Bicycling to Hamilton advice?

[skidMark]

Looking at heading off on the mountain bike of doom towards hamilton on thursday...

Anybody done this trip, how many k's roughly, reccomended time to leave to get to a place with accomodation by dark? I dont know how viable it is to get from auckland to hamilton in a day given my tempremental heart problems etc.

No i'm not visiting the mormon few, sister's bday party...

I understand its not easy and headwinds etc but i shouldn't have an issue making it.

Would be good if somebody could lend me a digital video camera to document it a little though?

Also i know you cant go on motorway etc, at what point does it become legal, like where does open road as such begin?

i heard rumour you can go down all of great south road and at the end it is then legal to hop on SH1?

Cheers: Skid.

[BiK3RChiK]

Skiddy, maybe the best idea is to either ring or pop into a cycling store and ask them.. they should know. I didn't think push bikes were even allowed on the expressway.

All the best getting there

[jrandom]

You'll be sweet as on the expressway south of the SH2 connection (bicycles aren't allowed north of there, but there's signage up indicating that they're allowed south of it).

Heaps of shoulder to ride on, etc. No worries au!

To get there, I'd head down Great South Road and stay on it until Bombay where it intersects with Mill Road, then turn left, go along Mill Road a bit, and south along Razorback Road and Helenslee Road into Pokeno.

Then back onto a short stretch of Great South Road and ride straight onto the shoulder of the expressway, and just keep pedalling until you get to the tron.

Pretty flat ride aside from the climb over the Bombays, which isn't really that bad. They're not proper hills.

You'll be looking at about 130km all up. You'll probably average about 20kph, so allow 7 hours door to door for the trip, including stops. Maybe 8 hours if you find yourself flagging and needing to soft-pedal a lot.

Make sure you hydrate constantly and eat plenty during the ride. Dehydration and glycogen depletion are what'll fuck you up if you let them. You should be drinking at least a litre of water per hour and stopping to piss clear every three hours or so.

Peanut butter and honey sandwiches are good to wrap up and stick in your jersey pocket, and have pies or sossidge rolls and Coke (not diet) at the servos.

Does your bike have bottle cages, or do you have a Camelbak bladder to stick in your backpack? You can borrow my 3L one if you want.

[jrandom]

Skiddy, maybe the best idea is to either ring or pop into a cycling store and ask them...

Depends on the cycling store.

80% of bike shop employees are spotty idiots on minimum wage, and the other 20% are snobby elitists with no time for anyone who isn't either a sponsored racer or a weekend warrior with a fat chequebook and a bike frame made in Italy.

[vtec]

Cool yep, watch that dehydration and hypoglycaemia, always gets those who haven't built up the miles slowly because your metabolism isn't fast enough.

I'm an experienced bike courier, and I seem to get hypoglycaemic first day back on the job every time I go back to it just cause the metabolism is too slow to absorb enough calories to keep me boosting for 8 or 9 hours.

Awesome cheap food to keep you going, dates. They are 66% natural sugar/carb. And cost no more than $3/kilo. Maybe take a banana or two or a bunch. And try and hook your bike up with clip in pedals, makes a huge difference if you can incorporate your hamstrings, if your quads get tired you can focus on pulling up instead of pushing down. But again unless you are used to it you might pull you hammy's. So the key to your mish is to cruise nice and easy the whole way. No boosting.

Other food to take:
Muesli bars
large tin of tuna and some bread to help it down
Maybe some dark chocolate if you hit the wall (probably too late by then).
I survive on water cause it's cheap, but you might need some sugar and electrolytes, so maybe a powerade.
With regard to how much water you will need, I usually survive 8-9 hours as a pushbike courier on about 1.5-2 litres on a warm day, but we get plenty of down time. Most I've ever drunk is 5 litres. So i suggest you take a couple of 2.25litre coke bottles filled with water. Aswell as a powerade or two for energy emergencies.

If you hit the wall more than 10k's out of Hamilton, you're going to need to get some sleep before continuing. So either make sure you're not going to hit the wall (hypoglycaemia) or be willing to try and sleep in the grass next to the road. This can make you too weak to move far once you decide you can't ride any further.

This ride would be pretty easy if you've been building up your miles. But I'm guessing your just on an impulse mission, so it's going to be hard. Good luck and god speed. And get your own bloody camera, I'd like a ride report. I usually keep everything in my courier pack on my back, usually weighs 5kg before I pick up any packages

Totally agree with JRandom's assessment of bike shop employees. But there is one exception. http://www.bikecentral.co.nz/ Run by ex bicycle couriers, laid back, and will do you favours, they understand how loyalty works, and they are far from elitist cause they have spent years having office people look down their noses at them, despite being excellent athletes who lived the awesome lifestyle that is the bicycle courier.

Here's a description of what to watch out for in terms of hypoglycaemia. http://www.gp-training.net/pal/diabe...pogycaemia.htm When it happens just resign yourself to stopping and lying down and eating and drinking and/or sleeping until you can move again.

Oh and take a good jacket just in case. And sunglasses and sunscreen.

[MisterD]

You've got slick tyres on the MTB right? For gawd's sake don't try this trick with knobblies on...take a couple of spare tubes, you do not want to be f-ing about with patches if you get a puncture.

[Hoon]

If you hit the wall more than 10k's out of Hamilton, you're going to need to get some sleep before continuing. So either make sure you're not going to hit the wall (hypoglycaemia) or be willing to try and sleep in the grass next to the road. This can make you too weak to move far once you decide you can't ride any further.

Yep a little sleep does wonders. Speed Hiking I've hit the wall a few times, totally exhausted and cramping up. A quick feed and sleep will make you feel good as new again. Not knowing your abilities I'd include lunch and a 2hr sleep into your plan, if you're feeling fine then just push on but at least it's there if you need it.

[jrandom]

This ride would be pretty easy if you've been building up your miles. But I'm guessing your just on an impulse mission, so it's going to be hard.

Yup.

Mark, do remember that you can get a return bus ticket to Hamilton for $24. You don't have to head off on a quixotic 260km round trip on a heavy shitty old MTB if you're not sure you can handle it.

[Morcs]

just get a fucking bus.

[skidMark]

You've got slick tyres on the MTB right? For gawd's sake don't try this trick with knobblies on...take a couple of spare tubes, you do not want to be f-ing about with patches if you get a puncture.

Got knobblies on it, but i have been riding anywhere from 30-70 k's a day since i lost my license on a bicycle so hopefully i should be alright.

[jrandom]

Got knobblies on it, but i have been riding anywhere from 30-70 k's a day...

How have you measured that '30-70 k's a day'? Does your MTB have a bike computer fitted, or did you just pull the numbers out of your arse because you think you know the distance from one point to another?

[Slyer]

Google maps?

[skidMark]

How have you measured that '30-70 k's a day'? Does your MTB have a bike computer fitted, or did you just pull the numbers out of your arse because you think you know the distance from one point to another?

i know the distances because it the same stuff i used to do on the motorbike...

Ahhh this sounds too much like hard work lol

[Curious_AJ]

tough mission skiddy...

as for hypoglycaemia, I've got it from working before!!! don't underestimate it. (don't underestimate vet nurses either for that matter! lol)

[jrandom]

i know the distances because it the same stuff i used to do on the motorbike...

You might be surprised at the inaccuracy of your memory.

Ahhh this sounds too much like hard work lol

I don't think anyone (apart from me, because I was wasted last night and woke up with a glazed brain, and vtec, who hasn't learned about you yet) really thinks that you're going to ride a five-ton rigid MTB on knobblies from Auckland to Hamilton and back.