My friend from uni days, Emily, took on the challenge of riding coast-to-coast across the north of England in one day. I am in awe. I also did the C2C route over two days (admittedly in yukky weather and without support) but to do the 150 miles and 4,500m of ascent, from Seascale to Whitby, in one outing is a great achievement. Impressively, Emily was third lady home in 11 hours and 10 minutes.
Here’s 14 things that Emily discovered while training and riding the one-day cycling challenge.
Hills are your friends. Make one of your training rides each week all about climbing hills on your bike. Build in as many hills as possible into a three-hour ride. Work on your technique, which for me is starting at a comfortable pace that I can maintain until near the end, then speed up towards the top and straight over the other side. Practising as many hills as possible will make the relentless climbs of the C2C bearable.
Yoga/Pilates. After the ride although I was mentally tired I suffered no aches or pains. I put this down to Pilates, which I try and go to at least once a week. I found that on the ride if I concentrated on my posture and core it made me feel stronger.
Hydrate before the ride. This is standard advice but vital. I never drink enough water and had to force myself to drink in the week before the race. I set an alarm on my phone to remind me.
Check the weather. I have a weather app on my phone and I looked at five of the places I was going to cycle through and became obsessive about reviewing what the temperature and wind direction would be. This helped me plan what to wear, what to take and what time to set off.
Don’t leave your logistics to the last minute. Book somewhere to stay on the night before the ride as early as possible.
Love your Garmin. Data on a big ride like the C2C is essential. It helps with fuelling, strategy, direction of travel, average speed, distance, gradient etc. Without my Garmin I would feel totally lost.
Get your strategy right. I got this sorted before the ride and knew I did not want to spend too long at the food stops because I wanted to get the ride over with as quickly as possible. This approach may be harder in a group so be clear about what works best for you. However, riding solo does have its disadvantages.
Good fuelling: Be organised before the ride about what you need to take with you. I eat every 40 minutes and drink two bottles of water, one with electrolytes in it, in between every food stop. Keep an eye on your watch/Garmin and be strict about eating at your set times, ie 40 mins, 1hour 20 mins and so on. The food on the C2C was great so I replenished my supplies at the food stops
Proper food. As mentioned, the food on the C2C is good, with sandwiches, pork pies, sweets etc on offer. I find it is better to eat food like this than to hit the gels and energy bars. Proper food is less likely to make you feel sick. I over-did the bars at one point and felt really ill.
Celebrations!
Don’t get hung up on speed: An early low average MPH is fine. After Hardknott Pass my average was about 11mph and I just didn’t see how I was ever going to finish the ride. However I completed the ride at an average of just under 15mph so somehow I made the time up.
Know your bike. Make sure you use a bike you are comfortable with and have been riding on for some time. Get it serviced, get a saddlebag with the right tools for mending a puncture and fixing a chain. I also have a small bag on the cross bar for food.
Find a friend. There were huge sections of the ride that were quite lonely. Finding someone to ride with at this point makes the time and miles go quicker. Even if you are only with someone for a few minutes it does help keep the pace up. I met loads of lovely new people while doing this ride.
Stay calm. The final 10 miles was when it went a bit wrong for me. There seemed to be endless small hills, everyone was a bit down and then we hit the town and suddenly cars were everywhere. I was terrified something was going to go wrong in the final miles. I had to talk myself into being focused and breathe deeply and calmly. I also became quite emotional and that was really hard to control.
Pizza power. One of the British Cycling coaches who teaches spin at my gym advised that the best thing to eat the night before a long ride is a pizza. I don’t know how, but she is right. Since I starting eating pizza the night before a long ride I have a lot more energy.
Entries are open for next June’s Coast to Coast in a Day Sportive. See a video of the route.