Coast to Coast

Toe cages will do about half of what cleats will do for you, with much less feeling of insecurity. My wife could never get comfortable with cleats, and I inherited her pedals soon after she got her road bike. 

As your body acclimates to more exercise, you may lose some weight. Starvation plus sustained effort does not work. Diet books are written by skinny doctors with business plans.

It takes a long time to habituate to riding at a cadence. Our ancestors were not chosen based on their ability to spin.

I really like Nymph's advice about smaller chainrings. Unless you are going balls-out down hills, a 52 or 53-tooth chainring is a waste of potential. And those clear lenses--essential. I'm sure I would have lost an eye and crashed horribly by now if I didn't cycle with glasses. 

As a rider averaging over 140km a week, the C2C would be a challenge for me.

My 2 pence worth...

1. Dont scrimp on some good cycling shorts and chamois cream.

2. Doing it on a MTB will be epic in terms of effort required; think really seriously about acquiring a road bike!

3. Cleats and clip pedals a must - get used to them.

4. Take the opportunity to ride everywhere. 43 miles both ways to work might not be practicable but driving in, cycling back, cycling in, driving back etc etc should be doable.

5. Use a fitness tracker - STRAVA is a great motivator but beware; you may become addicted!

6. Give up the booze for a few months.

Enjoy getting fit, embrace hills and good luck!!

Yes Strava is a very interesting and once you're into it, setting goals, etc, is a great motivator.

Using cleats/clip pedals allows you to pull and push at the same time. Once you're in the rhythm, cycling is a lot more efficient. This is just one advantage using them. There are many. Toe cages do very little except reposition the foot roughly in the same area.

Spending a lot on decent shorts is a good long term investment. Haven't needed any chamois cream yet.

I have to agree re clip pedals. My wife was initially terrified of them but utterly convinced within a couple of miles. They are so simple and using them becomes automatic very quickly. You don't need £300 shoes like Count.d either! Cheap SPD pedals and MTB shoes are not going to cost you a fortune and you'll still be able to walk in them too.

As for doing coast-to-coast on an MTB I think that is absolutely fine if that is what your group is riding too. On slick tyres you will be quick enough, you'll also be comfy and have a nice low gear to get up the hills. I ride my MTB like this lots of miles when I'm on hols with my wife. She's not as quick as me so with her on her roadbike and me hampered by the MTB it works out nicely.

Bruce

count.d posted:

Using cleats/clip pedals allows you to pull and push at the same time. Once you're in the rhythm, cycling is a lot more efficient. This is just one advantage using them. There are many. Toe cages do very little except reposition the foot roughly in the same area.

I wouldn't agree that toe clips can't work well if you have them set up right. I stuck with them for many years after clips became the norm, and I would say that you can still 'spin' properly with them. Yes, clips are a more effective coupling to improve efficiency, and that's what I would go for now, but I don't think they are essential.

You'll be absolutely fine, c2c over three days isn't as difficult as you may think. Just take it easy, and if need be walk up the hills. MTB is perfect. You will need to train, I normally do 15 miles every 2-3 days.

I normally stay at Albany House b&b in Penrith first night. It's inexpensive, friendly, immaculate with very comfy beds. The food is incredible, owner used to be mohamed al fayed's personal chef. Book early! Breakfast and dinner puts 5 star hotels and michelin star restaurants to shame.

Look, this is the Naim forum. Heat mouldable carbon shoes are a must, preferably made from kangaroo leather. A heat mouldable carbon insole finishes the ocd desire and allows you to rest at night with a knowing smile.

Also, training distances mean nothing. Do a few 1 mile hills at 11+% and you'll know it.

naim_nymph posted:

...consider changing the outer chainring to a 48, 49, or 50 tooth, especially if the bike comes equipped with a 53 tooth chainring, you'll be able to stay on a smaller outer chainring for longer and be able to 'spin' it easier.

 

Debs

I'd agree that compact crank-set with smaller rings (outer and inner) makes sense for your purposes, but.....

The advantage of a compact crank-set is not that you can stay on the outer (smaller) chain-ring longer, it is  that the spread of gears is greater, and mainly that your low gear can be lower. There is absolutely no point in swapping a 53 for a 50-tooth outer chain-ring if you still have the 39 tooth inner. You need to switch the whole thing to a compact 50/34. (You can't just put a 34 tooth on a regular crank-set as the bolt-circle diameter is too large.)

A compact's 34 x 32 low gear is pretty handy. You can spread that with a 50 X 11 top gear which is actually higher than the more traditional 53 x 12. Only legends really have use for a 53 x 11 top gear. I actually run a 50 x 12 top gear on one bike. It's occasionally too low on a descent, but no big deal. - I just coast - going plenty fast already! The 34 tooth inner ring is however very much appreciated on steeper climbs.

Deb, why do you think spending more time in the outer chain-ring is actually an advantage? I just don't get it. I ride in the gear that suits the speed I'm going so I have my preferred cadence. Whether that's using the inner or outer chain-ring depends on that speed (uphill, downhill, headwind, tailwind etc) . Otherwise it is of no real concern to me. I don't a have "preference" for one or the other.

Great advice so far on the cycling front but there is much you can do off the bike to make the 3 days in the saddle much more bearable and enjoyable and make yourself generally fitter.

Swimming as you are is a great idea - there is something about expelling a breath of air underwater which helps increase lung capacity for which you will be forever grateful in the hills. 

Build up your core. This is key and again very important for multi day, long, hilly rides and the best way to avoid back ache. Easiest way is by doing stationary planks or body pike. I am sure there is much instruction on line. Hold as long as you can, stay straight and suck in your belly. Even if just once a day, by the end of a few weeks you will be amazed at how much longer you can stay down. 

Squatts, lunges, side lunges, etc. all great for building and stretching your power base - quads, glutes and hamstrings. 

Stretch for a few minutes before and after a ride especially on the days of the 3 day event. 

While just piling on the miles is essential, if not inspiring, if you occasionally don't have time for long rides or are not in the mood to spend the time, try some shorter ones but really go for it on an interval type basis or by doing hill repeats as suggested or concentrating on technique. A great one for pedaling speed and smoothness (clips required) is to pedal with only one leg in a relatively easy gear at 70 - 80 rpm but consciously trying to make a perfect circle with no breaks in the motion of the operating leg (not as easy as it sounds especially as you ramp up the rpms, eventually). Initially start with 40 - 50 revs. Before changing legs get both back in the pedals and ramp up the rpms before switching over. Over time you will develop a smooth, efficient cadence and good leg speed. 

All this reminds me I haven't been on a bike in months (had a minor op) and need to get in shape for a 3 dayer in Portugal/Spain in September. Time to get back in the saddle.

Good luck with the ride, and enjoy.

Lots of interesting notes in this thread, so I'll throw in my 3 ha'p'orth of comments in the form of my own experience in case it helps.

The basis of my comments are from being a non-athletic person, a person who dislikes physical exercise for the sake of it, who never runs, and who hasn't been in a gym since leaving school.

Jumping back to when I was aged about 30, when my only normal physical exercise was commuting about 2.5 miles each way to/from work in the middle of Newcastle upon Tyne (overall downhill to work, uphill going home), plus walking maybe a mile or so most lunchtimes: One sunny spring day I decided to go out for a cycle ride for the day. No planning, just picked up a map and puncture repair kit and a jumper and set off at maybe 9-10 am. No breakfast first, as I did not normally do breakfast. No lycra, no cycling shorts, just jeans and T-shirt. In those days I didn't even have a helmet. I cycled out to the coast and then northwards, stopped at a pub at lunchtime and had a couple of pints of nice ale and a toasted cheese and onion sandwich then carried on, once or twice stopping to admire the surroundings. Got to Alnwick, watched a bit of a medieval fayre for an hour or so then decided it was time to head home. As I was approaching Morpeth, after about 55 miles, I was really struggling, the last few miles having been hard work, and I was seriously doubting I could make the remaining 15-20 miles home, and so decided to head into Morpeth itself to get the train back. As I pulled off the A1 there was a petrol station, and I realised I was hungry and thirsty. I stopped and had a Coke and two Mars bars. Then got on my bike and cycled home. Being unaccustomed I had simply not considered the energy needed to cycle that distance, and had run out -a top up of sugar and I was on my way, and that is the moral of this particular story. No adverse effects the next day, despite having cycled about 75 miles with no prior training (and no padded shorts), though overall that area is not excessively hilly.

About three months later a friend of mine was doing a John O'Groats to Lands End charity ride, and I joined her for a day in the Lake District, meeting up at Brampton near Carlisle first thing, and I rode to Kendal, then train to Carlisle and cycled back to my car in Brampton -about 70 miles total. That day I did have breakfast before setting off, and we stopped for lunch in Appleby-in-Wetmoreland (no S because it didn't deserve it!). Much hillier terrain than my previous long ride, and I well remember the long haul up out of Appleby, having to weave from side to side as I strained to progress on my aging 5-speed road bike - while someone on a MTB pootled along nonchalently in bottom gear with legs moving faster than I can move mine at the best of times! Again, no after effects the next day despite again no preparation. The moral of this story is get a bike with lots of gears ( I soon bought a simple MTB bike and equipped it with road tyres, and more recently a road bike with the widest gear range of anything I could find, almost as low as a MTB and almost as high as a racing bike, so I can cope with most things a road throws at me. It is worth noting that my friend and her companions, doing typically at least 70-100 miles a day, were eating 3 big meals every day - and the consequence of that was apparently a struggle to reduce to normal eating afterwards -but that a was 1000 or so miles in total!

Clearly the fitter you are the easier it will be, and very likely the younger you are that might apply all the more - I might struggle more if I were to attempt today than 30 years ago - but I would happily attempt it, with my only preparation maybe a few more miles than my normal commute - someone's suggestion

On those two rides my bike had wire toe baskets, but they were deep enough for me to be able to pull as well as push - though I'm not sure that I pulled anywhere as near as much ad I pushed! And the bike, a cheap 1970s 5-speed drop-bar road bike was scarcely light or sophisticated like many today, so if you have something lighter, so much the better.

In case of rain, do take something truly waterproof to keep things like phone and anything else easily harmed by water - can be as simple as a knotted or clip-top plastic bag.

Clearly lots of good advice here; BUT at the risk of sounding like a know-it-all (which I'm not, just interested in going faster for less effort!)...

...its a miss-conception that you pull up on the non-driving leg - you don't, you merely offload that leg..  You actually 'scrape' through at the bottom of the pedal stroke, as if you are trying to scrape your foot along the ground having trod in dog poo.

see this:

http://www.brevet.cc/cycling-pedalling-technique/

This is where cleats work their magic since you get greater efficiency throughout the pedal stroke.  Too much time analysing my poor technique on a Wattbike i'm afraid...

As Innocent Bystander said you need to eat a lot to keep the energy flowing as you burn a hell of a lot of calories. According to my Garmin (which is only a rough guide I know) I burned 3500 calories on my 90 mile ride the other day. I set off with two bananas hanging out of my back pockets and two drinks bottles. All that soon went and I stopped off three times along the way for a mars bar, snickers and double decker bars. Also two cans of full fat coke and one sickly energy drink. I wasn't pigging out, I was bloody starving. 

If you don't keep up the energy intake you're gonna bonk and that's scary when you're miles from home. Especially on a damn mountain bike

winkyincanada posted:

naim_nymph posted:

...consider changing the outer chainring to a 48, 49, or 50 tooth, especially if the bike comes equipped with a 53 tooth chainring, you'll be able to stay on a smaller outer chainring for longer and be able to 'spin' it easier.

 

Debs

 

Deb, why do you think spending more time in the outer chain-ring is actually an advantage? I just don't get it. I ride in the gear that suits the speed I'm going so I have my preferred cadence. Whether that's using the inner or outer chain-ring depends on that speed (uphill, downhill, headwind, tailwind etc) . Otherwise it is of no real concern to me. I don't a have "preference" for one or the other.

Actually, i didn't say that outer ring use is an advantage over an inner ring, what i quite clearly said is the outer ring its easier to turn if it has less teeth, in which the intension should read as obvious, especially as my comment that you've quoted is preceded by:

"Learn to ride efficiently with a natural cadence of your own ability - this will probably be around 70 - 80 pedal rpm. Learn not to grind along in a gear that's too high".

Most brand new road bikes these days come with a 53 tooth outer chainring as standard on a double, or triple chainset, however; i'd guess 90% of Joe Cycling public would find it more practical and more fun that outer ring was a 50 tooth.

Also, being able to stay [and spin a good cadence easier] on a 48 or 50 outer ring [as opposed to a 53] isn't an opinion but a physical and mechanical advantageous fact, however, if Nigel chooses to ride a typical mountain bike for his c 2 c excursion, then this outer ring size discussion is academic.

SKDriver posted:

Clearly lots of good advice here; BUT at the risk of sounding like a know-it-all (which I'm not, just interested in going faster for less effort!)...

...its a miss-conception that you pull up on the non-driving leg - you don't, you merely offload that leg..  You actually 'scrape' through at the bottom of the pedal stroke, as if you are trying to scrape your foot along the ground having trod in dog poo.

see this:

http://www.brevet.cc/cycling-pedalling-technique/

This is where cleats work their magic since you get greater efficiency throughout the pedal stroke.  Too much time analysing my poor technique on a Wattbike i'm afraid...

Agree. They help smooth the top/bottom of the stroke. They have benefits for power but not via a very significant upward pull. They also keep our foot in the ideal position on the pedal at all times and by locking you in they help bike control too.  Finally they allow a rigid shoe that definitely improves power.

Nigel. Ignore this nerdness. Get comfy, get out there, have fun. It is meant to be a pleasure (rather like listening to music/Padded Cell) not a technical discipline (like the HiFi room). I would hate anyone to be put off the pleasures of cycling or indeed an exercise by technophiles.

Bruce

naim_nymph posted:

winkyincanada posted:

naim_nymph posted:

...consider changing the outer chainring to a 48, 49, or 50 tooth, especially if the bike comes equipped with a 53 tooth chainring, you'll be able to stay on a smaller outer chainring for longer and be able to 'spin' it easier.

 

Debs

 

Deb, why do you think spending more time in the outer chain-ring is actually an advantage? I just don't get it. I ride in the gear that suits the speed I'm going so I have my preferred cadence. Whether that's using the inner or outer chain-ring depends on that speed (uphill, downhill, headwind, tailwind etc) . Otherwise it is of no real concern to me. I don't a have "preference" for one or the other.

 

Actually, i didn't say that outer ring use is an advantage over an inner ring, what i quite clearly said is the outer ring its easier to turn if it has less teeth, in which the intension should read as obvious, especially as my comment that you've quoted is preceded by:

"Learn to ride efficiently with a natural cadence of your own ability - this will probably be around 70 - 80 pedal rpm. Learn not to grind along in a gear that's too high".

Most brand new road bikes these days come with a 53 tooth outer chainring as standard on a double, or triple chainset, however; i'd guess 90% of Joe Cycling public would find it more practical and more fun that outer ring was a 50 tooth.

Also, being able to stay [and spin a good cadence easier] on a 48 or 50 outer ring [as opposed to a 53] isn't an opinion but a physical and mechanical advantageous fact, however, if Nigel chooses to ride a typical mountain bike for his c 2 c excursion, then this outer ring size discussion is academic.

You've perhaps not shopped for bikes in a while. Nearly every new road bike comes with a Compact 50-34 front set-up as this suits the vast majority of riders. But it's all about the 34-tooth inner, not about the 50-tooth outer.

You also said this.... " you'll be able to stay on a smaller outer chainring for longer"

I don't disagree that this true. I also don't disagree that proper cadence is important. I spend more time in the 50 on one bike than I do in the 53 on the other bike (of course), but I just don't care. I can get the right cadence on either bike without issue. The benefit of the bike with the 50 is ONLY that it has a 34-tooth inner, giving me a low gear for steep climbs (of which there are quite a few on the Northshore). I couldn't care less about the amount of time I spend on the 50-tooth ring. If a 53 tooth is too large for the speed at the time, then just switch to the inner ring (likely 39 teeth). Adjust the rear as required to get the right cadence. You've not convinced me that there is any advantage in switching to a 50 tooth outer chaining (unless going full compact with a 34 tooth inner). Yeah, you would likely spend more time on the big dog, but all you've really done is reduce the range of your gears, and unnecessarily  increased the overlap between the gears available in each of the chain-rings. The only reason even a compact uses 50-tooth outer rings is that the 53-34 "jump" is too big for both front derailleurs and many rear derailleurs to cope with. A 50-39 front set-up is just silly. A 48-39 is even sillier. That's why bikes don't come that way.