some thoughts and facts from today's ride. i woke up at 5:50am, washed myself, prepared and had a breakfast, got my cycling kit on, did a quick tlc to a bike (tyres, chain, batteries in gps and lights) and left home at 7:10. that first 1h20m disappeared from the day unnoticeably. i chose my slowest/heaviest bike (which is comparable to Steve's sojourn) then rode to whitstable (92km) with with a fine group of friends where we had a full english breakfast that took us 50min (could have turned around in 30min if we were in a rush). then we all rode back to london, completing 183km(114mi) in 9hrs at 23.6kph(14.7mph - roughly Steve's average speed) and i was home at 4:10pm. i had to have some food again.
let's assume the food was ready and it took me an optimistic 20min to eat and get out of the house. i would need to ride another 8hrs, all in the dark, and be back home half past midnight with 213 miles for the day - have some food, quick wash and hopefully be in bed by 1:20am, to sleep only 4.5 hours and do the same thing tomorrow.. day after.. week after week.. for the next 7 months and with no margin for error!
how is that possible/sustainable? have i missed anything obvious?
best of luck to Steve in riding more miles than on his first attempt.
p.s. i've ridden with Steve before, if that makes any difference
One day last June I got up at a similar time, put my most aerodynamic bike in the back of the car, drove for an hour down to Alton on the A31, and started riding just before 7:30, doing circuits on the A31 all day.
I didn't stop for breakfast, or lunch, or anything at all, other than once for about 30 seconds to pick up new bottles. It wasn't a very scenic route, it rained a bit in the morning and all I had by way of interaction all day was the odd word with someone who passed me or who I passed - plus a few cheers from friends or helpers of friends.
Just before 7:30pm, I got the shout from a timekeeper to stop. I was absolutely shattered, but I'd done 257 miles (which was less than I'd hoped but that's not relevant). I limped back the 10 miles to Alton and, after chatting to some people, eating and having a shower, drove home and was in bed by 10pm
I couldn't do it again the next day, mainly because I'd wrung every last drop out of my legs in the last two hours, to make sure I got over 250. But if I had taken it a little bit easier all day, not upped my effort in the last two hours, and even had a couple of short food breaks, I might still have managed c.213 miles in 12 hours while leaving my body in shape to repeat the exercise, and having enough time for 8 hours in bed.
If I was ever going to do a one year time trial (which I am not) that is how a lot of it would have to look.
PS I've ridden with Steve from time to time, discussed his plans with him before he started and my company was one of his first sponsors!