tips on training for long distance rides? century +?

[username]

I am doing a 150 mile, one day ride in june from detroit to the tip of the thumb. its not a race, but i presume will require a pretty good pace to cover the distance in one day. the furthest i've ridden in a day is 80 miles, just wondering if anyone had any tips on training for distance?

[merckx56]

You have time.
Ramp up your miles. A 80-100 mile ride, once a week, in addition to your normal riding, will get you ready.
On the ride itself, start eating and drinking early. Ride the first hour w/o food to get your stomach settled, then start fueling.

Eat every 30-45 minutes, and drink a bottle an hour.

[Steveo989]

The biggest issue with long rides is refueling on the go. You should start from as solid real food as possible, transitioning to gummies, to Gu packets, then finally to electrolyte sports drink. Of course plenty of water when you are doing the food and gummies type of caloric intake.

It helps to train and eat banannas, bread, or whatever while training. This way you can figure out what foods will disagree with your body while exercising.
For instance if I have a PB&J before lifting I have a good energy boost, but if I consume it while biking I start feeling like I'm going to puke it back up. So, do not assume something that works for another sport, will work for hours of moderate-effort aerobic work.

[dts]

http://www.bicycling.com/training-nu.../100-mile-goal

[Holden McNeil]

Also, do some solid back to back days like an 80mi ride on Saturday backed with a 60+ on Sunday. That helps simulate some of the fatigue and pain points during ultra endurance events.

[woodrowstar]

Wow, I'm doing it all wrong.

[Holden McNeil]

Wow, I'm doing it all wrong.

No sir, I'd say your doing it right...

[tiptronic]

i just did a century (in cold and wet) last weekend. Beta-alanine and Cytomax were my friends. Besides the other tips above- i also recommend Lots of stretching and plenty of stretching. Also. more stretching. =)

im training for 545mile-6day ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles coming up in June

good luck!

[woodrowstar]

I do not know if this will help, but what I did before my trek was ride 3 hours away from home and then return. So 6 hours total. first, i did it every Tuesday and Thursday. Then i switched to Mon, Wed, Fri. Each time out was gaining in distance traveling without worrying about the "distance". Makes the total mileage disappear swiftly, because you are just out enjoying the ride. From doing that I can muster 60 miles in 3 hours no matter the terrain. At worst, 50 minimal.

[kennybo]

Eating enough during a ride that long has been my culprit. Rule of thumb: East something (powerbar, peanut butter sandwich, banana, etc.) every hour, on the hour.

[climbingcue]

Seat time, put the miles in now. It will make it that much easier when you do your 150 mile ride. Food and water, just like everyone else posted. Good luck and most of all have fun....

Bill

[gls:maverick]

Good luck man, anyone else riding with you from MIVE?

[panic]

Like everyone else said, ride... this isn't like an exam where you can cram the night before... get the seat time in

[username]

thanks for the tips and advice! the food/fuel advice especially, as I have a tendancy to overlook how that can affect my riding. will also work harder at getting some long rides in the mix as well, if left to my own devices, my longest ride during the week is around 30 miles or so.

G, not that I know of

[MickR]

Good info about eating and timing it correctly. The linked article mentioned "carb-rich breakfast 400-500 calories" 2 hours before the start. That sounds about right for me - I usually have an uncomfortable first hour if I eat too close to the start. On the bike, eating and drinking every hour - that is a good rule of thumb - need to try that.

[SpeedyD]

thanks for the tips and advice! the food/fuel advice especially, as I have a tendancy to overlook how that can affect my riding. will also work harder at getting some long rides in the mix as well, if left to my own devices, my longest ride during the week is around 30 miles or so.

30 is not enough. You need to be able to comfortably do 50. If you can do 50, you can do 100.

[username]

30 is not enough. You need to be able to comfortably do 50. If you can do 50, you can do 100.

totally agree, I just meant that when not training for anything specific, I don't push myself to do many long distance rides.

[audi666]

30 is not enough. You need to be able to comfortably do 50. If you can do 50, you can do 100.

id say everyone is different. if he does 30mi rides throughout the week i dont see why he couldnt ride 150mi (assuming he tackles the same type of terrain as he would see during his long ride).

[woodrowstar]

^ this is why I suggest do it based on time versus mileage. More fun, less worry. You are guaranteed to have seat time of 3 hours or more during the event. So get your butt, back and shoulder use to continued riding positions that are comfortable to you.

Your toughest competitor is "Common Sense".

[username]

well, tomorrow is the day for the 150-miler.

I have 400+ miles of riding under my belt in the last couple months, my longest training ride was 65 (with a 50, a 40 and a 30 in there too, and several 10 milers a week). only thing is that i can't decide if i should bring my panniers, wondering if the added weight is a good trade off for having food and water handy for the duration of the 10 hour ride, extra aero drag too (though the forecast is calling for a cross/slight tail wind).

any thoughts from the experts? are the bags worth it? or should I pare down my cargo to the bare essentials and stop along the way for gatorade, etc?

[audi666]

its usually best to be riding the bike setup that your going to take preparing for the trip to figure all that out. have you used the panniers a good amount? is there a rack already on your bike? do you have the right gearing to add weight on the bike and still tackle the climbs? are there many gas stations/stops along the route? what are you planning food wise?


Also I wouldnt put too much confidence in wind predictions this far out.

[username]

all good questions, your right, I should've been training with it all along. I have not really riden with these before, but I am going to take the setup for a shakedown run tonight. However, I'm already thinking it may overkill (or at least too much weight/aero drag) for that kind of distance in one day, though we do have the benefit of it being a completely flat route for all intents and purposes. My thoughts now are just running the rack with a few disposable bottles of gatorade strapped to it. There will be convenience stores and the like along the route if I get into a food emergency.

[andrewmartinee]

There are a few key tips that I follow which are mention bellowed.
#Start Early
#Pace Yourself
#Eat & Drink a lot
#Eat a Nice Lunch
#Savor the Experience
This tips may help you to survive in distance ride.

[dts]

Consider buying a good quality powdered sports drink, like First Endurance EFS, Hammer Heed, or Cytomax. Measure out the amounts that would be appropriate for your water bottle, and put it into a little ziplock sandwich plastic bag. Bring a bunch of them, and when you're getting low on sports drink stop in at a convenience store to buy water and pour the packet into your water bottle. That way you don't have to hump all that extra weight with you. Plus, they tend to be much better than Gatorade.

[J-Tim]

Plus, they tend to be much better than Gatorade.

I agree. I think anything is better than Gatorade and its equivalent that comes in a powder. Both give you nothing but an enormous sugar boost.

[woodrowstar]

I agree. .

Not only this, but it is gross.

[audi666]

good luck

[Jboard]

This may be odd ball advice, and may not apply to most people. I just did my first century last weekend, but I do plenty of road riding. Just never felt the urge until my buddy convinced me.
I ride as hard as I can commuting most every day, trying to get to work on time, so I'm in ok shape. I'm to the point where my 20mi round trip is so routine, it's nothing special.
I realized from this century that it's more of a mental challenge than physical, so the whole ride I kept thinking "ok, just riding to work. After I'm done with that I'll ride back. Do that a few times and I'm almost done."
Don't look at the odometer very often. Focus on scenery to take your mind off the ride.
Don't over think it too much, have a positive attitude about it the whole time. Don't even think about how tired you are or how far you still need to go. It's just another long ride.

[dts]

So -- how'd it go?

[username]

We made it. 154 miles. It was ok, i was thankfully talked out of bringing panniers, and just strapped a low profile bag to my rack, and packed it full of stuff, and while that was still overkill in the end, it didn't hold me back too much. The hardest part was the cross wind, that became a head wind in the last 20 miles, it was gusting up to 20mph, and drove our pace down into the low teens at the end. That wind turned what we were hoping to be a 10 hour ride, into a 12 hour ride(with stops). It was a mental challenge for sure, and I battled sore shoulders, back and neck the whole way, and stretched at every opportunity, even on the bike. My legs held up well, and while I'm a bit sore all over, the worse pain today is the area where my sit bones where contacting the saddle. Anyways, glad I did it, it was overall a great experience, and I would do it again, but maybe not until next year.

Here is the rig at about mile 100, with Lake Huron in the background

[MickR]

Good stuff, thanks for reporting back on how you did

[GTaye]

Missed the original thread... Good on you for gutting it out and completing.

For next year, + 2mph average.

[username]

Missed the original thread... Good on you for gutting it out and completing.

For next year, + 2mph average.

thanks! as long as the wind changes direction next year, that shouldn't be a problem.

I must admit, I could've personally pulled a slightly higher pace on this ride, but I didn't want to drop my GF who also completed the ride, I don't think that would've gone over so well

[username]

Good stuff, thanks for reporting back on how you did

no problem, i feel like when you start a thread like this your kind of obligated to provide some follow up

nice design work btw.

[gls:maverick]

no problem, i feel like when you start a thread like this your kind of obligated to provide some follow up

nice design work btw.

Thanks for the feedback Andy! Could you PM me the info on this ride so I can keep it in mind for next year. I only have about 150 miles or so under my belt this season but 6 month old daughter keeps me out of the saddle a lot. I would be interested in doing this next season for sure!