Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - My first long ride. How can I get ready in time?

Hi everyone,

I set a goal for myself to ride one of this season's Berkshire Brevet events (http://newhorizonsbikes.com/page.cfm?pageID=67). The next one coming up is a short one, 150K (94 miles), and I want to give it a try. The problem is that it sort of snuck up on me, and I haven't been training very much at all. Right now, it's 11 days away.

How should I prepare given the small amount of time in front of me? I've never ridden anywhere close to 94 miles before (which is why in my training, I wanted to work up from the 30 mile rides I had been doing to 50-60 mile rides and beyond), so I'm a little uncertain of myself. What if I do a 40 mile ride this week, and something like a 60 mile ride next week, with some shorter rides interspersed? Would this be a good strategy?

Many thanks,
Alex

How should I prepare given the small amount of time in front of me? I've never ridden anywhere close to 94 miles before (which is why in my training, I wanted to work up from the 30 mile rides I had been doing to 50-60 mile rides and beyond), so I'm a little uncertain of myself. What if I do a 40 mile ride this week, and something like a 60 mile ride next week, with some shorter rides interspersed? Would this be a good strategy?

hey, akahn ... are you also on LJ\bikepirates? The username seems familiar. If you are who I think you are, then I believe that you're already familiar with the terrain of the Berks (ie. can't swing a dead cat without hitting a steep hill); and so if you're currently doing 30 milers now, you should absolutely do your best to work up to doing 60 by next week. I believe that ultracycling.com cites some maxim like every cyclist is capable of riding an event that is twice as long as the longest even they've trained for. So, getting a 60 miler in soon should be helpful.

The other thing I would say is that since this is a night ride, think about what you're going to use for lighting. One corollary of riding in hilly terrain is that you're going to have some rather fast descents (especially if Don routes you thorugh Jacob's Ladder or Pisgah), so it's good to have a light that has both good range and width.

Aside from that, be comfortable with climbing, if you aren't already. Also, check with Don about expected support. He will sometimes drive out to a control to stock a table with PB&J, chips and water, but most of the controles on his routes are unmanned stops at convenience stores, 24-Hour Dunks or gas stations. Plan accordingly.

If I were you, I'd either skip it or, if they offer it and you've already paid, do a shorter section. Just to give you an idea, most century training schedules for a new rider are about 12 weeks long.

There are several issues that you're facing:
• you're likely to get an overuse injury
• you don't have time to work on your hydration and nutrition methods
• you don't know if your bike and/or position will be comfortable after 50, 70 or 90 miles

You should also get your bike tuned up. If your LBS is good and isn't too busy, they might do it in a few hours, but they might need a day or so if they're busy or actually need to fix something.

Mind you, it's quite plausible that you can just do the ride without any major issues, or not mind the issues. But to me, this would be like saying "the longest run I've ever done is 3 miles, and I'm going to do a half marathon in less than 2 weeks." It's a bit much.

More importantly, there are plenty of events out there that you can do; it shouldn't be that hard to find another century that's at least 2 months away.

Cue people telling you to "Just Do It" in 5, 4, 3... ;)

Hi everyone,

I set a goal for myself to ride one of this season's Berkshire Brevet events (http://newhorizonsbikes.com/page.cfm?pageID=67). The next one coming up is a short one, 150K (94 miles), and I want to give it a try. The problem is that it sort of snuck up on me, and I haven't been training very much at all. Right now, it's 11 days away.

How should I prepare given the small amount of time in front of me? I've never ridden anywhere close to 94 miles before (which is why in my training, I wanted to work up from the 30 mile rides I had been doing to 50-60 mile rides and beyond), so I'm a little uncertain of myself. What if I do a 40 mile ride this week, and something like a 60 mile ride next week, with some shorter rides interspersed? Would this be a good strategy?

Many thanks,
Alex

You should be fine . . . however, I'm making the following assumptions . . .
1) Your bike is in great mechanical condition (recently tuned up, greased, oiled, etc)
2) You are in good to better mechanical condition (relatively healthy)

This is what I would do . . .
1) 50 miles shouldn't be a biggie, take it easy around 16-22 mph. Generally 50 should be possible without immediate fatigue. If you get to 50 and still feel good, go for 60, maybe 75.
2) Next ride (after a rest day), increment mileage by about 10-15.
3) Do that until you are at 90, and while listening to your body, you should know by then what your hydration/nutrition needs will be.
4) Try to do it with a partner or small group (training rides) that way you will have more to do than just look at your odometer.
5) Also, this sounds weird, but don't go in a small loop, ride straight out from your starting point (about half the distance you would like to go). It makes you pay much more attention to your cadence, power output, and energy levels, when you know you will have to travel that distance to get home. This, instead of running a 10 mile loop 5 times or so.

Good luck!

hey, akahn ... are you also on LJ\bikepirates? The username seems familiar. If you are who I think you are, then I believe that you're already familiar with the terrain of the Berks (ie. can't swing a dead cat without hitting a steep hill); and so if you're currently doing 30 milers now, you should absolutely do your best to work up to doing 60 by next week. I believe that ultracycling.com cites some maxim like every cyclist is capable of riding an event that is twice as long as the longest even they've trained for. So, getting a 60 miler in soon should be helpful.

The other thing I would say is that since this is a night ride, think about what you're going to use for lighting. One corollary of riding in hilly terrain is that you're going to have some rather fast descents (especially if Don routes you thorugh Jacob's Ladder or Pisgah), so it's good to have a light that has both good range and width.

Aside from that, be comfortable with climbing, if you aren't already. Also, check with Don about expected support. He will sometimes drive out to a control to stock a table with PB&J, chips and water, but most of the controles on his routes are unmanned stops at convenience stores, 24-Hour Dunks or gas stations. Plan accordingly.

Thanks for the words of support, this gives me some confidence. Yes, that's me on LJ/bikepirates. My lighting setup should be okay. I have a very bright headlight (and I can bring extra batteries), and another that is not as bright. Normally I just use the bright one, but I can use both here. I'm comfortable with climbing, but definitely better at finding my rhythm on long climbs compared to killer, steep ones. My usual rides inevitably have both, so that is helpful. I can carry plenty of food in my rando style handlebar bag and my large saddlebag, so support shouldn't be a big deal.

Bacciagalupe, thanks for sharing your concerns. Maybe I should train hard the next two weeks and see if I feel up for it come July 11th. The ride is an out-and-back route, so if I have to drop off before the end of the 'out' leg, I can wait for my friends while they finish it and do the 'back' leg with them. You're right, I don't want to get injured.

John,

My bike is in great shape. It's a 1991 Bridgestone RB-T that wasn't used much and must have been tuned up before being stored for a long time. It has new tires and shifts and brakes well. I'm a very lean 23 year old. I'm not in great shape but I do hard MTB rides and shorter road rides regularly so I'm fit at least.

Thanks for your advice. I'm not sure I'll be able to work my way all the way up to 90, but I will try to increment the mileage. Here's the route I'm considering for my next ride: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Locust+St%2FMA-9&daddr=N+Farms+Rd+to:Conway+Rd+to:42.616276,-72.745972&hl=en&geocode=FYzwhQIdvl6r-w%3BFct3hgIdoCOr-w%3BFaG8hwIdXOuq-w%3B&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=3&sz=12&via=1,2&sll=42.558391,-72.723312&sspn=0.201045,0.277405&ie=UTF8&z=12 (there are some mean hills in there).

1) 50 miles shouldn't be a biggie, take it easy around 16-22 mph.

Are you sure those belong in the same sentence? :eek:

Are you sure those belong in the same sentence? :eek:

Maybe, I don't know. I did 54 mi on Saturday (I was going for 80 but the weather had other ideas in store). My low end was 16 mph (not including climbs) but 18-20 mph is a pretty easy pace IMHO. 20-22 is sustainable for a few miles (we are flatlanders here) and then I drop back down to 17-19 for another few and bump back up, depending on the wind. There were still people passing, although I don't know what distance they were going for.

I've got a touring frame (1986 Voyageur) so it isn't the fastest, but it seems effortless once it gets moving. I also have a triple in front and a corncob 12-23 in back, so I can always find my gear.

On the flats, anything in between 18.5-21 and I'm a happy camper! :)

By the by akahn, looks like a nice training route! Enjoy! :thumb:

i woudlnt worry to much about it...i did 100 and 75 this weekend, my longest ride before that was 55, and i only did that once!

just take it easy, eat and drink a lot, and you should be just fine...remember...PACE YOURSELF!

Hi! I did my first ~100 mile ride with not much training - a regular ~15 mile weekly ride, others as they came up, some sporadic running, and one ~50 mile training ride the week before. The ride was hard, and I was starting to bonk after about 60-70 miles, but I did it with little more than general fitness and still really enjoyed it. You should be fine...just start training right now!

Good luck!

...What if I do a 40 mile ride this week, and something like a 60 mile ride next week, with some shorter rides interspersed? Would this be a good strategy?

Many thanks,
Alex

Hey, Alex,

I worry about you doing too much in the last days before the ride. If you do 40 or 50 this weekend, great. But then you should step down. Your last 5 days might be: 30-20-15-10-off, something along those lines.

Go in fresh; you can't increase fitness much in a week, anyway. Eating a little bit every hour on the bike during the big ride is a very important for success, too. Good luck and have fun, and tell us what happens.

You will be fine. Or they will bury you where you fall. J/K. Have fun. :)

What you should do is just go ride the heck out of whatever hills you have. Then the day before the event, take a rest day. Then go for it.

One thing people forget is that the time limit on these things is longish. You don't need to do 16 mph. If you average 12 mph, you're fine. You can be slow and it's okay. If you're riding 30 mph fairly briskly, then you can probably ride 94 miles slowly with a few breaks with no problem.

I rode the "Beauty and The Beast Tour" a while back. It was the hilliest ride I had been on, about 3000', I think the site said, and I was riding my single speed. I think I was the last person in. I got so tired, and towards the end, I'd have to stop on a lot of those little hills and rest halfway up. But when it was done, I finished in about 5:45, with the distance being a metric century. The cool thing is that standard brevet time for that distance is longer, so had that been a brevet/ permanent, I would still have been okay on the time.

there is no sense in trying to get a training effect out of the last week. If you want to try a 50 miler in the week 7 days out or more, go for it. Do what you have been doing the last week. It would be easy to take a ride that would take a week to recover from in your current condition. Might as well save the over exertion for the ride itself.

One thing people forget is that the time limit on these things is longish. You don't need to do 16 mph. If you average 12 mph, you're fine. You can be slow and it's okay.
Thank god someone said it!

I've never done a formal event, but last summer when I started cycling again I was in pretty rough shape - 20 miles was non-trivial for me, and I was almost 40 lbs overweight, 37 years old, and no history of long distance cycling.

Within 6 weeks I had done my first 100k, then first 100 mile rides (2 days apart), then the following week I did 140k twice 2 days apart. All of this was done at an average speed of 20-21 kph = 12-13 mph. That was on a pretty heavy commuting hybrid bike set up for touring, and carrying food and a bunch of water, plus some tools, spare tubes, and in the case of the 2x140k rides I had a change of clothes as well.

My advice is to get the bike tuned up, don't knock yourself out on speed, go do a 60 mile ride just to see how it feels in the week before the big ride, and get a good night's rest and eat properly the day before the 150k ride.

If you're having trouble setting a sustainable pace, my advice is to try to ride with your mouth closed, breathing only through your nose except on the biggest climbs. That's an easy way to ensure that you're not over exerting and not at risk of burning out early. Once you're past the 100k mark, you're only a couple of hours from home, so you can decide for yourself then if you want to turn up the wick a bit or keep with the pace you've been going at for the first 2 thirds of the ride.

For nutrition & hydration I liked starting with 700ml of just water, then switching to Gatorade mixed 50/50 with water. I'd have a mouthful or two every 15-20 minutes to keep from getting dehydrated, and avoid having to stop for a piss. I also took a bit of preemptive aspirin when I had food, which wasn't often because I was doing this for weight loss as much as for the adventure (I think I had 2 bananas and 2 granola bars when I did the 100 mile ride).

A 150k ride is the same as a 15k ride in that it will be as hard or as easy as you choose to make it. If what's important to you is to set a personal speed record, or hang with experienced and impatient distance riding friends, then it may well be too late already. If what's important to you is setting a personal distance record and pushing past some old limits and having a fun adventure, then don't stress about it, just get your ass out there!

I definitely have no problem going 12mph on this ride. I have no interest in going faster than my body can take. Hopefully my friends will be patient enough. :)

Good points on giving myself time to rest after a long ride before the event. I will definitely follow that advice!

What if I do a 40 mile ride this week, and something like a 60 mile ride next week, with some shorter rides interspersed? Would this be a good strategy? Who knows? Trying to "cram" training in for a ride - may do you more harm than good.

If you're healthy, and you stay that way, and you have a decent bike, and it stays that way - there's no reason you shouldn't be able to go out and ride 94 miles.

What's important for this ride - is that you pace your self according to your current status - and figure out if you like bicycling enough to actually "train" for your next long ride.

I totally agree with those saying to take rest in the days before the ride. If you do the 60 miler, make sure to do it this weekend (or so) at the latest.

I also agree with those who advocate getting plenty to eat and drink. Eat well the day before, and snack copiously during the ride. It makes a big difference as you near the end, and it really helps in bouncing back after the ride!

Okay, here's the ride I did on Saturday: http://is.gd/1oL0v . Unfortunately, it was 54 miles rather than 60 or 65, but still, it helps my confidence for the 150K. I think my average speed was about 13 mph on the way there and about 11 on the way back. I will try to fit in a 20 mile ride this week.

It was a successful ride in terms of nutrition. I ate 2 Clif bars, several cherries and grapes, and several chocolate-covered almonds (I love these for biking), and drank both of my 27oz water bottles.

If you had hard limits due to fitness or equipment issues, you would have discovered them on your 54 mile ride. I would feel confident. The important task now is to ride again this week but rest well and eat healthy in prep for the ride.

As others have said, take it slow. I would try to maintain a 12 mph pace including hills. If your friends are faster, let 'em go ahead.

Keep your self well hydrated. It takes an hour for water to reach working muscles. If the weather is hot, you may need twice as much water per hour compared to what you consumed on your test ride.

Michael

If you had hard limits due to fitness or equipment issues, you would have discovered them on your 54 mile ride. I would feel confident. The important task now is to ride again this week but rest well and eat healthy in prep for the ride.

As others have said, take it slow. I would try to maintain a 12 mph pace including hills. If your friends are faster, let 'em go ahead.

Keep your self well hydrated. It takes an hour for water to reach working muscles. If the weather is hot, you may need twice as much water per hour compared to what you consumed on your test ride.

Michael
What he said. Good work, and have fun at the event!

Thanks, guys! This event is actually at night (it's the "Moonlight Century Rusa 150K Populaire" brevet), so it should be pretty cool. Hopefully not cold, though! I'll probably want to wear my usual cycling shorts and my light jersey, and bring along a light polypro longsleeve just in case.

my guess is it will be cold. Use one of the weather sites and look at the temps. On my 600k at the end of May, I was miserably cold from midnight to 5 a.m. even though I was wearing a windbreaker and tights. I wished multiple times that I had worn full fingered gloves.

Sounds like a fun ride. Hope it works out for you, suffering is always a fallback position.

I wanted to also add in that the main issue I had on the ride was my saddle/butt/crotch/perineum. I have a Brooks B17 on the bike that is comfortable, but I would eventually get numb at the tips of my big toes, and later on in my crotch. Getting off the bike for a few minutes every hour or so relieved the numbness. I think pushing harder rather than just sitting on the saddle would alleviate some of the issue, but ultimately I think I'll try switching to something like a B17 Narrow or the Velo-Orange leather saddle that has a similar shape to a Brooks Swift.

I wanted to also add in that the main issue I had on the ride was my saddle/butt/crotch/perineum. I have a Brooks B17 on the bike that is comfortable, but I would eventually get numb at the tips of my big toes, and later on in my crotch. Getting off the bike for a few minutes every hour or so relieved the numbness. I think pushing harder rather than just sitting on the saddle would alleviate some of the issue, but ultimately I think I'll try switching to something like a B17 Narrow or the Velo-Orange leather saddle that has a similar shape to a Brooks Swift.

Yes, if your handlebars are well below your seat, a narrow seat fits better.

I try to stand, and crank on the pedals while climbing, for about 3 minutes twice an hour. This provides improved blood circulation and also uses different leg muscles. You might find that this makes your seat discomfort more moderate.

Good shoes are key. Last year, I used low cost Shimano MTB shoes. I found these were not stiff enough and would cause a hot spot on the ball of my feet during longer rides. This forced me to sit with all my body weight on the saddle. Then my seat would become painful.

I upgraded to a pair of stiff road shoes with a carbon fiber soles. I now can put as much of my weight on my feet as needed without any hot spots on the ball of my feet. Now my saddle also feels better since my feet are supporting my weight to a significant extent.

Eat well & sleep well before the event, you will be fine.

Michael

Hope it works out for you, suffering is always a fallback position.
That is awesome. :)

I think people wanted to hear how the ride went.

I picked up my friend at the shop he works at, and we got some reflective vests and ankle bands and drove down the valley to Westfield to the shop where the ride started at. We signed in and got our brevet cards and cue sheets. Then we got our bikes ready.

We set out just after 6:30 PM with a couple of the other riders. There were about 15 total on this ride. We missed the first turn, and then decided to follow the guys with GPS for a bit. One was an experienced rider on a fast road bike and the other one was on an old Bridgestone MB-5 mountain bike. This seemed masochistic to me, but eventually they pushed ahead of us and we didn't see them for the rest of the ride, so he must have been a very strong rider.

The ride wound through rural parts of Westfield, Southampton and Westhampton. Eventually we rode through the outskirts of Northampton/Florence (where I live). At this point we were 15-20 miles into the ride, and my confidence wasn't high. It started to rain, as I knew it would, and I took off my jersey and put on my rain jacket against my bare skin. This was uncomfortable but it was just too hot and humid to keep my jersey on. I would eventually regret this. At this stop we split a Clif bar and some other snacks before pressing on. We then moved on to Williamsburg, where we had ridden recently on an overnight camping trip.

The road north from Williamsburg was a long, steady climb. This is the road we took to get to the state park where we had camped recently, but this time we continued to climb further, rather than turning off. On this road the rain turned to a downpour and our spirits turned soggy. My glasses were covered in water droplets, which I can see through and don't bother me. But then they also became fogged. So I took my glasses off and put them in my front bag. We were going slow enough and the visibility was low enough that they didn't really help.

We continued slowly up the hill, through Williamsburg and Goshen. We shared some water and chocolate-covered almonds and yogurt raisins. At this point in the ride my feet went from soggy to soaked. That sponge-like feeling. I started getting a acidy stomach cramp and I needed to stop. I realized I needed to hydrate more, since I had ridden 30 miles and hardly had any fluids coming out of me.

We eventually reached the top of that long, 10-mile hill. The backside was a thrill. Very low visibility, heavy rain, thick fog illuminated right in front of our faces with headlamps and a windy, steep, downhill country road. At the bottom we found ourselves entering Ashfield but unsure where to go. The cuesheet was ambiguous and neither of us was using a computer. We needed to look at my map, but it was pouring and the map would get ruined. We rode around until we found a sheltering tree and opened the map under it. We figured out our route and moved on.

Eventually the rain let up, and I changed into a long sleeve polypro shirt. I felt a lot more comfortable. I felt happier. I reflected on how silly it was that we were riding 100 miles in the middle of the night in the rain through the countryside. We were close to the half way point in Shelbourne Falls. The rest of that half of the ride was easy. Swooping up and down foggy country roads was a blast. I let myself pick up speed going downhill, but had to concentrate hard to stay on the road. We saw two baby racoons slowly cross the road. They were incredibly cute. The second one, when it saw my friend riding toward it, cowered down against the road, covering its head with its paws. But it was safe.

We made it to Shelbourne Falls. We were the last riders there. The ride organizer was there to sign our brevet cards. I drank a can of Pepsi and ate some rice and beans that I brought. My companion ate a turkey and cheese sandwich that the organizer brought. We chatted and rested for 15-20 minutes. We had ridden 50 miles, and it was 11 or 12 at night.

We felt good continuing on after the break but knew we had a long ride ahead of us. The beginning of the return route was on a well-paved country highway, going through Buckland and back down into Ashfield. We climbed, and climbed, and climbed, the climb just wouldn't end! The caffeine and the rest had me riding strong and relatively fast, and Caleb cautioned that I take it slow and steady, so I did. And the climb just kept going. We had no patience for this! We had no energy! At that point Caleb's energy was waning. His lack of sleep the previous night wasn't helping. Eventually we reached the crest of the hill, turning off of 112 and onto 116. Now we got to go down the side of the hill. This was the funnest part of the ride. A long, fast descent with alternating warm and cool air, patches of fog, and no cars for miles.

We arrived in the center of Conway, and noted the dome on top of the old public library, and marked this on our Brevet cards. We pushed south through Whately, near the house of the family friends who gave me the bike I was riding. If it wasn't 2 a.m. I would have stopped in to show him what good use I was putting the bike to! We rode the spectacular, screaming downhill alongside the Northampton Reservoir.

Now we were in my neighborhood! The outskirts of Northampton and Florence, coming in to the center of Haydenville. If the ride had been going worse, we probably would have just ridden the 5 miles to my house and spent the night there. We joked about it, but recognized that we had 20 or 30 "short" miles left to get back to Westfield and continued on. In reality, these were some of the hardest, dreariest miles of the whole ride. Even though we were riding on the same roads we had been on at the beginning of the ride, we had to check the map over and over again. We rode very slowly, and one of my knees got a bit sore. Caleb's lack of sleep was catching up with him. Eventually we assured ourselves that even though we couldn't find ourselves on the map, we were on the right road so we kept going.

We rolled into downtown Westfield and had a gas station attendant sign our brevet cards. I ordered a green tea from the Dunkin Donuts (should've had herbal). Exhausted, we rode back to the shop where we had left my car.

Where the hell was my car key? It's practically 4 AM, dawn is beginning to break, and I've been on my bike for 8-9 hours, I just want to go home and sleep. I don't want to spend the night in Westfield and get picked up by a friend in the morning! But then I took my handlebar bag off my front rack and dumped out its contents. No car key. I tried prying up the plastic stiffener on the inside bottom of the bag. It took some shaking and prying, but I got the key out. Next time I'll put it somewhere better!

I can't remember but I think our total time was 9 hours and 20 minutes. We were slow but proud of ourselves. Next is the D2R2 killer 170K!! http://www.rapha.cc/d2r2

thanks that report. Sounds like an epic ride.

Nice job! Anything within the control times is a good ride.

Good Jarb! Sounds like a cool ride . . .

Great report!

Your next ride will be easier, but you will always remember this one!

Michael

Great report. Be proud of yourself.

Thanks everyone. I forgot to mention the cute skunks at 3 AM near the Mill River in Leeds and also a possum with a deathwish that narrowly ran across the road and between my two wheels while I going about 15 mph

Sounds like quite the adventure; glad it worked out for you. And thanks for the update.

Here on the local rides, you get a cue sheet and not much if anything in the way of a map. So you just about have to have a working accurate odometer to know when to turn. I hear that they actually make lighted ones, though I've not gotten to that point, but that would obviously be good for riding around in the dark.

Great report!

Your next ride will be easier, but you will always remember this one!

if his next ride is the D2R2, as the OP indicated in his post, then it certainly won't be easier ;) but that moonlight populaire does sound like it would be quite memorable.

Good luck!