Tibbsy's Top TipsPaul Tibbs ('Tibbsy') is an experienced rider having completed many distant events and charity rides, and was a crucial part of the inaugural Lap in 2013 and one of the guides in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, providing hints, motivation, advice and laughs to the Lappers before and during the event. Here he shares his knowledge to help you prepare for your Lap.
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1 - Get to know your saddle. You need to ride on the same saddle as much as possible. Long rides will hurt at first but eventually you will mould to fit. You need to go through this painful bonding session to avoid agony on the main event.
2 - Know your fuelling strategy. On a long ride you will need to eat or 'fuel' (on the move) every 20 mins or so to avoid 'Bonking' (don't laugh ;) -see below for explanation). Common choices are Shortbread fingers, Jelly Babies and Fig Rolls. Pick your food or 'fuel' well. There are loads of energy gel sachets on the market to back up the snacks mentioned above. These can have a nasty effect (trust me) so if you are going to use gels you need to practice and find out which one is ok for you. My plan for idea is energy tablets you drop into your water bottle, with shortbread or jelly babies to snack on every 20 mins and I have 2-3 Caramel 'Sports Bar' made by high5 that I use every 2-3 hours. All this on top of any food available at designated feed points. On a 100 mile ride you can burn approx 6000 calories in around 6hours! So no better excuse to stuff your face.
The bonk point is what runners refer to as hitting the wall. It is where you have depleted your energy stores. If this happens on a long ride you're in trouble. You need to keep eating almost constantly to avoid bonking (stop laughing). If you do bonk stuffing food in doesn't work, it takes sometime to regain the energy. This is why prevention is so important.
3 - Tyres. Choose your tyres wisely. This event is no place for 'sport' tyres - choose some that you can trust to resist punctures over 400 miles, as punctures cost a lot of time to prepare.
4 - Small groups. To make sure the Lappers don't hold up the traffic too much it's best to ride together in groups of 4, with at least a couple of bus-lengths' gap between groups for vehicle to bunnyhop each group rather than the whole pack together. If you are at the rear of your group of four you'll need to keep a watchful eye on the group behind to make sure that they can keep you in sight, and if they drop back you must tell the cyclist at the lead of your group to slow down if necessary.
5 - Enjoy the Lap. This Lap is a challenge, sure, but you'll find that by keeping a sensible pace, not rushing to pull away for the other Lappers, and enjoying the scenery, will make the event all the more enjoyable. Take your time and support your fellow Lappers, and they will support you when you need them too.
You'll feel very proud to complete the event for charity, no matter what speed you achieved, believe me!
2 - Know your fuelling strategy. On a long ride you will need to eat or 'fuel' (on the move) every 20 mins or so to avoid 'Bonking' (don't laugh ;) -see below for explanation). Common choices are Shortbread fingers, Jelly Babies and Fig Rolls. Pick your food or 'fuel' well. There are loads of energy gel sachets on the market to back up the snacks mentioned above. These can have a nasty effect (trust me) so if you are going to use gels you need to practice and find out which one is ok for you. My plan for idea is energy tablets you drop into your water bottle, with shortbread or jelly babies to snack on every 20 mins and I have 2-3 Caramel 'Sports Bar' made by high5 that I use every 2-3 hours. All this on top of any food available at designated feed points. On a 100 mile ride you can burn approx 6000 calories in around 6hours! So no better excuse to stuff your face.
The bonk point is what runners refer to as hitting the wall. It is where you have depleted your energy stores. If this happens on a long ride you're in trouble. You need to keep eating almost constantly to avoid bonking (stop laughing). If you do bonk stuffing food in doesn't work, it takes sometime to regain the energy. This is why prevention is so important.
3 - Tyres. Choose your tyres wisely. This event is no place for 'sport' tyres - choose some that you can trust to resist punctures over 400 miles, as punctures cost a lot of time to prepare.
4 - Small groups. To make sure the Lappers don't hold up the traffic too much it's best to ride together in groups of 4, with at least a couple of bus-lengths' gap between groups for vehicle to bunnyhop each group rather than the whole pack together. If you are at the rear of your group of four you'll need to keep a watchful eye on the group behind to make sure that they can keep you in sight, and if they drop back you must tell the cyclist at the lead of your group to slow down if necessary.
5 - Enjoy the Lap. This Lap is a challenge, sure, but you'll find that by keeping a sensible pace, not rushing to pull away for the other Lappers, and enjoying the scenery, will make the event all the more enjoyable. Take your time and support your fellow Lappers, and they will support you when you need them too.
You'll feel very proud to complete the event for charity, no matter what speed you achieved, believe me!