Cycling in Melbourne Australia
Long distance riding...am I totally dreaming?
Right, so I have this grandious idea of riding from Melbourne to Perth for charity...solo...
Currently I ride at least 3-4 times a week to work, which is 16.5KM each way and I easily do this in 50mins....and that's dealing with traffic, lights, stop/starting all the time etc
When riding uninterrupted, I find it easy enough to hold at an average speed between 25-30KM per hour, so I'm thinking if I only tasked myself with covering around 100KM per day and allowed 4 to 5 hours to do so, does that sound realistic to people who have ridden long distances before?
I would also only set a target of 600KM per week, give or take depending on what townships you get to/where you stay for the night, allowing myself 1 full days rest for each 6 days riding, is this also realistic?
It sounds acheivable to me, but really, I have no f**king idea and probably never would really understand it until actually out there doing it.
So who has done big distances round here? What advice could you give?
Cheers
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by David Willshire on -
You might think about doing some Audax rides: http://www.audax.org.au/public/
David
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Permalink Reply by Noel McFarlane on
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Good on you for coming up with this idea.
My suggestion is to bump it up to 200-250km a week by more distance on the weekend. Once you take off and start doing 100km a day you will soon get the muscles and fitness that will get you there. By the time you get to Adelaide you'll be very fit.
It gets a bit boring after Ceduna so you may find, depending on the wind, that you do 150-175 on some days.
When we did it we went down to Esperence and around the coast which was nice.
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Permalink Reply by Nick Biker on -
Hi Pete,
I've built an electric bike with range of approx 180km and capable of 35km average speed. I'm thinking of doing long distances too. The main requirement for me will be campsites with power points between each ride, so I can recharge my own batteries and also the bike's batteries.
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Permalink Reply by Pete Gordon on -
Cool, thanks guys...yeah, deft need to get overall distance up, and I guess some free weekend, I really need to try and do 100+KM in the saddle in one day and see just how much more taxing it is.
Noel, yeah, if I do ever get round to doing it, I'd follow the coast out of Melbourne to Adelaide, too...adds an extra 250KM on, but in the grand scheme of things, that's stuff all really and makes for a much more scenic route than going through Horsham/Ballarat
Will take a long time getting all the logistics sorted, sponsors, support from charity, planning route and stopping points, places to stay etc, but really want to do it, think it'd be one of the best things I will ever do in my life
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It is actually not hard. You don't need sponsors. You need a one-person tent, sleeping mat and light sleeping bag. A billy and small frypan. No stove as there is wood all the way. You need to carry a lot of water in places so need a very strong rear rack.
When we went we made a big dry cereal mix with powdered milk in it (in Adelaide) and had it dropped for us in Ceduna. That is pretty much all we ate for the week to Norseman. Got sore jaws from chewing as I recall.
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Permalink Reply by Pete Gordon on
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Ceduna to Norseman only took you a week?!?! That's 1200km! 171KM a day 7 days stright...that's quite an effort mate!
I want "sponsors" in terms of corporates behind me to ensure I'm making as much money for charity as possible, not so much to sponsor me, per se
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I think it was a week. Pretty flat and not a lot else to do out there.
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Permalink Reply by DJ on
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As you are starting from such a low fitness base ( compared to the level you will need ) you may need to build up to riding 100km per day for several days in a row in your training.It's generally not the first day of a tour that is tiring, but the continual effect of fatigue on the body. That is what you need to train your body to cope with.
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Permalink Reply by Pete Gordon on
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Yeah, I hear you there...not sure where the heck I'm going to find time to do that though, even holding 30KM per hour average speed means 3 hours 20mins riding...heck of a lot of time out of every day when working your standard 40 hours a week in an office :|
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Permalink Reply by Jodie Burton on -
Yes yes yes! It is possible! Go for it! Me and my boyfriend cycled from London to New Zealand, left May 2010 and finished in October 2011 and covered 28,000km. Before that - the furthest I had cycled was 80km in one go. Your estimates are spot on, 100km is pretty much the average, with 600km being the average target distance over one week. More than hapy to give any advice you would like, whilst we didnt do that road, we cycled from Darwin to Brisbane, Sydney and then down the Hume to Melbourne.
More than happy to help! Cheers, Jodie
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Permalink Reply by Pete Gordon on
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Awesome, thanks Jodie! Good to know...if it's nice this weekend, going to get out for a solid ride and do at least 50km in one hit to see how that feels, as my plan would be to do the 100KM or so in a couple of stints...2 hours riding, 1/2 break etc...might follow the coastal path at to Frankston or something
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Permalink Reply by Jodie Burton on
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Absolutley, it's all about getting used to being on the saddle, and the associated niggles - sore bum, achy wrists, tight neck and of course the pedalling but that's the fun bit! Coastal path will be lovely, and at least if the prevailing wind keeps South Easterly you'll get blown all the way back home!
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