Long Distance Cycling - Advice for a novice?

So, heres the deal...I am one of those used to be in incredible shape have an athletic frame but I had a kid and let myself get radically out of shape people. I recently rediscovered my love for riding a bike. I used to do a little bit of mountain biking, but mostly riding here and there. Now I want to get into long distance cycling. I have absolutely no formal training at all, but I want to set my sights on riding my first century. I dont really know what a realistic timeframe is for that, but I plan on doing one within at least the next year and a half. Being that I am totally out of shape, I will need to get in shape first, then get into a full training regiment for a century. Ok, whew...you are caught up...now my question:
Does anyone have any recommendations on books for training for long distance riding? As mentioned above, I am specifically wanting to start training for a century, but I have plans to move onto greater distances than that. God willing, I will one day ride the Furnace Creek 508.
How or where do I start here? I have an old peugot single speed freewheel roadbike that I have been riding on recently. Is that a good bike to train on? Does it even matter?
As you can read, I need tons of help...I have the heart for RAAM, but my body wont keep up ;)

Just start riding.
500 miles to get your legs strong.
1000 miles to get legs ready for fast riding.
Take off one day each week.
You will get stronger each week.
Learn to eat and drink while riding.
Find a group or someone to ride with.

Take your problems with the bike and your body one at a time.
Work them out.

Do you mean go for a ride 1 day each week? I have already started riding. One thing about the way I ride is, I just ride hard for as long as I can. The current gearing on my bike gets up to about 15mph tops. Is there any logic to it all? Or should I just get on and ride ride ride? I have heard about some riding in a heartrate range and all that stuff. Is that important?

I went through all this last year.
Just ride slow untill you get 500 miles.
Forget FAST.
Just ride, learn how to handle the bike.
How long can you ride without stopping?
My first 6 mile ride I had to stop three times to rest.
Now I can go 42 miles non-stop.,

How or where do I start here? I have an old peugot single speed freewheel roadbike that I have been riding on recently.

You've already started. What you need are base miles, which means riding a whole lot at moderate pace. Once you can do 70 miles pretty easily, or about 3,000 miles from now, your probably ready for more structured training. If you were athletic, I'd bet you could hit a century within 6-12 months if you stick with it.

A single speed is great to train on, until you hit some climbing. If you can manage that you'll be a monster in no time. The only possible problem would be knee stress. Most riders aim for a cadence (pedal RPM) of 80-100. Get too far below that and your knees are taking some real strain. Doesn't bother some, but can lead to major problems if you push too hard too long.

Ideally you'd want a geared bike with a cyclocomputer to track your progress. Barring that I'd go with what you've got and enjoy it. Just start slow and build gradually. There really is no substitute for a good base.

read the threads in the ld forum.
join rusa and get the little book about brevets and training.
join ultracycling and get a great primer on training and riding fast...

you can do a century with very little 'training'.
ride your bike, ride your bike, ride your bike.

0. Make sure the bike fits properly
1. Keep it fun. You're not ready for misery until you've completed a century.
2. Ramp up the miles SLOWLY, otherwise the bike will hang.
3. Don't worry about speed
4. No fewer than 3 and nor more than 6 days a week
5. Learn to eat and drink on a ride

Two biggest reasons to fail or be miserable on a century:
1. Not enough miles
2. Not eating and drinking enough during the ride.

Believe or not, many long distance riders don't do any actual training, they just ride longer and longer. It's not racing where you have to squeeze every bit of juice out of the lemon.

Make sure your bike is in good shape and fits you properly. Then just ride, ride, and ride some more. Don't aim for speed, aim for distance without stopping and overall distance. When you can do consistent 60 mile rides, you'll probably be able to do a century.

Go for a hike up the local hill before you worry about Everest.

Spend some time reading the threads here (LD and touring probably best place to hang out). Check out other websites, like BC Randonneurs (http://www.randonneurs.bc.ca/), UMCA (http://www.ultracycling.com/) RUSA (http://www.rusa.org/) and VeloWeb (link below).

Just ride (but not hard, yet).

Late in 2006 I started riding a hybrid bike and enjoyed the sport. I then joined a local club and started riding a road bike so I could keep up. After about 6 months of that I decided I wanted to ride a century. I asked a lady in the club if she rode in century events. She said she did. I asked how I could get ready to ride a century. She looked straight at me and said, "Shut up and pedal." I rode six centuries this year.

You've already started. What you need are base miles, which means riding a whole lot at moderate pace. Once you can do 70 miles pretty easily, or about 3,000 miles from now, your probably ready for more structured training. If you were athletic, I'd bet you could hit a century within 6-12 months if you stick with it.

+10

Don't get caught up on how far you are riding, but rather how long you are riding. Moderate means "able to converse most of the time, except for hills".

While it's certainly possible to do a century on a singlespeed, it's not something I'd recommend for a first century. In general, on long rides you can moderate how much energy you are putting out by gearing down and riding slower, but you can't do that on a singlespeed.

I also agree that fit is really important, especially as you look beyond the century mark.

try to avoid riding hard for as long as you can - this is a sure fire way to slowly wear yourself out, possibly get injured and generally lose interest. your fitness will improve much more quickly if you aim to do most of your training at a much lower intensity, coupled with some much more focussed, intense sessions to help you build speed, climb hills etc.

check out the san fernando valley bike club or the los angeles wheelmen. they'll get you started and have people to ride with, you'll learn a lot more quickly and have a lot more fun.

since you're in l.a., if you want i can take you for a ride on the back of my tandem

Do you mean go for a ride 1 day each week? I have already started riding. One thing about the way I ride is, I just ride hard for as long as I can. The current gearing on my bike gets up to about 15mph tops. Is there any logic to it all? Or should I just get on and ride ride ride? I have heard about some riding in a heartrate range and all that stuff. Is that important?

What kind of bike do you have that only gets up to 15mph? (I see a single speed). It sounds to me that either your gearing is too low, or that you could benefit from a multi-geared bicycle. True, there are people who do distance rides on single speed and even some on fixed gear bicycles, but if you do that you're compromising something - either limiting your cruising speed, or killing your legs trying to ride up hills.

I think the gearing is too low...in fact, I guarantee that is the problem. I mean, I am not to surprised, and from what I am reading from people here, it doesnt seem like that is too much of a problem. I am going to work at building up my base miles, and once I get that going, I will either change the gearing on my bike, or buy a new bike and start training for the century. Now, I just need to get over this pesky chest cold.

If you're topping out at 15mph on your singlespeed, what gearing are you running? I'm in process of building up a ss/fg commuter for the hills up here in the PNW, and I'll be using a 44/18 combo. That's 64.5 gear inches, which is pretty low by most standards. Turns out to be 15mph at 80rpm.

Well, as embarrassing as it is to admit, I have no idea what gearing I have. I just bought the bike from a shop in Denver and I have been riding it. I bought a cheapo computer that tells me I am riding at most 15mph. That is pedaling hard too. As you can see, I have a lot to learn about RPMs, gearing and all that stuff. Is there a place I can go to learn about gearing and all? Is Sheldon Browns site a good place for that?

It's possible the computer isn't set up properly for your wheel size. I think it's worth it to look into that, and also to check your gearing. It takes about two or three minutes at most to count teeth on the chainring and freewheel, and will help you get some idea of how to assess your progress.

Clifton - I have a 42-19 fixed gear set up. That's lower than I want, but great for going up hills. There's no problem getting it to 20 mph, but sustaining it makes me feel like I'm in a Keystone Cop movie.

I will do that tonight.

I will do that tonight.

:thumb:

I counted the teeth, and it looks like I am running a 42-17 setup. I think my computer is improperly calibrated then. I bought some cheapo computer too...maybe I will drop 50 and get a decent one.
Here is a question for you...how the heck are people approximating RPMs?

42-17 should be a decent combo for most flatter to rolling terrain, so your probably fine for now. For cadence, either count your pedal strokes through 15 seconds and multiply by 4, or take the easy way and buy a computer with cadence. I'm partial to the Cateye Astale 8.

http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/253

Is that computer wireless? Because, man...the one I have right now has a wire and it bugs the bajesus out of me. Are wireless computers reliable? Or is wired a better way to go?

The Astrale is wired. Can't comment on wireless, just never used one.