Just gonna open a thread up to help set things in my brain right and maybe get some tips along the way. Never done something of this epic before but am certain it can't be as bad as the BB200 which I almost gave in to in the last 30ish miles. Thanks to Jase and the other nice lad who were around, as well as (I think it mustve been) Trepid Explorer to help encourage me on, by just being around in the vicinity. Especially Jase though for saying he might ask Stu to come and rescue me (I knew it was a joke and would never happened but really helped spur me on as I wouldnt want Stu thinking I'd put Jase up to it)...

First things first... It'll probably replace the BB200 for me but most defo fill in the gap for the LeJOG (glad it's not happening and also suprising to see how this particular organiser handled the situation... Got a Paypal dispute going on at the mo but it's a long story so won't get into it... Suffice to say he 'Andy Corless of Burnley Cycling Club ahs one of the worst comms records I've come across'). Don't plan nor wish to do a LeJOG at AUDAX standards ever again - not that I could have coped anyway - but that doesn't mean I have any issue with the AUK scene on the whole. They indeed handled it all rather professionally as a body... But, anyway, I digress...

So, my plan is this

Trep is a lady

Its a Coast to Coast to Coast and like with anything 'Moors' and 'remote' related, the weather could go either way and the climbing isn't owt to be scoffed at, which I now know. 10000 vertical metres over 360ish mile with a loop in between that Chris (organiser) has kindly designed in there as a kind of (proper) Ikea loop where you can shorcut back home if you got tired. Long shortcut though back to Antwerpen (or whatever that pier is called,,, Arnside is it!).

Don't plan to spend much money on it as that'd be counter productive and I couldnt afford anyway. But do plan on going as light as I possibly can. Gear list and bike list below but will be revised as better/more appropriate kit becomes available.

BIKE and BIKE bits

My Stan (The Sonder) with flatties and his lovely carbon bars.
Dropper post which needs a quick service with 12litre packed (not sure the dropper is needed to be fair?)
All rounder tires (XR4 seems to be on the cards but currently 900 + 900g of Maxxis/Maxxis).

The KIT
Revelate bar bag with pouch: some food/sleeping bag or quilt + inflating mat (aiming at 3kg max but this might be a bit much as I'm on Xfusion Sweep suspension which seems stable)
Wildcat FF bag: 3L water, Regs down jacket(yet to be bought), 400g waterproof, food & other onhand stuff (aiming 7kg max but that might be a bit much).
Revelate 14L saddlepack (thanks HTrider): AK bivvy bag or SMD Lunar... Lots of other stuff (aiming 5kg max!).

Tracking and Navigation
Thought long and hard over tracking but unfortuanely I don't think I can afford the investment in that lovely game.
Charging taken care of with 20000 and 15000 Anker PBs with phone on Flight Mode (thanks karl for sharing that on the MTL) and maybe see about grabbing a Wahoo bolt as backup navigation...

Mike wrote: ↑Fri Jul 03, 2020 10:34 pm Trep is a lady

Yup, she sure is fast too...

Traning plan

1/ At least twice monthly Peaks100 with full kit.
2/ Ride as much vertical as possible and keep ahead of Dave and Luke in that dept (maybe Andy Bennet too if he can be bothered to keep climbing) with as much off road loaded riding as possible (2 x 35 milers with more food than I need).
3/ Keep monitoring my knee to see if I get any excess friction from the pants (Endura Singletracks) on the L knee.
4/ (complete the) Build steel roadie and start commutes to and from work.
5/ Dunno...

I know you require water to wash Shaf but 3l seems excessive as does carrying two heavy batteries

15kg of kit seems a tad heavy too.
Couldn’t you do what Bob always suggests and lay your stuff on the floor, go through it and be ruthless, thinking what you really need to take.
It’s a long way your planning to tide snd that’s a lot of weight to push.

A few notes/comments.

Bike
Dropper post not needed.
XR4s are pretty heavy duty and a bit overkill for the riding. I use XR2s in the Dales in summer and they are fine.

Kit
There does seem to be a lot, you are allowing for 15kg max (does that include food?) - that's over the weight of the bike! 3kgs on the front of the bike will affect the handling considerably. Work out your electrical usage - a 10,000mAh battery will recharge most GPS units three or four times, that does depend on how often you use the maps, etc. I expect to get a day's riding from one charge on my units, that's 16-20hrs duration. Cheeky use of power points at cafés can extend things as well

I'd wait until closer to the time, as in only a couple of days, before deciding what to take, we could have another heat wave or it could be cold and wet. A lot depends on how you want to ride it: touring or "racing", though really the only difference is how you treat rest and resupply along with the level of comfort you are happy with enduring.

Try and do a couple of overnighters with your intended kit - then omit the stuff you don't use. It's a learning curve - on the first YD300 I took about 10kg, on the third I took 4kg, both pre-food, no less functionality.

Last year I only had 2 x 500ml bottles on the bike. It was very hot for the whole of the weekend. On the third day when supply points were further apart I also had up to 3 x 500ml bottles bought as I went along.

If I did it again I'd still just take the 2 x 500ml bottles on the bike and take a 1 litre roll up bladder so I could carry more when required. This would also enable me to up the amount I was carrying at the end of the day to keep me going after the shops shut.

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Sat Jul 04, 2020 6:59 am I know you require water to wash Shaf but 3l seems excessive as does carrying two heavy batteries

Lol.. i was actually thinking to drink. But could easily drop that down to 1.5 or 2L... summat to think about as is what Artie says below/above... Batteries: yes needs reviewing then i guess.. thanks a bundle

Anyone got a link for the route please?

I did it last year and will be doing it again this year, I will be taking two 1 litre bottles with probably just one full and the other for evenings.
I had One 20000mah Anker battery pack last year and it lasted 3 days, I charged my phone, Garmin watch which i recorded on so charged it every day and my Exposure joystick, I rode quite a bit in the dark but the battery made it with one bar left when I got back too the van.
The first bit over the Dales is definitely the hardest, well it was for me so don't think its like that the whole way it does get easier.
Tim.

Sticking with electrics/electronics ...

Put your phone on airplane mode unless you actually want to make a call. The phone uses the least amount of power that it can get away with to make a connection so if there's no signal, common in the countryside, it uses more and more power trying to find one.

Do a search for power use/saving for your particular GPS unit. Here's one for the Garmin Oregon 600 series - http://www.gpsrchive.com/Oregon%206xx/P ... urces.html so turn off bluetooth/ANT+ or anything you don't need, etc. I'll typically get 16-20hrs from Duracell rechargeable batteries in the Oregon, the variability is mainly due to how much I access the screen, specifically the map so being able to remember the next few km is an advantage

Unless you are using a dynamo system you also need to manage your lights. Have your lights on the lowest setting you are comfortable with for the trail conditions: i.e. if you are pushing up a hill there's no point in being on full power, if you've both a handlebar and a helmet light turn one of them off. Equally if you are blasting down singletrack then you don't want to be on low power.

If you are going to take that amount of capacity (20,000mAh) I'd take it in two separate batteries for redundancy. With a dynamo setup you can charge one and use the other to charge devices.

Unless navigating by phone, why would it require charging (assuming you set off with it charged). Can't it just be turned off and stuck somewhere out of the way?

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Sun Jul 05, 2020 10:20 am Unless navigating by phone, why would it require charging (assuming you set off with it charged). Can't it just be turned off and stuck somewhere out of the way?

How will you then know if Darleen has liked your post of scone and coffee on Instagram?

Dave Barter wrote: ↑Sun Jul 05, 2020 11:07 am

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Sun Jul 05, 2020 10:20 am Unless navigating by phone, why would it require charging (assuming you set off with it charged). Can't it just be turned off and stuck somewhere out of the way?

How will you then know if Darleen has liked your post of scone and coffee on Instagram?

Exactly... lol...

Stu, yes you have a point. I'll just be attempting 2 pics a day in flight mode or in off mode (obviously turned on for the pic)...

How will you then know if Darleen has liked your post of scone and coffee on Instagram?

And that is why you're the brains of the operation.

whitestone wrote: ↑Sun Jul 05, 2020 9:26 am Unless you are using a dynamo system you also need to manage your lights. Have your lights on the lowest setting you are comfortable with for the trail conditions: i.e. if you are pushing up a hill there's no point in being on full power, if you've both a handlebar and a helmet light turn one of them off. Equally if you are blasting down singletrack then you don't want to be on low power.

oh yes
on last years DD the front light battery died with 20miles to go
thankfully the last 20miles is fairly easy tarmac sections
had an LED rear light on the front riding down the middle of the road, the faint glow from the light picking out the white line
if had been off-road would have been walking

ordered a spare battery
it is handy as there is a USB charger such that the light pack can be used to recharge a phone etc
so, instead of taking a USB pack can take a spare light battery and the charger (it is tiny)
realised, there is little use in being able to recharge a phone when the front light battery is flat, so better to carry a spare light battery than a USB pack

whitestone wrote: ↑Sun Jul 05, 2020 9:26 am If you are going to take that amount of capacity (20,000mAh) I'd take it in two separate batteries for redundancy. With a dynamo setup you can charge one and use the other to charge devices.

was riding the YD300 several years back and a rider's single pack died so had no way to recharge his garmin
we rode together for a while, and at the next pub we stopped for food.
recharged his garmin and headed back
so yes, take to small(er) packs rather than one large(r) pack.
as an aside, given the 2.4A charge limit of "normal" USB it is usually quicker to charge two small packs than a single large pack (a few fast charging large packs aside)

Thankfully I have found both my Ankers (15000 and 10000) so that should be nice as its 450g all in.

Just coming to shelter (nutrition is another big issue/worry for me but one thing at a time ). Yesterday I thiught to see how much (from what I already own) my sleeping system could come down to incclsive of the revelate all-in handlebarbag. Whilst doing so I found what seems to be a shaped tarp (The Knot and it states www.ice-river.com).

So without poles (I only have 1 BB carbon pole so other end would need to be a wheel which I find a faff) the whole system up front for the bars came to 2200g with the Revelate pouch being empty which could holds snacks/food urgent kit etc.

MH Hyperlamina 0 comfort rating= 850g
Thermarest mat
The Knot shaped tarp = 350g

Previously I'd have expected to be taking the Alpkit Hunka (550g) which i might still do. I'm thinking to sell forth the shaped tarp (I beleive I paid less than £50 for it from a nice BBer on here) and replace it with an SMD Deschutes Solo or Duo coming in at 350g-ish and I'd not need to invest im a new pole. Besides, I'm hoping midge shouldnt bw too much a problem.

Thanks to Snnowman for reminding me of the Gatewood (pr9bably too small for me) and if midge was a pr9blem I'm sure I could take a head net (or borrow one of Reg... I think he has loads )...

Money (needing to be spent for this, take what you got option) = £170 ...

In case anyone wanted a laff at mt ability to set up a shaped tarp... only took me about 30 minutes (possibly less but seemed a long time figuring it out... dont think I've cracked it)..




I know you're thinking, veey stealth for current climate!

Shaf, get the thing raised off the floor so some air can circulate. It'll also make the thing more stable ... if you wanted a tent you should have bought a tent.

redefined_cycles wrote: ↑Mon Jul 06, 2020 8:10 pm In case anyone wanted a laff at mt ability to set up a shaped tarp... only took me about 30 minutes (possibly less but seemed a long time figuring it out... dont think I've cracked it)..




I know you're thinking, veey stealth for current climate!

I think the green one in the background looks better Shaf

Summat tells me the end of the BB pole isn't designed for flimsy tarp designs (although I have no clue if it is flimsy... I definitely know my knowhow is)...

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Mon Jul 06, 2020 8:15 pm Shaf, get the thing raised off the floor so some air can circulate. It'll also make the thing more stable ... if you wanted a tent you should have bought a tent.

3 years and experimenting. During which I got rid of the (non bikepacking) Alpkit Ordos. You're right though. I just thought it's worth the sub £50 that seller wanted for it was a worthwhile invetment in my experimentaional journey.

get it off the ground

That doesn't sound complicated at all... Makes me wonder that maybe thats why the bivy bags have been working fir me well... even in the rain