The Joys of Long Distance Bike Travel

A long car journey is a simple thing, you decide the route, the time you want to arrive and away you go. Barring an accident or a breakdown you are pretty much guaranteed most of the time, to get to your destination without any drama and on time.

A long bike ride is always an adventure, you never know how it will go on the day. The single biggest variable is the weather and in particular the wind. A long day spent riding into a strong headwind is among the most unpleasant experiences in cycling. It’s a remorseless, tiring, morale sapping grind.

The Great Western Greenway

On the other hand a day spent cycling with a strong tail wind is one of the most uplifting experiences on a bike. Many years ago as a very fit young man I cycled from Galway city to Cavan in six hours, on a heavy steel bike, with maybe ten kilos of cargo. I took a one hour break in the middle, so in five hours on the bike I covered 100 miles. It was quite a buzz bombing along over the gently rolling countryside at 20 mph, alone with only the road and my own thoughts for company.

Temperature and rain can also impact your progress and morale on a long journey but nothing trumps wind.

Your physical and metal state will also have a major impact on a long bike journey. Starting a long journey well rested, and in good shape, is very different to being tired and suffering from a cold. If the journey requires several days on the bike, you must pace yourself. It’s no good to do 100 miles the first day, finish exhausted, and then be unable to go more than 40 miles the next day. Better to pace it and do 70 miles both days.

A Bridge on the Greenway

The key to covering very long distances on a bike is to keep the pace low enough that you never get tired, and to cover the distance by spending a lot of hours on the bike. Make full use of your gears, find a sustainable rhythm and keep it going no matter what the gradient. Slow down enjoy the journey, experience the countryside, its sights, sounds and smells. Take lots of breaks, eat well.

Nothing beats a bicycle for exploring country. You are moving along at a modest speed, out in the open, sitting up, you feel every little rise and fall in the land. You will feel the slightest gradient in your legs, if uphill the increased strain, if down the reduced strain. After you cycle over a tract of country you will know its shape intimately. After crossing it in a car, you hardly know it all.