Cargo or Racer?
You will see a wide variety of human-powered vehicles on this ride. We have had electric-assist cargo bikes, sit-up-and-beg Dutch city bikes, small-wheeled folding bikes, recumbent tricycles, former Royal Mail bicycles, and of course the usual assortment of touring/gravel/“road” bikes.
If you can carry a bag 80km in one day, chances are you’re already perfectly set up for this ride!
Servicing
We will require you to bring your bike fully-loaded for inspection prior to the ride. If this is not possible, we may ask for photographs of your bike as you intend to ride it on the journey.
Make sure your bike has had a good servicing and check-up by a professional bike mechanic. We offer scheduled sessions from OMA Bikes in Fulham, and you may find some second-hand parts fitted by an expert can really help.
Saddle
This is a personal matter that can be the single most important improvement to your ride experience.
By and large, you should be resting your weight on your “sitz bones”. If you find that your seat is pressing against muscle or tendons, you’re going to develop pain as you ride. Similarly, if you find that your saddle rubs against the skin of your thighs as you ride, you’re going to have problems.
Saddles are chosen to maximise comfort in a given riding position, so the seat that works best for someone riding upright won’t work for a rider who hunches down in a more aggressive position.
Most bike seats take time to “break in”, and you won’t know if the new seat is an improvement until you’ve ridden on it for a few weeks. If you’re short on time, keep “old faithful” and try the new seat next year.
It may be tempting to put a padded cover over a hard saddle. In our experience, these slide around too much to provide reliable protection, and end up increasing chafing.
Pannier Rack
If you are planning to use pannier bags, you will need to have a sturdy pannier rack on your bicycle. Touring and commuter bicycles often have these as standard, but racing bikes need one fitted after-market. Please reach out to the ride organisers directly or in The Group Chat.
You may find inexpensive add-on racks with telescoping rods that adjust to clamp onto any bicycle. We have never seen one last more than a day on this ride.
These racks can only carry at best 5kg, at which point you would be much better served by bikepacking bags that fit into your frame and under your saddle.
PPE
The Netherlands is simultaneously the country with the highest amount of cycling, as well as the lowest percentage of helmet-wearing and the lowest in terms of head injury whilst cycling.
Helmets may provide some protection in head-down high-speed racing, but the kind of injuries that happen on a ride like this are more likely to affect hands or knees. We advise a pair of inexpensive padded cycling gloves for this journey.