riding the whole TdF route to the same schedule

[zebedee]

http://www.bmycharity.com/letour

Fair play to this guy, I'm slightly jealous until I think how long the days would be for a non-pro, the lack of top nutrionalists, masseurs etc etc and can only imagine the pain and suffering. Still a bit jealous mind...

I think I had better start by actually trying an alpine pass, which I am yet to do. In fact I am yet to ride my road bike abroad, so must make amends!

[Pothole]

What kind of distances per day are they doing? There's a group in Malta which does a 2000-odd km ride over 10-12 days every year for the local kidney unit without anything like the backup of a typical tour team.

http://www.lifecyclechallenge.com/

Most people finish it, too.

I reckon solo would be awful.

[zebedee]

same route as the tour so typically around 180km a day, some a bit longer, some a bit shorter, but with the pyrenees and alps too. I do wonder how my body would react to multiple beatings on the bike, maybe I should try it closer to home first. Only ever done one century so far would need to do lots of training

[MiseryStreak]

Lowering the pace will make this achievable without all the support/nutrition etc. but it will mean you're on the saddle for up to 12 hours a day, with quite a few Hors catégorie climbs, 21 days in a row, without a break. It will be tough. Doing it on your own would require a serious amount of mental stamina and determination I think.

[zebedee]

you'd get the 2 rest days and it looks as though 80 are starting, but not all will finish and actually if you are riding with people who aren't going at your pace it doesn't help much either. You'd need a group of 4 or 5 I think with similar abilities but that is hard to find in itself, for example I am not powerful but am light so I have to climb at a decent pace rather than slogging away generating torque. Then I have to wait for others to catch up, but am not much use sitting on the front and pulling them along. It would be extremely demanding trying to emulate the pros and in some ways would be harder than it is for them (given that they are conditioned to do it, have all the support and have a much greater chunk of the day to rest), not that what they do isn't utterly incredible in itself.

[prand]

222 km before riding up and finishing at the top of Ventoux this year, and up Alpe D'Huez twice. That would ruin me, let alone the rest of it!