Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - New distance advice

I started cycling in March... and have a decent road bike (Felt Z70). Since then, I've put 1200 miles on it, and don't mind doing a 20 mile each way commute. My longest ride so far has been just over 50 miles, and I wasn't wasted by it. I still don't really consider myself "in shape" unless you consider round a shape.

Next weekend (in 8 days) I'll be doing a 93 mile slightly hilly ride from Morro Bay, CA to Big Sur. I can take all day to do it and there's good stops every twenty miles or so. I'm looking for advice as to what I could do over the next week to prep for it... in particular:

Should I keep doing 20-40 miles a day or should I cut back?
Should I change my diet, which is pretty poor to begin with?
What should I bring other than the regular repair kit/tube/tire, water, and snacks?

Generally, it's a pretty bad idea to change things like diet right before a goal event. Come back and talk to us afterwards (try the training forum) about diet changes that might help.

For what you're doing, I'd suggest doing a short ride two days before the event, trying not to work very hard at all. You really shouldn't be tired when you're done. And then take the day before off.

Or, to put it another way, at a week away, there is little that you can do to make yourself better trained for the ride, but there is lots that you can do to make yourself less prepared. So take it easy.

To take with you, I'd suggest some pain reliever (ibu for me), in case you feel the need for it. I'd suggest some Chamois butt'r to lubricate the pad in your shorts (makes a big difference for me in reducing chafing). Also make sure that you have some salty food with you - you will presumably sweat a lot and it's easy to get down on salt. I carry salt tablets, but most people can get by with salty food. Beef jerky is a great choice - it tends to be easy on the stomach and has pretty impressive amounts of salt.

Be careful with this if you're salt-sensitive (ie you have high blood pressure and are lowering salt to treat it - perhaps 20% of the population).

There's something I'm missing. If you've been commuting 40miles RT since March, you should have way more than 1200 miles on your bike.

If you've been commuting regularly, don't worry about this ride. It will be a breeze and you need no preparation aside from what you've already done. The last two days before the ride, just take an easy pace if you ride at all.

If there are stops every 20 miles, they will have what you need. You might pack a few energy bars or shots of gel. Be sure to drink plenty of water and consume calories during the ride and you'll be fine.

+1 on pretty much all of the advice you've gotten so far:

1) Ride the old bike. Your body is used to it, and you'd be amazed how much you can hurt yourself riding a big event on something "new". Some pros have had career-threatening injuries from something as minor as a new pair of shoes mid-season.

2) Spend the last week before any big event tapering/resting, checking over your bike and getting your stuff together. It's too late for any meaningful training at that point.

3) Eat and drink while you're riding. LOTS. More than you think you'll need. Really.

4) Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. This is s'pose to be fun, right?

Scott P
Bend, OR

You will burn out if you try to go faster then 12 mph.
Pace yourself. Go Slow.
Stand up when your butt tells you to.
Drink Drink Drink fluids.

Thanks guys... all sorts of good advice. About the milage... I don't typically do both ways, though I have at times, and I don't commute daily.

I'll post back when I can about the ride.

You will burn out if you try to go faster then 12 mph.

??? - Did I miss something? Where did you come up with 12 mph?

I'm terrible at climbing and can do 14 over some of our (NJ) worst. Did 16.5 on the first half (the hilly part) of a double century. Other than the question of speed 10 Wheels is correct you shouldn't push it.

3) Eat and drink while you're riding. LOTS. More than you think you'll need. Really.
Careful with this. It's hard to drink too much water. However, it is possible to eat too much. Your body can only absorb about 250 calories per hour (exact number varies by individual of course).

On the OP's slightly hilly ride, he'll most likely burn somewhere around 4000 calories, maybe a bit more. He cannot eat as much as he burns during the ride and if he tries, he'll get sick.

He needs to eat constantly during the ride, but needs to not eat too much. However, it would be a good idea to load up on pasta and healthy stuff a day or two before.

I made it... barely. The first 65 miles took 6 hrs. The last 26 miles took 5 hrs. Guess I need to work on pacing or something. I did take the advice about eating/drinking and that probably made the ride possible. I had two powerbars, a bunch of salted nuts, and about a pound of granola spread pretty evenly throughout the trip. I probably could have eaten more. Water became a problem... I didn't bring enough and ran out of water at about mile 70 to be replenished at 80. I could really feel that I needed to bring more water.

I did learn that there's a vast difference between 50 miles and 91 miles, and will train before I try 90+ miles again. My plan is to do 50+ miles twice a week, Wednesdays and Weekends in addition to 16+16 commuting 4 days a week. After 10 weeks of that, I'll go for a 90+er over Thanksgiving.

Congratulations on gritting it out! It'll get better and better every time you do it... mainly because you'll learn how your body reacts to the effort involved.

Keep on going... :thumb: