Planning a very long ride - 8 hrs

Badger_south

I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall, after a summer of
400 mile/months, and I'm interested in some ideas as to pacing. Here's
something I've been thinking about:

Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a shower?),
eat, then ride for 2 hours, repeat rest, then ride for an
hour, repeat rest, then ride final 2 hours. Does that seem
like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?

People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a day for
like 2 weeks. 'Course they're sightseeing so it's more fun.
It would probably require a "support crew" to bring food and
change of clothes and stuff. If you were gonna do it how
would you break it up?

I'm thinking the mental aspect would be the most
difficult. Gonna try and get the family interested in it
to help with that.

I'm sure some here would say 'just ride for the 8 hours,
what's the big deal', but that would be OK for those who
have ridden a lot (like frequent 3-4 hour rides), but my
longest ride has been 3.5 hours, and only did that once. I'm
hoping to get some posts on others who have done something
like this, and their experiences vs the initial
expectations.

I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish, or
first light. o 5:30-8:30 o 9:00-11:00 o 12:-1 o 2-4pm

TIA,

-Badger

Roger Zoul

Badger_South wrote:
:: I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall,
:: after a summer of 400 mile/months, and I'm interested in
:: some ideas as to pacing. Here's something I've been
:: thinking about:
::
:: Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a
:: shower?), eat, then ride for 2 hours, repeat rest, then
:: ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride final 2 hours.
:: Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?

Why not start doing long rides on the weekends, but
increasing them by 10% every other week or so. You can
work on speed during the week, but do your endurance
riding on weekends.

Personally, I don't like the "killer" riding events like you
mention since you're on the road with cars and need to be
100% all of the time, and you have no base developed. Also,
you don't give your butt and muscles time to adjust with
your plan. Chances of injury seem too high to me....

::
:: People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a day
:: for like 2 weeks. 'Course they're sightseeing so it's
:: more fun. It would probably require a "support crew" to
:: bring food and change of clothes and stuff. If you were
:: gonna do it how would you break it up?
::
:: I'm thinking the mental aspect would be the most
:: difficult. Gonna try and get the family interested in it
:: to help with that.
::
:: I'm sure some here would say 'just ride for the 8 hours,
:: what's the big deal', but that would be OK for those who
:: have ridden a lot (like frequent 3-4 hour rides), but my
:: longest ride has been 3.5 hours, and only did that once.
:: I'm hoping to get some posts on others who have done
:: something like this, and their experiences vs the initial
:: expectations.

Build up slowly...

::
:: I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish, or
:: first light.

That's what I do..

:: o 5:30-8:30 o 9:00-11:00 o 12:-1 o 2-4pm
::
:: TIA,
::
:: -Badger

David Kerber

In article <o1ojc05qfqndt3piisbmfg36rrlok6jeg0@4ax.com>,
Badger@South.net says...
>
> I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall,
> after a summer of 400 mile/months, and I'm interested in
> some ideas as to pacing. Here's something I've been
> thinking about:

How long is "long" (mile-wise, that is)?

> Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a
> shower?), eat, then ride for 2 hours, repeat rest, then
> ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride final 2 hours.
> Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?
>
> People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a day
> for like 2 weeks. 'Course they're sightseeing so it's more
> fun. It would probably require a "support crew" to bring
> food and change of clothes and stuff. If you were gonna do
> it how would you break it up?

I'd probably put the first rest stop well before the 3
hour point, and space them more evenly. Maybe 1.5-1.5-1.5-1.5-
1.5, or 2-2-2-2. Also, 30 minutes might be too long of a
break; it might give your muscles too long, so that you
would need a long warm up again when you start back up
YMMV a lot on this, and will probably depend on the
weather (temperature particularly). More frequent, shorter
breaks work well for many people, such as 5 to 10 minutes
every hour.

> I'm thinking the mental aspect would be the most
> difficult. Gonna try and get the family interested in it
> to help with that.
>
> I'm sure some here would say 'just ride for the 8 hours,
> what's the big deal', but that would be OK for those who
> have ridden a lot (like frequent 3-4 hour rides), but my
> longest ride has been 3.5 hours, and only did that once.
> I'm hoping to get some posts on others who have done
> something like this, and their experiences vs the initial
> expectations.
>
> I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish, or
> first light. o 5:30-8:30 o 9:00-11:00 o 12:-1 o 2-4pm
>
> TIA,
>
> -Badger
>
>
>

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in
the newsgroups if possible).

Badger_south

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 13:09:19 -0400, "Roger Zoul" <rogerzoul2@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>Badger_South wrote:
>:: I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall,
>:: after a summer of 400 mile/months, and I'm interested in
>:: some ideas as to pacing. Here's something I've been
>:: thinking about:
>::
>:: Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a
>:: shower?), eat, then ride for 2 hours, repeat rest, then
>:: ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride final 2 hours.
>:: Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?
>
>Why not start doing long rides on the weekends, but
>increasing them by 10% every other week or so. You can work
>on speed during the week, but do your endurance riding on
>weekends.

Oh, I plan on doing more long rides, and want to have
several more three hour rides, and maybe a four hour ride.
I seem to do pretty good on 3-a-day rides of 60-90 minutes
right now - no pain anywhere the next day, etc. I think
trying to slowly ramp up to 8 hours would involve just too
much boredom. (I have to get pretty psyched to do 2.5
hours, but I know I'm just a noob, so I'll suspend that
opinion a bit.)

>Personally, I don't like the "killer" riding events like
>you mention since you're on the road with cars and need to
>be 100% all of the time, and you have no base developed.
>Also, you don't give your butt and muscles time to adjust
>with your plan. Chances of injury seem too high to me....

Well, I'd take exception to the 'no base developed'. I'll
have been riding for a year, every single frikin' day, and
many, many two-a-day and a lot of three-a-day rides. I know
it can take up to 10 years to really develop your base, but
sheesh. <g> I'm pretty sure I could go out today, given
sufficient motivation and do 4 hours on the road. (I'm not
counting distance, just time, although I would hope the
total distance would add up to around 100miles at the end.)

I find that unless I'm nearly 'ready' to do a long ride like
this, I don't start contemplating it. I did the 50 miler
after kinda having the idea pop into my head a few days
prior, (at the time my longest ride was 22 miles, and 9
months of riding) and thinking 'why not'. It was -way-
easier than I thought it would be, and it was on the 45lb
beater bike. Had I been paying attention, I'd have tacked on
the extra miles later that day to equal a metric century.

I've read stories (admittedly of younger riders) only
training for a year to do some touring and then actually get
in shape during the tour. Of course they were riding with a
group and stuff.

>:: People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a day
>:: for like 2 weeks. 'Course they're sightseeing so it's
>:: more fun. It would probably require a "support crew" to
>:: bring food and change of clothes and stuff. If you were
>:: gonna do it how would you break it up?
>::
>:: I'm thinking the mental aspect would be the most
>:: difficult. Gonna try and get the family interested in it
>:: to help with that.
>::
>:: I'm sure some here would say 'just ride for the 8 hours,
>:: what's the big deal', but that would be OK for those who
>:: have ridden a lot (like frequent 3-4 hour rides), but my
>:: longest ride has been 3.5 hours, and only did that once.
>:: I'm hoping to get some posts on others who have done
>:: something like this, and their experiences vs the
>:: initial expectations.
>
>Build up slowly...

That's a good idea, but I'm going on the thought that in
jogging, you can run middle-of-the pack races pretty well on
a 25 mile per week base (for a year) and the longest run 1/3
that of the total distance. For instance my first 10 miler I
did on a few months of 30miles/week, and doing a 10K race
every couple weeks. My longest jog was about 6.5 miles. I
had no negative sequelae after the race, and resumed my
training post, no problem.

Thanks for the input, though, Rog. How's the new wheel
holding up? ;-)

>::
>:: I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish, or
>:: first light.
>
>That's what I do..
>
>:: o 5:30-8:30 o 9:00-11:00 o 12:-1 o 2-4pm
>::
>:: TIA,
>::
>:: -Badger

Terry Morse

Badger_South wrote:

> I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall,
> after a summer of 400 mile/months, and I'm interested in
> some ideas as to pacing. Here's something I've been
> thinking about:
>
> Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a
> shower?), eat, then ride for 2 hours, repeat rest, then
> ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride final 2 hours.
> Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?

Why not just do an organized, supported ride? They typically
have rest stops every 1.5-2 hours apart. It's a great place
to find out about pacing and fueling, and there's sag if you
need it. Try a 100k to see if you like it. If that was too
easy, try a 100-mile.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

Badger_south

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 13:22:38 -0400, David Kerber <ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net>
wrote:

>In article <o1ojc05qfqndt3piisbmfg36rrlok6jeg0@4ax.com>,
>Badger@South.net says...
>>
>> I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall,
>> after a summer of 400 mile/months, and I'm interested in
>> some ideas as to pacing. Here's something I've been
>> thinking about:
>
>How long is "long" (mile-wise, that is)?

I'm not too worried about the mileage, although I would hope
that after 8 hours of well-spaced riding that it would be
around 100 miles.

>> Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a
>> shower?), eat, then ride for 2 hours, repeat rest, then
>> ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride final 2 hours.
>> Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?
>>
>> People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a day
>> for like 2 weeks. 'Course they're sightseeing so it's
>> more fun. It would probably require a "support crew" to
>> bring food and change of clothes and stuff. If you were
>> gonna do it how would you break it up?
>
>I'd probably put the first rest stop well before the 3
>hour point, and space them more evenly. Maybe 1.5-1.5-1.5-1.5-
>1.5, or 2-2-2-2. Also, 30 minutes might be too long of a
>break; it might give your muscles too long, so that you
>would need a long warm up again when you start back up
>YMMV a lot on this, and will probably depend on the
>weather (temperature particularly). More frequent, shorter
>breaks work well for many people, such as 5 to 10 minutes
>every hour.

Oh, I forgot to mention that. I find that a 2 min rest every
10-15 miles helps a lot, and I plan to incorporate that in
addition to the other rest stops.

I like the idea of the first segment being around 3-4 hours,
b/c I have that much motivation, initially. Then knowing I'm
1/3 to 1/2 way there helps with the last part. But I like
your plan of 2 hours and a 10 min break after that. As I
said, I'm anticipating that the major hurdle will be 80-90%
mental. ;-)

-B

>> I'm sure some here would say 'just ride for the 8 hours,
>> what's the big deal', but that would be OK for those who
>> have ridden a lot (like frequent 3-4 hour rides), but my
>> longest ride has been 3.5 hours, and only did that once.
>> I'm hoping to get some posts on others who have done
>> something like this, and their experiences vs the initial
>> expectations.
>>
>> I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish, or
>> first light. o 5:30-8:30 o 9:00-11:00 o 12:-1 o 2-4pm
>>
>> TIA,

Badger_south

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 10:34:30 -0700, Terry Morse <tmorse@spamcop.net> wrote:

>Badger_South wrote:
>
>> I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall,
>> after a summer of 400 mile/months, and I'm interested in
>> some ideas as to pacing. Here's something I've been
>> thinking about:
>>
>> Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a
>> shower?), eat, then ride for 2 hours, repeat rest, then
>> ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride final 2 hours.
>> Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?
>
>Why not just do an organized, supported ride? They
>typically have rest stops every 1.5-2 hours apart. It's a
>great place to find out about pacing and fueling, and
>there's sag if you need it. Try a 100k to see if you like
>it. If that was too easy, try a 100-mile.

Well there probably aren't any organized supported rides
in my area.

There are weekend group rides, I hear, but never been able
to track any of them down to an actual person. (I'm in
Charlottesville, Va).

In addition, I'd want to ride my own pace, and would worry
about being dropped and having that affect the motivation. I
realize in an ideal sitch, your suggest -would- be the way
to go. Also the area around here that people ride these
things are probably too hilly.

I'm planning the ride in Va Beach, where it's mostly flat,
and doing it on bike paths. (there's 137 miles of them down
there!). It would take a big stroke of luck to find an
organized ride in Va Beach to co-incide with my attempt, but
I'll definitely try to check that out. I'm heading back down
there in about a month. Even if the ride was a 50 miler, I
could do that and then finish up on my own. Great idea...

Thanks TM!

-B

JøRn Dahl-Stamn

Badger_South wrote:

>
> I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall,
> after a summer of 400 mile/months, and I'm interested in
> some ideas as to pacing. Here's something I've been
> thinking about:
>
> Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a
> shower?), eat, then ride for 2 hours, repeat rest, then
> ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride final 2 hours.
> Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?
>
> People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a day
> for like 2 weeks. 'Course they're sightseeing so it's more
> fun. It would probably require a "support crew" to bring
> food and change of clothes and stuff. If you were gonna do
> it how would you break it up?
>
> I'm thinking the mental aspect would be the most
> difficult. Gonna try and get the family interested in it
> to help with that.
>
> I'm sure some here would say 'just ride for the 8 hours,
> what's the big deal', but that would be OK for those who
> have ridden a lot (like frequent 3-4 hour rides), but my
> longest ride has been 3.5 hours, and only did that once.
> I'm hoping to get some posts on others who have done
> something like this, and their experiences vs the initial
> expectations.
>
> I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish, or
> first light. o 5:30-8:30 o 9:00-11:00 o 12:-1 o 2-4pm

It's now 15 days before I will do my longest ride so far
this year. It's a 16-18 hour long ride (540 km). I will be
riding with a group and we plann 3-4 stops during the ride.
Each stop will be about 5 minutes - enough time to fill up
bottles and the jersey pockets with food. Eating will be
done on the bike.

We start early in the morning. The worst part is when it
gets dark. Some people can get very sleepy during the dark
period of the night (we live far north, so it will not be
completly dark), and it can cause some dangerous situation
if riders get too sleepy.

The amount of training before such a long ride, is very
important. Long training tours is a must. So far I have 3
rides over 100 km (3 1/2 hour or more each tour). I hope
to get at least one more 100+ km ride before I do the
looooong tour...

Good luck on your 8-hour ride.

--
Jørn Dahl-Stamnes

Badger_south

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 20:03:33 +0200, Jørn Dahl-Stamnes
<dahls@nospam.novit.no> wrote:

>It's now 15 days before I will do my longest ride so far
>this year. It's a 16-18 hour long ride (540 km). I will be
>riding with a group and we plann 3-4 stops during the ride.
>Each stop will be about 5 minutes - enough time to fill up
>bottles and the jersey pockets with food. Eating will be
>done on the bike.
>
>We start early in the morning. The worst part is when it
>gets dark. Some people can get very sleepy during the dark
>period of the night (we live far north, so it will not be
>completly dark), and it can cause some dangerous situation
>if riders get too sleepy.
>
>The amount of training before such a long ride, is very
>important. Long training tours is a must. So far I have 3
>rides over 100 km (3 1/2 hour or more each tour). I hope
>to get at least one more 100+ km ride before I do the
>looooong tour...
>
>Good luck on your 8-hour ride.

Wow. Good luck to you, too. Mine's still in the 'fantasy
stage', but I'm pretty sure I'll try it in the fall when
it's cooler.

Uh, you say long training tours are a must? If my mental
calculations are correct, it sounds like your training tour
is very short!

I'll have done several rides at ~50% of the total
time/distance, and have already done 1/2 the expected
distance on a 45lb broken beater bike.

I can't imagine riding 8 hours on a base of only 1-2 hr as
the max ride, or on 1/10th the total distance! Of course
if you've been riding for 10 years, and / or are pretty
young and resilient...may be a different story. (Maybe you
made a typo?)

Where are you (Denmark?) and do you have a map online of
that cool ride you're doing?

Some day I hope to be able to do a Brevet like that. Good
job.

-B

Badger_south

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 14:21:49 -0400, Badger_South <Badger@South.net> wrote:

>Where are you (Denmark?) and do you have a map online of
>that cool ride you're doing?

oops, Norway. Meant to check the header but hit send too
quickly. So where in Norway? Near the arctic circle, eh?

-Badger

Roger Zoul

David Kerber wrote:
:: In article <o1ojc05qfqndt3piisbmfg36rrlok6jeg0@4ax.com>,
:: Badger@South.net says...
:::
::: I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall,
::: after a summer of 400 mile/months, and I'm interested in
::: some ideas as to pacing. Here's something I've been
::: thinking about:
::
:: How long is "long" (mile-wise, that is)?
::
::
::: Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a
::: shower?), eat, then ride for 2 hours, repeat rest, then
::: ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride final 2 hours.
::: Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?
:::
::: People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a day
::: for like 2 weeks. 'Course they're sightseeing so it's
::: more fun. It would probably require a "support crew" to
::: bring food and change of clothes and stuff. If you were
::: gonna do it how would you break it up?
::
:: I'd probably put the first rest stop well before the 3
:: hour point, and space them more evenly. Maybe 1.5-1.5-1.5-1.5-
:: 1.5, or 2-2-2-2. Also, 30 minutes might be too long of a
:: break; it might give your muscles too long, so that you
:: would need a long warm up again when you start back up
:: YMMV a lot on this, and will probably depend on the
:: weather (temperature particularly). More frequent,
:: shorter breaks work well for many people, such as 5 to 10
:: minutes every hour.

How many times (or how many miles) would you break on a
century ride?

::
::
::: I'm thinking the mental aspect would be the most
::: difficult. Gonna try and get the family interested in it
::: to help with that.
:::
::: I'm sure some here would say 'just ride for the 8 hours,
::: what's the big deal', but that would be OK for those who
::: have ridden a lot (like frequent 3-4 hour rides), but my
::: longest ride has been 3.5 hours, and only did that once.
::: I'm hoping to get some posts on others who have done
::: something like this, and their experiences vs the
::: initial expectations.
:::
::: I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish, or
::: first light. o 5:30-8:30 o 9:00-11:00 o 12:-1 o 2-4pm
:::
::: TIA,
:::
::: -Badger
:::
:::
:::
::
:: --
:: Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts
:: in the newsgroups if possible).

Roger Zoul

Badger_South wrote:
:: On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 10:34:30 -0700, Terry Morse
:: <tmorse@spamcop.net> wrote:
::
::: Badger_South wrote:
:::
:::: I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this
:::: fall, after a summer of 400 mile/months, and I'm
:::: interested in some ideas as to pacing. Here's something
:::: I've been thinking about:
::::
:::: Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a
:::: shower?), eat, then ride for 2 hours, repeat rest, then
:::: ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride final 2 hours.
:::: Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?
:::
::: Why not just do an organized, supported ride? They
::: typically have rest stops every 1.5-2 hours apart. It's
::: a great place to find out about pacing and fueling, and
::: there's sag if you need it. Try a 100k to see if you
::: like it. If that was too easy, try a 100-mile.
::
:: Well there probably aren't any organized supported rides
:: in my area.
::
:: There are weekend group rides, I hear, but never been
:: able to track any of them down to an actual person. (I'm
:: in Charlottesville, Va).
::
:: In addition, I'd want to ride my own pace, and would
:: worry about being dropped and having that affect the
:: motivation. I realize in an ideal sitch, your suggest -would-
:: be the way to go. Also the area around here that people
:: ride these things are probably too hilly.
::
:: I'm planning the ride in Va Beach, where it's mostly
:: flat, and doing it on bike paths. (there's 137 miles of
:: them down there!). It would take a big stroke of luck to
:: find an organized ride in Va Beach to co-incide with my
:: attempt, but I'll definitely try to check that out. I'm
:: heading back down there in about a month. Even if the
:: ride was a 50 miler, I could do that and then finish up
:: on my own. Great idea...

Have you checked with your local bike clubs? They have lots
of organized rides around here, I don't see why they
wouldn't there.

And don't worry about being dropped...check your ego at the
door before leaving home. I did my 35-mile organized ride
last Saturday (turned out to be 38-miles 'cause I failed to
turn at one paced) and didn't mind not being with the pack.
Besides, there are riders of every level out there...I
found people that I had to pass up simply because they are
going way too slow -- and they were much smaller than me. I
ended up riding with this one nice lady who had only been
riding a week - on her hubbies bike - and had bought
herself a bike the night before this ride! The lady didn't
even understand about shifting gears...so she would fight
her way uphill in too high a gear and then fly down the
other side. of course, I would drop to granny gear and
smoke her going up the hill (that was too funny given that
I must weight 80 lbs more than her). I would get to top,
wait for her, and then she'd eventually come flying
by...and then I'd have to catch up to her

The organized ride was a lot of fun. They had good rest
stops, too. Free food. I even won a raffle price -- a basker
full of biking goodies -- high viz yellow vest (in XL),
insulated water bottle, sweatband, park allen wrench set,
some kind of lube stuff, atlantic coast biking tour book,
biking socks, two chocolate bars, some energy gel stuff, and
a bunch of toostie rolls! It more than covered the $20 I
spent on the ride.

And they had great sag support - so if you give out someone
will come pick you up, or help fix your machine!

If I had 137 miles of flat roads to ride, then I'd try a
century tomorrow

David Kerber

In article <2iudmsFqcvu5U1@uni-berlin.de>,
rogerzoul2@hotmail.com says...
> David Kerber wrote:
> :: In article
> :: <o1ojc05qfqndt3piisbmfg36rrlok6jeg0@4ax.com>,
> :: Badger@South.net says...
> :::
> ::: I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this
> ::: fall, after a summer of 400 mile/months, and I'm
> ::: interested in some ideas as to pacing. Here's
> ::: something I've been thinking about:
> ::
> :: How long is "long" (mile-wise, that is)?
> ::
> ::
> ::: Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a
> ::: shower?), eat, then ride for 2 hours, repeat rest,
> ::: then ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride final 2
> ::: hours. Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?
> :::
> ::: People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a
> ::: day for like 2 weeks. 'Course they're sightseeing so
> ::: it's more fun. It would probably require a "support
> ::: crew" to bring food and change of clothes and stuff.
> ::: If you were gonna do it how would you break it up?
> ::
> :: I'd probably put the first rest stop well before the 3
> :: hour point, and space them more evenly. Maybe 1.5-1.5-1.5-1.5-
> :: 1.5, or 2-2-2-2. Also, 30 minutes might be too long of
> :: a break; it might give your muscles too long, so that
> :: you would need a long warm up again when you start back
> :: up YMMV a lot on this, and will probably depend on the
> :: weather (temperature particularly). More frequent,
> :: shorter breaks work well for many people, such as 5 to
> :: 10 minutes every hour.
>
> How many times (or how many miles) would you break on a
> century ride?

I've never done a century, but on shorter rides (60 miles /
4 to 5 hours) or so), I find that 15 minutes every 1.5 to 2
hours works well for me. I do munch a peanut butter cracker
or chocolate chip cookie and take periodic swigs of water or
gatorade more frequently than that.

Other people with more long distance experience than me will
weigh in as well, I'm sure.

....

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in
the newsgroups if possible).

Roger Zoul

Badger_South wrote:
:: On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 13:09:19 -0400, "Roger Zoul"
:: <rogerzoul2@hotmail.com> wrote:
::
::: Badger_South wrote:
::::: I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this
::::: fall, after a summer of 400 mile/months, and I'm
::::: interested in some ideas as to pacing. Here's
::::: something I've been thinking about:
:::::
::::: Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a
::::: shower?), eat, then ride for 2 hours, repeat rest,
::::: then ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride final 2
::::: hours. Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?
:::
::: Why not start doing long rides on the weekends, but
::: increasing them by 10% every other week or so. You can
::: work on speed during the week, but do your endurance
::: riding on weekends.
::
:: Oh, I plan on doing more long rides, and want to have
:: several more three hour rides, and maybe a four hour
:: ride. I seem to do pretty good on 3-a-day rides of 60-90
:: minutes right now - no pain anywhere the next day, etc.
:: I think trying to slowly ramp up to 8 hours would
:: involve just too much boredom. (I have to get pretty
:: psyched to do
:: 2.5 hours, but I know I'm just a noob, so I'll suspend
:: that opinion a bit.)

But that's what your target is...so if you going to be bored
on your event, what's the point? I have yet to get bored on
a good route...maybe changing up your route is in order!

Remember, you perform as you train. So if you want to get
ready for an event, you need to gear your training for
that event. A sprinter doesn't develop sprinting ability
by doing only long rides, nor does a distance riding
develop endurance by doing mostly sprinting (even though
sprinting and training for speed will help improve speed
on a long ride).

::
::: Personally, I don't like the "killer" riding events like
::: you mention since you're on the road with cars and need
::: to be 100% all of the time, and you have no base
::: developed. Also, you don't give your butt and muscles
::: time to adjust with your plan. Chances of injury seem
::: too high to me....
::
:: Well, I'd take exception to the 'no base developed'.

I meant base for very long rides.

I'll have been
:: riding for a year, every single frikin' day, and many,
:: many two-a-day and a lot of three-a-day rides. I know it
:: can take up to 10 years to really develop your base, but
:: sheesh. <g> I'm pretty sure I could go out today, given
:: sufficient motivation and do 4 hours on the road. (I'm
:: not counting distance, just time, although I would hope
:: the total distance would add up to around 100miles at
:: the end.)

Wow...100 miles in 4 hours. I'm impressed. I'm counting
on 8 hours.

::
:: I find that unless I'm nearly 'ready' to do a long ride
:: like this, I don't start contemplating it. I did the 50
:: miler after kinda having the idea pop into my head a few
:: days prior, (at the time my longest ride was 22 miles,
:: and 9 months of riding) and thinking 'why not'.

Yeah, but think about how adding another 50 miles on top of
that 50 would feel.

:: It was -way- easier than I thought it would be, and it
:: was on the 45lb beater bike. Had I been paying attention,
:: I'd have tacked on the extra miles later that day to
:: equal a metric century.
::
:: I've read stories (admittedly of younger riders) only
:: training for a year to do some touring and then actually
:: get in shape during the tour. Of course they were riding
:: with a group and stuff.
::
::::: People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a
::::: day for like 2 weeks. 'Course they're sightseeing so
::::: it's more fun. It would probably require a "support
::::: crew" to bring food and change of clothes and stuff.
::::: If you were gonna do it how would you break it up?
:::::
::::: I'm thinking the mental aspect would be the most
::::: difficult. Gonna try and get the family interested in
::::: it to help with that.
:::::
::::: I'm sure some here would say 'just ride for the 8
::::: hours, what's the big deal', but that would be OK for
::::: those who have ridden a lot (like frequent 3-4 hour
::::: rides), but my longest ride has been
::::: 3.5 hours, and only did that once. I'm hoping to get
::::: some posts on others who have done something like
::::: this, and their experiences vs the initial
::::: expectations.
:::
::: Build up slowly...
::
:: That's a good idea, but I'm going on the thought that in
:: jogging, you can run middle-of-the pack races pretty well
:: on a 25 mile per week base (for a year) and the longest
:: run 1/3 that of the total distance. For instance my first
:: 10 miler I did on a few months of 30miles/week, and doing
:: a 10K race every couple weeks. My longest jog was about
:: 6.5 miles. I had no negative sequelae after the race, and
:: resumed my training post, no problem.

Have you read the book "Long Distance Cycling"? You can get
it for $0.98 via amazon.com.

::
:: Thanks for the input, though, Rog. How's the new wheel
:: holding up? ;-)
::
:::::
::::: I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish,
::::: or first light.
:::
::: That's what I do..
:::
::::: o 5:30-8:30 o 9:00-11:00 o 12:-1 o 2-4pm
:::::
::::: TIA,
:::::
::::: -Badger