now then. I'm thinking of doing this this week, I have roughly plotted a route on gmap-pedometer (the middle bit is still dodge.]

it's 115 miles approximately, is that too far to do in a hard core day? The furthest I've cycled in a day is about 50 miles, but that was offroad. I'm now fitter than I've ever been and want to give it a go. would be doing this attack-style with minimal baggage - spare tyre/tubes/munch/agua and a spare tshirt.

any thoughts?

Have the route firmly in your memory, leave the very second it's light enough (but take some lights/reflectives anyway), take more food than you think you need (eat the fattier/stodgier stuff early in the day, and save the more sugary stuff for the tailend), plan to stop at least every 2 hours for a leg stretch/sit down/bit of cake/piss, but don't stop for too long, change hand positions often, be prepared for a rough spell in the middle of the ride. Your spare layer could be something more functional than a t-shirt...

Something like that. Good luck.

Every thing above. Eat loads. It will be quite hilly around Bath e.t.c but you should know that and at least it will be over in the start. Def get up while it is dark and leave as it get light. Mark on your route train stations and have them as bail out points if you need. YOu should never be too far from the Bristol Padington line. Good luck.

That will be an ace ride. Normally the wind direction is from West to East - maybe you could train it to Bristol then ride back to London. You will probably have wind on your back and have the nice bit of the ride early on (when you can savor it!).
Make sure to do a few longish rides before hand - 60 / 70 milers just to get your bits prepared
Oh! and enjoy it - it will be ace

revmilo: He wants to do it this week so throwing in some 60-70 milers before Sunday might not be the best idea! :)

It looks to be pissing down this weekend too, factor that in. Could be unpleasant.

OOh err. Plop a piece of sirloin steak down your shorts in that case - it worked for the Mongol Hoardes.
And take an umbrella.

And it'll be ready to cook when you arrive

One more thing when doing any distance. Lycra is your friend.

And Sudocrem is a sympathetic acquaintance.

thanks for all the tips.

I was planning to do it this week, but I haven't got all the equipment, and it didn't really occur to me to do any training specifically for it. we'll see, next week or the week after maybe.

all very weather dependent too....

In that case you're screwed! :)

Just go on and do it t.o.
It's not like you are crossing the Gobi desert or anything - if you get in a pickle - you can always get a lift and a train
Live a little and show us losers how it's done!

after much delay, mostly for no good reason, i did this yesterday. Still didn't do any more practice for it (apart from riding 1.5miles to school and back every day). 134 miles, took 11ish hours. For at least the last 40 miles I wanted to give up, and very nearly did. I left too late in the morning (around 10) and so the last bit was in the dark.

thoroughly enjoyable though. and i'm not too sore today, which is good. anyway, thanks for your tips everyone. next time i'll train more before i think so i don't slow down so much at the end, and definitely definitely leave earlier!

Good work, and no sore arse, major achievement.

You're now one step closer to riding for a pro team in the TdF ;)

be prepared for a rough spell in the middle of the ride

care to elaborate

that pedometer site is bloody brilliant, what I thought was 50 miles was only 35, no more hyperbole from me ...

Errrr... it's not a reference to wizadry or voodoo or whatever.

Every loooooooooong ride I've done, I've felt shittest around about the mid-way point, or shortly afterwards. Sort of withdraw into myself and soldier on. Usually the final section is brilliant. I lot of people riding 12 or 24hr timetrials do their fastest ever 25 miles during the last hour or so of these events.

something to look forward to then, my maximum distance up to now has been 50 miles, now I have the mercian I am looking to double that, how much food ought you carry for 50 miles and a 100 miles

You can get away with nothing if you use a carb drink but it's probably not recommended. If you bonk it's shitty trying to find a shop for food..
The 120k at Willesden Reliability I did on Sunday was done on one bottle of SIS electrolyte drink and it was a pretty hard ride.
You kinda need to experiment a bit to find what you can do.
Try carrying food and see where you start to slow/get angry/get tired/etc. Note your pace. Do it again. You get an idea of what you can get away with.

I usually carry a bag of mixed dried fruits and some boiled sweets just in case

I don't like to carry stuff so I buy water on the way

Is it worth filling up on pasta before you go does that work..?

I need loads. I think I have a very inefficient metabolic rate.

Carbo loading is supposed to be beneficial before you ride and is recommended by most people.
You want a pasta/rice meal the night before and some porridge or (for me) Vegemite toast and a coffee in the morning.
I don't know what's optimal but I go for toast a couple of hours before a ride because milky stuff (ie. bowl of cereal) will be barfed if the ride is hard (ie. a race).

malt loaf rules. Small and packed with energy.

Like BMMF

I find him a bit rich though, nice for the first few bites but then just gets sickly

i dont see the point to be honest when you can get a train from paddington

Train the money costs it does

Well I feel like a completely lazy fecker now - I drove there and back the weekend before last!
Did you do it fixed?
Right I'm going out for a ride ( to meet a mate for dinner and beer! ;-) )

pasta the night before
toast and marmalade in the morning
carry light stuff
find MacDonald if you bonk
Got it

Don't forget coffee in the morning (if you do caffeine). It doubles your body's ability to metabolize fat ie. it's the ultimate legal endurance-oriented perfomance enhancing substance available.

I think my genealogy would make me more of a ginger cake than a malt loaf.

my little Italian friend

^ couldn't live without it :)

I am a staunch user of Lavazza Rosso because:

i) It's a robusta/arabica blend, therefore less acidic, therefore less likely to fuck up my soya milk.
ii) It's a robusta/arabica blend, and robusta has a higher caffeine content.

I'm so ASD, that I actually had to cut out a section of the outer wrapper from a Lavazza Rosso twinpack, in order to stick it on the coffee tin I've been reusing that was originally a different blend. Just...couldn't...deal...with...anomaly :S

LOL... I thought I was bad

thank you for the recommendation

i'll give the soya milk a miss, eh..;)

Is that the pre-ground stuff BMMF? I've got one of those Bialetti 'cino makers.