Just can't decide whether or not to put myself through it this year!
My whole summer of biking has been a write-off with illness and injury so I'm resigned to not 'racing' but I'm not even sure I could go the distance at the moment. Plus I'm nowhere near mentally prepared as all I can think about at the moment are my house renovations - not exactly great prep, or in fact any prep at all!
I keep deciding then un-deciding every day. I know I'll be gutted if I don't though...
There may be a bail option if all is going badly. On the old route you could just head towards Rhyader from the Elan Valley and head back (after a night in the bothy) so there may be a similar option on the new route. Wait until you see the course and potential bail out options if you are lacking confidence.
If the weather is great you will regret being in the area even for a shortened adventure.
johnnystorm wrote:Do it. If you don't have a go you'll definitely fail.
Wise words.
I spent the whole of august off the bike and have only been on intermittently since, but these rides have included some great 60-70km overnight bivis.
I'm going to slowly plod round with a relatively leisurely bivi. I'm aiming to get to a point where continuing is easier than finding an escape route (someones advice on here). Hopefully the route is not like Ians evil/incredibly clever peak ITT, which brings you back near the start at half distance!!
I did a 130km bivy on Monday/Tuesday to be honest to riding wasn't too bad but I'm crap at climbing which is my big worry
I did think at one point about not starting but I've decided to go for it (not literally) and my strategy is to ride/push for as long as possible on day one to get to approx. 100-120km before an overnight stop. Up early the next day for the remainder of the trip.
If I only get something like a 1/3 of the way through by Saturday night then I'll review things on Sunday morning and I guess I can always retrace my steps.
The main thing will be trying to stay positive I reckon
barney wrote:
The main thing will be trying to stay positive I reckon
I think this is very important.
When I did my 4 day trip the other week I was having a bad day the first day (as in fighting demons and having a lot of my mind) and found myself "getting tired" quite quickly. It wasn't that I was really getting tired I was just in a very negative place at that point. Sorted my head out and did another 3 days riding and was fine each day.
Tiredness can come and go in waves as well and again I would say don't let a tired patch effect you to the point of being so negative that you stop. Just accept that you will have these times and they will pass and when it does you will be glad you kept pushing.
I'm often accused of being an optimist during those "should we carry on or should we head back because it's getting dark / it's raining really hard / there's a man with a gun and attack dogs / I've broken both my legs" moments. I'm hoping this will get me to the finish some time in 2014.
It's very easy to slip into that negative faze. I went out Saturday and completed my longest ever ride (150km) till next week. The first few hours were great, it was about 7 hours in when I had my low point (only slight low). The km's were taking ages at that time because I'd started climbing again and failed to acknowledge that this is a fact of life, going up hill is slower.
I stopped for a 5 minute rest and had a word with myself. As long as I was moving forward even if I was pushing my bike I was always getting closer to the end. I started focusing on breathing (don't need to really I just find it takes my mind of any aching) and started turning the pedals. I arrived back home 2 hours early than I had predicted at my negative stage.
So the moral of the story is keep moving and take your mind off the event and it'll all roll on by as nature intended......well that's my plan anyway.
I will eat at least once every hour. It will be strictly every hour hungry or not.
List of food I will be taking:
Home made flapjack - loads
4 small wraps, ham and cheese probably. These will be eaten around lunch and dinner time to give me a savory "meal" in amongst all the sweet stuff.
2 large bags of haribo
2 whole battenburg cakes
1 large bag of marmite cashews
EDIT:
Fry up with Johnny in tescos
Probably a couple of bananas but as Steve says they will need to go early to avoid the banana bag mash.
Will also be using a 2litre camel back. Refill as required but I would expect to probably get through something like 6 liters depending on the weather.
If we pass any shops (doubtful) then I will grab a can of coke, it's like rocket fuel for me when I'm tired.
Last edited by composite on Wed Oct 01, 2014 9:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Eating strategy - pile food in at regular intervals.
Aiming to eat a malt loaf, 500g cranberries, a handful of energy bars, a banana (hopefully before I lose it or it turns to mush) and a few gels. Lots to drink (2litre camelback and a stream or 2). Might take some jam sandwiches, not so much to eat but to destroy the morale of the competition........
Thinking of Newtown Tesco fry-up to start.
I've got a couple of mixed boxes of SIS bars on the way. No doubt that in reality they are no more beneficial than a flapjack but I'll feel a psychological boost. Might take a couple of gels for emergencies but can't be doing with the sickliness and messy wrappers. Will follow Composite's plan of eating something every hour, on the hour with haribos to scoff whenever a "stop" occurs.
- sarnies (x 3)
- gels
- 2 x bags of nuts (1 peanut, 1 fruit and nut mix)
- flapjack type things
- morale boosting chocolate bars
- rehydration powder in water
- electrolyte tablets
Nothing's set in stone but is likely to be something along those lines.
Really looking forward to it now (after a nice 'training' ride at the weekend which made me think I might just be able to do it and survive).
Chicken Legs wrote:Good to see Marmite Cashews on the menu
Just keep them away from Gabes (Mountainbaker) !
You are of course the master of the marmite cashew.
I'm hoping to be out of smell range of Gabe by the time I open them.
I have my own marmite based concoction planned for this. Not sure if by 'smell range' you mean you don't want me the smell the cashews, or you don't want to be able to smell me by then?
Well it's decision made and unfortunately I'm wimping out this year. I went out on the MTB last night for the first time since tearing my ankle ligaments about 7 weeks ago and it wasn't too clever. Seemed ok when pedalling but agony when I had an unscheduled unclip from the pedals. It clearly hasn't healed yet and I don't really fancy getting myself into trouble in the middle of nowhere at 3am...
Best of luck to everyone who takes the start this year, gutted I won't be with you.
Chicken Legs wrote:Good to see Marmite Cashews on the menu
Just keep them away from Gabes (Mountainbaker) !
You are of course the master of the marmite cashew.
I'm hoping to be out of smell range of Gabe by the time I open them.
I have my own marmite based concoction planned for this. Not sure if by 'smell range' you mean you don't want me the smell the cashews, or you don't want to be able to smell me by then?
I'm putting my faith in a big batch of peanut butter and bramble jelly wraps - very calorie dense and a good balance of sweet and savoury. I'll pop one of these every hour or so and mix them up with the odd Snickers, flapjack or Percy Pig.
I often get a headache when out for long rides so I'll be trying hard to stay hydrated. I normally stick with plain water but should I think about adding some electrolyte thingummies?
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