Riding to Geneva

flip-flop 13/16 cogs with a 42 ring and enjoy controlled descents (without bouncing around too much).
you could even put a few cogs and a tool on the van - it's better than the extra brake for a freewheel. sounds like great fun.

fixed, two brakes, stunt pegs on the down tube for your feet

bianchi oscilator!

Hey mongrel, I think it's a great idea. I wanted to do something similar last summer, i've got some extended family scattered around France, but in the end didn't leave from London. I did some cycling around from the Spanish border to the Italian border. I reckon London-Geneva would have no real hills until the Italian border..then there would be plenty. I put a rack on with p-clips, but couldn't realistically put panniers on cos my heels would strike it, so I had to work around that.

Hmmmm, what else? If you take a bag, then make sure it's light, and take a padded rucksack (not a courier bag). Be confident on one gear and get used to it. And ..MOST IMPORTANTLY ..make sure you have the perfect saddle. It's SO important on long-distance fixed riding, and even more important if you have a small gear. I don't think London - Geneva would be crazy hard fixed, but if your saddle is bad then you are in for a world of pain.

Peace! (and R.I.P Bareknuckle)

in fact i will give ten dollars.

@Mr Tom - your missus isn't called Dervila is she?

mongrel: No one has asked what distances you're riding now and what you can build up to before the event?
Most people could do a ride like this with a bit of training. With a bit more training you could do it and not be too pained.
600mi in what, 10 days? Easy. :) Course, if they send you over every bump you might be regretting your choice of bike.
More gears = less tears. :)

Hippy - I commute muswell hill to commercial street, so about 20km a day there and back, with some hills. Plus I go and visit mates round Acton way quite often on my way home which means I do do the odd 40km every week or so. Have done a few longer rides - actually tried to ride to Portsmouth last summer but only got as far as Guildford and pussied out and caught the train. I'm more used to riding fixed now though cos that was when i'd just bought it. Would be a good excuse to get in some proper training.

lpg - thanks for the advice - must be amazing cycling round the continent.

Done a lot of travelling and met a few distance cyclists - one Swedish guy sticks in my mind who was riding from Stockholm to Singapore - I met him on the Kazakh China border and was so jealous of him... Been thinking about proper touring cycling since then but never really got round to it.

I once met this guy from Chicago - well, disturbed his dawn mediatation beside a lake in Guatemala - called Bob Lutsky. He cycled from Alaska to Patagonia (free online book here) then did Cairo-Cape town, and finally Moscow-Beijing. Also done plenty of cycling around Europe. Have a root around on his site - plenty of good tips about long-distance cycling (although not fixed) and some cracking photos.

You'd be wise to build that up and see how it feels. For me, I can basically ride any bike for 50k and not notice any pain, even if I 'know' the setup is wrong.
100k and I'll be in pain if the setup is wrong. Anything over 100k with something in the wrong place (you know.. forgot to fit a saddle, that kind of thing) and pain, pain, pain. So, you really need to build your max distance up SLOWLY and see how you are going as the distance gets greater. The further you ride in one session the more any bike fit issues are exposed. Saddle to far back.. bars too low.. you will feel it all at 100k Take allen keys on rides to do small, incremental adjustments to the problem source. Eventually, you will know if you're gonna be comfortable riding this bike to Geneva. Personally, I wouldn't. Gears allow you to rest up a hill or race up a hill and they allow you to coast on a descent or hit your new max speed on a descent. Carrying gear for a long tour also means you will more likely need gears. Accumulated fatigue over 10 days of riding means you will more likely need gears. Sure, there's a bit of 'hardcore' factor doing anything singlespeed but there's also less hardcore if you have to bail and sit in the sag wagon because you're trashed! :)

I heart gears (outside London).

Steve Abraham is guy who at aged 19 or 20 ish did about 29,000 km fixed on rides of 200km or more. He reasently re did his recored and I read some where did close to 40k over the last year with only about 2-3k or so on gears. My numbers may be a bit out but not by much. So long distance fixed is doable. Fixedwheel nut dose crazy shit as well. Train for it and give it a go I say.

LPG love the photos

Check this out.. 330k for an entire year.

TheBrick(Tommy) Steve Abraham is guy who at aged 19 or 20 ish did about 29,000 km fixed on rides of 200km or more. He reasently re did his recored and I read some where did close to 40k over the last year with only about 2-3k or so on gears. My numbers may be a bit out but not by much. So long distance fixed is doable. Fixedwheel nut dose crazy shit as well. Train for it and give it a go I say.

Hey, Steve Abraham is in my club and I didn't even know! Not surprising considering I've still not done an Audax. Willesden are big on Audax..
http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/sport/Pete-retains-trophy--and.3679252.jp

I thought he was from Milton Keens? I don't know.

hippy Check this out.. 330k for an entire year.

Crazy that shit has got to fuck you up.

There used to be a classic website up about 2 bike couriers cycling round Asia on thier track bikes, the website was 2bikesinasia.com. They seemed to manage fine in the hills of north Thailand and Vietnam although they were hitching lorries on the way up. I reckon they were very very good cyclists though they both had been couriers for a long time, my brother met one and he was bunnyhopping 80cm on a track bike with drop bars.

Personnaly I would use gears though unless your used to riding all the time and going up long hills, the hills in London are tiny and hardly really count.

mongrel. do it fixed. give yourself another gear choice for if you find it tough going. an 18 or a 19. you'll be fine.

good photos lpg and sound advice.

BringMeMyFix @Mr Tom - your missus isn't called Dervila is she?

Nope, but I'll ask if she knows her. :-)