skibumajg said:
I'm having trouble finding a training program for a 2 day 185 mile ride (92.5 miles per day). I can find a lot of century ride programs but I'm not having much luck with the weekend trip program. The event is 7/31-8/1 so I have 12 weeks or so to train. I'm an avid mountain biker but a newbie to road riding and I've quickly figured out that training for the two sports is distinctly different. Thanks for any help or direction to an existing thread.
If you're a mountain biker who's used to putting in at least 3 to 4 hours out on the trials and in the mud then you shouldn't have too much of a problem sitting on a road bike for a couple of hours longer than that in a day. Keep the pace steady but not too easy and definitely avoid being in a situation where you're overgeared if there's some hills.
If there are big hills on the course, especially towards the end of day 2, think worst case scenario. In general, you won't miss that monster top gear on the downhills but if you end up out of the saddle at 45rpm straining your ovaries and going red in the face from the effort, up some silly steep hill, then you'll be wishing for a smaller gear. I'm not Contador, you're not Contador - yet he used 34x32 in a silly mountain timetrial in the Giro that finished on a dirt road up a 25%+ grade.
Eat and sleep well following the ride and you'll be set for day two. As long as day 1 wasn't done too hard then day 2 shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Training. Get some good, hard, 90 minute to two hour rides in during the week and some brisk 3 to 5 hour rides in at the weekend. If you're not doing that right now then build up to it. Pacing is key during training as it is during the event.
One point that deserves immediate attention is position on your road bike. If you can't do 90 miles on it without feeling sore and that soreness is due to the saddle or bars being in the wrong place then you need to get that sorted now so you can not only get used to it but also change it if it really doesn't work. Same goes for cleat/shoe position.
You should also plan ahead with regards to what you'll be eating on the ride if you're 'sensitive' to certain foods. Trying new foods/drinks/gels the day of a ride is generally a bad thing to do. If the ride organizer has rest stops and is giving out carbo drinks and food then find out what they are and try them during training. I've been guilty of this. In general I can eat anything that's edible - but I found one particular sports drink that had me squirting what could best be described as 'chocolate milk and marshmellows' into a portaporty for about 25 miles, 7,000ft up a mountain in 95F heat. Fun... no. Especially not for the next guy in there.
Shorts. Comfy shorts cost lots. Cheap shorts don't. Personally, on long rides I value the area just behind my wedding tackle more than I value a fancy carbon frame or uberlight wheels. When it chafes 3 hours into a ride I'm not a happy camper. When pain free happiness can be bought for an extra $50 it's generally considered a good investment to splash the cash before hand so you don't have to splash on the antibiotic ointment afterwards... and then have to sit on it again the next day for 6 hours.
Equipment. Get everything sorted out before the last two weeks of training before the event. This way you'll find those pesky bolts that 'may' come loose before the event rather than during it. Every year I see a fair number of riders that have equipment failure on some of the bigger rides up in the hills that are due to not following basic wrenching skills (ie RTFM) and messing around with components the day before. I'm sure I'll see at least one pair of cranks fall off and someone's rech mech get jammed in their back wheel on the Death Ride. Slipping seatposts 10 miles into the ride is also another common fcukup.
