Coast to Coast

[Andy500]

Advice please

In August I am attempting the coast to coast, St Bees to Whitby, by road. Obviously this involves some fantastic hills!!!!! through the lake district. I would love to get up the mountain passes without having to get off and push but am concerned about whether I have the correct gear ratio on my bike. I'm not concerned about fitness as I've done a number of 80 to 100+ mile bike rides, regularly complete 60+ training rides, cover 150 to 200 miles/week and go spinning most evenings, in fact rarely out of the saddle.


The profile of my bike is: - cassette Shimano cs-5600 12-25T, chainset SRAM Force carbon fibre BB30 53x39T and tyres Continental Ultra Race 700x23c. My question is, do I need to look at lowering the gear ratio's or should I be able to cope?

All help from those experienced hill climbers is gratefully received.

Looking forward to your responses.

Thank you in advance.

Regards

Andy500

 

[evilclive]

In August I am attempting the coast to coast, St Bees to Whitby, by road. Obviously this involves some fantastic hills!!!!! through the lake district. I would love to get up the mountain passes without having to get off and push but am concerned about whether I have the correct gear ratio on my bike. I'm not concerned about fitness as I've done a number of 80 to 100+ mile bike rides, regularly complete 60+ training rides, cover 150 to 200 miles/week and go spinning most evenings, in fact rarely out of the saddle.


The profile of my bike is: - cassette Shimano cs-5600 12-25T, chainset SRAM Force carbon fibre BB30 53x39T and tyres Continental Ultra Race 700x23c. My question is, do I need to look at lowering the gear ratio's or should I be able to cope?

I'd say lower them. The easy answer is put a bigger cassette on - but being 10 speed makes that a little more expensive if you want lower than 11-28 :-( Lower might also need a new rear mech.

What hills are you used to? I'm in the Dales, which is fairly hilly, but the famous passes in the lakes are a step harder. You'll do them fine, provided you gear low enough.

 

[Andy500]

I'd say lower them. The easy answer is put a bigger cassette on - but being 10 speed makes that a little more expensive if you want lower than 11-28 :-( Lower might also need a new rear mech.

What hills are you used to? I'm in the Dales, which is fairly hilly, but the famous passes in the lakes are a step harder. You'll do them fine, provided you gear low enough.

I live in Nottinghamshire so don't get the opportunity for regular good hills, best we've got is around the vale of Belvoir in Leicestershire which fitness wise I don't have any problems with. However, I have noticed that I am having to stand on the pedals earlier than anybody else I cycle with and do tend to get to the top quicker than others.

Thank you for your response.

Rgds

Andy500

 

[Jezston]

Hello!

I did the exact same thing as you two weeks ago. And also live in Nottingham. A few questions for you:

1. How long are you planning on doing it in?
2. Are you going to be assisted, or carrying all your stuff?
3. Are you following the sustrans cycle paths or purely onroad?

 

[Andy500]

Hello!

I did the exact same thing as you two weeks ago. And also live in Nottingham. A few questions for you:

1. How long are you planning on doing it in?
2. Are you going to be assisted, or carrying all your stuff?
3. Are you following the sustrans cycle paths or purely onroad?

Over 3 days, making use of a company called pack horse to move bags and purely on road.

How did you get on? What would be your answers for the three questions for your ride?

Thanks

Andy500

 

[Jezston]

I did it carrying my own stuff - quite a heavy load and on a tank of a hybrid. My answers would be:


1. With all my gear, should have planned for 4 days! Day 2 between Penrith and Osmotherley was more than I could handle and had to get a lift for 20 miles down Tan Hill in fierce wind. The whole journey is SERIOUSLY hilly. On a sleek road bike with no load I expect day 2 would be do-able, but pretty tough. Can get very windy up Tan Hill and may be treacherous.

2. Assisted will definitely make it more fun! But a lot more expensive. Pack Horse guys are great - stayed the night before at Kirkby Stephen and used them to get to St Bees.

3. Sustrans route will take you on some unexpetedly non-roadbike friendly tracks, especially on day 3. Much of it is pretty much mountain bike only so I had to push. Plan your route carefully. Some of the on road alternatives may be a bit hairy.

 

[Andy500]

I did it carrying my own stuff - quite a heavy load and on a tank of a hybrid. My answers would be:


1. With all my gear, should have planned for 4 days! Day 2 between Penrith and Osmotherley was more than I could handle and had to get a lift for 20 miles down Tan Hill in fierce wind. The whole journey is SERIOUSLY hilly. On a sleek road bike with no load I expect day 2 would be do-able, but pretty tough. Can get very windy up Tan Hill and may be treacherous.

2. Assisted will definitely make it more fun! But a lot more expensive. Pack Horse guys are great - stayed the night before at Kirkby Stephen and used them to get to St Bees.

3. Sustrans route will take you on some unexpetedly non-roadbike friendly tracks, especially on day 3. Much of it is pretty much mountain bike only so I had to push. Plan your route carefully. Some of the on road alternatives may be a bit hairy.

Pack Horse only charge £10/bag transfer with a bag weight of up to 20kg. There is a group of 4 of us doing it so just sharing one bag between us, we decided its challenging enough on those hills without adding to the difficulty by carrying extra weight

.