Oh the comfort of miles and miles

Posted on by bear
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It seems my itching for new parts has got the better of me but for good reason.

My typical ride is but a few miles each way per day. I do love ‘Frank’ my bike but I’ve never been totally happy about the comfort of my trusty steed because when I go that little bit further – I can feel that I’m not enjoying the ride as much.

The thought of attempting so many miles has made me focus on what ‘it’ is that makes a comfortable ride and it comes down to two key contact points. Bum and hands. Continue reading →

How many miles a day can you cover?

Posted on by bear
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What was originally planned as a ride for one day and with the date of the first proposed leg rapidly looming so has the need to turn preparation ideas into fact.

I emailed dates for the four day ride over to my co-rider. The reply was ‘good, we’ll get much further along Stage 1 than was planned’ .

Planned? Alarm bells softly rang as I went and checked T’s first post in this blog. It said 190 miles. Continue reading →

Any Room at the Inn?

Posted on by triston
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It looks like our first leg will be done over four days – clocking up to 50 miles or so a day. Which is much more do-able (considering age, fitness, the simple fact that neither of us have ever done anything remotely like this!). But is does increase the sheer number of nights away we will have. Continue reading →

Musing after ‘le weekend’

Posted on by triston
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So the weekend found my girlfriend and me enjoying some early spring sun in that lovely romantic capital, Paris. The cheese, the wine, all left me feeling a little fat and unfit on my morning cycle into work.

It looks like our first leg will be done with gears which I am quite glad now. Also, my earlier ideas of 100 miles a day (where the hell did I think that was a good idea?!) will need to be modified to a much more realistic 50. Which means our first leg – to be started in three weeks – will be a four day jaunt across the south coast. Where we will stay is also another concern – but for a separate post. Continue reading →

When you start focussing on bike preparation you get the itch for new parts

Posted on by bear
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A fear began.

There isn’t that much time to prepare! Decisions need to be made swiftly and executed quickly particularly as I realised the bike will need a service. Mosquito Bikes have a policy of free lifetime servicing for custom builds they make which means I’m of course going to take it to them and I might as well entrust the wheel-rebuild to them.

I’ve also been considering the length of the journey and the importance of being comfortable on the bike during the ride. The idea after all is to enjoy ourselves! Continue reading →

Not even started the trip and the costs are already mounting

Posted on by bear
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I tingle when I take my bike into the local bike shop in Brighton for damage assessment. Techies crowd and coo, “We like Surly’s” (which is the frame I’ve based my bike on) and I swell with pride as I explain the thinking behind the bike, all attention on me – well, actually the bike. It made me remember what it’s like to own a custom build.

Its agreed the damage to the hub thread is quite serious to the point that I’m looking at a new hub so that will be *kerching* sixty pounds please. Continue reading →

It wasn’t just the guiness

Posted on by triston
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Last night over some light ales I told my good friends Robin Doyle and Ben Cull about our idea. As we chatted, it was clear that this may well be an ongoing journey that other people might want to join us on – either for all of it or for just bits. Continue reading →

Thinking about getting ready

Posted on by bear
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My dear friend Mr T and I have for some time been talking about taking a cycling trip of substance.

I quite fancied a small weekend jaunt to Dieppe, France being that I do not live far from Newhaven and liked the idea of taking the bike, hopping onto a ferry to soak some fine weather, culture (including beer and wine) you know, something different for a weekend. Continue reading →

London to Brighton, the long way round

Posted on by triston
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Blikey reckons that the coastal route from Gravesend to Brighton is about 190 miles, which seems a good distance to start. It’s a great tool, if you have never used it – using maps and waypoints you can create very accurate routes, with it giving you the distance and elevation. The first leg looks like this, which is impressive until you look at how little of the British Isles this covers! All I want to know is how many miles will we comfortably cover in a day (100?) and where the hell will we stay in Dungeness? I have been there once – pretty dam grim and that was even with Derek Jarman’s garden…