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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 |
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#2
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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 |
#3
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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 |
#4
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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 |
#5
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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 |
#6
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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 |
#7
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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 |
#8
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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 |
#9
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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 |
#10
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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 |
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