My Raven Tour. 3500 miles on (11,000 miles on)

[bobs]

Jags, here is the link;

http://www.outdoorwarehouse.co.uk/index.cfm?action=shop.detail&pid=30BE92FB-FF29-08BD-48B5B7CC0F395D20&ref=gbase

[jags]

thank's bob's your a gent.

[PH]

like the brolly very dandy.

Brolly ???What brolly

i don't have that much seat post showing,
so my camper bag sit's on the rear rack,do you mind me asking ,what have you in the saddle bag.as i said in another post, i have my tent along with footprint and bike spares.but i find it's to hard to take the bag on and off the bike.i have it strapped to the brook's and seat post.

The saddlebag is permanently on the bike.  I use it to carry what I'll need in the day, tools, tubes, waterproof... it also carries my cooker so I can brew up when I want, there's also a bit of room for shopping.  The advantage of packing the stuff needed on the road separately is there's no need to repack if you take the bike out after you've set up camp.  I've been caught out that way, 10 miles from camp with a puncture, no tube or tools...once is enough. Sometimes at the end of a rally or festival, someone will offer to carry my panniers back in their car, while I ride home, I can get them to do this without having to think about what I need to take out.

[jags]

ooops soppy ph taught i spotted a brolly on the rear rack oviously not damm.
thanks for advice on s/bag that makes sense .

[PH]

ooops soppy ph taught i spotted a brolly on the rear rack oviously not damm.

That's my poles and pegs bag.

[jags]

ah hah mystery solved.

[freddered]

Dear Mr Thorn.  Please forgive me for getting my bike in this condition:






The good news is that it worked just as well like that as it ever did.

This is underneath somewhere:

[jags]

i clean my little beauty after every spin,got into the habit of this when my son was racing, his bike was gleaming ,at the start of every race.(could have made it in the cycling world ,but found love)ah well.
fred love that bike it's class,are you heading off anywhere this year.
edit
fred meant to ask ,your tyres are they marathon plus,i changed mine to conti city contacts ,and find them way better ,much lighter great on wet tarmac (the main reason i changed ,hated the m/plus on wet roads) mind you tricky to get on, but im well pleased with the change.

[freddered]

They are cheap Marathon Kevlar (£15 each).  Nothing else deals with the flints around here (excpet even heavier Marathons which I don't want)

I have a puncture about 4 times a year (5000 miles) which is an improvement on any other tyre I've tried.

I may do a long-weekend camping trip with buddies but my only plans are to do an Audax SR series again (Super Randonneur).  Done the 200km earlier this month (got another one tomorrow and in Feb) .  300km in March, 400km in April and the Bryan Chapman Memorial 600km in May (Chepstow-Anglessey-Chepstow).

Proabably a few 'no-pressure' fun audaxes and social rides mixed in with that.

[jags]

good stuff fred ,that audex sounds very hard,only for the brave and hearty i think.

[freddered]

good stuff fred ,that audex sounds very hard,only for the brave and hearty i think.

Not really.  It's full of a cross-section of the public.

I think most of struggled with our first 100km ride.  Many people get comfortable with 100km and stick to that.  A nice enough distance to keep yourself fit, see some new countryside, grab a pub-lunch and be back in time for tea. (9am - 3pm is typical).

From there you take it a step at a time.  My first 200km left me collapsed in a comfy chair, too tired to even eat the cake provided.  Now I class 200km as my 'comfort zone', in that I don't really need to prepare so much for them and they don't leave me feeling wiped-out any more. (8am - 7pm is typical)

300km is getting serious.  Many people never bother trying them but, if you can do a 200 then you can do a 300 (albeit feeling wiped-out for a couple of days after your first ones).  (7am - 11pm is typical)

400km is serious.  Unless you are very quick (I'm not) you can't avoid riding through the night (not that it's something to avoid, it can be extremely nice to cycle whilst the world is asleep).  (7am Sat - 7am Sun is typical)

600km is serious (some people think they are easier than 400s because you can bank enough time to have a rest for a few hours (sleep even).  I'm too slow to take a sleep break and my, single, experience is that they are 200km harder than a 400.  (6am Sat - 10pm Sun is typical).

At one time or another all these distances have seemed impossible to me (I only started 3 years ago, at 42).  Slumped in a chair after my first 200km ride, it seemed impossible to do another 100km, never mind another 400km ("what?, 3 x 200km rides, one after the other? No chance").

100km leads to a 200km, 200km leads to 300km.  I think that, if you can cycle 300km then you can do a 600km (I did).

I'd urge any cyclist to try a local 100km.  They are strictly non-competetive.  You may see ages from 12 to 80, male, female, MTBs, recumbents, touring bikes, carbon road bikes, hybrids (although touring bikes are most prominent).  Some people chat to you, some don't, some people stop at pubs and some don't.

Mostly though, you pay a few quid to have someone organise the route, provide tea and cakes at the start and finish and leave you free to enjoy roads you would never have otherwise seen.

AUDAX UK



Remember, it's NON competetive.  Finishing times are not published. The fact that you completed the ride or not is published.  You are awarded medals based on completing the distance within a fairly generous time.  If Lance Armstrong enters an Audax then you will both get the same medal (even if he does finish 4 hours before you).

[freddered]

If you wanted to know what a Raven Tour (and it's rider) looked like at 7am, on a Salisbury firing range track , after riding 100 miles through the night, to arrive at Stonehenge at 4:30am for Summer Solstice... it looks like this


Photo courtesy of TimO from YACF.

crossbar is covered in pipe-insulation as a guard against a nasty bike rack at work (although it actually makes a nice seat now)

I don't ride the RT so much any more (favouring my more sprightly British Eagle 531 tourer) but I do use it when I need something nice and reliable, capable of getting me across rough roads, thru the night in comfort.

[jags]

just seen this one,wow looking good fred your certainly getting in the miles on that beauty.

[freddered]

I thought I'd provide an update of my Raven Tour (which I bought in Feb 2006).

I can't believe four and a half years have passed by (and I reckon a few people who saw my original post will suddenly feel older).

I have to admit that I haven't used it much this year and only 1400 miles last year (out of 5500 miles).  I generally use it in winter because it shakes off the grunge of winter much better than my other bikes and it rides over those surprise pot-holes, you find when riding at night in the rain, much better than my quicker bikes.

It's covered about 10,500 miles I think, 9,000 of which in the first 3 years.

I'm always surprised just how comfy, reliable and solid it feels when I ride it for the first time in a while.

HOWEVER...right now it has a real problem.  The seat post is jammed solid.  I have truly mashed up the alloy post trying to trist and saw it out.

I am about to send it off to Mercian cycles (the only shop who confidently said they could remove it).  Let it be a warning to you all to remove and grease yours before it's too late.  4 years and 4 winters without moving mine was a bad policy.

Hopefully Mercian can get it out because I need my winter workhorse back before November kicks in.

Also, once I complete (or fail to complete) the Paris-Brest-Paris 1200km Audax in 2011, I shall be looking forward to less miles and more cycle camping.  I fully expect the Raven to become my main bike once more.

PS.  It has NEVER missed a gear-shift in all those miles

[RA1]

I was glad to read your post on here Freddered. I, for one, have found your descriptions of the purchase and setting up of your Raven Tour extremely interesting and very helpful. They certainly helped me to decide and so I also have a Thorn Raven Tour - and love it. Yes it's much slower than my Mercian Audax, but its comfort and ease of maintenance are outstanding.
Mercian Cycles should do a good job - I've always found them to be knowledgeable and helpful....so, Good luck!