ride timings
click on the image for larger version
click on the image for larger version
Our estimated times of arrival at each town hall are in the table here. There is a bit of a health warning we need to put on this. We didn't think it was on to have people still on the road at 7 o'clock on a winter's night so we've speeded up the slower rides a little to try and get everyone back at a sensible time. This means there isn't really a properly slow ride - that last ride will still be quite a push for those not used to it. But do not despair, there're several choices.
1. The great thing about this ride is there are plenty of short cuts, take a look at the route, there are quite a lot of places where there is a less friendly but shorter route you can take, drop us and e-mail or give us a ring if you want some help with planning this.
2. Miss out a bit - Manchester is characterised by its major roads that radiate from the centre - you can turn right and head back into town at a lot of points in the way round, and after Wigan we're rarely more than 7-8 miles away from Manchester city centre.
3. Just come along for a bit. It is quite a long way after all, if you don't think you can do the whole thing pick a bit you fancy and come and do that. To avoid waiting around, if you ride anti-clockwise from where you want to finish then if our timing are a bit awry you'll meet us on the way and can turn round and ride with us for a bit. Or you could head out on one of the radial routes near you and meet us halfway. The old Rochdale Road is not that bad for example.
4. If all else fails though we've got a broom wagon. If you set off and after a bit think you're never going to make it keep going as long as you can then call the broomwagon and they'll pick you up and drop you off at the next railway station and we'll see you in town later. You can take bikes on trains from Wigan, Bolton, Rochdale, Oldham, Stalybridge (for Ashton) and Stockport. If the fact that you can't take you bike on the tram from Bury, Altrincham and Sale outrages you as much as it does us then join the campaign at www.gmcc.org.uk
At risk of trying to teach anybody's granny to suck eggs you will need to bring some things with you: waterproofs, lights (it'll be dark by 4pm), spare inner tube, tyre levers and pump. If you have a way of bringing a drink with you we'd advise one of those too.
Please check your bike, we have recruited one of the better mechanics we know to sit in the broomwagon to tend to your mechanical needs should they occur but he'll give us a right load of grief if we don't ask you to at least:
Check your brakes.
Check the bike for wobbly bits (other than yourself) and if you can tighten them up, if you can't then get your bike checked by your local friendly bike mender. Please don't try and do 80 miles on a broken bike, our mechanic will have some tools but not brazing equipment and workbench.
Make sure your tyres don't have bulges or holes in big enough to see inner tube through. We may not have the right spare tyre.
Pump your tyres up to their proper pressure (written on the side of the tyre) - you've a lot more chance of a puncture hitting a pothole with a tyre below proper pressure. Pumping them up to proper pressure reduces what they call rolling resistance - it makes it a lot easier. We'd advise against trying to do this distance on knobbly tyres unless you very strong, you get much less resistance with smoother tyres.
Make sure your bike set up is as optimal as possible. Saddle height is an easy one - too low a saddle and you not only risk damaging your back and knees, you also make pedaling much harder work than it need be. Too high and you can't push the pedal all the way round without wasting energy sliding off each side of the saddle, which can also make things a little sore than they might otherwise be.
Tuck in behind the rider in front. This needs to be done with care, don't come closer than you are comfortable - if you've never done it before tuck in behind a more experienced rider who'll know you're there and not do too much sudden braking. Wind resistance accounts for 30% of the effort that goes into propelling yourself forward, this is why the Tour de France riders are always tucked into packs and why those that breakaway alone off the front often get caught.
Get in the right gear. If your gear is too high ( as in harder to push round) you end up fighting to get up hills, dropping down the gears so that your legs go round faster allows you pedal more efficiently and therefore tire less quickly, obviously too quickly and you'll wear yourself out too. Optimal turns per minute (cadence) are between 70 and 95.
Fuel - after between 60 and 90 minutes the fuel actually in your muscles has been used up, if you're putting in a reasonable amount of effort your body hasn't the time to process fats so will start to run low on fuel to power the muscles. You therefore need to keep the fuel supply readily available in your bloodstream topped up. This is best done with drinks - even in winter you'll be sweating and losing fluids anyway so you need to keep hydration good. In the drinks it is good to have some glucose this can either be bought in flavoured sachets or get a box of glucose form the chemist and put about 50gms/ltr in a bottle. The advantage of the sachets is that they also have salts in to replace those you sweat out so lessening your chances of cramp, the disadvantage is many taste appalling and are crammed with artificial sweeteners. there are a few without but as we've not had the time to ask them for sponsorship I feel it inappropriate to namecheck them.
It's also not a bad idea to bring a chewy bar or two to keep you going at points when you feel the tank has completely emptied. Not taking in enough food/fuel often does for even the most experienced riders. We're laying on some feedstops on the way round to help making sure you're properly stoked up.
In the event that: you run out of puff to the point you can go no further, your bike breaks, you drop off the back and get lost:
ring your group's lead rider, you will get their numbers at registration.
If your group is not far away and they can they'll sort you out. If they can't they'll ring the broomwagon. if you can't get hold of them, leave a message and ring the broomwagon yourself - it is important though, that you do leave a message with your group leader as we'd hate to lose anyone. It's not a nice sensation to be marooned in the middle of somewhere you don't know, and we'd hate to inflict that on anyone, and we'd hate you to leave us with the impression we'd done it.