Training tips for a long bike ride.

Johnmcl7

sparkychris wrote: »

My shorter rides are very hard work but I don't empty the tank... If I'm not enjoying my bike rides I wouldn't be motivated to do them so I find a middle ground. ...

Am also slow going downhill as it makes me a bit nervous!

I feel the same in that if I'd rather enjoy a ride and want to go out again rather than kill myself and put off riding again. I used to go out with a local road group which was good for fitness and at the end of a 90 minute ride my legs felt like jelly but a lot of the time I didn't enjoy it particularly when doing group sprints or powering along in a group. It's quite unpleasant when you're really struggling just to keep up then get dropped and left in the middle of nowhere to limp home.

Obviously plenty of people like that style and get good results from it but I prefer the group MTB rides which aren't as regimented but I look forward to getting out on the bike and looking at my strava times, my current speeds are good and actually managed my fastest 40K ever earlier this year.

John

brat

I'm normally out on my own - shift work allows me to ride when the rest of the family are working or at school so I tend to go out during the day if I can.
If I do a 90 minute ride, which has recently been my normal distance, I do like to push it. So my heart rate might average 155 for that period, and I don't let up, ie I don't freewheel downhill or slacken my effort at all. I'm usually sitting between 20 and 22mph average speed for the 30 miles (1400ft of elevation)
If I do a 50 to 100 miler, I will drop it a bit, but will still try to maintain 18 to 19mph.
If I want an easy ride, I'll do a 25 miler with my wife, at about 13-14mph, but I'm often surprised about how much extra clothing I need to wear because I'm not putting any effort in.

I find it harder to keep the average up in a group, because you're chatting and cruising a lot of the time. I enjoy both, but much prefer being on my own, battling the lactic in my legs.

sparkychris

I much prefer cycling on my own... I know people who cycle who suggest going out and I always make excuses as i want to go at my own pace.

Am about three weeks or so away from my ride so have started giving my shorter rides a bit more welly...

There's a part of me wondering if doing a hundred a few weeks ago has given me a false sense of security. Although it was also very hilly.

Will be trying to go out at every opportunity for the next three weeks.

Bit nervous, to be fair! Wish I hadn't told anyone!

sparkychris

Bit of an update!

What a gruelling route!

Completed the ride in 5 hrs 50 which I was really pleased with.... I gave it everything I had and my average speed, according to my app was 15.2mph which I was also pleased with considering part of the route was a massive and relentless uphill...

My girlfriend picked me up from the finish, I got changed and she drove me home past everyone still struggling up it and I wouldn't have changed places with them for the world!!!

Looking for my next challenge now. Even though my legs are aching, am still buzzing!

brat

Well done! Massive effort and a great time for the route!

Nasqueron

sparkychris wrote: »

Bit of an update!

What a gruelling route!

Completed the ride in 5 hrs 50 which I was really pleased with.... I gave it everything I had and my average speed, according to my app was 15.2mph which I was also pleased with considering part of the route was a massive and relentless uphill...

My girlfriend picked me up from the finish, I got changed and she drove me home past everyone still struggling up it and I wouldn't have changed places with them for the world!!!

Looking for my next challenge now. Even though my legs are aching, am still buzzing!

Well done but that app seems wrong or the route wasn't 100 miles

15.2mph * 5 hours 50min = 88.66 miles

100 miles at 15.2mph would take 6 hours 35 approx

To do 100 miles in 5 hours 50 would be slightly over 17mph average (about 17.2)

All that is also assuming no stops for feed stations and a constant speed

sparkychris

Nasqueron wrote: »

Well done but that app seems wrong or the route wasn't 100 miles

15.2mph * 5 hours 50min = 88.66 miles

100 miles at 15.2mph would take 6 hours 35 approx

To do 100 miles in 5 hours 50 would be slightly over 17mph average (about 17.2)

All that is also assuming no stops for feed stations and a constant speed

I clocked the route at 90 miles, as did other riders at the finish line. As well as my little bike computer. There was a little disgruntlement at the route but I didn't mind

Also, I stopped for about ten minutes at the halfway mark and had several wees but my app stops when I do so that was just my cycling time...

I would like to do 120 miles soon so I can absolutely unequivocally know that I've done a hundred because I don't feel I have yet.

The hundred miler I did a couple of months ago was 100.6 on my computer but 98.something on my app so..... grey area....

I still feel chuffed!

elverson

Well done Chris.

Nasqueron

sparkychris wrote: »

I clocked the route at 90 miles, as did other riders at the finish line. As well as my little bike computer. There was a little disgruntlement at the route but I didn't mind

Also, I stopped for about ten minutes at the halfway mark and had several wees but my app stops when I do so that was just my cycling time...

I would like to do 120 miles soon so I can absolutely unequivocally know that I've done a hundred because I don't feel I have yet.

The hundred miler I did a couple of months ago was 100.6 on my computer but 98.something on my app so..... grey area....

I still feel chuffed!

Apps on phones are reliant on phone GPS and other stuff like phone mast triangulation, they're not 100% accurate, when you put it into something like strava it will correct the route based on known data / measurements and probably tidy it up a bit so you get the discrepancy between what it records and what you actually did.

The organised rides from people like wiggle that are advertised as 100 mile have always given me the correct distance though given the date there probably won't be too many more 100 mile this year simply due to the light issues and having to get people finished and course cleared, once clocks go back that tends to start cutting the rides down to 70-80