Training & Nutrition - Training For A Specific Event

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reef58
07-15-05, 06:26 PM
There is a ride next May. It is not a race, but it will be to me. The ride is 75 miles long with 8600' of climbing. To be competitive I need to finish in less than four hours. I have ridden the area and it is up and down. There are no flat areas. The climbs are short, but fairly steep. Topo 5.0 shows 1/2 mile climbs and 200' of elevation gain. That is a typical example.

I am 6' 2", and 165 pounds. I don't expect to lose much weight, but it may get redistributed in more muscle mass. I will have a 15# bike, and good equipment. I am dedicated to riding 7000 to 10000 mile by event time.

Any training tips? My biggest problem is there are no hills anywhere near me. I will have to use bridges and overpasses. Any specific training tips are appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Richard

supcom
07-15-05, 07:55 PM
North Carolina has lots of hills. Put your bike on the car rack and go find some.
reef58
07-16-05, 04:11 PM
Yea we have some hills. Unfortunately they are 5 hours away. I am hoping to do at least 2 days per month in the mountains, but I think I will be at a disadvantage to someone that trains on hills everyday. I guess I will ride hard and see how it turns out.

Thanks,
Richard

terrymorse
07-16-05, 05:17 PM
There is a ride next May. It is not a race, but it will be to me. The ride is 75 miles long with 8600' of climbing. To be competitive I need to finish in less than four hours.

75 miles/8600' in 4 hours? That's 18.75 mph average, very fast for a ride with 115 feet of climbing per mile. Good luck.

Work on increasing your tempo speed.
reef58
07-16-05, 05:28 PM
Terry thanks for the input. I know it is a brutal pace, but the 1st place finisher last year finished in 3 hours and 45 minutes! I certainly can't go for any other place than 1st, so as you can see my work is cut out for me. I have ridden parts of the course, and it is constantly up and down. There are no flats. I firgure I can average 37.5mph on the downhills, so half of the mileage is accounted for in one hour. That leaves 2.75 hours to do 37.5 miles of climbing, yikes.

I guess I am turning this goal into consuming the next 10 months of my life. I have already plotted the course on Delorme 5.0, so I will dissect the course mile by mile. The biggest climb is 2 miles and 1300' of gain.

Thanks,
Richard