Get some miles in

The most important preparation you can possibly do for cycling London to Brighton is to get some miles into your legs beforehand. You will be turning your pedals round thousands of times on the day and if they are not used to this, they will resist this intrusion in a big way.  Get your legs used to covering some distance and the muscle memories you instil will help you.

 

Ideally, you need to begin this process at least two months before you set off.  You build fitness by doing long, gentle bike rides not half an hour up big hills.  That may build some leg strength but it won't help your endurance. It should be your heart and lungs that you are building up, not just your legs.  BUT even if it's just two weeks you can still avoid some unnecessary suffering by getting out onto your bike every few days and doing more than 10 miles each time, ideally building up to a longer ride (aim for around 30 miles if you can)  the weekend before.

If you do begin your training nice and early, get out three times each week for one hour, one hour and then three hours at the weekend.  On the day, you're likely be be spending 4 - 9 hours in the saddle and you need to be prepared.  10 or more rides of an hour or more will toughen up your backside and give you some basic grounding.

If you can, get hold of a heart rate monitor and wear it during your training.  This will help you to gauge if you're over- or under-doing it in your preparation. Google 'training zones' and work out which heart rate will best build your fitness.

And streeeetch...

It's essential that your legs are well stretched both while you're training and before and after you do the ride.  Get used to morning and evening stretching for the whole week before the ride and for at least 15 minutes before you set off... Here is a link to some more information about stretching and some useful stretches to master.  You will also need to stretch shortly after you stop and that evening before you go to bed.  You may not feel like doing it but you'll thank me the day after...

Use the excuse to look at your diet

It's not just what you eat on the day (see opposite) it's about how you eat and drink generally.  Get it sorted!

 

There's no point in spending £1000s on a bike that's a few pounds lighter if you're two stone overweight.  Start early, eat healthily. A combination of fruit, lean white meat, fish, fresh veg, lots of water and sparing amounts of alcohol will help and contribute to you getting into good shape if you're also cycling regularly.  Don't drink five pints and have a curry the night before, you'll be sick on Ditchling Beacon... instead drink lots of water to hydrate your cells, have a pasta dish with chicken or fish in the evening and some fruit... then let it go down and  get an early night.

Dress properly

Cyclists have a saying: "There's no such thing as the wrong weather, only the wrong clothing."  And we don't just wear lycra and expensive tops to look good. We wear them because they're aerodynamic and wick away sweat from your body.  Flappy shirts, jackets and trousers/shorts won't do you any favours. You will need a good pair of socks, some padded shorts, a pair of cycling gloves with gel in the palms, a pair of sunglasses and a really good helmet. If you get knocked off and your head hits something at speed, you die. Full stop. Wear a helmet!!!

Dressing also means putting lots of long lasting suntan lotion on both before and during your ride. You can get burnt to a frazzle on a sunny day and you won't feel it because of the wind in your face.  Pay particular attention to your knees, your forearms and your neck.

Get the bike right

Ideally, you'll be riding a light bike with thin road tyres. The tyres will be pumped up to near their maximum PSI using a proper track pump.  The bike will be clean and the chain and gears free from the road muck and grease that adds to your friction over the journey. It will have been carefully lubricated with a can of something that your local bike shop recommended to you. 

 

The brakes will be adjusted so that they work and don't touch the tyres at any point.    If you have any accessories that are heavy (including panniers, saddle bags or large heavy locks) you'll have taken them off.  The gears will index smoothly at both ends.  Finally, you'll have some toe clips (or better egg beater pedals and cleated shoes) plus two bottle cages fitted so that you can easily access liquids when you need them.

Naturally, chances are that - unless you're a regular cyclist - your bike won't be like this but hear me now.... the people who really suffer during and after this ride are those on heavy bikes with knobbly, soft tyres and rust that have not been taken out of the shed for a year. You wouldn't run a marathon in slippers and a dufflecoat, so don't think that 54 miles on a bike is somehow an easy thing to do!  The more you can do to make your bike like the ideal I've described above, the better your ride will be.

Eating and drinking

Your body will need lots of liquid and some easily digestible food on the way. Bananas, a piece of flapjack, a few energy gels - preferably with some electrolytes in them - and lots of water (1  - 2 litres sipped regularly, more if it's warm) are a bare minimum.  I always have my first energy gel at half way when I get to Burstow and the second in Lindfield.  This way I have a bit of extra energy when you get to Turners Hill and also when you do the slow dragging hill into Haywards Heath and on to the Beacon.

However, I'm getting ahead of myself.... At least two hours before you're due to start cycling, have a light non-fibrous breakfast that includes some protein. Try some slices of lean ham, a few weetabix with sugar and some berries/fruit. Pee before you leave the house and again before you start cycling... nothing worse that needing to go en route. Once you're cycling, your regular sips of water won't go through you so quickly.  Personally, I really rate the Nuun electrolyte tablets that you can put into your water bottle. They are not sugary but very pleasant tasting and I find they are excellent for keeping your electrolytes up on longer rides.

 

When you arrive, find a newsagents and within 15 mins of stopping buy and drink a bottle of chocolate or banana milk.  This contains the right amount of both protein and glucose that your body will need to start recovering from what you've just put it through and it will considerably reduce aches and pains the following day.  If you don't believe me, here's the scientific study in PDF fomat on the matter!

Take the right things

Apart from the food and drink described above, the discreet little bag that attaches under your saddle (Topeak make some good ones) should contain: one spare inner tube, some duck tape wrapped round your inner tube in case you need to repair a badly slashed tyre, tyre levers, a multi-tool with allen keys, a small pump (CO2 ones are expensive but quick and easy), anti-histamines, nurofens, some cash and a mobile phone.  If you can fit a rolled up and very light rain and windproof cycling gilet in there too, great, but if not, check the weather forecast before you leave the house.

 

June can be mild or sometimes very hot.

 

Most of all, think about the scale of what you're asking your body to do when you ride from London to Brighton and respect what it would ask of you if it could!

 

And finally... enjoy. It can get you through all sorts when you're smiling!