RAGBRAI TRAINING



elanzarotta

New Member
Jun 30, 2011
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I am planning on participating in RAGBRAI this year and I'm going to start training. So I am looking to see what the best ways to train are. I plan to combine a diet, riding, and working out. Does anyone have any suggestions on what is the best way to do this.

Can anyone give some suggestions on how much riding I need to per week?
What would be a good diet to start in order to prepare for this?
And finally what are some good leg and lower back exercises?


Also if anyone has participated in RAGBRAI what did you enjoy most? And what can I expect for the week?


Thank you in advance for any input, i really appreciate it.
 
You really don't need to do leg and lower back exercises. Riding the bike lots will take care of that.

You don't need to train like an animal for this event. Get some long rides in at the weekend - both Saturday and Sunday. I don't know what level you're at right now but an hour and a half would be a fair starting point. Increase distances every couple of weeks until you're comfortable with 60 miles at a good pace. During the week, get a few rides in too. It's upto you whether you want to ride on a trainer indoors or get a set of lights and ride outdoors. The latter would be more RAGBRAI like... ;) If you only have time for an hour or per day a couple of times per week, ride harder and use the weekend rides to concentrate of riding at a slower pace. None of the rides should be done at a pace that'll leave you smashed - unless you want to do that just for fun.

As for diet, this depends on what your goals are - just cycling or is there a need to lose weight too? You don't need anything special with regards to food you eat for regular meals - just avoid junk and make sure you get enough carbs and protein. On the bike you'll want to make sure you're getting enough to drink and to eat. A regular size bottle per hour (or a big bottle per 90 minutes) and about 150 to 250kcals per hour either by solid food or energy drink... After a couple of rides you'll start to figure out what works and what doesn't. If you don't eat enough carbs during the day or while you're out on the bike you'll know about it. ;)

As you train more make sure you take a bit of time to rest more too either via more sleep or just a bit more "feet up" time...

Have fun and good luck.
 
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+1. If you feel a little stiff after your rides, or the morning after, some light stretching (imo best done shortly after the ride) along with the rest may help. Cycling works the legs and glutes nicely and it's the best exercise for cycling /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif. The abdominals are the one's coming up a bit short.