LongAnt

Yesterday we went from London to Canterbury. The original idea of this project was and still is, to have fun on the bicycle. So, even though we got lost 5 times, we kept the smile on our faces and the miles went away not quite as fast as we expected…

Lessons learnt:

- Getting out of London is quite time consuming. Expect an average of 18/20 km/h.
- The route is quite hilly!!! Get ready for some up & downhill. They are not very high, but the last climb before Canterbury will make you swear, we promise!
- Having enough time is key to enjoy the experience.

Actually, arriving to Canterbury was harder than we had expected. To the point that we’ve been reconsidering the whole master plan. We’ve decided to modify the route to make it more enjoyable. It’s not about endurance, it’s about having a good time. Sleeping in Dover and catching the ferry early in the morning without the pressure of cycling to be at the ferry gates at a certain time is perhaps the best decision. It really worried us that people could miss their ferry slot and have a disappointing experience. The other thing is that splitting the route in 3 will make it easier, so more people can enjoy the longant experience

Many things can happen in the road and cycling all the way to Dover is quite a long ride. The fact that we would’ve had to decide at what time we would need to take the ferry made us very uncomfortable. Splitting the route in 3 will make it easier for everybody: less pressure, less stress, and more time to spend in the different cities we will be cycling through.

So, the first big test is done, and plenty of changes have been made in order to make the whole experience more satisfying.

This Sunday the LongAnt team will be on their bicycles to test the first part of the route: London - Canterbury. Fingers crossed because it looks like the weather will have some mercy on us. See the picture with the forecast… as I said, fingers crossed

People have been asking me these questions:
- How are we going to come back???
- Where are we going to stay???

The answer to the first question is easy. We’ll come back by car/van/bus depending on how many people sign up… So far, we could come back in a sidecar  Come on! Sign up!! I know I know, it’s quite far away, and the schedule is a bit too tight. Any suggestions welcomed!

Ok, the next question is easy. We think that people can make that decision and find somewhere to stay. At the end of the day, everybody knows what their preferences are, and specifically, what their budget is! Our budget is not as  generous as we would like, but still, we think that it’s not about the money but the experience! (right, I guess that if we were loaded the message will be different… or not!).

So, these are the two hotels where we are planning to stay:

• Campanile Dunkerque Sud Loon Plag
• Astoria Hotel Antwerp

Bear in mind that assuming that people speak English outside England or the States is the first big mistake that English speaking tourists make… but hey, we’re not tourists!!!

This next weekend we have to go to Canterbury to try the first 100K of the route, but it looks like the weather is not going to help us much… or at least, it’s not going to be an easy ride.

Still not sure if we’ll go or we’ll decide to postpone it… Being in England, we know that it can rain. In July we’re going to cycle through England and Belgium, two of the rainiest countries in Europe! As for our test ride to Canterbury next weekend, after these few precious sunny days thinking of a miserable ride under the “heavy rains” forecast for this next weekend, maybe it’s too much!

Planning the route is perhaps the most challenging thing to do. Ok, finding funds is also quite a tough one :).  So far for planning the route, I’ve tried Google Maps, but unfortunately there’s not an option for “bicycles” yet.

The other website to plan cycling routes is viamichelin. Funnily enough, they do not allow you to plan routes longer than 200 km. Anyway, not a problem for us. The longant team will be testing the route London - Canterbury at the end of the month. Fancy coming with us? Leave a comment and we’ll be in touch!

Little by little the event is starting to get some shape. There are two main issues when planning an event like this. First, finding the most suitable route for the participants. Second, to decide how to ride.

The first issue will be tackled at the end of this month where we’re going to explore the routes between London and Canterbury. We know that leaving London is very time consuming, and it’s quite unpredictable, but we’ll need to find the best way of getting out of town.

The second big issue is how to ride. A big pack is only suitable if all the cyclists can keep up the same pace. We would like to keep the event open to anyone who feels confident with riding more than 300 km in 2 days, which means that we will probably have several small groups riding along the route, rather than one big group.

Anyway, we won’t know that until we open the registration and face reality of how many crazy people are willing to go to Antwerp on two wheels

One of the biggest problems that we face with this challenge is the ferry. Why? because you have to book in advance, and because you have to check-in 45 minutes before departure… so you have to calculate how long you think the first 140 km of the journey is going to take…

So far, booking a ticket for a foot passenger with a bicycle costs £10.