Training for 100 miles per day for 7 days.

Your request is actually very complex if you consider the details, but in general it will depend on many factors. The terrain you'll cover and the pace at which you intend to go. How much climbing? Will you be working alone or as part or a paceline/group? If the weather is exceptionally hot and humid, it will be that much more difficult. So, in general, it really "depends".

If you can ride 100 miles fairly easily at a given pace - say 19-20mph - and back down to 15-16, my personal experience is that it isn't too difficult to string a few days of that together. But again it really depends on the issues raised above and more.

Sight unseen, I would suggest that one training ride a week for 52 weeks isn't going to cut it. Certainly your running helps your cardio fitness. But, there's a lot more to it than that. There are many threads on training in this forum that you should read through. My recommendation would be to adopt a more dedicated endurance cycling regiment.

I would aim to be doing at least 4 rides per week for three months before the ride, building up so that one of these is at least 70 miles (toss in a couple 90+ as well if time) and the other 3 are more like 2hrs/35-40 miles. This should get you through it. If you want to breeze it then build to 5 rides per week with 4 2hr rides and one longer one.

Organized rides of almost 100 miles a day for a week are common. Many of them have been finished by people who start bicycling 4-6 months before the ride with a 5 mile ride once a week and add miles every week. Even my 14 year old daughter did more or less that - I think her cross state ride was 70 miles a day. I rode 1/4 mile behind her for the 8 days.

I and old, but I currently ride 50 miles a day and I ride most days. Modest pace. I could comfortably ride 100 miles every morning, but I chose not to.

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I think you will have a more pleasant experience if you are comfortable riding every day at distances closer to the daily ride distances and at efforts closer to the daily ride efforts. But it sounds like a social event. Just find some people to ride with - you will find them on the first day or so of the ride.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by richboot [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Newbie alert!

First post and I'm after some advice if possible people.

I've signed up for a ride from London to Berlin over 7 days but this isn't until next August 2012. Each day will be roughly 100 miles.

I'm in decent shape, weights twice a week and 5k run 3 times a week, but I haven't been on a bike since I was about 15 and I'm now 30.

I have a bike and gear I can use and my plan is to carry on with my exercise as usual but drop one run and get on the bike every Saturday morning. I plan to start on 20 miles then knock this up 5 miles each week.

Is this a sensible schedule or do I need to get on the bike more? Yes, you will need to get on the bike more. Suggest you drop most all your running and weights soon and concentrate your training time on the bike. Also even if by the event I can comfortably cycle 100 miles but haven't attempted more than 1 day in a row, will I really struggle? Riding 700 miles in a week is a lot harder than riding 100 miles one time. Unless you've done some multi-day rides in training, getting on the bike the morning of the third day can be a real challenge. Even if your legs keep working, your butt, neck, lower back and hands all need conditioning.

Any pointers at all for any aspect of training or the actual event would be greatly appreciated. Suggest you do your training by riding days in a row as much as possible, gradually extending your daily and weekly distance. If you can ride say 60-70 miles for 3-4 days in a row without suffering, you should be able to complete the event. But 700 miles in a week isn't a walk in the park, it will be tough. You'll have to watch nutrition and hydration, and learn how much total energy you can expend and still recover overnight.

Also how do I prevent my [censored] and [censored] and balls from getting ruined? Again, lots of ride time, days in a row is important to condition the weight-bearing butt cheeks and get over the saddle pain. Your gentialia shouldn't be a problem if your saddle is correctly fitted. If weight is hitting on the "soft parts" rather than right on the "sitzbones", you'll need to correct that before getting too far. You'll also want to find a good chamois lube and learn how apply it. Chaffing, bleeding and saddle sores could put an end to your ride.

Cheers!

Richboot, I think people are really underestimating what an endeavor this is. Congratulations for even considering this! I mean, 700 miles in a week is ambitious, but to add the English channel by bike, AWESOME!

Okay, seriously, you'll need significant time on the bike to make this happen. When I'm trained 100 miles by bike equates to 13-15 miles running, the bike trip takes at least twice as long but the impact on my body is roughly the same. Considering that you need to evaluate yourself and find out where you're starting from. 5k 3 days/week would not be anywhere near enough to get me into shape to run a half marathon 7 days in a row. If I were running this Id be doing 2 weekdays with 10ks at a hard aerobic pace, somewhere sub-50 minutes. Another weekday would be speed intervals fartleks or a 5k at my best pace, sub 20 minutes. And 6-8 hours of LSD divided up between the two weekend days.

Cycling volumes tend to be greater than running volumes, by about twice as much. So to train for the event you're planning, you will need a fair amount of saddle time. Probably the most important adaptations you're aiming for are being able to sit on the bike basically forever. This takes time. But, you also need to build up your speed. Granted you aren't racing but I hope riding in a group, being well below your personal 'redline' for the duration makes the week all about pacing, nutrition, and enjoying yourself. If you're struggling to keep up with the group you will suffer.

I'd suggest fore going any significant running and do all your cardio on the bike, I'd also say skip the weights and do a ride on those days as well but some people are reluctant to give up their weight lifting so Id just say don't aim to build muscle or make any big strength gains and at the most maintain. Also, don't expect any weight training to benefit your cycling speed (for this event, I really don't want to start the argument of weight training for cycling performance.) Suffice to say that the nature of the event and your background suggest that the best use of time is building endurance on the bike.

I'd start building up miles riding a steady pace for a few weeks or months, but once you're accustomed to riding a fair amount start adding intensity and volume. 2 days of hard tempo rides lasting 2-3 hours each, a day of threshold work 2x20 or even 30 minute intervals at LT, and 2 weekend days of several hours at a slow very aerobic pace should be your goal for the last couple of months leading up to next August. As I said before hopefully you're riding with a group, if you can find a group ride in your area to join for at least one ride a week it will pay off to be comfortable rubbing hips elbows and wheels, not to mention learning to ride in the draft of others. A lot of clubs have regular slow to moderate paced rides on weekends and as your fitness improves you can look for your area's tues/thurs "world championship" ride for one of those 'tempo' days.

I usually aim for 15 hours a week of riding at a bit higher intensities than the above suggestion, I am in good racing shape. I time trial very well and climb adequately, I would NOT jump into the event you're planning without reservation.

make sure you're properly fitted on the bicycle!

I think you are confusing a casual ride with a race.

This is 700 miles of casual riding. Most likely 12 hours of daylight. Ride an hour. Rest an hour. Ride and hour. Rest an hour. ... While I don't like that schedule, some people will do that ride more or less on that schedule.

Quote:
Originally Posted by An old Guy [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I think you are confusing a casual ride with a race.

This is 700 miles of casual riding. Most likely 12 hours of daylight. Ride an hour. Rest an hour. Ride and hour. Rest an hour. ... While I don't like that schedule, some people will do that ride more or less on that schedule.

+1. Think bike tour. I.e., 100mi recovery rides. I still think he wants to do 10hrs riding per week for a couple months in advance, though. Otherwise it might not be much fun.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by An old Guy [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I think you are confusing a casual ride with a race.

This is 700 miles of casual riding. Most likely 12 hours of daylight. Ride an hour. Rest an hour. Ride and hour. Rest an hour. ... While I don't like that schedule, some people will do that ride more or less on that schedule.

My mistake! I assumed that if the OP trained hard and got good beginner gains from his training he would be able to complete the ride comfortably, making the challenge somewhat easier and more fun. So he could focus on nutrition, hydration, the scenery.