General Cycling Discussion - Any hints for a 300km ride?

I have just looked at my ride calendar for the next two months. I notice that there is a 200km and a 300km ride. (this is for our local bike club).

While the 200km is no problem (well, it might be!), the 300km does seem fairly difficult.

Just a bit of background. We are going out to a very small town south of Toowoomba for the night. This is way out in the country - fairly flat, some rolling hills, with good roads.

We stay overnight in the hotel, then leave at around 4 am, doing the 300km over very quiet country roads - basically doing a big circle ending up where we started from some 15 hours later. There might be some winds early on as we go south, but there should be neutral or even tailwinds for most of the trip.

The ride is supported, but I suppose that makes little difference really. We are aiming at a max of 15 hours, although this is by no means a race.

Does anyone have any hints for this sort of ride? I have done tons of 100km and quite a few 160km rides. But nothing any longer. There is a training 200km before the 300km.

I have just looked at my ride calendar for the next two months. I notice that there is a 200km and a 300km ride. (this is for our local bike club).

The ride is supported, but I suppose that makes little difference really. We are aiming at a max of 15 hours, although this is by no means a race.

Does anyone have any hints for this sort of ride? I have done tons of 100km and quite a few 160km rides. But nothing any longer. There is a training 200km before the 300km.

I do a 12 to 14 hour Offroad ride each year, and my advice is planning and training. There is no way you want to do practice rides for this type of event, but training runs of at least 4 hours non stop in the saddle are as good as any other type of ride, This is just to attune the Butt and Brain to the punishment you will give them, and they will need that aclimatisation. 2 weeks before the ride, carbo load, on the ride carbo load and drink water, then more water, and then for a change drink more water. AT least 1 litre per hour, more if you can manage it. Plan food stops at 4 hour intervals, and when you can no longer eat, normally after about 8 to 10 hours in, double strength Carbo drink, and any food that slides down without chewing helps. The only place you will use energy is uphill, So do not race them. Pick up speed on the flat and Downhill.

The planning is basically to get the route mapped out. It does not help when you go wrong for 3 miles and then have to backtrack. If you have a backup crew, so much the better,---- Then you will not have to carry all the food you want right from the start, or the 20 litres of bottled water that you will go through.
The other point to do is at this stage. Examine your reasoning for wanting to do a ride of this type. Then go to the doctor, and discuss it with him. I'm certain that once you have talked it over with him, he will give you a certificate that will prove that you are stark raving mad to want to do an event like this.

I rode a full brevet series last year (200,300,400,600km) and had the most trouble with the 200 and 300 because I didn't bring any sodium. I seem to have problems with sodium depletion on rides longer than 8-10 hours.

The other point to do is at this stage. Examine your reasoning for wanting to do a ride of this type.

Actually, this is a serious point, and one I am thinking about all the time. There is no real reason I want to do it except other members of my club are doing it. Sort of a male macho thing, I guess. I like being thought of as a "serious" rider, etc. Peer pressure, if you like.

I think about "why" whenever I do any ride over about 100km. Up to that point it is bascially fun and no real hard work. After about 100km, it becomes increasingly hard work and is certainly no fun at all.

One thing I am thinking about here is that once I thought 100km rides were hard work. Now I don't give them a thought. Perhaps the same will happen with 160, 200 and 300km rides?

My main reason for bike riding is to lose weight, and I have proven to myself that riding a bike ANY distance does not make me lose weight. On my second to last 100 mile ride I actually gained weight. If I lose anything, it is only grams...so why ride at all?

I am perhaps one of the few people on this forum that does not really like bike riding. I only do it for the exercise. If I was at my goal weight, then I do not think I would ever ride a bike again. I certainly never want to race or anything like that.

Take lots of food.

Just have some pasta the night before....

I did a 200km ride last summer. My first. Oh sure I do 100km ALL the time, takes me about 3.5 hours. I even do 160km once per summer.

200km was tough let me tell you. Problem is I was on my road/racing bike. Big mistake. I have no problem sitting in this thing for 8 or more hours, as it is custom made and VERY comfortable. BUT when I am on my road bike I want to go fast. Now I know what yer gonna say "well then just slow down dummy!" Aint easily done on my road bike. By the time 140km rolled around I was suffering. At 180km I started not to trust my judgment in traffic, luckily the last leg was on a quiet back road. My advice? You start off feeling all vim and vigor, but it soon leaves. Start off slow, go slow. Save your energy. It is NOT a race.

You cannot possibly carry enough water and food. Make sure you know where the convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores are to restock.

The most painful thing on me was my butt. Give it a break fairly often. My neck and arms also hurt, stretch often. Get off and move them around as they are sitting in the same position for long periods. Even walk for a 1km or so, to give your legs a break. Walking a bit helps your pee pee also, mine was a block of wood at 140km (a large block of wood I might add)

I think on my next one I will carry a change of clothes. Different cycling shorts and jersey that are clean and not sweat soaked would make a difference about halfway into the ride.

Make sure you have all the tools and extra parts you might need. Make sure your bike is in perfect working order. Replace the things that MAY breakdown as it WILL breakdown on the ride. A breakdown when you’re tired is sooooo inconvenient and does nothing for your morale.

If it’s raining. You will suffer more. My advice here is to opt out. But perhaps you’re not a wimp like me. Riding in the rain myself I have found that rain gear is not useful. If it's warm and raining, forget the gear. Just make sure you have fenders. The gunk in the water that's kicked up from the road will get all over you and when it dries partway into the ride, it feels horrible. The rain coming down will actually feel quite nice. If the rain stops while into the ride is where that change of clothes, with socks, will feel good.

Oh and remember to TAKE YOUR TIME.

Hope this helps.

Digger

I It is NOT a race.

You cannot possibly carry enough water and food. Make sure you know where the convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores are to restock.
The most painful thing on me was my butt.
I think on my next one I will carry a change of clothes. Different cycling shorts and jersey that are clean and not sweat soaked would make a difference about halfway into the ride.
Oh and remember to TAKE YOUR TIME.

Hope this helps.

Digger

Follow the advice of Digger. I tried to give a quick reply but this just is not possible. Definitely do not race, but where you can pick up speed, Downhill, or in a chain, take advantage of it. On the butt side. THIS WILL HURT. If possible take a break each 4 hours, and change shorts as a minimum, and have a wash round the vital parts. Prepare the bike beforehand,and repace rings and chain if they are showing signs of wear, but get a few miles in on the new parts before the ride.
On your own personal front where you are only riding to to lose weight and keep fit. If your weight has not changed much. Think again. Any exercise will cause fat loss from the body, Then what will happen is that you will gain weight as you put on Muscle. No weight loss possibly, but think about the fitness and strength you have gained. For my 14 hour ride, I start about 3 months before weighing 11 stone. in the 3 months extra training I do, I possibly lose about 7 lbs weight. In the 2 weeks before the event, with the carbo loading, and easing off training, I will put on a further 5 to 6 lbs. After the event I would have lost thatamount, and a week late I am still 10 1/2 stone. The other point I would advise you about on your cycling. Keep doing it!!! I am older than most that cycle off road, and it was only my personal fitness that got me through two serious illnesses, and I am talking heart problems and Cancer. Most of the Distance riding is about Mental preparation. If you can do 100k, then an extra 100k will be a challenge. to then go on and do a total of 300 k, if fantastic. You may not feel it at the time, but it is.

My longest single day ride was 292km as it turned out (I was only aiming for around 260km, but I took a wrong turn). It included dirt roads and some very hilly sections. I think the best advice I can give is to utilise the time limit to it's full extent. It's actually surprising just how much further you can go by backing off the pace by just 15-20% and riding within yourself.

Eat and hydrate well the night before, and do some longer training rides in advance to build up to the distance as gradually as you can. As Digger said, know where you can refill the water bottles (particularly here in Queensland), and where you can buy little snacks along the way. Also get out of the saddle on a semi-regular basis -- even if only for a few seconds. Your backside will thank you for it.

I'm a Randonneur and I've been Randonneuring for 3 years now. This summer will be my fourth year. As a Randonneur I have ridden the full "Super Randonneur" brevet series (200K, 300K, 400K, 600K) each of those 3 years. I have also done two of the ultra-distance 1200 kilometer events: The Rocky Mountain 1200 and the Paris-Brest-Paris.

What is your usual time on your centuries (100 miles/160 kms)? To get an idea of how fast you can do a 300K, double your century time, and add an hour or two. 15 hours seems a bit fast to me for a first 300K, but it can be done.


One thing I am thinking about here is that once I thought 100km rides were hard work. Now I don't give them a thought. Perhaps the same will happen with 160, 200 and 300km rides?

Yes, that's exactly what will happen. After riding 29 centuries or longer rides in 2003, a century (160 kilometers) is a training ride. As a friend of mine who rides even more than I do says, "It's just down the road, isn't it." The 200 is fun - you can ride it at quite a quick pace and push it a little bit ... you don't have to conserve quite as much energy. The 300 is my favorite. I really feel like I'm going somewhere with it, and yet it can be done pretty much entirely in daylight. This is despite the fact that the 300 here has a 75 km section that is always right into a gale force headwind!


Actually, this is a serious point, and one I am thinking about all the time. There is no real reason I want to do it except other members of my club are doing it. Sort of a male macho thing, I guess. I like being thought of as a "serious" rider, etc. Peer pressure, if you like.

This worries me. Long distance riding is at least 50% mental. If you don't really want to be out there, you'll struggle with it. I love long distance cycling! To me it's an adventure! Sure I have moments where I wonder what on earth I'm doing, but for the most part I enjoy it, and right now I'm chomping at the bit to get out there and start the next brevet series. (I did a century last Saturday to help calm me down!) Long distance cycling also requires a good deal of stubborness. The Randonneurs I associate with all joke about how hard-headed we can be! I think it's a trait we're born with. When you hit tough times out there, you've got to be able to fight through it to reach your goal. And long distance cycling requires a certain laid-back,easy going attitude too. When it's been pouring rain for 12 hours, and you're fighting a headwind, first you need to be stubborn to keep riding in it, and second you need to have an "oh well, I'll just roll with it" attitude. (I could tell you a lot of stories of tough rides!!)

As for being able to do the ride, your training that you're doing now will help a lot. If you feel pretty comfortable with a century, you'll be fine with the 300K, but a few tips:
1. Make sure the bicycle fits and that you are comfortable on it. If something is not quite right at 130 kms, it will be three times worse at 300 kms.
2. Make sure you drink one 750 ml (3 cup) bottle of water and/or sports drink every hour to 1.5 hours while you are out there.
3. Make sure you eat/drink 250-300 calories per hour while you are out there. Someone mentioned having trouble with a lack of sodium. A quick fix for that problem is to buy a small bag of potato chips at a convenience store and eat them. You get calories, salt, and potassium. But don't have potato chips at every stop - one bag somewhere around the half way point gets me through.
4. Experiment with your equipment while you are training. Make sure you are comfortable with what you bring and how you carry it.

Good luck!!

Long distance riding is at least 50% mental. .... Long distance cycling also requires a good deal of stubborness..... And long distance cycling requires a certain laid-back,easy going attitude too.... When it's been pouring rain for 12 hours, and you're fighting a headwind, first you need to be stubborn to keep riding in it, and second you need to have an "oh well, I'll just roll with it" attitude.
Good luck!!


I think you're a little bit low on that 50% figure Machka. I think it's more like 95%. :) I am in pretty damn good shape Machka and I'll never attempt 300km in a day. 200km hurt too much. But...I'm a wimp. Plus I can't seem to take my own advice and ride these distances at a slower pace.

In the past I have ridden with a friend of mine who's father had given her a fairly expensive bike. She does use it, but mostly for short distance commutting. She rides at a much slower pace and having riden some longer distances with her, I find it amazing the new things I see on my regular cycling route because I'm not staring at the 30 feet of road in front of me.

It's nice to be able to take your time and look around. I'll never do it as I feel guilty when I don't hurt after a ride....if it don't hurt it ain't exercise.

KNeighbour I think the BEST piece of advice you're getting, and going to get on future responses to your question, is too go slow.

Digger

Interesting discussion. I'm also aiming for a 300km ride this summer. This particular one is a huge ride here in Sweden that is ridden by 15000 (yup - fifteen THOUSAND) people each year! http://www.cyklavaettern.com/english/

I haven't ridden it before, but rode a few 100km rides last year. I have been putting in a fair amount of time on the trainer all winter and have just started getting back out on the road again.

My training goals are to have put in well over 1000km in training rides between now and June. I've started at around the 60km mark and will be slowly increasing the distances I ride. I'm going to do a few 100km plus rides between now and then and am planning for one 200km plus ride.

The ride I'm doing has rest points every 40km or so. My plan (right now) is to pause at every other rest stop. (This will be open to change depending on how I feel on the day). I'm hoping I can get into a group that can hold a 25km/h pace and aim at around a 12 hour ride, but if I'm riding solo it will certainly be nearer 15 hours.

Reading this discussion has made for scary reading - but if you think about it, Kneighbour, if 15000 people can get themselves round this ride each year, many of them woefully undertrained, then we should be able to make it around with no *major* problems. Right?

Good luck with your ride! I'll see you at the end of 300km ;-)

Interesting discussion. I'm also aiming for a 300km ride this summer. This particular one is a huge ride here in Sweden that is ridden by 15000 (yup - fifteen THOUSAND) people each year! http://www.cyklavaettern.com/english/

I haven't ridden it before, but rode a few 100km rides last year. I have been putting in a fair amount of time on the trainer all winter and have just started getting back out on the road again.

My training goals are to have put in well over 1000km in training rides between now and June. I've started at around the 60km mark and will be slowly increasing the distances I ride. I'm going to do a few 100km plus rides between now and then and am planning for one 200km plus ride.

The ride I'm doing has rest points every 40km or so. My plan (right now) is to pause at every other rest stop. (This will be open to change depending on how I feel on the day). I'm hoping I can get into a group that can hold a 25km/h pace and aim at around a 12 hour ride, but if I'm riding solo it will certainly be nearer 15 hours.

Reading this discussion has made for scary reading - but if you think about it, Kneighbour, if 15000 people can get themselves round this ride each year, many of them woefully undertrained, then we should be able to make it around with no *major* problems. Right?

Good luck with your ride! I'll see you at the end of 300km ;-)


Oh please don't get me wrong! I'm not saying kneigbour can't do it, but if kneighbour goes slow and does not take on the attitude that I have of hammer down all the way, then it won't be a problem.

Long rides are enjoyable (so I hear) if idiots like me would just lighten up a tad and enjoy the ride instead of thumping their chest the whole way. ;)

Digger

the ride all revolves around the terain your ridding over. Hilly will beat you up worst. I did a 250 k ride that went down highway 8 and 5 In BC canada From Merrit to Mission BC. NOt o be frogotten easily. Prepare by eaing pleanty of protien for 3 days prior and Perhaps not so diet concious foods rest fro the few days Prior to the ride and For a breakfast A huge bowl of oatmeal Cinamon and sugar to flavour. Is great. Follow this with NOW dont puke yet eggs and bacon.
When the time for the protiene part of your start is due you wil feel it and it will susstain you over the last 75 kmto the end. I carried 12 6 inch diameter oatmeal and rasion cookies and a dozen Power Bars ( not impressed ) A camel back of gator aid and 2 bottles of Concentrated gator aid 4 to 1 that gave me 8 20 ounce bottles of dilute and was quikly made up at water stops along highway 5. This covers 150 km of Uninhabited mountains. and a climb to 7200 feet thats a giant PAIN ! Save for the rest stops and toll booth Free to cyclists. The ride finished with a grueling 2.5 km 14% climb 216 km into the ride preceeded by A gnarly head wind.
Eat power carbs and Protien A balanced diet but rich on the Red meat!
carry al the water or power drink you can. Drink often but small ammounts stay well hydrated dont feel thirsty your dead if you do.
ANd GO have fun for 12 hours. My ride was 9hours 55 mins. About 9 hours 55 mins too damn long ! it was hell. But Il do it again Even with 11 more broken vertebra! and 14 more years infact its on my Canada Day Plan!
See if that cop can catch me this time through the snow sheds ! 50 Km plunge to Hope from the
Summit ANd I dont stop for Doughnuts! well if its handed out of a moving car window!!! Ill have to eat it to prevent littering !

GO beat the pavement .

Peter


I have just looked at my ride calendar for the next two months. I notice that there is a 200km and a 300km ride. (this is for our local bike club).

While the 200km is no problem (well, it might be!), the 300km does seem fairly difficult.

Just a bit of background. We are going out to a very small town south of Toowoomba for the night. This is way out in the country - fairly flat, some rolling hills, with good roads.

We stay overnight in the hotel, then leave at around 4 am, doing the 300km over very quiet country roads - basically doing a big circle ending up where we started from some 15 hours later. There might be some winds early on as we go south, but there should be neutral or even tailwinds for most of the trip.

The ride is supported, but I suppose that makes little difference really. We are aiming at a max of 15 hours, although this is by no means a race.

Does anyone have any hints for this sort of ride? I have done tons of 100km and quite a few 160km rides. But nothing any longer. There is a training 200km before the 300km.

What did you start Kneighbour. I only do offroad, and prefer the longer rides, and do quite a few of them but Even I am interested in this discussion. No-one has mentioned training as it is assumed that you will be riding longer distances as part of your normal riding, What has come out to me is that Bike preparation has got to be correct. The other thing is FOOD & DRINK. As I said in my previous reply, I start to carbo load 2 weeks before the event. On the event I eat, and drink, but there does come a point where you can no longer take food, and one more mouthful of that Sweet sickly power drink will make you puke. Two things I have found here, On the food front, Bananas, bars of turkish delight, tinned rice, are my favourites at this point, as they just slip down and no chewing. On the drink front, a complete change to a bitter orange or lemon works wonders. Take the enamel off your teeth, but does revive the taste buds. Not that you can take this for long either, so Bottled water is on the cards again.
My big event is at the beginning of June, and I have started extra rides and Gym work already. The plan is to have done a couple of 100k road events before the end of April, Then step up to 3 rides a week of at least 4 hour duration, non stop. That will get the body and butt attuned, but the big problem will be the mind. Can't make any suggestions there, but if you regularly do 4 hour rides, you will be almost there.

Let us know how you get on

Let us know how you get on
Well, this ride turned out to be extremely easy. I don't know whether the day just turned out well, or I was attuned for something much worse, I do not know.

I did a 200km the week before as the training ride - and that was fairly hard. At least I came away wondering why I really wanted to do 300km. Anyway, it came down to peer pressure in the end - there was no way I could pull out without losing some face..

We left at 3am from this tiny country town. It was very cold (well, for Queensland, anyway), about 4 degrees. Very flat roads though, and very good surfaces. Fast. We sat on 30+ for the first bit, then upped it to 35+ until we got to the breakfast point at 120km. No-one felt tired. The sun was up (9am), so things looked good.

The second 100km was totally boring - 30-40km stretches with nothing - no towns, no cars, etc. Dead flat. I don't recall much of this bit - I could even have dozed off... it was so boring.

By 200km I felt more bored than tired. Ass ok, etc. Had been eating too much, but that was mainly being sociable at the stops. Had a bit of knee pain as there were a few sharp hills, but basically ignored it. I also almost fell asleep in this bit as I had only had 2 hours sleep the night before.

At 250km, it was starting to get dark and cold again. I felt as if I could do another 100km without too much trouble. Felt really perky, in fact. Probably a sugar high.

At 300km I started to come down from the high, as we had miscalculated the distances. So the last 20km we were expecting the end around every corner. But we rolled in at 320km at 8:30pm. Fairly tired - but more sleepy than anything. Next time I will get a full night's sleep first.

My only comments....we were too slow. We had one older guy with us (70+ who had a hard time of it). We stayed with him a fair amount of the time, which slowed us all down a bit. I sat on 32kph for most of the day (my natural cruise speed), but had way too many stops waiting for the rest to catch up, etc.

I would like to do it again to see if I can get the speed up. The final average was only 25 kph, which I was a bit puzzled by. I do not recall being that slow at all, but computers never lie!

I would like to do it again to see if I can get the speed up. The final average was only 25 kph, which I was a bit puzzled by. I do not recall being that slow at all, but computers never lie!


Well that's great! Congratulations. I don't think I will EVER do 300km. 25kph is quite fast for such a distance tho. As my advice stated, take it slow, so I was thinkin' that 20-23 kph would be fast enough. But you came off ok so that's good.

Digger

Well that's great! Congratulations. I don't think I will EVER do 300km. 25kph is quite fast for such a distance tho. As my advice stated, take it slow, so I was thinkin' that 20-23 kph would be fast enough. But you came off ok so that's good.

Digger
One of the other riders and I were talking about this last night. We all want to do it again - mainly because last time it was so slow. Taking it slow is certainly not the way to go. You simply do not have enough time. You have to keep the time as short as possible for several reasons - the sore butt being the main one. You also get bored - and after 10-12 hours, you want to be doing something else. And of course it gets dark. Most of us only have lights for around 6 hours max, so that is another real limiting factor.

One thing we both agreed on - the stops were too long and too sociable. We need to keep those down to just the time needed to drink a cup of soup, or whatever. We could easily have cut an hour off the ride by being strict there. We also waited for the slower riders. We talked about having a "qualification" ride beforehand, but I do not know if that would work - or even be fair. It all depends on how you feel on the day, and we all have good and bad days. And the guy that held us up actually had done a 300km before, so we certainly listened to his advice to "go slow". After all, this guy had done it before.

I spent a lot of the ride by myself - most of it in fact. I then spent a lot of time (hours overall, I guess), waiting for the rest to catch up. I really should just have pressed on, but that does kind of ruin the social aspect of the ride. It is like the long social food stops. It might sound ok to only stop for 5 minutes, but in practice the social interaction at these stops is great to lift the flagging spirit - so what do you do?

I think one answer is to have more riders. We only had 5 of us on this ride, so it was very hard to stay together. If we had 20 riders, it would be much more likely that you could find 2 or 3 riders with the same fitness as you, so you would be more likely to find a riding partner.

The problem, of course, is to find 20 people who want to do 300km, and that is not an easy ask. I really vacillated over doing it the first time myself. Why one earth would anyone want to put themselves through so much pain for no real gain? There is no medal at the end - nothing.

But I found that it does not have to be painful. We had chosen an excellent route that had some of the best roads I have ever ridden. No wind, and almost no traffic. And you could not have found a flatter route unless you rode across the Nullabor desert. Our main problem was flagging spirits (it is just too long on a bike), and sore butts.

Well that's great! Congratulations. I don't think I will EVER do 300km.

It's possible. I did a 293km day a couple of years ago. It was intended to be 300, but when I got home I only had 285km. By this stage my back was a little sore, so I cut short my planned trip to The Spit. Fell just short of the 300km mark, but had I picked an easier place to do it...

The hills around Nimbin are relentless, then there were the dirt roads which made using a road bike simply not an option. Still, I think I'll have another crack at some point in the future -- and might just do the same course with a little 7km extension somewhere just to make a statement. Ra!