Realisticly cycle to france...

[petecb]

Hello everyone.. I'm nw to this forum so please forgive me if this question is in the wrong place/asked before etc etc..

Anyways.. I used to cycle at club level in time trials etc but not for a few years due to having motorised transport instead.. However now that isn't an option for me I'm planning to get back into cycling... and heres the biggy... Cycle to france and back over the summer.

I'm in Enland(midlands) and plan to go to southern france which i've worked out to be just over 1000 miles round trip.

I'm not all that fit at the moment but plan to train for it obviously and have youth on my side.. Just wondering if people think its a realistic aim to do. I want to go in about 6 weeks and for it to take about 2 weeks.

What sort of training would best prepare me for this.?

Also the bike i plan to use is the bike i used a few years ago to club riding.. Giant Carbon fiber doo dar.race bike... so i'm not sure weather it would be sutible for this long distance.. ?

All advice will be greatfully recieved!..

Pete

 

[tukanuk]

Pete,

My experience is that if you plan on going on a self-supported (panniers/camping) tour you will need to make some serious modifications to your bike. I'd start with wider tires to handle the weight, and you need to figure out a way to mount racks on your slick time trial machine. Touring specfiic bikes have a more relaxed geometry for long distances and mounts on the fork for the low-ride racks on the front and the standard rack in the rear.

If you are not going self-supported, then I'd ride whatever you are most comfortable with. No one knows what you like to ride like you do.

One last bit of touring advice, it's not a race. We race all the time, all our lives are one big race. When you take time off life to tour, enjoy it. Take your time, see the sights, be alone with your thoughts, enjoy God's great earth.

That is what touring is really about.

 

[Powerful Pete]

As the other poster said, make sure you are comfortable riding your bike, and get out and ride as much as possible. You did not tell us if you are on a schedule to get there and back... obvously better if you are not, as you can then ride as much as you like and take an occasional day off when needed.

In any event, 1000 miles = ca. 1600 km - if you are not in shape, you probably cannot get in good enough shape to do more than 100 km a day at the most. So to be on the safe side you might want to calculate closer to three weeks, just in case. Remember, it is one thing to train at home, another to tour on roads you are no familiar with, and even more importantly, to have long-ish rides day in and day out!

The more you ride, the easier the tour will be! Have fun, I, for one, am jealous!