15 hour race: how long should my endurance rides be?

[CycleFast]

I'm training towards a 540km event in June. How long should my endurance rides be when training for such an event?

Would 4-5 hour rides be sufficient, or should I include some (or many) 6-10 hour rides as well? Or even longer?

Any comments or recommendations would be appreciated!

_________
CycleFast (and far, at least in June...)

 

[RapDaddyo]

I the answer to this question is highly dependent on your goal as to pace. Pace is the critical decision we make that affects our ability to ride an event of any duration, whether it's an hour or 24 hours. There's no doubt that you will need to go on some long rides to just get comfortable spending that much time in the saddle, but I think your target pace in the event itself is of huge importance to your training strategy. Also, do you ride with a power meter and do you have CyclingPeaks?

 

[dhk]

I'm training towards a 540km event in June. How long should my endurance rides be when training for such an event?

Would 4-5 hour rides be sufficient, or should I include some (or many) 6-10 hour rides as well? Or even longer?

Any comments or recommendations would be appreciated!

_________
CycleFast (and far, at least in June...)

The randonneurs have a bevet qualifying series, which begins at 200 km, then 300, 400 and 600 km. These rides are done about a month apart, to serve as training and qualification for a 1200 km event like Boston-Montreal-Boston, or Paris-Brest-Paris.

Suggest you could do a smaller version of this training, with one progessively-longer ride each month. Say 200 km in Feb, then 300 in March, then 400 in April, then 400-500 in May. Of course, you would do shorter rides in between these, building up your weekly and monthly volume.

Concerning speed, a PBP "ancien" told me that 12-14 mph is the normal cruising speed for most riders, who's goal it is to finish within the 90 hour cutoff. To ride 1200 km (745 miles) in 90 hours straight or less, he said he tried to keep his energy expenditure in balance with the ability to metabolize food while riding, roughly 240-300 kcals/hr.

Believe that energy level translates to 67-83 watts of power average (using the assumption that kcals in = kjoules out). My handy velocalculator says you ~ 12-13 mph on a flat road, no wind. Almost makes riding 745 miles in under 90 hours sound easy, but of course it isn't at all.