July 1st (London to Canterbury)

I have been persuaded by my wife and children to sign up for the ride from London to Canterbury on 01/07/07. A total of 120 miles.
As a very part time cyclist, (last week cycled 40miles) I am nervous about the trip.
I would appreciate some training advice/feedback!
To date I have only cycled 40 miles in one go.
What should I be doing to get myself ready?
Please note failure is not an option - my daughter has just completed a 15 mile cross country walk and she is only ten!

Andy

 

Standard advice is to extend your endurance by doing one progressively-longer ride every week. Start with 40 miles, add ~5 miles each week. Try to reach 100 miles by mid-June, then taper back the mileage by 50% or more for the last week or two prior to the event. If you miss a week or two, and "only" get up to 90 miles in training, you should still be OK for the big event, assuming you're willing to suffer a bit.

Pacing is important. Basic rule for long events is to stay aerobic as much as possible....avoid going near or over your LT intensity, since that kind of effort burns glycogen stores much faster.

Proper nutrition and hydration is also important of course. Aim for about 60 grams of CHO each hour, from food and sport drinks. Plan on one bottle of water or sports drink every hour as a minimum,depending on weather conditions.

 

The biggest thing with long distance rides like this is eating and drinking. If you don't do it right, you won't be finishing.

Eat before you're hungry, and drink before you're thirsty. Eat 250 Calories every hour, if you can. An electrolyte drink is good too.

Like the previous poster said, keep working your mileage higher and higher each week. And do multiple rides in the week - then you'll have no problems at all, and you may find you like going for longer distances.

 

While I agree with what your saying as nutrition is almost more important than fitness if I ate like that I would be ill!! It will pay dividends to try out different tactics as your rides get longer and different foods and drinks as some products don't suit everyone.

 

I am doing the event as well by the way. I have a fairly good basis of fitness at the moment as I commute by bike most days and then try for longer rides on the weekends. I have never ridden more than 70miles in one go so should be a good challenge for me too.

I think there is quite a big mental aspect to doing this kind of distance for the average person but its key in training to keep pushing your limits i.e. faster average speeds, longer rides. As your body adapts you can then go faster and further. As important though is giving the body a chance to adapt so I work on 3 weeks hard training with one week light training.

I have also entered a couple of warm up events in preperation which i found at www.cyclosport.co.uk

Good Luck for the event!

 

Thanks for your advice.

I have another question for you.

I have limited time to train! Currently I am planning to do circa 30 miles on a Tuesday and 45 miles on a Thursday, plus a 15 on a Sunday. Should I keep to this plan or drop the Sunday (pressure from wife and kids) and up the other two rides?
How many miles should I be trying to cover per week to get ready for the 120 miles on July 1st?

Thanks

Andy

 

Thanks for your advice.

Currently I am able to get out 3 times per week - but only for an hour or so on a Sunday. Last week I did a total of 80 miles (25 Tues/40 Thurs/15 on Sunday).
Do you think I would be better served by doing two longer rides, or continue with the 2 lesser rides mid-week with a 15 miler on a Sunday?

Many thanks

Andy

 

If you absolutely can't get one longer ride each week this in due to time limitations, suppose splitting the long ride into Tues/Thurs halves would be next best.

Agree you should drop the short Sunday ride to spend time with your family and concentrate on lengthening your Tues/Thurs mileage. Suggest you work up to 50/50 (100 mile weeks) for a few weeks, then get in at least one 60-70 mile ride before the event.

None of this is set in stone. Adapting your training schedule to your daily life makes more sense than worrying about achieving the "perfect" program. Riding Tues/Thurs splits should work fine as long as you get the miles in each week.