Cycle Galway to Dublin for charity

v.e.r.b.a.l

Hi,

I don't know if this is the right place for this post, but if not a mod can move it!!

I want to do a cycle from Galway to Dublin for charity, but I don't know where to start. My first question is about the charity. I travelled around the world last year and I'd love to raise some money for the kids in Potosí in Bolivia, a place that kind of gets neglected a lot charity-wise. Don't know how to go about this though? Anyone done anything like this before?

Also, the cycling aspect. How many days would something like this take and what kind of steps should I take for training?

Thanks!!

Are there any charities set up in the area? If not, perhaps get in contact with the schools in Potosí as they might be in a position to distribute the money? Mightn't be appropriate but might be a good place to start.

As for Galway to Dublin, well it can easily be done in a day if that's the type of thing you want to do! Really depends on your fitness levels, do you cycle much at all? What type of bike do you have?

v.e.r.b.a.l

At the mo, have a Peugeot. It's not the best, but gonna get something decent on that "Cycle to Work" scheme. Not done much biking before, so kinda new to this. Gonna start training. Went and did 10km today as a warm-up. What kind of training should I do?

Tonyandthewhale

Training's pretty simple, cycle as much as you can but don't over-do it to the point of injury (build up slowly, rest when necessary etc etc). Maybe you could join a club or find some cycling friends to keep you motivated for your training. Also maybe you could start cycling to work or whatever if that's convieniant so as to get used to spending time on the bike. Finally, remember to stay well hydrated and eat properly on the bike as it'll make things a lot easier for you.

v.e.r.b.a.l

yeah, i've already been cycling to work for a few weeks now and i'm gonna start doing a big cycle once or twice a week (in between world cup matches of course!!)

any suggestions on a decent bike? mine is ok, but the wheels are very thin and it tends to skid a lot in wet weather

Tonyandthewhale

v.e.r.b.a.l wrote: »

any suggestions on a decent bike? mine is ok, but the wheels are very thin and it tends to skid a lot in wet weather

Depends really, what's your budget and have you any particular preferences already?

v.e.r.b.a.l

i suppose my budget would be about €500 or so... dunno about personal preference

cython

Have a look at http://www.galwaycycle.ie, it's a charity cycle that has been running from Maynooth to Galway and back over a weekend (one day per leg, and the middle day collecting on the streets of Galway) for about the last 23 years. That should give you a good idea of what sort of training and preparation to aim for. While Dublin is a bit further from Galway than Maynooth, both days this year we were able to reach the end with a few hours of daylight to spare.

I'm sure that other people can recommend more specific things, but as a general indicator, this should be a decent resource, given the similarity in the cycles.

Tonyandthewhale

Well if you were to push your budget up to 600ish you could get a road bike (racer) such as the giant defy 4 or the specialized allez or the trek 1.1. All of which are good bikes, reliable and fairly light.
If you can't stretch to 600 maybe you could find an older model or something second hand or you might pick up a bargain from one of the less highly regarded brands such as dawes or raleigh,
Third option would probably be some sort of hybrid (flat bars but racing bike wheels), might not be as fast or as comfortable over long distance as a racer would be but should be alright if you take it easy and you might get a more bang for your buck than you would with a drop bar option.

Cork24

you need alot of Time on bike, for that kind of Cycle. join a Gym if you are from Galway why not NRG Fittness, and do their Spinning Classes, Which are to Shock your body from Hill Climbs to Speed, back to Hill Climbs. which i find handy in the Week days and Week ends go out for a long spin,

When im out i am Working on my Endurance best way to Work Endurance is do 10 reps of 4 Reps, Where you go as fast as you can for 30 Secs, rest for 10 Seconds 10 times and thats 1 rep, after each Rep cycle at a slow pace for 1 min..

As you can see im from Cork which makes me Build for Hill LOL, once a Week get out find a Great hill and go up and down that hill 10 times and thats your Cycle that day, You will Notice it i do this once a week done Fair Hill Once my legs were ready to Fall off, Done Pophams Road which is Across the Road from Blackpool shopping center now thats a hill.