Araf OK Summer Soltice 2020
*UPDATE — To be eligible for the goodies, you will need to complete your ride by Sunday 28th June 2020. Please see details on how to obtain a brevet and patches at the end of this article.
AOK-SS2020 — AOK100 & AOK200
Saturday 20th June 2020
June is usually a big month for me, it’s my Birthday and the Summer Solstice. I normally celebrate these together with a ride on the longest day of of the year. We were planning our annual OK200 ride and hoped to have a few more people join us! Due to the global pandemic I can’t ride, so I thought it would be great if everyone else got out there for me!
Hopefully this will be make it more accessible as you can choose where you want to ride and do it in your own time.
Depending on your location, in the UK Sunrise is around 04:45 and Sunset at 21:30 with the solstice taking place at 22:43BST.
The idea is simple — challenge yourself to ride a little slower to go a lot further, over 100km or 200km in one day. That’s it.
Rules & Advice
It’s important to plan when doing a longer ride. The more you can plan the less you have to worry about on the ride and the more fun you’re going to have.
Don’t be a dick
Respect your surroundings. Give space, follow your local laws, rules and advice from government and health authorities on social distancing. Do not cross borders without permission to do so. Saying you didn’t know is ignorant and failing to do so is selfish and irresponsible.
The only trace you leave should be your tyre tracks, don’t litter. You brought it with you, so bring it back or bin it on the route.
Don’t go balls deep
If you haven’t ridden these distances before, work yourself up to it, there’s plenty of time. Once you have ridden over 50km you should be fine to do 100km and then 200km following on from that provided you take plenty of breaks. Why not join Clwb Araf if you need some motivation to build up the km’s.
Little and Often
Snacks, snacks SNACKS! The best way to avoid bonking its to make sure you are eating and drinking little and often. Personally I try to and have a bit of something every 15—30mins. Take a break at regular intervals and aim to have a proper food and drink stop every 40—50km.
Our friends Outdoor Provisions sell great treats for on (and off) road and perfect for nibbling throughout the ride.
Slow is ok
This is not a race. The idea is to make a day out of it. Plan plenty of breaks, take your time and enjoy the ride. It’s important to focus on being comfortable over fast.
Walking is also ok. It’s not always worth the risk, sometimes its better to get off and walk and that’s ok.
Don’t be reliant on others
It’s important to be self sufficient when riding longer distances. You should have basic tools to make a roadside repair. Punctures are by far the most common thing likely to bring you to a halt, but also mechanicals like a broken mech hanger can end your ride. Zipties, electrical tape and a chain break tool can be really helpful to help you get home.
Some essentials you should consider — its better to have too much than not enough, you will usually use more than you anticipate:
• Plenty of Water
• Plenty of Snacks
• At least one proper meal/bit of food.
• Fruit (Bananas are great).
• Puncture Repair Kit.
• Spare Inner Tubes.
• Bike Pump
• Bike Tools
• First aid kit
• Lights (Your ride may be longer than you expect, also some tunnels aren’t always lit!)
• Suncream if it’s sunny.
• Sunglasses if it’s bright.
• Raincoat if it’s wet.
• Layers for when the temperature drops (this is likely at the start and end of the ride — but also good to have if conditions change).
• Somewhere to keep all of this!
Whilst you shouldn’t be reliant on others. If you aren’t riding alone and with a buddy, plan together so you can spread your essentials.
Considering how to pack is also useful. There are plenty of videos and articles out there to help you on advice so just do a bit of Googling.
Backpacks can make you really sweaty and get really unpleasant on long rides so its worth investing in some bike bags. If you haven’t got the budget, you could just get some straps so you can mount things to your bike, inside your frame or on your handle bars is a good place. Bumbags(fanny packs) are also great if you aren’t using a jersey (or in addition to) as they aren’t as uncomfortable as a bag and handy for some simple supplies.
Tell a friend
Always inform someone who isn’t riding with you where you are riding and when you expect to be back. Even if its just to text check in with you.
Service your bike
Before you ride make sure your bike is in good working order. If you’re not confident about this, now is a great time to book it in for a service or once over from your local bike mechanic.
Treat yo self!
Make sure you treat yourself. Get food, drinks and good times ready for when you get home, you earned it. We’d love to see how you celebrate!
The date is not set in stone
You can ride this whenever you like. However to be eligible for the goodies your ride needs to take place between Saturday 6th—Sunday 28th June. This just so we can organise sending them out due my current circumstances.
Route Planning
There are so many great ways to route plan. Be it a physical map, phone app or GPS device. We’ve put together some of favourite resources:
Great Resources (Mostly UK):
Komoot
Ride with GPS
Strava
Google Maps
OS Maps
Sustrans
EuroVelo
UK Bridleways
UK Byways
BikePacking
Route Check
If you are local to Bristol or want to ride here, we have a 100km & 200km route. Please consider places that may be busier right now such as cycle paths in more populated areas. Half the fun is planning your own route!
If you’re planning yourself, pay attention to contour lines. Sometimes it’s better to take a longer route to save you from burning out on a gnarly climb or a risking yourself on am unridable descent. Be prepared to adapt your route during the ride.
As a lot of places are still currently closed, having enough fuel and liquids is super important and if it’s a hot day you will be drinking more.
May saw Dirty Kanzelled take place — our buddies Katherine and John set a great example on how to tackle long distance rides in our current circumstances, using their home as a half way station for refuelling so why not plan a back and forth route or a nice figure of 8?
Completed it Mate
Did it actually happen though? Memories are flakey at best of times, so why not commemorate your ride with some goodies?
£5 — Commemorative Brevet Card, Sticker & Patch
£7.50—Commemorative Brevet Card, Sticker & 2 x Patches
There are limited quantities of these so they will be on a first come first serve basis.
How:
Send evidence of your ride (link to your Strava or Komoot etc)and your postal address to hello@araf.cc with the subject title: Completed it Mate
We’ll send you a Paypal link and send out all the goodies out in July provided we have a confirmed receipt of payment.
Of course you don’t have to buy things. We’d also love to see your photos so tag away on Instagram (@arafcc)with #AOKSS2020 #AOK100 #AOK200 #slowisok where we share our favourites or send them in your email!
The important thing is to just get out there and ride!
Good luck. Take it steady as fuck!
✌️
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