1000km In 10 Days

[sos88]

First of all sorry if my post is in the wrong section, I looked around and thought it looked at home here

So as the title suggests I am planning on cycling 1,000km in 10 days, going from Ireland to Lourdes, France. Aug 2016. A group of 5 of us, it's going to be a charity cycle and we have already secured some large corporate sponsorship.....only downside, we are nowhere near ready and honestly fitness levels are the worse you can imagine. Age group ranges from 30-55, and we have the best intentions but no idea where to start.

We are working on logistics, accommodation, even some marketing for charity campaign, but we do understand most important parts is the cycling and even the fuel for our body!

I was wondering does anyone have any advice, about a training programme? I have searched and search online so any help would be great. The young boy inside me says, jump on a bike and just cycle cycle.....that was fine for 10km till I was out of breath.....yes this is the size of our challenge

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated

thanks everyone

 

[Volnix]

How much stuff ore you gonna be carrying?

The usual advice is to Fully load your bike and do a few 100km rides (Thats your daily goal right?), adjust your gear, rest, and then go for it.

If you are out of breath 10km in the ride you are doing something seriously wrong!

whats your setup and average speed?

lf its Fitness you wanna monitor you might benefit from a HR monitor too..

Whats the charity about? Funding the Al-Qaeda museum in Brussels?

 

[sos88]

We are fairly lucky in the sense we will have a driver in a van, so essentially we will never really need to over load

In regards to training, is there any programme we should be following? I am trying to figure out how to get to the level of doing 100km a day, consecutively. Every blog i read appears to be about 1 big day of cycling of say 150km, but not much advice about going day after day for 9 days. I would think I would have the ability to get to 100km one off cycle no problem (ish), but really need to follow a programme as 9/10 days in a row could kill me

At the moment i literally just got on the bike over the weekend, done 10km and thought that was the end of me, i decided to go through the countryside on a windy day, in hindsight prob wasnt the best move for my confidence

I just got a smartwatch, so have synced that with my phone so should be able to monitor distance accurately and pulse rate - I have all the proper equipment, I look great until i get on the bike :lol:

The day we decided to do the cycle, was actually the day of the bombings, we made the decision before hand :blink:

we are doing it for Cancer focused charities, well to help get a hospice in our local area

thanks for the advice

 

[Volnix]

Technically, if you dont get into anaerobic excersise (pushing hard, like sprinting) you can cycle as much as you can walk, which is practically forever.

I would worry more about neck strains, discomfort, weather etc.

Do an initial 40km easily paced in the morning and a couple of 30 km, all between brakes.

with a Van and a bit of caution over meals, sleep etc it should be fine.

So why do you feel so tired at 10km? Is it like that initial "hitting the wall" thing? That goes away if you carry own cycling.

Do you feel comfortable with your tempo?

 

[bykster]

Wow, that is very good plan you have there. Get sponsorships, make it a charity, know how much you're going to have to cycle and then not being able to cycle one tenth of it. Good work.

Anyway, like others have said, start smaller. It would also probably be best if all of you who are riding together train together. I haven't cycled in a group (not my thing), but I've played some team sports and maintaining team spirit even during routine exercise is very important for the mental health.

 

[pwarbi]

Any form of cardio training will help when your looking at going that kind of distance, but you'll also have to take in to account the actual physical effect a distance like that is going to have your body.

Muscle aches and strains are something you can only try and avoid, rather than be able to prevent, but making sure some sort of pain relief and first aid available is a must.

 

[oportosanto]

100km per day is a big number so most likely you have to be in great shape. I would not be surprised you have muscle pains so most likely some supplements might help.

 

[Zhen25]

That's a great challenge you guys are taking on. So what you should di is start small and don't ride too fast. So today and tomorrow you do 20km the next day you try to push it to 25 or 30.

 

[igasmurfa]

That's pretty drastic and I can't imagine how you're going to feel afterwards (probably great about the achievement but sore about everything else). Maybe go for 2,000 KM in less than a week next year?

 

[sunshiney]

I think the best way to prepare for something like this is general cardio with enough cycling mixed in that by the time you actually get on the road you're confident on your bike. You also might want to put a few miles in just to test overall comfort...you may find that the saddle on your bike gets uncomfortable after a few hours, for instance, and it's much better to find something like that out while you still have time to adjust or try something new.

 

[Damien Lee]

Well, riding around 100 km a day is doable for most fit and healthy cyclists. I'd just advise you to travel light and take some breaks when the ride gets too strenuous. And just go for a quick check up at your doctor before embarking on your journey.

 

[pwarbi]

Well, riding around 100 km a day is doable for most fit and healthy cyclists. I'd just advise you to travel light and take some breaks when the ride gets too strenuous. And just go for a quick check up at your doctor before embarking on your journey.

Making sure your fit enough before undertaking any sort of challenge like this is important, but it's something people don't often think about.

They'll lose weight, go to the gym and think that's all it takes without getting any medical advice and that's definitely not recommended in my opinion.

 

[oportosanto]

Well, riding around 100 km a day is doable for most fit and healthy cyclists. I'd just advise you to travel light and take some breaks when the ride gets too strenuous. And just go for a quick check up at your doctor before embarking on your journey.

Yeah, that is a good tip as I did some crazy things like taking a super heavy tent on the bike. Needless to say, the next day I could not move.

 

[pwarbi]

Yeah, that is a good tip as I did some crazy things like taking a super heavy tent on the bike. Needless to say, the next day I could not move.

I'm sure that in the past we've all rode with more gear than we've needed, but I think that's just usually down to a lack of experience.

I know that when I first ride long distances, I went with the rule that I'd rather take something and not need it, than not take something then realise that I do. While that might sound like a good idea, after only a few miles into the ride, you certainly start to regret it, I can tell you that!

 

[rz3300]

Well I certainly wish you the best of luck and a great time on what sounds like an exciting, but rigorous, trip. Travelling light seems to be the best advice, and that makes sense to me too. The closest thing I can relate to was a two day long camping trip to the next state, and I definitely made the mistake of over packing for that one.

 

[sharkantropo]

Woa. 1000km in 10 days. That's what I call a 'workout', your legs are going to be howling for fatigue real good. The only thing I can suggest is: change your eating habits into a high protein and good carbos content diet, 4 to 5 dishes a day. Good nourishment to keep your engines top notch.

 

[oportosanto]

I'm sure that in the past we've all rode with more gear than we've needed, but I think that's just usually down to a lack of experience.

I know that when I first ride long distances, I went with the rule that I'd rather take something and not need it, than not take something then realise that I do. While that might sound like a good idea, after only a few miles into the ride, you certainly start to regret it, I can tell you that!

It was totally lack of experience as I went camping and took a really heavy tent and backpack, so I really can't say how I could carry all of that.

 

[pwarbi]

It was totally lack of experience as I went camping and took a really heavy tent and backpack, so I really can't say how I could carry all of that.

In most cases I think that carrying too much gear us purely down to a lack of experience, but it's a lesson that we learn pretty quickly.

My first long ride was with a few other, more experienced cyclists and when I turned up to the meeting point they nearly burst into laughter because I turned up with more than enough stuff for all of us!

 

[oportosanto]

lol, so lesson learned I believe eh? In my case the next day I could not barely moved and after a couples of days I ended up putting the bike in the train and return home.