Lands End To John O'Groats...........

[skippy]

I'm not too sure about the neccessary bit but it sure helps to have one or two rides of substantial duration under your belt in the months leading up to something like this.
by substantial I mean something like a 500 mile day trip taking in at least 3 or 4 hours of darkness on A roads that gives you a bit of insight on what to expect but nothing can prepare you for the battle with fatigue and self doubt that you will have to deal with at some time during the course of a 24+ hour event.
As Geoff says if your prepared to pay the price the rewards are immense I liken it to the feeling I had looking down from the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro on my 40th birthday after enduring 7 days of exhausting trecking through very thin air and -20 C temperatures.
Priceless
:yo: :yo: :yo:
If your interested in doing a couple of long day trips let me know as I will be doing as many as I can between now and the Four Points Challenge.
:beer: :beer: :beer:

 

[stuartl]

Long trips

Skippy just might take you up on those long trips:-:

 

[skippy]

No Sweat m8:yo:

heres one I prepared earlier Long Trip :-: :-: :-:

 

[Wolfie]

alos to the bike , i would put the standard cans back on , cause loud cans will get on yer nerves after a while.

 

[skippy]

Yer not wrong....................

there, loud cans and wind noise .....pain in the butt on a longun.

 

[Geoff James]

Hi guys

Glad you enjoyed the 1000 miler - I have 2 more. I'll reply to your questions tonight when I get home from work, but here's another posting as our work line is faster! This one is the Southern Cross, much like the 4- Pointer which you guys are planning. It was written by one of my regular riding partners. I had to pull out at the last moment because of an unscheduled trip to the UK.

Hope it goes through as it's close to the max file size. Will remove a photo or two if it chokes.

 

[Geoff James]

Onto the questions......

Distance prior to the event. Skip is right on the money. It's worth doing a decent distance ~700k's or so, only stopping for gas and moving on, simply to get an appreciation of where you're going to hurt so you have a chance to do something about it. This could be slipping a foam pad under your bum (or, dare I say it, a sheepskin seat cover like mine which seems to attract so much merriment on this site :} ). It could be finding pressure points in your helmet or clothing you didn't know existed.

It also gives you a chance to properly test all your riding gear. If your gloves are a bit tight, they can be a killer. My new ones are a better fit and I also have thin silk inners to let them slide more easily. I also try to avoid bulky clothes that restrict movement. If it gets cold, I put a sleeveless polar fleece under my cordura jacket. Nothing too constricing round the neck for the same reason. I also wear an elasticated kidney support for a long haul. Polypropylene vests and long johns are great, both for support and wicking moisture off the bod.

For those who don't wear ear plugs, they make a real difference on a long run. Less noise = less stress. I use disposable Max Lite, manufactured by Howard Leigh Hearing Protection (USA) as they're very soft. Some people have reusable silicon ones made, which fit the ear channel exactly. Interestingly enough, my radar detector earpiece in the helmet still seems just as loud with them in. Must be a frequency/amplitude-based thing.

Skip says do a decent run in the dark - spot on. I'd add... do it on a road you're not familiar with to simulate the "real thing". I find standard main beam on the bird is ok for rapid transit, but the cut-off on dip is a bit abrupt, especially on a twisty road. I'm slightly nervous about my forthcoming run in October for that reason as about 10 hours of the Rusty Nuts riding is in dark. Incidentally, will the 'bird electrics take a bulb with significantly greater grunt than standard?

Stuart, spot on about helping people with poorer lighting, BUT everyone in a group should take turns up front, irrespective of what pace they want to set. Bikes with poor lighting can go up front in daylight. We found that in general, leading for a whole tankful seems to be the best option. It allows the front-runner to settle into the groove, and for tail end Charlie to get a good rest. Also Stuart and guys, thanks for the reminder about sugar/caffeine-laden drinks and food. Only to be used late in the ride if you really need them! I think after this discussion, I'll mainly be sticking to bananas and scroggin!

I'll probably think of a few other things later which I'll post, but one final thing for tonight! You tend to get slightly disoriented when tired and mental math goes to hell in the middle of the night, so I make up a highly visual "ready reckoner". On an Excel spreadsheet, I produce a graph which prints to a size ~ 8" x 4". The X axis has the time on it. The start time is zero and goes out to 24 hours. The Y axis has distance going out to 1600 km (1000 miles). Radially across the grid lines, there are 3 different coloured lines which represent 16, 20 and 24 hour schedules so that at any distance or time, it's easy to see what sort of schedule you're keeping up. If all that's as clear as mud, I'm quite happy to post a copy in jpeg format!

Cheers for now.

Geoff

:beer: :beer:

 

[Geoff James]

Ahhh... Stuart, looks can be deceiving

You said we looked in reasonable physical shape - we weren't:cry: When I got home, I virtually fell off the bike because nothing was working properly. I couldn't get comfortable either on the floor or an arm chair, so had a deep bath which helped a wee bit. However, my wife Jennie had to keep prodding me to stop me sliding under the surface. I slept in a spare bedroom because I was worried about shouting out with crazy dreams. Wrong on that count, but got terrible cramp in my calf and was crashing about in the dark yelling my head off. Decided to have a pee whilst I was up and shook so badly with fatigue that my aim was badly off Never thought to sit down! Jennie was comparatively understanding the next morning:} :}

Mind you, we were in better shape on subsequent 1000 milers, but it still hurt like hell.

There... all my innermost secrets shared among 1300 piss-takers for the greater good!:blush: :blush:

 

[stuartl]

Geoff, Wolverine

thanks some excellent practical advice there, Geoff. As I say we will be hooking up with Skippy and Clive for the run up at least as far as Scotland anyway so excellent advicve guys. I really dont have a clue in respect of replacing the standard bulbs with 100's, I wonder if they blow more...thanks again

Wolverine; one of the mods I had planned was replacement exhausts but your advice makes so much sense ...thanks saved me a few ?

 

[skippy]

Cheers Geoff.............

Thanks for the insights and posts its always great to benefit from the experience of a veteran of such madness,Great advice.
Poly prop under suits are my liners of choice and the silk undergloves work a treat. Good point on the kidney belt I'd forgotten how much they help keep the the internal bits from sliding down hill.The alternator pumps out enough Amps to run a 100 W bulb but the regulator/rectifier on some early models are a bit suspect the newer ones seem a bit better big alloy finned thingies, this of course depends on what othe gadgets youve got attached you know intercoms,GPS,two way radios,radar detectors/jammers,cd players,heated grips/gloves/jackets,electric kettles,hair dryers,shavers :} you get the message you would be surprised how much load these gadgets can add in combination.Don't tell any one on here mate but I swear by the sheepskin and will be grabbing one or three when I'm down your way in March(ish) as for you poor aim at the :loo: dont worry mate I won't take the piss
Speaking of ready reckoners being a bit of an inspector gadget type you might appreciate the little device I came up with on a quiet night at the office, Ill just get my camera up and running and post a few piccies .........how does it go you show me yours and Ill show you mine :m

 

[Geoff James]

Hahaha

Skip, you're a wicked bastard, so we should get on just fine

Thanks for the thoughts about electrical loads - I'll go and have a chat with my friendly auto electrician about bulb types.

Regarding sheepskins, mine is custom made for the Blackbird by a shop just up the road who make furry slippers and the like. It's elasticated round all the edges so it gathers nicely under the seat, with two elastic cross straps to hold it firmly. Mine's black, but they can be in natural too. They cost the equivalent of 35 quid and being light, postage would be quite reasonable. If anyone wants one made, just let me know.

Will post a photo tonight, along with a shot of the ready reckoner graph. It'll be great to see your stuff as well Skip.

Righty-ho, work calls.

 

[Geoff James]

Here's the graph I promised...

Pretty simple principle - stay above the 24 hour schedule! I just have a quick look every time I stop for gas to make sure everything's ok. Just a point... I never go hard for the first hour, just make sure I'm relaxed, get into a routine of moving about on the bike, flexing wrists etc. After an hour of that, you seem to be able to hold a good pace without effort and the subconscious part of the brain looks after the routine aspects of riding.

Proof that bike performance isn't everything - one of the fastest people on our 1000 miler is a guy in his 60's who rides an 80's BMW R100 RS! Minimises his stop times and is as smooth as silk

Just a random thought... a UK mate of mine who does long hauls on a 'blade reckons swapping jockeys for satin boxer shorts makes a huge difference in comfort to the sensitive spots. Think I'll try some if I can summon up the courage to buy them. Either that, or I'll sweet-talk Jennie:} :}

 

[skippy]

Poor mans GPS.....................

I like your Ready Reconer follows the K.I.S.S ( keep it simple stupid :} ) principle perfectly Hmm.............satin boxers.........next you'll be trumpeting the virtues of supenders and stockings. :}

Might give em a try ........never know:dunno:

my little gadget is more a rolling map giving a linear display of the current road your on, the distance and direction to the next turn and expected time frame, plenty of scope to put a colour coded Ready Reconer where the time scale is. the whole thing took about 20 minutes to knock up and uses cash register type paper and mounts to the tank with suction cups.

 

[skippy]

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[skippy]

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[Geoff James]

Now that IS clever..........

That is the ultimate in KISS - a superb piece of ingenuity! The fittings are reminiscent of a kid's construction set, but presumably are off something you "liberated" in your travels?

The route on the strip paper looks extremely neat. Did you feed it through a printer? How is it to turn with gloves on?

Oh, and what's wrong with suspenders? :neenaw:

 

[skippy]

I jost hope ..................

none of the engineers from work look at the site I'm not to sure they would be impressed with my use of parts from their multi million pound DVD collating machine I feed the cash register sheet through my thermal tranfer printer the ink is waterproof so wont run if it gets a few drips on it.
the thumb wheels are sufficiently taught to keep the paper tight but loose enough to move forward or back by just running your finger over it.
suspenders are ok but they tend to snag on cordura
:} :} :}

 

[skippy]

:-:

 

[stuartl]

Skippy, Clive

you may enjoy this;

http://www.hondavfrclub.org/forum/showthread.php?threadid=15803

note the PDA running Tom Tom

 

[skippy]

Nicw one.................

Stuart :bow: :bow: :bow: to these guys ..............what do you reckon Clive .........next venture perhaps or do you still fancy the Northern cloggers and sheep and gumboots meet in the middle run:}