50 mile bike ride with not much training/?!?! Thoughts?!?!

[stano23]

Hi All! I am new to hello! Its been a year or so since I been out on my road bike, I have just purchased some Schwalbe tyres for them and the bike is looking good!! I am taking her out for the first time in at least a year tomorrow!,my questions is,I have a charity bike ride with my friends form London to Portsmouth on May 10th (10 days time) its about 55 miles the whole trip, my friends rides to work and back most days (8 miles) he said because i am 33 years old and pretty fit, play football 3 times a week and swim 3 times a week that ill be fine on my bike for 55 miles, he is is pretty confident!! To be honest I am to, I am under no illusion that its going to be tough! and I am going to ache! however I am confident, a couple of my family have said I am made though for going that far so soon with not much training! I dont see it as a massive deal....

Anyway I was looking for your guys thoughts and if anyone has something similar!!

Thanks so much!

Stano

 

[jrschultz]

Like you said, it's a charity ride. It's not a race. I think you will be just fine. You'll have aches and pains when you are done, not to mention a sore rear, but you'll be fine.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

As long as the terrain is not really hilly and the wind blowing 20 MPH in your face...you'll be fine.

Stay hydrated, eat some energy gels and some energy bars. Stop and stretch every now and again, but keep your breaks short.

Yeah, the next day your legs and backside will be feeling the effort, but a 30-something in decent shape will breeze right through the first half of the ride and youth, excitement and your current football (soccer?) and swimming conditioning will help you power to the end.

Go bang out a couple of 20-30 mile rides in the coming days, for confidence building if nothing else...and to test ride the bike to make sure it's in good condition.

Take a spare tube or two, a tire pump and/or CO2 inflator. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Felt_Rider]

The toughest thing that I can think you might face is not knowing how to pace yourself for the 50 miles. What I mean by this you may feel like the first few miles are easy to go a bit harder than your fitness level or you may get drawn into riding with a group that is a bit above your level and they are pacing at their level. It is later in the ride that you may have a fitness cramp and when you get a severe fitness cramp it is going to make the rest of the miles painful or you may have to bail.

I am only speaking out my own past experience that this happened to me when I went to charity ride with a group of veteran cyclists. Even though I was drafting and it felt easy for the majority of miles about 10 miles from the finish I had the first cramp that felt as if my calve and hamstring ripped apart. In reality it didn't and I did finish the ride, but I was dropped from the group and it was a very slow painful last 10 miles. The problem was that I was riding above my fitness level and probably would have been better off dropping out of that group and joining in with a slower group.

Like the others said if you pace yourself based on your current fitness level, stop if they have sag stops, stretch a bit and ride relaxed you should do well. I mentioned drafting above in a group, but sounds like you might not have experience enough for that at this time. Experienced drafting in a group that has the same performance level can really reserve a lot of energy use.

 

[AyeYo]

Like everyone else said, you'll be fine but probably in a world of hurt the next day. Last year, I took my girlfriend (who had never done a day on the road and didn't often bike, but was in good physical condition) on a 56 mile group road ride. She even used my Trek 8.4 hybrid and not a road bike. Somehow she kept up just fine even with an average pace of 17mph. She was gimping around the next couple days though.

Take Campy's advise and go on a few rides prior though, if for no other reason than to make sure your setup is still comfortable.

 

[E.Mil77]

It's important to train for a bike ride, especially for one that is 50 miles. You won't be able to last that long.

 

[KNH55]

So how did it go? I bet you were sore the next day!

 

[maydog]

If you are reasonably fit, the you can go the distance. The biggest issue will be staying comfortable. Get you fit dialed in well in advance of the ride. Wear cycling shorts, no regular underpants to avoid chaffing.

get some training rides in if you can. Sine you have little bicycle training, however, I suggest that you avoid doing any long or intense rides a few days before. Save your legs and sensitive skin for the main event.

 

[carl12344]

You should be perfectly fine that day, but will feel pain the day after.

 

[ZXD22]

You'll be alright. Maybe if I were you I'd get used to sitting for a long period of time lol. You'll feel some pain after the ride so bring plenty of water and medicine as well.

 

[Susimi]

It's definitely do-able but just remember to pace yourself and not go too mad early on. It's a test of endurance and should be treated as such. Find a nice comfortable rhythm and keep at it, and before hand set-up your bike to make sure it's feels the most comfortable, oh, and bring plenty of water!

Be warned that you will be suffering from aches and pains for a few days after.

 

[BikeBikeBikeBike]

This man will certainly be fine. If your fit you could handle that, especially since it's not really a race. Hey sure you could be sore, really sore depending on fitness levels after that.
I really wish he would post! We all want to know if he made it.
Wait that was his only post on here, ever. Maybe that answers the question.. =P

 

[Clairelouise84]

Hi All! I am new to hello! Its been a year or so since I been out on my road bike, I have just purchased some Schwalbe tyres for them and the bike is looking good!! I am taking her out for the first time in at least a year tomorrow!,my questions is,I have a charity bike ride with my friends form London to Portsmouth on May 10th (10 days time) its about 55 miles the whole trip, my friends rides to work and back most days (8 miles) he said because i am 33 years old and pretty fit, play football 3 times a week and swim 3 times a week that ill be fine on my bike for 55 miles, he is is pretty confident!! To be honest I am to, I am under no illusion that its going to be tough! and I am going to ache! however I am confident, a couple of my family have said I am made though for going that far so soon with not much training! I dont see it as a massive deal....

Anyway I was looking for your guys thoughts and if anyone has something similar!!

Thanks so much!

Stano

It is a big risk but I suppose as long as you are careful with it and don't push yourself to the point you hurt yourself. I would not advise it without adequate training but then I will always err on the side of caution when it comes to things like this as I know I am not as fit as I should be but if you are then go for it and best of British to you!

 

[DancingLady]

How did it go?

Had you ever done a similar ride in years past? One the I know about cycling is it really used the muscles differently. Because of the position of your legs being different than walking, running, climbing stairs, the outer thighs have to work much harder.

 

[bsthebenster]

Why not take a test run? See how long you can bike for. If you're pooched at 10 miles then you'll know you can't do 50. Just listen to your body; it'll let you know if something's wrong.

 

[Riz sha]

Hey guys, new here just signed up.. Ok i know this thread is a year old but i have a similar question. So i am taking part in the prudential ride london 46 on the 31st of this month which is next week. The last time i was on my bike was july 2015 and that was for the prudential ride london freecycle on which i did aprox 30miles bit with intervals. I do not have a very active lifestyle at all and doing a continuos 10 miles on a cycle ride i start to breathe heavily i was a chain smoker up until two months ago and have given smoking up, i am 6'1 and weigh 115kg. Would you recommend me to go ahead with the cycle ride or not? I have to maintain a constant speed of around 13-14mph for the ride to be able to finish on time and avoid any roads opening while on track (thats what the correspondence from prudential has suggested) any advice and insight to this would be greately appreciated.

Thanks in advance.