SOTA by bike. WB-021 video

There are a handful of SOTA summits within a 120 mile round trip of my house. Some of them are easily accessible by road (except for a very short climb) and at that distance are not too much of a stretch to make a nice day out on the bike.
I plan to activate them all by bike, so to start the ball rolling, I started with WB-021 last week.

In the honoured tradition I’ve put highlights of the ride here.

57 miles and 1000 metres ascent for a single point…
Pete

In reply to G4ISJ:
It’s time to ride. Good idea !
73 Roger

Good to see I’m not the only one to have done this :slight_smile: I’m not as active as I want to be at SOTA, but I did do three peaks in one day on my bike (G/SE-002,3 and 4 - 108 miles/1800m ascent, just under 12 hours all in) 3 SOTA Peaks

It seems to be a very pure way of doing it - entirely under your own power. Of course it does limit the type of hill you can activate, unless you are happy locking up the bike at the bottom.

Nice LEL jersey by the way - are you out for that next year? I rode it in 2009, managing to avoid the worst of the weather apart from having to stay longer than intended in Alston due to severe gales and torrential rain on the way back.

73 Matt G7GCR

In reply to G7GCR:

Good to see I’m not the only one to have done this :slight_smile: I’m not as
active as I want to be at SOTA, but I did do three peaks in one day on
my bike (G/SE-002,3 and 4 - 108 miles/1800m ascent, just under 12
hours all in) 3 SOTA Peaks

I think my limit would be about 120ish miles in a day if I want to get some decent operating time in. Ideally a mountain bike would be better for getting to many summits, but I wouldn’t want to put in the miles on the road with one! I did once do a 300 kms on my mountain bike and swore never to do so again…

Nice LEL jersey by the way - are you out for that next year? I rode it
in 2009, managing to avoid the worst of the weather apart from having
to stay longer than intended in Alston due to severe gales and
torrential rain on the way back.

Yes 2009 was not good weather wise (I hear).

I rode LEL in 2005 and the weather was pretty good, if a little cool.

I’ve thought about 2013 again but I’m really out of condition - haven’t done an SR since 2007!

It’s funny that since starting SOTA I realise I’ve been within a stones throw of many summits when chasing AAA points! An almost complimentary activity to Audax :slight_smile:

In reply to G4ISJ:

Nice video Pete, thanks for sharing.

I often think about recording my activations on video, but I never seem to be motivated to actually shoot footage!

Gosh, 57 Miles - to a not very active cyclist that seems a long way! I commuted to work a few times on my road bike(MTRAX from 1997, bought new when I was a teenager without a driving licence! )last year a few times, but the distance is only 8 Miles, I definately feel it! When I first got the bike, my commute was 12 Miles each way.

I also find my MTB hard going on the road - I much prefer the smoothness of my road bike, but it’s not so good for gravel paths etc!

You have got me thinking about doing a bicycle SOTA expedition of my own now!

Congratulations on such an interesting activation.

73
Colin
M0CGH

In reply to G4ISJ:

That’s great footage of your activation Pete. There are some lovely lanes there!

I had planned to use my bike to access some hills around Rosyth when I was down there a few weeks back but the roads didn’t seem very bicycle friendly.

Keep up the good work.

In reply to those who know:

Phew! I’m out of breath reading that…57 miles…

Having just resurrected my childhood cycling passion whilst on holiday in France, I am now considering buying a new bike. This will be mainly for on road and an occasional bit of gentle off road/path cycling etc. Is a Hybrid the answer?
I have heard that suspension is fantastic off road but is draining of ‘power to the pedal’ on an uphill road surface - any truth? Also, as Colin has mentioned, that an MTB can be hard work on a road surface?
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks
Dave

In reply to M0TUB:

Dave,

I have a mountain bike, it’s fine on the road with hybrid tyres. I also use it on pretty brutal mountain tracks for shortening the walk-in for climbs.
My bike’s a Giant Rainier hardtail, it has front suspension lock out for use on road.
I had a go on an electric bike the other day, that’s the answer!

73,
Ian.

In reply to G4ISJ:
Thank you Pete for the inspiring video. I am now dusting and oiling my bicycle!
73
Ian G4WTF

In reply to G4ISJ:

Ideally a mountain bike would be better
for getting to many summits, but I wouldn’t want to put in the miles
on the road with one! I did once do a 300 kms on my mountain bike and
swore never to do so again…

Any distance on a mountain bike is tough, 100 miles or so is as much as I’d want to do in a day, less on knobblies.
I assume you’ve heard of the legendary ride by Martin Staines of the Elenith 300km on a BMX?
(For non-Audax geeks, that’s a 192 mile ride in about 20 hours, the highlight of which is the Elan Valley, close to GW/MW-004 - Pen y Garn, but also including a 25% climb up the Devil’s Staircase). I’m not sure if that’s hardcore or completely barmy.

It’s funny that since starting SOTA I realise I’ve been within a
stones throw of many summits when chasing AAA points! An almost
complimentary activity to Audax :slight_smile:

It certainly is. My favourite rides are in Wales, because of the mountains.

73 Matt G7GCR