Bald Paul

(The Bike Forums collective): "You'd have to be crazy to attempt to ride twenty one-hundred mile days into a war torn country!"
(afrday): "Hold my beer."

Atlas Shrugged

Call me skeptical but given your previous posts in this thread, I doubt you are interested in how charity rides work but rather looking for something else to crap on.

How is any of this related to the OP's initial and still only question regarding the best bike for this type of trip?

70sSanO

Whether intentional or not, the OP basically showed up in the wacko General Cycling Discussion Forum in September asking for the “best” lightweight bikepacking bike to carry a change of clothes, a “charger” and a “bit” of food for Ł1000. This charity tour will be riding 2000 miles (100 miles a day for 20 days) in October.

Does anyone here have European suggestions for a bike in that budget that will be an “UPGRADE” from his 2016 Boardman?

wolfchild and I both suggested to post in the Touring subforum, although I have been infinitely more cyclical with my responses.

The fact remains that few, (anyone?) who posted in this GCD subforum thread have actually cycled across Europe and can recommend a bike, assuming the OP currently resides in the UK, is it any wonder the thread went off the rails?

John

70sSanO

Actually I was interested how these charity events work because you see headlines like…

Man Walls Across Iowa Backwards to Raise AWareness for…

Or Novice Hiker Climbs Mt Everest for…

Or any other type of feat to raise money or awareness.

I really wanted to know if these events really did raise money for their causes. Those event things never moved me to contribute.

Maelochs response was really informative that there needs to be corporate support and it is really about getting the correct media coverage.

It just isn’t jump on a bike an hope for the best. To be successful, it takes a lot of coordination.

But back to the bike… What is the “best” bike?

John

Atlas Shrugged

You participated in taking it off the rails because, for some reason, you couldn't get your head around someone wanting to do something outside the box. The OP clearly stated this is not a tour, so why take it to a touring forum? For reference, the poster said he was training for months, so what is impossible about riding 160km per day? People are presently riding the Transcontinental, the 103rd place rider just finished at 15 days, which was for a distance of 4,000 km over a very challenging route, much harder than the OP is proposing.

I did offer the OP some constructive advice, dump this forum as most of the posters are just looking for newbies to crap on and go to a reputable local shop; get your advice from them. Perhaps there are some appropriate used endurance bikes in his price range where he lives or perhaps not.

70sSanO

This is good advice. You are right he should have never posted here.

Anyone, well nearly anyone, would have been talking to local shops and distance riders before going on an internet forum for bike recommendations. At the very least researched potential bikes in his area to figure out which one would be a good choice.

John

70sSanO

I think the most perplexing part of this thread is that even if he thought we were all a bunch of jerks, (but not Hurricanes fans), even if he hated us for our responses, he still would have given us a link to a website to his tour, as Barry2 requested, or where to help with his humanitarian effort.

The atrocities in Ukraine are so enormous and well known. Being involved as part of a humanitarian effort and not even making any sort of plea, regardless of his opinion of us, just doesn't add up.

John

Milton Keynes

I was thinking the same thing. If this really is a charity ride, why not post a link to the charity in question? I personally would like to read about this 20 day, 100 mi. per day charity ride to Ukraine from the U.K.

Maelochs

I can second this. I mean, I posted Several links because to me the Cause is what it is all about .... the ride is just a means. For this guy to not even talk about it .... let alone link to it .... is Odd.

Maelochs

But yes .... if it is a sincere question it is poorly planned. "Hi, I am in Europe and want to buy a used bike for a 2000-mile tour starting in two weeks, can you in America (mostly) help me out?"

I keep taking a cynical view and getting reprimanded by the mods .... but I am not sure how real this guy is .... I wish he would come back and explain.

livedarklions

Gotta say, yeah I screwed up the geography, but regardless of the editing retrofit, the OP's initial post described himself as a newby planning on riding 1000 miles in 10 days into a war zone and then back out of the war zone for another 1000 miles in 10 days and asked us about what bike to use. I don't see how anyone with any distance riding experience could, in good conscience not wonder if giving advice might be abetting some major unintentional self-harm or worse. I took OP at his word that he was a newby, and it would definitely be nuts for such a person to take this on. OP clarified some of that in a later post which was then spliced onto the initial post that indicated that newby was actually inappropriate, .I still don't know if OP is really doing this stuff. I really don't buy that someone who was serious about this would react so defensively and fail to promote the ride and the cause when he clearly got our attention. I would love it if he proved otherwise, I'd be happy to donate to the cause.

And just to be clear, I'm pretty sure "what's the best bike to ride into a war zone" is not as straightforward a question as some of you are making out. I'm not going out on a limb to say that I don't think a lot of us have experience with what kind of bike/cargo is least likely to attract unwanted attention at checkpoints and from drones, snipers, aircraft or artillery.

If anyone has hijacked this thread btw, it's Atlas Shrugged who has engaged in name-calling and extetended dissertations on his opinion of other posters.

wolfchild

The thread has been hijacked and turned into a crapfest as soon as certain posters started to deviate from OPs original question about a bike which is light and suitable for fast lightweight bike packing and started to interrogate him to reveal all kinds of personal and private details which have nothing to do with the original question.

livedarklions

BS. His original question very obviously raised a whole bunch of issues that a real "newby" might not be aware of. And if he didn't want to discuss the context, why the hell would he have mentioned it in the first place?

70sSanO

If I’m wrong about the OP, then I deserve all the heat that comes with it.

Billions have been spent on humanitarian aid to the Ukraine. International organizations are deeply involved. You can’t live in Europe without having been impacted by the Russian invasion. There isn’t an awareness issue that a bike ride can raise.

We joke about stupid stuff, especially on the GCD subforum, and go about our day. Innocent people in the Ukraine are getting killed merely because they exist.

I really hope I’m wrong and the OP isn’t just trolling on other people’s misery.

John

Atlas Shrugged

He didn’t ask anyones opinion regarding how difficult the ride was. He mentioned it was for charity but chose not to elaborate and given he was asking about best bike options for a long distance ride that’s good enough. I have seen charity rides involve one person self supported to multi thousand people events. No mention was made wether there was a fund raising component or just to raise awareness. Who cares?

Getting across the English Channel is pretty easy having done it myself on a couple of occasions, ride onto a ferry and then ride off on the other end not sure what the issue was with that.

No need to cross the Alps route is pretty straight forward.

The OP has been training for 6 months and with that defiantly possible to average 160km per day if in good shape and committed.

Regarding this war zone narrative, yes if crossing the front lines probably be a real challenge however the western part of the Ukraine is fairly normal with the exception of a 11:00 pm curfew. In Kyiv and much of the western part of the country, prewar life has largely returned for civilians. People eat in restaurants, drink in bars, dance and enjoy lazy summer days in parks. You were the person exaggerating and rewriting the question to “best bike to ride into a war zone”.

Yes I weighed in heavily on this one mainly because I admire people who dream big and put themselves out there to do the difficult things. I also have little respect for those who scold from the sidelines trying to put the most negative demotivating information out there. If the OP failed or did not complete in the allocated time good try and we are all better for it.

“We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard,“ - John Kennedy.

70sSanO

While you will probably see this as negativity and not historical fact, JFK didn’t want to go to the Moon because it was hard, he wanted to go the the Moon to beat the Soviet Union. It was a battle between freedom and tyranny as he told Congress.

Cuba was an ally of the Soviet Union, the Bay of Pigs was a disaster, space and missile supremacy was the primary objective. The Cuban Missile Crisis just ramped things up even more.

John

Maelochs

LOL, yup. NASA got funded like the military because .... getting to the Moon first was a military objective.

Once it became clear that we had won the Space Race, NASA's budget plummeted.

Zero interest in exploration, science, expanding Man's frontiers ... straight up, we wanted to be able to drop bombs out of space before the Russkis could.

Back in the day getting off the first shots in a war which would exterminate all life on earth seemed important ..... "We died, but we Won, goldurnit!"

I really wish the OP would come back and explain himself.

70sSanO

I didn’t work in aerospace in that era, but the older guys did talk about the blood bath when programs were cancelled in the 70’s.

An interesting story was NASA directing the tooling for the Saturn V booster be cut up so the Space Shuttle would be the only option for manned space flight.

John

wolfchild

He already did explain himself and his motives and his objectives and his plans and even his previous cycling experience. Go and re-read post # 1. What more do we need to know ?

livedarklions

So he's doing a charity ride but there's no fund-raising component? And you called me a fool? Learn some words, dude.

And he said he was riding from the UK, not taking a boat.


BTW, if he's approaching and entering Ukraine from the west, you do realize that's the main supply line, right? Armies on both sides tend to get a bit nervous about foreigners hanging around critical strategic points with odd stories about what they're doing. And neither you nor I have any idea how Russia is going to try to counter the flow of arms and goods in that corridor.
You've given the same pompous speech at least3 times. zzzzzzz

indyfabz

As someone who tours (I’m crossing PA right now), I agree 100%, especially since he’s under a time crunch and said he has toured before. Also, he’s hoping to buy used. What are the chances that someone will recommend something he can find used in the UK in such a short time frame.

It really helps to read posts like these carefully and think in detail about what has been proffered.

Time to bounce. I’ll be crossings the Alleghenies tomorrow in the rain.

Peace out.

afrdav

Your wish is my command!!

sorry for the absence - the threads became a little too much to bare and I have been a bit distracted these past few weeks - cycling on my trip of course!

Tomorrow will mark the end of 22 days riding back to the UK from Ukraine. My trip did change a little as the original plan was to go UK to Ukraine but when an ambulance car needed delivered, I thought I may as well kill 2 birds 1 stone and flip it.

Absurd, naive, ignorant, stupid, amateur, not a cyclist - I truly am all of those things and I understand why people have called me out for it.

But come tomorrow, my ride will be complete - 1300 odd miles in total and just 55miles to go - and I really am grateful for all the comments - even the super ****** ones because they are still motivating in their own way.

unfortunately, because I am such a newbie to this forum - I cannot share urls or photos until I have posted 10 times. But for anyone interested, please google Baby Lifeline Ukraine Appeal or you can find info about me (Andrea Fraser) and my ride in articles in the Independent or the Herald or the Evening Standard. Also on LinkedIn too.

ps. I’m not a dude

wolfchild

Congratulations on completing your journey and putting all the internet bullies on this forum to shame...This is one of the most hostile, unwelcoming, rude, negative forums on internet. This forum is dominated by a few regulars with high post count who seem to take pleasure in harassing anybody who doesn't think and do like them. Every time a person comes here and does something a little different and out of the ordinary, these naysayers gang up together and will insult, belittle and try to discourage you. This isn't a good place to ask for any type of advice, it's better to just go ahead and do things your own way and learn as you go along.

TiHabanero

Afrdav, people like you are what make life so special. Thank you for taking the time out of your life to help in the Baby Lifeline Ukraine Appeal effort. As I sit here listening to some albums your link to Baby Lifeline Ukraine Appeal reminded me how fragile life is and how regular folks like you and I can help shore up the truly needy and hurting people out there.

Thank you for doing what you do and for putting up with some well intentioned individuals with less than stellar ability to deliver advice and concerns. None of us are perfect.

Atlas Shrugged

Way to go! Silence from all the scolders and naysayers, they are busy crapping on others now with their immense intellect. But rest assured the ass imprint in their couches is just a little bit deeper since this thread has started.