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fife scotland to belgium

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sandy/fife	12 Sep 14:47
Joined: 12 Sep 2011 Posts: 3 Bike:	hi i was wondering if someone could give us some needed help 3 of us are planning to cycle from fife scotland to the menin gate in belgium this will be in aid of the british legion trying to get everything planned although not for another year we are not cyclists but do a lot of running for charity looking for some routes and tips we have a motor home as a support vehicle sandy.cunningham@virgin.net cheers sandy

sandy/fife

12 Sep 14:47

Joined: 12 Sep 2011

Posts: 3

Bike:

hi

i was wondering if someone could give us some needed help

3 of us are planning to cycle from fife scotland to the menin gate in belgium

this will be in aid of the british legion

trying to get everything planned although not for another year

we are not cyclists but do a lot of running for charity

looking for some routes and tips

we have a motor home as a support vehicle sandy.cunningham@virgin.net

cheers sandy

rustyspoke	12 Sep 14:56
Joined: 28 Aug 2011 Posts: 244 Bike: My Profile	Fantasic idea Plenty of planning CTC would help with route advice. Choose May June as best for daylight hours and weather. Even though you do running need to get miles in on bike.

sandy/fife	22 Nov 09:20
Joined: 12 Sep 2011 Posts: 3 Bike:	hi i am not very good on computers and cannot find the route planner i have found part of a route and was wondering if someone could put it all together leven fife - jedburgh -consett -tollerton -trentfield - peterborough -brentwood - dover this was aroute i picked up if someone could give me a help and even arrange a better route i would be most gratefull cheers sandy

dudley	22 Nov 11:01
Joined: 16 Jan 2009 Posts: 498 Bike: My Profile	Sandy, Have a play on the site www.bikeroutetoaster.com select 'bike' option, and it will give you route, route profile etc. works in europe too.
My Latest Route: Nov 2009 Forth Estuary Circular

skiad1	12 Dec 17:08
Joined: 09 Dec 2011 Posts: 84 Bike: My Profile	Hi Sandy, I'm based in Fife myself and have completed many tours and so might be able to help. What style of bikes are you taking/using? I'd recommend going as light as poss. & seeing you have support that is easily doable. A relatively light roadbike on 25c tyres will make a massive difference over a mountain bike with chunky off-road tyres. A triple chainset would be an advantage if you're low on bike miles(A friend of mine runs regularly, is pretty fit and rides too. I only ride and he is less well able to cope, by his own admission, with big mile days, esp. consecutive ones). What timescale is your ride over? Even if you don't get a lot of miles in you should still cope with around 50ml days(over a 6hr day that's less than 10mph av) which should allow you to cope with consecutive days. My recommendation here is cycling specific clothing, esp. shorts, and Assos chamois creme(trust me on this one, you'll thank me for it). Obviously, you should change your kit every day, but some don't!(once met a guy doing landsend to john 'o' groats, LEJOG, who had been wearing the same kit, unwashed, for 6 days!). What have you done re. route planning? Have you looked at maps? Actually planning a route isn't difficult at all and you're half way there, having your main 'target' towns. Just work out doable mileage per day and choose corresponding places on the map, the route will almost come together by itself. Personally, I tend to ride 'direct' roads(esp. if on a 'goal' orientated ride like yours) rather than choosing quietest(longest/hilliest/poorest surfaced/slowest) routes but I don't mind traffic. Again, experience on the bike has no substitute on this one. I would shy away from the sustrans cycle routes as the relative 'detours' can be massive compared to the direct route(there's plenty evidence in Fife itself of that one, never mind over the whole UK!). Have you thought about nutrition? What you eat/drink whilst riding will have a massive impact on your ride. At a moderate pace I'd eat mid-morning, good sized lunch with good sized break, 'emergency' cereal type bars or banana and as much as I can eat in the evening(red meat works better for me than white in aiding recovery). Drink wise, I carry 1ltr High5 4:1(as a runner you'll prob be familiar with it) and 1ltr water. I'll supplement with drinks various if/as I have to and I swear by chocolate milk, as a recovery aid, at the end of each day. A wee shandy doesnae do any harm in the evening either ;) If I can be of any help at all let me know. I can certainly recommend bike shops in the area, should you feel you need equipment/advice or both. Regards A

skiad1

12 Dec 17:08

Joined: 09 Dec 2011

Posts: 84

Bike:

My Profile

Hi Sandy, I'm based in Fife myself and have completed many tours and so might be able to help.

What style of bikes are you taking/using? I'd recommend going as light as poss. & seeing you have support that is easily doable. A relatively light roadbike on 25c tyres will make a massive difference over a mountain bike with chunky off-road tyres. A triple chainset would be an advantage if you're low on bike miles(A friend of mine runs regularly, is pretty fit and rides too. I only ride and he is less well able to cope, by his own admission, with big mile days, esp. consecutive ones).

What timescale is your ride over? Even if you don't get a lot of miles in you should still cope with around 50ml days(over a 6hr day that's less than 10mph av) which should allow you to cope with consecutive days. My recommendation here is cycling specific clothing, esp. shorts, and Assos chamois creme(trust me on this one, you'll thank me for it). Obviously, you should change your kit every day, but some don't!(once met a guy doing landsend to john 'o' groats, LEJOG, who had been wearing the same kit, unwashed, for 6 days!).

What have you done re. route planning? Have you looked at maps? Actually planning a route isn't difficult at all and you're half way there, having your main 'target' towns. Just work out doable mileage per day and choose corresponding places on the map, the route will almost come together by itself. Personally, I tend to ride 'direct' roads(esp. if on a 'goal' orientated ride like yours) rather than choosing quietest(longest/hilliest/poorest surfaced/slowest) routes but I don't mind traffic. Again, experience on the bike has no substitute on this one. I would shy away from the sustrans cycle routes as the relative 'detours' can be massive compared to the direct route(there's plenty evidence in Fife itself of that one, never mind over the whole UK!).

Have you thought about nutrition? What you eat/drink whilst riding will have a massive impact on your ride. At a moderate pace I'd eat mid-morning, good sized lunch with good sized break, 'emergency' cereal type bars or banana and as much as I can eat in the evening(red meat works better for me than white in aiding recovery). Drink wise, I carry 1ltr High5 4:1(as a runner you'll prob be familiar with it) and 1ltr water. I'll supplement with drinks various if/as I have to and I swear by chocolate milk, as a recovery aid, at the end of each day. A wee shandy doesnae do any harm in the evening either ;)

If I can be of any help at all let me know. I can certainly recommend bike shops in the area, should you feel you need equipment/advice or both.

Regards

A

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