well if we're actually going to do this then we should be honest with ourselves.can you really ride that old bike 300 miles a day ?the single speeds especially. is 12 days enough to do it, yet still enjoy the ride? i dont know ,we may need some professional advice? i'm open to anyones outlook on this, or any ideas.
Lonnie, I thought that 300 might be a big ask.
At a 30 mph average thats 10 hours riding plus breakdown time and at least 1 meal break.
A 30 mph average is assuming you have a top speed of about 40 to 45 mph.
On the flat that average would probably be easy but imagine trying to average that speed crossing the Rockies
I think you have to get some consensus on what would be a suitable average speed to apply to the run and how long per day is a realistic ask, then with a known total mileage caculate how many days you would need.
I think you also need to factor in at least an hour a day for bike servicing.
What do you think?
I like the 300 mile a day plan. This ride should separate the men from the boys. If we do it every year we don't want to have to make it harder each year. It would take away from the previous years record holders. Lets set the bar high.
well this will definatly be open for discussion,as it has been brought up before. first things first,choose the route. once the route is chosen then we can go thru the route day by day and decide which days will be harder than others and which days will need to be less miles than other days. hopefully the route will be chosen soon.i said dec 31 would be the cutoff date to choose the route ,but it will probably be more like before christmas ,so people will still be around to vote on this,before the holidays. of course if we fill the field in all 3 classes before christmas ,then we will vote sooner. then move on to the day to day planning.democracy at work my friends.your ride ,you plan it. i'll do it.
300 a day sounds good on paper. But ask around. The guys that actually ride their pre16 bikes don't do anything like that. 75-150 miles a day is typical. 200 is a long day (even on a 3 speed bike). Belt drive singles, they do a lot less mileage in a day.
Tommo has a good approach. Figure out an average speed for each class, then apply that to the route. That will dictate how many days are needed. Don't forget to add time for frequent fuel stops, eating, wrenching, stopping to see the sights, chase truck issues, group meetings/dinners, getting lost, etc.
My vote for the route will be the shortest route! whatever that is. I think that might SF-NY, like Wyman's route. He rode 38 days, about 3800 miles. That's about 100 miles each day.
Pete
If we keep it at 300 miles a day. I like the Idea of the support team hauling us to the hotel. We should vote on a sunrise to sunset rule. I like the idea of riding all night but it might be a bit reckless. We can ride sun rise to sunset and support crew picks up stragglers. If we all do that it would put us all up in the same hotel every night and we will start each day together with a chance to make it further than the day before. That will also allow guys who are not in it to win the hole thing a chance to win each day. We can make daily bets at Breakfast. Cool?
well theres definatly no night riding ,and no matter what ,we all end up at the same stopover everynight. theres going to be alot of wrenching at night,and the support crew will only be at the stopover that was decided on . plus many things need to be in place at each stopover,and planned well in advance. you can not just end up wherever you stop ,or you lose your support.i think from the feedback i´m getting 300 miles a day is not going to happen.the support team will be there to drag you to the next stopover ,but space for that may be limited depending on the day,so we dont want to rely on that solely,we can not. and not to mention it will cheapen the experience. let us now just go thru each day ,determine the obstacles we must overcome for that day ,and decide how many miles ,and at which stopover ,we can most likely all accomplish in that given day. many will start,few will finish.
As a trial run I got a 1913 clutch hub Triumph 500cc sv out and went riding on Sunday. Hills, flat going, through towns, the whole bit and only stopped for fuel and adjustments. 4 hours 24mins = 127 miles.
At times on the flat I was running close to 55 mph which was very close to being flat out. On some hills I was down around 10 mph pedalling hard but I never had to get off and push. By the time I was finished I was pretty sore but would have been able to do a whole day if it had been required.
Is this run about bragging rights or is it about getting the old girls out of the sheds and using them, note that I said using them and not abusing them.
What's got me concerned from the previous posts is that each night there could be a serious number of bikes to collect and get to the night stop before any servicing can take place and a realistic ask of each rider is looking like a 16 to 18 hour day.
You need your wits about you when riding these bikes in modern traffic and after a few 18 hour days the rider will be more than a bit off his best. Accidents should be the last thing the run needs and a tired rider trying to keep up is just a recipie for disaster.
With some of the comments that have appeared I just wonder how many road miles some people have done on single speed, belt drive machines.
Has anybody else gone for a ride to see what sort of mileage they can rack up in a given time?
I agree, This weekend I spent Saturday riding in the hills of western Wisconsin on a modern bike. Total mileage was around 150. Then I though what if I had covered the same ground on a a single cyl. Single speed and thought ......no way! It would have taken 12-14 hours of flawless machine at 25 mph on the good parts! I get the cross country theme... but lets be honest. It took this guy 3 months! and 38 riding days with serious maintenence days separating them. He also took use of ferrys, trains etc. This is with out taking into consideration ..weather, modern traffic (texting drivers!) Time to eat, smell the roses etc. Hell get on a bagger and do it in 10 days.... Portland to Portland. after driving out to the starting point then driving home from the end point. My vote is a nice 1000 mile run say from J&P to Maggie valley. It may be going to hell in a bucket, but at least we will enjoy the ride!
