Hetherington - Full Monty
4. Anthony - TBC
5. Marcel - TBC
6. JT - Fully Monty
7. Marcellus - TBC
8. waterwonder - TBC
9. Nikolai - TBC
10. pablo - TBC
11. bakerstreet - TBC
12. Johnny - TBC
13. j00py - Full Monty
14. tobinen - Stage 3
15. pembo - Stage 3
16. pembo's +1 - Stage 3
1. Gruffy - Full Monty
2. M3John - TBC
3. Tony Hetherington - Full Monty
4. Anthony - TBC
5. Marcel - TBC
6. JT - Fully Monty
7. Marcellus - TBC
8. waterwonder - TBC
9. Nikolai - TBC
10. pablo - TBC
11. bakerstreet - TBC
12. Johnny - TBC
13. j00py - Full Monty
14. tobinen - Stage 3
15. pembo - Stage 3
16. pembo's +1 - Stage 3
Oooooo a list, love a good PH list me;
Gruffy said:
Time for a list to help gauge provisional interest…
1. Gruffy - Full Monty
2. M3John - TBC
3. Tony Hetherington - Full Monty
4. Anthony - TBC
5. Marcel - TBC
6. JT - Fully Monty
7. Marcellus - I'd give the full monty a bash
8. waterwonder - TBC
9. Nikolai - TBC
10. pablo - TBC
11. bakerstreet - TBC
12. Johnny - TBC
13. j00py - Full Monty
14. tobinen - Stage 3
15. pembo - Stage 3
16. pembo's +1 - Stage 3
1. Gruffy - Full Monty
2. M3John - TBC
3. Tony Hetherington - Full Monty
4. Anthony - TBC
5. Marcel - TBC
6. JT - Fully Monty
7. Marcellus - I'd give the full monty a bash
8. waterwonder - TBC
9. Nikolai - TBC
10. pablo - TBC
11. bakerstreet - TBC
12. Johnny - TBC
13. j00py - Full Monty
14. tobinen - Stage 3
15. pembo - Stage 3
16. pembo's +1 - Stage 3
I often ride certain parts of the 2nd stage around Oxenhope - it's quite hilly and I reckon quite a few people would struggle to incorporate a lot of hills in the route.
It's a superb idea but I think a single day run something like London - Brighton or the like would have the most success.
I used to ride around London/Kent quite often and it's relatively easy as it is largely flat. That should be fine for most of the riders
Hope it is a success whatever goes ahead.
It's a superb idea but I think a single day run something like London - Brighton or the like would have the most success.
I used to ride around London/Kent quite often and it's relatively easy as it is largely flat. That should be fine for most of the riders
Hope it is a success whatever goes ahead.
I have ridden stage 1 as intended and most of stage 2 in chunks.
The best pragmatic advice I'd give is as follows:
The A61 out of Leeds city centre is horrid, I'd suggest doing it early on a weekend day or even just starting at Harewood. This isn't a bad option as the Tour was neutralised till this point anyway.
Stage 2 is tough. I'm a good climber but happily resorted to my compact with 28t on the back. A 32t won't shame you after two tough days in the saddle.
And Sheffield to Cambridge won't be an easy transfer either, 2 may look doable but I'd honestly suggest you leave at least 10h for it.
Best of luck though and big respect!!
Edit: Harewood will be shut first thing but ducking under the barriers is not difficult, allegedly......
The best pragmatic advice I'd give is as follows:
The A61 out of Leeds city centre is horrid, I'd suggest doing it early on a weekend day or even just starting at Harewood. This isn't a bad option as the Tour was neutralised till this point anyway.
Stage 2 is tough. I'm a good climber but happily resorted to my compact with 28t on the back. A 32t won't shame you after two tough days in the saddle.
And Sheffield to Cambridge won't be an easy transfer either, 2 may look doable but I'd honestly suggest you leave at least 10h for it.
Best of luck though and big respect!!
Edit: Harewood will be shut first thing but ducking under the barriers is not difficult, allegedly......
Edited by numtumfutunch on Monday 1st December 15:29
Good luck, I did stage 2 in June just before the tour, fantastic but as said above you need to be good at climbing. I did it as part of a 3 day challenge and it's not to be underestimated!
http://www.strava.com/activities/159207534
http://www.strava.com/activities/159207534
pembo said:
I'll keep an eye on this and definitely be up for joining you for stage 3 as that's not too bad to get to from Ipswich. I'm planning to cycle from Peterborough to Dundee in August so this would be pretty handy as part of my training, I'll drag the other guy that's doing my trip along with me too!
I think this would be my limit too , i'd love to join in for the last day too.88 miles is the most i have done & at my age i needed a day to recover, to do this amount with no days rest i feel i'd struggle & the idea n my opinion is to enjoy the run.
1. Gruffy - Full Monty
2. M3John - TBC
3. Tony Hetherington - Full Monty
4. Anthony - TBC
5. Marcel - TBC
6. JT - Fully Monty
7. Marcellus - I'd give the full monty a bash
8. waterwonder - TBC
9. Nikolai - TBC
10. pablo - TBC
11. bakerstreet - TBC
12. Johnny - TBC
13. j00py - Full Monty
14. tobinen - Stage 3
15. pembo - Stage 3
16. pembo's +1 - Stage 3
17. GarryDK - Stage 3 (maybe more)
18. Black Can Man - Stage 3
19. Pete R - Full Monty
2. M3John - TBC
3. Tony Hetherington - Full Monty
4. Anthony - TBC
5. Marcel - TBC
6. JT - Fully Monty
7. Marcellus - I'd give the full monty a bash
8. waterwonder - TBC
9. Nikolai - TBC
10. pablo - TBC
11. bakerstreet - TBC
12. Johnny - TBC
13. j00py - Full Monty
14. tobinen - Stage 3
15. pembo - Stage 3
16. pembo's +1 - Stage 3
17. GarryDK - Stage 3 (maybe more)
18. Black Can Man - Stage 3
19. Pete R - Full Monty
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