What To Do About Bolloxed Vacation?

I had the annoying news that my scheduled group vacation, touring the
Netherlands by barge and bike, from the 30th April to the 7th May, has
been cancelled for lack of a sufficient number of participants.

I have the choice of accepting a different vacation for the same dates
or the same vacation for the week after, 7th to 14th May.

The different vacation for the same dates takes the same route, but
there is much more cycling - average 50 km a day rather than 25, and the
barge is less comfortable (there would be a slight refund for this). I'm
worried that I do not have the physical level suddenly to start doing 50
km a day, when the most I've ever done in one stint is 28. I will not
have time (or a place) to train on my current schedule. And I don't want
to undertake an ordeal for what is supposed to be a fun, relaxing holiday.

OTOH, I have already bought a non-refundable train ticket for the
original dates. If I take the easier tour at the later date, I have to
pay an extra 103 Euros to buy another train journey. In addition, I end
up with a discontinuous vacation. It starts on April 16th, with an
already booked stint in London and Cambridge. Instead of ending on the
7th with a return to work on the 9th, it would mean returning to work
between the 2nd and the 6th to depart again on the 7th.

How can this forum help me in my decision? I suppose the only opinions
you can input are regarding the longer journeys. Given that this is flat
terrain and good Dutch country roads, and that there should be
relatively less mental stress because there will be guides to show us
the way and we will be in a group, so I won't have to worry about
traffic or getting lost, is 50 km much more tiring than 25? Another
consideration is, people on this tour will be fitter and more active
than on the lazy tour, and I'm worried about not fitting in as well
socially. I don't want to be a drag on the group.

What do you suggest? Oh, and does anyone want to buy a cut-rate
round-trip Paris-Amsterdam by Thalys for the 30th-7th?

EFR
Ile de France

Elisa Francesca Roselli wrote:
I had the annoying news that my scheduled group vacation, touring the
Netherlands by barge and bike, from the 30th April to the 7th May, has
been cancelled for lack of a sufficient number of participants.

I have the choice of accepting a different vacation for the same dates
or the same vacation for the week after, 7th to 14th May.

The different vacation for the same dates takes the same route, but
there is much more cycling - average 50 km a day rather than 25, and the
barge is less comfortable (there would be a slight refund for this). I'm
worried that I do not have the physical level suddenly to start doing 50
km a day, when the most I've ever done in one stint is 28. I will not
have time (or a place) to train on my current schedule. And I don't want
to undertake an ordeal for what is supposed to be a fun, relaxing holiday.

OTOH, I have already bought a non-refundable train ticket for the
original dates. If I take the easier tour at the later date, I have to
pay an extra 103 Euros to buy another train journey. In addition, I end
up with a discontinuous vacation. It starts on April 16th, with an
already booked stint in London and Cambridge. Instead of ending on the
7th with a return to work on the 9th, it would mean returning to work
between the 2nd and the 6th to depart again on the 7th.

How can this forum help me in my decision? I suppose the only opinions
you can input are regarding the longer journeys. Given that this is flat
terrain and good Dutch country roads, and that there should be
relatively less mental stress because there will be guides to show us
the way and we will be in a group, so I won't have to worry about
traffic or getting lost, is 50 km much more tiring than 25? Another
consideration is, people on this tour will be fitter and more active
than on the lazy tour, and I'm worried about not fitting in as well
socially. I don't want to be a drag on the group.

What do you suggest? Oh, and does anyone want to buy a cut-rate
round-trip Paris-Amsterdam by Thalys for the 30th-7th?

I'd be inclined to go for it. On flat terrain 50km a day will probably
be 3 hours (easy touring speed) to 4 hours (a very gentle pace) of
cycling. If you have a saddle you are comfortable with, you'll be fine.
If you have *any* doubt about the saddle, use padded cycling shorts.
Take some anyway, just in case.

If you can set aside a day to try riding that distance in similar
conditions before you decide you should find it's all right.

--
Joe * If I cannot be free I'll be cheap

Tue, 08 Mar 2005 18:08:02 +0100,
, Elisa Francesca Roselli
wrote, in part:


The different vacation for the same dates takes the same route, but
there is much more cycling - average 50 km a day rather than 25, and the
barge is less comfortable (there would be a slight refund for this). I'm
worried that I do not have the physical level suddenly to start doing 50
km a day, when the most I've ever done in one stint is 28. I will not
have time (or a place) to train on my current schedule. And I don't want
to undertake an ordeal for what is supposed to be a fun, relaxing holiday.

There will no doubt be several stops for snacks, lunch, sightseeing,
etc. The 50km could well take 6 hours or more. It's not likely to be
much more than an hour saddle time between breaks.
The second day you might feel stiff in the morning but it should all
work itself out after twenty minutes. You're young, you're healthy and
you're used to riding. I'd bet you could do it easily.
--
zk

50 km/31 miles is not that far, espedially on good flat roads and bike
paths. You just might surprise yourself by completing the distance with
little or no difficulty. Most of these organised tours have support vehicles
that follow the cyclists and provide them with snacks and liquid
refreshment, so you won't have to worry about staying fed and hydrated
during the day. If worst comes to worst, you could always load your bike in
the support vehicle when you get too tired to ride any further. OTOH, maybe
the perceived ignominy of riding in the support vehicle will provide you
with the motivation you need to keep cycling and finish the 50 km...

If this group deals with a lot of American customers then I'm sure that they
are very accustomed to unfit guests who cannot ride 50 km in a day, and
have found ways to accommodate the less fit members of the group.

People who signed up for the 50 km/day tour probably aren't that much fitter
than the 25 km/day group, they're just willing to spend a little more time
on their bikes. If being a little slow on your bike is going to make it
difficult for you to fit in socially, then you probably don't want to know
those people anyway.

If the 50 km/day tour turns out to be extremely demanding for you, try not
to think of it as "an ordeal". Exercising yourself into exhaustion can be
fun, and it can be quite satisfying. Just ask anyone who's ever cycled a
century ride or a long Audax ride, or run a marathon. There's a real feeling
of accomplishment that goes with all those aching muscles, and there are a
lot of long term benefits as well. By the end of the 50 km/day tour you
should be distinctly fitter than you are now, and that gain in fitness will
make all your subsequent cycling activity much more enjoyable.

Out of curiousity, which company are you touring with?
--
mark

Elisa Francesca Roselli wrote:
How can this forum help me in my decision? I suppose the only
opinions
you can input are regarding the longer journeys. Given that this is
flat
terrain and good Dutch country roads, and that there should be
relatively less mental stress because there will be guides to show us

the way and we will be in a group, so I won't have to worry about
traffic or getting lost, is 50 km much more tiring than 25? Another
consideration is, people on this tour will be fitter and more active
than on the lazy tour, and I'm worried about not fitting in as well
socially. I don't want to be a drag on the group.

What do you suggest? Oh, and does anyone want to buy a cut-rate
round-trip Paris-Amsterdam by Thalys for the 30th-7th?

50km unloaded on flat roads will not really be very hard so long as you
are reasonably accustomed to sitting on a saddle regularly. If you have
the option of a day off (or a half-day) part-way though then certainly
it shouldn't be a struggle. As for the group thing, I imagine that
anyone who wants to cycle fast would not be interested in such a
holiday in the first place. Sounds like a very pleasant and relaxed
trip.

James

8 Mar 2005 21:53:20 -0800,
. com,
"James Annan" wrote:

50km unloaded on flat roads will not really be very hard so long as you
are reasonably accustomed to sitting on a saddle regularly. If you have
the option of a day off (or a half-day) part-way though then certainly
it shouldn't be a struggle.

I concur with that statement with the added qualifier that chafing or
blisters caused by saddle or shoes could quickly become debilitating.

A sag-barge would undoubtedly be more comfortable than a sag-wagon if
worse came to worst.
--
zk

mark a écrit :
50 km/31 miles is not that far, espedially on good flat roads and bike
paths. You just might surprise yourself by completing the distance with
little or no difficulty. Most of these organised tours have support vehicles
that follow the cyclists and provide them with snacks and liquid
refreshment, so you won't have to worry about staying fed and hydrated
during the day.

In this case, the support vehicle is the barge. On the easy tour, the
barge takes us from town to town and we bike around the town to visit.
If tired we can always rejoin the barge or even just stay on it. On the
more demanding tour, we bike the distance between towns and rejoin the
barge on arrival for dinner. So in this case, there is no access to
support once we are on the road.


If the 50 km/day tour turns out to be extremely demanding for you, try not
to think of it as "an ordeal". Exercising yourself into exhaustion can be
fun, and it can be quite satisfying. Just ask anyone who's ever cycled a
century ride or a long Audax ride, or run a marathon. There's a real feeling
of accomplishment that goes with all those aching muscles, and there are a
lot of long term benefits as well. By the end of the 50 km/day tour you
should be distinctly fitter than you are now, and that gain in fitness will
make all your subsequent cycling activity much more enjoyable.

Not necessarily, I could also get disgusted with the whole process and
chill out from overkill. I know this is a tendentious remark in a forum
full of cycling addicts, but it _is_ possible to develop a strong
aversion to cycling and it has happened to me for various periods in the
past. In January last year I took a fall and had panic attacks every
time I approached a bike. Then in April I had such a disastrous cycling
holiday in the UK (hailstorms every day, festering sores on my soft
parts, terminal exhaustion to the point that all I wanted to do was
sleep all day) that it took me much of the summer to recover my sense of
enjoyment.

I also have a recurring problem with arthritis in the knee. So far,
cycling has never brought it on, which is its advantage over other
sports I've tried. I cannot jog because of this problem and it recurred
from time to time when I was kick-scooting. It is debilitating and lasts
for weeks. 50 km a day may push me past a critical point and if I get
arthritis at the beginning of the trip, that pretty well bolloxes the
outcome.


Out of curiousity, which company are you touring with?

www.tripsite.com

EFR
Ile de France

JLB a écrit :
Elisa Francesca Roselli wrote:

I'd be inclined to go for it. On flat terrain 50km a day will probably
be 3 hours (easy touring speed) to 4 hours (a very gentle pace) of
cycling. If you have a saddle you are comfortable with, you'll be fine.
If you have *any* doubt about the saddle, use padded cycling shorts.
Take some anyway, just in case.

What I'm taking with me is my whole bike. The tour company does provide
a Dutch style bike, but since it is unfamiliar I'm unwilling to trust
that we will get on. I managed my 28 kms on the bike that I plan to
take. I can deal with the saddle, which is suspended. I'm not sure what
will happen, to me or to the frail folding Dahon loaded beyond its
capacity that it is, over those distances, however.

I have never seen cycling shorts in my size. I will have a look in the
UK before I head out to the Netherlands, or indeed try within the
Netherlands which must have its quotient of fat ladies who cycle.
Apparently there is no such animal in France, apart from myself.

EFR
Ile de France

Zoot Katz a écrit :

I concur with that statement with the added qualifier that chafing or
blisters caused by saddle or shoes could quickly become debilitating.

You're telling me. Been there, done that. Never knew it was possible to
have blisters in quite that configuration.

EFR
Ile de France

Elisa Francesca Roselli wrote:


The different vacation for the same dates takes the same route, but
there is much more cycling - average 50 km a day rather than 25, and the
barge is less comfortable (there would be a slight refund for this). I'm
worried that I do not have the physical level suddenly to start doing 50
km a day, when the most I've ever done in one stint is 28. I will not
have time (or a place) to train on my current schedule. And I don't want
to undertake an ordeal for what is supposed to be a fun, relaxing holiday.

I think you'll be OK. 50 K a day on flat roads is challenging,
but not deadly. In Holland the main problem is exposure to wind;
there's very little shelter. However, if you read up on
"slip streaming" or the "sitting in you'll do much
better ;-)

With regards to comfort, proper shorts are (IMHO) ESSENTIAL.
They make a remarkable difference to comfort.

I don't think the people on the 50 K-a-day tour will
be race-fit enthusiasts, out for a burn up.
Those people will be on a much more punishing
holiday than even this.

My recommendationss;
* ensure your bike is well set up; smooth tyres,
decent pump (to maintain tyre pressure, which makes
a collossal difference to ease of travel), saddle height etc.
Many people who are new to cycling have their saddle
too low for efficient peddaling.

* purchase "real" cycling shorts

* train (or practise ;-) as much much (but also as
gently and enjoyably) as you reasonably can.

* GO ON THE HOLIDAY

BugBear