Cycling - training advice for 2 x century
 

Any experienced cyclers out there who want to chime in, I am all ears.

Rather that clutter up George's bike thread any more, I will start this thread to ask other questions about distance riding.

I only seem to have one pace. Fast (for me)
thats comfortable for 2.5 hours but not sure how to pace myself so that I don't burn out.

For background, here is where the thread drift started to move towards riding, as we were talking about components

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/910181-school-me-road-bikes-8.html

So, my first question is how to pace myself?

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Long-Distance-Cycling-Confidence/dp/1579541992


Pick this puppy up used on amazon. Lots of good nuggets.
R

Depending on your goals, you may consider some coaching as you get started. Carmichael Training Systems has virtual coaches. I attended one of their camps several years back in a year where my group did several centuries, an ultra marathon around Mt. Rainier, etc. We were specifically concerned with climbing but the training techniques we learned applied to all aspects of what we were doing. We learned about our VO2 max and how to use that for training, recovery rides, group riding, building up endurance, etc. Ride with more experienced folks who have similar goals and have fun.

I suppose the first thing to ask is how soon is the event and how much cycling do you currently do? What condition are you in? Without knowing those answers, I'll go out on a limb and would say at the least, if you can knock out 30 miler loops every other day and avg. 15 mph, a century will be pretty easy. Doesn't matter if those loop rides are hills or flats. Headwinds welcomed.

But for a double century, one should be prepared for the back half, because if you're choking after the first century, you will suffer and won't have recovery for the second. Should be comfortable in knocking out and routine 50 milers avg. 14-15 mph. Get to that level and you'll be fine.

You mentioned you like to go fast. Don't get wrapped up into speed, its about pacing. Countless times I have seem folks all zoot and then some time later bonking. Personally, I'm not a sprinter and carry steady lower cadence, less of a spinner. Fan of old school bikes, weighing 8 to 10 lbs more and 150 mile days are pretty good for me. Sometimes my tempo can reel in the occasional CF crowd and pull the train. Again, my style of riding doesn't follow what some coach would say but it works.

Comfort - as discussed in that other thread but can't emphasize enough. Consider leg's, knees, wrist / hands. Proper saddle / tilt correctly set. You don't want to mess with all this while out on the ride.

Crucial ~ Fluids, replenish / nourishment. Plenty of info out there to seek but pay attention to your body. Intake whether you think or not to do so. Do it. Need a regular use of both water and electrolytes. Avoid those cramps or bonk. Fail this and your ride and fun is over.

Will you be riding solo or will you be with a small group? If with a small group, its a huge advantage to work together, pre-determine and type of paceline. Set some parameters with the paceline so the stronger rider(s) don't bust the others. Stay focused with the rest of the group and if theres a knucklehead rider in it, leave the group. Mostly though I find the small group paceline in these types of rides some of the best and the miles click off nicely.

Have a great time.

This is great advice so far. Thanks!

My event is in four weeks :eek:

Snow has only just let up. It has been a late spring so only go on the road three weeks ago off and on. I have been doing spin classes to try to get up to speed and that has worked pretty well for 1 hour all out blasts, but that doesn't = distance.

An hour of indoor training is about the same as 20 to 30 minutes of riding outside.

Try to rode daily even if its only for a couple of hours and don't stop. You body will get used to the discomfort of riding. Get in some hill work every other day. Those hills in the 100 miler is gonna to kill. Drafting will he;p reserve your energy up to about 20% if done correctly.

Here is my typical riding.

I built a stupid light bike for my wife and we ride in from the country down town for coffee and I try to keep up with her.
She rides in sandals and I've only just convinced her to wear a helmet and gloves.

She makes me ride in running shoes and walking shorts or she won't be seen with me. She doesn't consider herself a cyclist.
Her training is step class, weights and stairs. If I see the gap between us opening up I know that she has spotted some guy up ahead on a carbon bike with all the gear. She says that she is not competitive:rolleyes:

(The speed in the box is in KMs I think. miles on the left bar and the break in the middle is coffee and people watching).
This is mainly on the flats with a bit of short grades here and there. I think this was the day she was pissed off at me. We didn't doddle on the way home...

I don't think this is helping me last 200 miles let alone keep her ass in sight. :confused:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1462379316.jpg

Do you have a pair of riding shoe and shorts? One thing about those long miles on the saddle is that you ass is going to hurt no matter how comfortable that saddle is. Shoe will help you transmit 100% of that power to your pedals. Its a huge difference. Get St bike shoes. This way, you wouldn't look a duck shaking its ass as you walk on those cleats and that your wife will still talk to you on the bike ride around people. I hate to break it to ya, it ain't the light weight bike that make her faster. Its all her.

Oh, the shorts will help with comfort. I can't ride a bike without them.

4 weeks. wow. That's cutting it close. Gotta make the best of it.

Since it will take a week just to get the book, and another week to read it, i'll put in my 2 cents.

Saturdays- long- LSD long STEADY distance-keep hr at a sustainable aerobic level which makes you happy.
Sundays-long- LSD long SLOW distance - Just like your 2x century- get out the next day with your legs depleted and do it. Get used to riding tired, but don't overdo the day two's. Go gentle- just like you would do on the ride. keep hr in fat burning low zone.
mon-off
tue- aneorobic threshold training- total cardio/muscles/ target muscles
wed-off
thur- aneorobic all out intervals- total cardio/target heart
fri-off


(also feel free to substitute one of the weekly workouts with a hammerfest group ride off all the angry professionals beating each other up.)

Final week before event- just do sat long, sunday light spin.

This should build up your base on the weekends/spinning, targeting cardio/ and leg muscles specifically as short excercises during week with plenty of rest/recovery.

Get used to eating/drinking. try e-caps for electrolytes.
As said above- draft religiously.

^

Tue and Thur are gonna to be hard days, but you will need it. I can't say enough about LSD or base miles. That's what will get you thought this. If you haven't been riding and you only have 4 weeks, you need to pack in lots of miles. Your legs will cramp on that ride. In about a week of training, try for a 60 miler and see how you feel. That will tell you if will have trouble or not. I have been through these 60 or 70 mile rides with a few guys that are in shape. I come back completely wasted. The next day, I drag my ass out again for some more riding. The first 5 miles are super hard as my legs are completely wasted and I can't recover like I did when I was in my 20s now that 50 is only a few feet in front of me.

I'm also in the like to go fast category and I've found a heart rate monitor is only way to pace myself while maintaining a fast pace. I'm not into centuries since my neck and feet are in excruciating pain before my legs give out.

For the long days of 60-80 miles where there is a chance of running out of steam, I monitor my heart rate and keep it in a range I know I can maintain. For me, that's about 140 BPM with runs up to 150. With about 30 minutes to an hour left in the ride, I can ramp it up to 150 BPM if I still feeling good. This makes for a 20+ mph average on a long ride. Obviously for 200 miles, your heart would need to be adjusted down accordingly.

Thanks! All good stuff.

For equipment I think I am all set.

I bought cycling shoes when I built the bikes a couple years ago but only wear them when out on my own. Last year I caved and bought a decent couple of cycling jerseys (one for each day) after I got a wicked sunburn between my T shirt and shorts on a 2 hour ride by myself.

I also bought a bib that I only wear if I am doing more than an hour ( I have to sneak out of the house with because if my wife saw me wearing that I' never get any action);)

Oh my, thinking you might be suffering a bit.

Maybe send the bike out and get one of those stealth bottom bracket motors installed. Carry a few quick hot swap battery's. Fill the bottles with beer and laugh at everyone.

Energy gels. Make sure you have enough to get you through the ride. You'll be sick to death of them by the end of the day, but they keep you bonk free, as long as you force them down with plenty of water.

Is this ride well supported? Definitely take advantage of the stops to fill your bottles, fill your pockets with food, pee, but remember, these stops add up. 1 stop every 25 miles is going to be 7 stops before you get to the finish. 10 minutes spent per stop will add 70 minutes to an already long day. There is no way you're gonna get through in only ten minutes if you're not paying attention. Get in, take care of your needs and get out. This becomes really difficult if you are with a big group. It's easy to watch a half hour slip away at a single stop.

Clip your toenails the night before. Put some lotion on your feet the morning of. Throw a handful of ibuprofin in one of your pockets.

Chamois butter. Ahhhhhhh. You'll get to the point where you'd put it on in a crowd of nuns and young children.

You'll be tempted to paceline. BE VERY CAREFUL IN A PACELINE. Here be dragons if you're new at it.

Remember to try and have some fun. Pay attention to your surroundings; I look for interesting cars in garages and fields.

Fortunately the ride is supported.

It all started when I was 14 and my Aunt bought a house out in the country and I had the is harebrained ideas to ride to see her. Everybody told me it was too dangerous and I would get run over. On TV cross country rides seemed like all they required was time. What did I know.

I never went, and by the time I got a car I was out of cycling. Meanwhile a cycle club formed and people started doing this ride and I was oblivious to its existence.

When I became aware, life was too busy and I was slowly getting more and more out of shape.
a few years ago even though I had been playing hockey an thought I was in shape, when I got on my old mountain bike I almost coughed up a lung on a slow ride to the end of the road. I cought the cycling bug though because of the technology, and started building what I think of as resto-mod vintage bikes and riding by myself and eventually drag gin my wife into weekend coffee runs on the road bikes I built.

Then I crashed, dislocated one shoulder and injured the other, broke three ribs and ruptured a lung.

Last year, still not back up to full strength and in my 50s now, my aunt dies and I start feeling too mortal. At the last minute I committed to the ride without realizing what I was getting into without much training. I survived and made a stop at her old place and her grave on the way back.

(I'll add to that adventure later, but this year I already feel more prepared just with the tips I have received so far in this thread, All I will say right now is that last year I made it... sort of).

This year I was busy, life was too hectic, winter weather has hung on too long with a very late spring, and I thought there was no way I would do this again especially now that I know what I don't know about pain. It seems though that this year at the last minute I got pressured into it (Actually well intentioned people were just asking innocent questions but I translated that into pressure to sign up, so here I am).

QUESTION:
How long should I stop for at the lunch stop?

It is a supported event, with a morning water stop, a lunch stop where I can buy sandwiches and drinks, and two afternoon water stops in the hills where there are also convenience stores.

A lot of people seemed to linger at the lunch stop. Since I was riding alone I had no idea what to do there other than eat, so once I scarfed back a couple ham sandwiches and that was all over I felt silly just hanging around the park in a crowd by myself so I started riding again. Meanwhile some people were fast asleep on the grass.

I feel like I should be starting a go-fund-me site for this year but instead of money I'll take advice :)

^Nice story and seems you have half the battle covered. The will of the mind.

Good points on the time spent at a rest stop. I'm usually concerned about getting 'iced' at them and do make them fairly short.

Though have to laugh at myself last year at an event. It was the organizers of the Dairyland Dare first year of a vintage class (no timers last year, but will have this coming event). There were so many awesome food stops, some not even part of the organizers event. I indulged at most of the stops. Drinks and fruit of course but also ham, potatoes, venison, massive and variety of pasta..... salad(s). Crazy feast.

Choice of routes that day was up to a 300k but I chose the 150k with something like 7700 ft. el gain. My mount was a circa 1958 bike with old school all the way.... 4 speed cog, lowest climbing ratio of a 54 gear inch. Had only one tubular blow out. Quite the grind that day.

edit: Forgot to mention. Don't drink too many cocktails the night before. We had a party with locals and their gang at the firehouse + more at the hotel. Three hours sleep is not enough rest. LOL

Regarding cocktails, good idea

Last year despite whatever training I could get in, I ended up on a plane for two weeks, and on the friday night had some sort of weird beer at an airport, returned home far too late, barely slept and the next morning spent the first half of the ride clenching my cheeks before I eventually bonked...

This year has got to be better. Tell me with regular riding this gets better...I can't imagine a 1958 bike...

The other danger is thinking we're all 20 somethings. Careful of those bones, joints, heart. Damn some of those youngsters can fly.

As for the mentioned vintage, that particular one is not quite what one thinks of or some old clunker. Rather special with some provenance. Other than the archaic components and lack of modern gearing, its a pretty sweet handling and comfy rider. Surprisingly, I like it more than a few of the later classic Italian steels. Also, I don't want to ride a modern ally or maybe some CF frame for some of these events.

Trick for rides with lots of involved climbing is having light wheels and tubulars. Even with a bike that old. Though if planning to challenge oneself - old school gearing, you must change style of body position and be methodical. I learned the hard way and only after studying old films of the pros back then. Its do-able because obviously they did it back then. Too much to review here and of course the thread will derail plus your'e riding something modern.

I just get into the old stuff as an added element and personal challenge. You only compete against ones self. Do all your riding this way. You're not getting paid or racing for points against anyone.

Above someone mentioned going with stronger riders. I completely agree but long as they get where you're at in ability. But if you go for some weekly shootouts, drop rides, well maybe avoid some of that. Your mind might not like that and defeat your will. Rather go with some stronger pushers and let them know if you become a bit ragged. They hopefully can back off the throttle and keep you in rotation.

You're on a mission, have some sort of plan started and gonna' accomplish it.

Riding modern;)

took red at the last minute last year when the black one had problems
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1462402759.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1462402785.jpg

For ultra's, I found that strict regimentation of hourly carbohydrate intake and hydration to be mandatory. Over consumption will get you in trouble faster than under. Also, for survival, especially if under trained, riding with a heart rate monitor and maintaining <70% MHR to prevent bonking. Even short periods of high heart rate intense riding can leave you behind the carbohydrate replacement curve.