# Road UK 24 - Newcastle to London



## SquareDaff (4 Dec 2012)

Has anyone ever done one of these before. Seriously considering it for next years "big target". Just wondered if anyone on here had done the event or something similar and could enlighten me about what to expect / give training tips.

Essentially it's a 300 miles in 24 continuous hours challenge on generally lightly undulating terrain down the east coast. I'm in 2 minds at the moment - I don't know whether I would have the stamina to do it. I know I can easily manage the 14mph average speed they say will be the minimum to acheive the target over smaller distances. Not so sure over 300 miles.

Any advice welcome


----------



## frank9755 (4 Dec 2012)

Not sure what you're asking: no-one can tell you if you could do it or not - only you can know that! For someone who does long-distance cycling it doesn't sound very demanding but for someone who doesn't, it would be incredibly hard. 
Assuming you don't, the best thing to do is to work up to it. Do some audaxes - a couple of 200km rides, then a 300 and a 400. At that point you will know whether you will find it very achievable, or that its not your thing.


----------



## DCLane (4 Dec 2012)

For those looking for information on this event, it's at: http://www.rideuk24.com/

Seems OK to me, but expensive. It's really a long audax.


----------



## frank9755 (5 Dec 2012)

Had a quick look and it seems to be a long-distance ride but heavily supported. It might appeal to those who want to do long-distance cycling but are not up for the self-sufficiency aspect of audax.

I see it is the same people who did Moonriders. See the FNRttC posts for a lengthy discussion on that. Don't want to repeat it here but I recall the guy organising that ride illustrated his depth of knowledge by talking about the _Dulwich_ Dynamo! Essentially they are professional (ie paid) event organisers who are commercialising things that are already widely done on an amateur basis. But that's business and it doesn't mean that they can't provide a good experience for those who want that.


----------



## dellzeqq (5 Dec 2012)

another dumb idea from our favourite outfit. You're tired. You can't think straight. What kind of roads would you like to travel over to finish your long ride? My guess is...........not those going through North London. Turn the thing around, leave HPC at midnight and head north and you've got yourself a party........


----------



## SquareDaff (5 Dec 2012)

frank9755 said:


> Not sure what you're asking: no-one can tell you if you could do it or not - only you can know that! For someone who does long-distance cycling it doesn't sound very demanding but for someone who doesn't, it would be incredibly hard.
> Assuming you don't, the best thing to do is to work up to it. Do some audaxes - a couple of 200km rides, then a 300 and a 400. At that point you will know whether you will find it very achievable, or that its not your thing.


Essentially I'm just trying to find out if anyone out there has made the transformation from 100 mile monkey to 300 miles. If they have then how did they train for it and what challenges did they face increasing the distance. Whether they've ridden 24 continous hours including an overnight and what ups and downs the experienced over that period.

As you say, only I know if I can do it or not. I don't find 100 miles too exerting so I suspect the answer is yes. Would like to get as much information as possible about what I might be letting myself in for though and the best way to do that is to ask for others experiences.


----------



## SquareDaff (5 Dec 2012)

2188088 said:


> A simple rule of thumb is that whatever distance you can comfortably do as a matter of routine, you can probably double as an exceptional or occasional event.


Thanks for this - looks like a few 150 mile training rides on the horizon then. Leeds - Scarborough and back I think!!


----------



## mcshroom (5 Dec 2012)

It's basically a 500km audax with a bit more support looking at that, so the advice would be very similar.

1. Make sure your bike fits you well. As you move up through the distances then you will discover that bits you thought were ok are not quite right.
2. Keep the food and drink going in frequently.
3. Consider riding some shorter events to build up (as Frank has said). As this is just under 500km, then bulilding up through a 200, 300 and 400km would be a good idea (and if you've done those than you only need a 600km to complete a full Super Randonneur series).
4. Make sure you have decent lights to see by, and can keep them charged for the night riding.
5. If you need to, pull over and have a kip for a short while do so (not sure how that would work for a guided ride)
6. Mudgurads are a good idea if it's likely to rain/be wet as long rides with water spraying up your back are not fun.


----------



## SquareDaff (5 Dec 2012)

mcshroom said:


> It's basically a 500km audax with a bit more support looking at that, so the advice would be very similar.
> 
> 1. Make sure your bike fits you well. As you move up through the distances then you will discover that bits you thought were ok are not quite right.
> 2. Keep the food and drink going in frequently.
> ...


Thanks this is the sort of thing I'm after.
1) Expecting that - although my saddle is well bedded in (3 years) so just the geometry to look at.
2) Looking at the terrain I'd guess this will be a 5-6k calorie ride so will defo need food. Drinks goes without saying really.
3) Will look for some of those in the Yorkshire area - otherwise will just pick some routes around that distance.
4) Front lights are good for 6-7 hours and have backup chargers - rears will run throughout the night and take normal AAA's as backup.
5) No chance of any kip - although do pass by my mum and dads on that route - so could pop into the old bed for an hour 
6) Hadn't thought of that one - cheers.


----------



## frank9755 (5 Dec 2012)

SquareDaff said:


> 5) No chance of any kip - although do pass by my mum and dads on that route - so could pop into the old bed for an hour


 
Mcshroom's point is spot on. If you are tired, you have to stop and sleep. To press on is both silly and dangerous. People can just nod off while cycling. People on this forum have done it and woken up in a ditch. A guy did it on PBP last year, went onto the other side of the road, hit a truck and didn't wake up. NB Don't rely on the guys organising this to advise you: past form suggests it's not likely that they know more about long-distance cycling than you do!

What is the appeal of this, rather than doing audax, aka long-distance cycling, where the event would be organised by, and you would be riding with, people with loads of experience of this?


----------



## SquareDaff (5 Dec 2012)

frank9755 said:


> What is the appeal of this, rather than doing audax, aka long-distance cycling, where the event would be organised by, and you would be riding with, people with loads of experience of this?


This particular event....none. Just a desire to give myself another challenge. If you can recommend sites that offer alternatives I'm more than happy to have a look at those too.


----------



## frank9755 (5 Dec 2012)

SquareDaff said:


> This particular event....none. Just a desire to give myself another challenge. If you can recommend sites that offer alternatives I'm more than happy to have a look at those too.


 
If you want long distance rides, this is where you find them all. Unlike that Moonrider one, every ride will be organised by people who know what they are doing and who can help you to achieve all that you want and are capable of - rather than someone looking to make a few quid. (Almost) everyone who rides them started off at the shorter distances and worked their way up as they got comfortable with them.

For specific recommendations, if you are in the North-East, then this one is excellent. I can also really recommend the rides in Scotland - the empty roads when the daylight starts at 2am are magical - and this one will be great: I really want to fit it in. This is the classic that all UK long-distance rides are measured against. And if you really want a challenge, there is LEL next year - see separate thread.


----------



## SquareDaff (6 Dec 2012)

frank9755 said:


> If you want long distance rides, this is where you find them all. Unlike that Moonrider one, every ride will be organised by people who know what they are doing and who can help you to achieve all that you want and are capable of - rather than someone looking to make a few quid. (Almost) everyone who rides them started off at the shorter distances and worked their way up as they got comfortable with them.
> 
> For specific recommendations, if you are in the North-East, then this one is excellent. I can also really recommend the rides in Scotland - the empty roads when the daylight starts at 2am are magical - and this one will be great: I really want to fit it in. This is the classic that all UK long-distance rides are measured against. And if you really want a challenge, there is LEL next year - see separate thread.


Thanks for these - a bit of lunchtime reading. Cheers.


----------



## PpPete (6 Dec 2012)

SquareDaff said:


> Thanks for these - a bit of lunchtime reading. Cheers.


Agree with Frank .... if you want to challenge yourself Audax has almost infinite possibilities. The Bryan Chapman is indeed a classic, was lucky to have almost ideal conditions for it last year, and scraped in with half an hour to spare. For seriously inspirational (and very funny) reading on the subject try this.


----------



## DCLane (6 Dec 2012)

@SquareDaff - if you want an early Audax next year, have a look at the 200k North-West Passage on the 16th of Feb: http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/13-48/ I'm currently planning to do it.


----------



## Davywalnuts (6 Dec 2012)

dellzeqq said:


> another dumb idea from our favourite outfit. You're tired. You can't think straight. What kind of roads would you like to travel over to finish your long ride? My guess is...........not those going through North London. Turn the thing around,* leave HPC at midnight and head north and you've got yourself a party*........


 
This sounds like an ultra-fnrttc, Dellzeqq... Of course, it would be Whitley Bay/South Shields for the finish surely?

I quite like the sound of it...


----------



## StuAff (9 Dec 2012)

Only just seen this (after spotting the equivalent thread on the other place). I can only agree with the points others have made RE preparation for something like this, and 'this' not being the right thing to go for. The self-financing option is £300! That's twelve decent sportives (or lots more audaxes!). And nothing I've heard about this mob inspires me with any confidence.


----------



## SquareDaff (10 Dec 2012)

StuAff said:


> Only just seen this (after spotting the equivalent thread on the other place). I can only agree with the points others have made RE preparation for something like this, and 'this' not being the right thing to go for. The self-financing option is £300! That's twelve decent sportives (or lots more audaxes!). And nothing I've heard about this mob inspires me with any confidence.


I've had a look at the links some of the others have put on this topic and tend to agree. I'm pretty new to the world of sportives and audaxes which was why I asked. Can't argue with the experiences of others.


----------



## arallsopp (11 Dec 2012)

SquareDaff said:


> Essentially I'm just trying to find out if anyone out there has made the transformation from 100 mile monkey to 300 miles. If they have then how did they train for it and what challenges did they face increasing the distance. Whether they've ridden 24 continuous hours including an overnight and what ups and downs the experienced over that period.
> 
> Would like to get as much information as possible about what I might be letting myself in for though and the best way to do that is to ask for others experiences.


 
Ah... You sound like me. Only I was trying to go from 10 miles to 900  

If you fancy a fair bit of text, you can read about my experiences of the ride in a long thread on these very forums (see here, and note that the write up starts just after the picture of the earth on page 4), or for added seasonal cheer, buy the book it spawned on amazon. The book starts about 5 months before the ride kicks off, and gives an idea of the training I took in. 

Lots to be discovered. Many adventures to be had.

Andy.


----------



## Tariq Elkashef (19 Dec 2012)

Hi All - just came across this discussion. I work for Action Challenge - the organisers of the RideUK 24 series - and just thought I'd respond to a couple of the points raised.

We've been organising cycling events since '97 - all over the world and the feedback receive from both novices and serious cyclists is overwhelmingly positive. Yes we are a company so ideally like to make a profit but mainly we're a group of passionate, well travelled outdoor enthusiasts trying to make a living doing what we love. Although, granted we're always learning, over the years we've organised everything from easy mountain bike ride across Africa to challenging road biking events here in the UK for hundreds of people.

We've organised the Scope London to Paris 24 event for the past 3 years which has been so successful we created the two new rides (Manchester2London24 & Newcastle2London24) to continue that theme. There are cheaper rides out there, but these represent good value for money and are very heavily supported in terms of staffing, medics, doctors, ambulances, food & nutrition, experienced pace riders, vehicle, rest stops, bike transportation and so on. It's certainly appreciated by many who don't do this sort of thing all the time.

If 250-300miles is bread and butter stuff to you we'd love to hear from you as a potential pace rider actually. There is more information on the link below but we're actively seeking hardened cyclist to support and motivate others on route. In exchange for your time and efforts you'll get a free place on the event. Anyway for more info please see below:

*http://tinyurl.com/d6hdw2g*

Thanks and have a great Christmas everyone!


----------

