Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - 200 miles in a day - Advice needed

Hi everyone, this is my first post on this forum.

I got into road biking about 5 weeks ago. My current bike is a Schwinn Varsity Flat Bar (weighs about 30lbs, 200$ in Walmart) that I borrowed from a friend.

I started biking in Silver Comet Trail, Georgia and last week I completed it totaling about 130 miles in 10-11 hours. My maximum before that was 60 miles.

Now I am planning on completing 200 miles in a single day ( about Silver Comet Trail+Chief Ladiga Trail ). Do I need to focus mainly on upgrading my equipment or my training? I am slightly overweight (5-11 190lbs) but have a pretty good stamina and can run half-marathons everyday.

Any type of advice is welcome ( Biking technique, diet, time&planning). I will also be glad if you can show me a guideline of a proper training plan.

I can't advise regarding training other than to build up miles. 30lb eh? If you have mountains it will be interesting. For a 200mile ride I would suggest finding a sports drink and snacks that work for you. 200 is a long way from 60, especially on a heavy bike. Something like Heed energy drink and some carbo/protein bars will be necessary. Staying hydrated with a decent electrolyte balance will be a critical part of the ride. If you get badly dehydrated or run out of energy it will all be over. Your move to 60 miles was pretty quick but take care not to bite off more than you chew.

Actually my current max is 130miles in a single day. Sorry for the confusion. But I still assume non-stop 200 miles is going to be 3-4 times more difficult than 130mi, agree?

I frequently drink Powerade or Gatorade while cycling and also eat carbs every 2 hours and protein bars every 2 hours. They are the stuff I consume while doing other types of sports as well but I don't know if there is any special type of "bike food". Is Heed a higher quality brand?

Have you had a look at the Long Distance forum? You might want to post your questions over there:
http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php/231-Long-Distance-Competition-Ultracycling-Randonneuring-and-Endurance-Cycling

When you post in the Long Distance forum, you'll need to provide more information:

When is the double century?
Your current max is 130 miles ... when did you do that?
What do you normally ride in a week?

And no, 200 miles is definitely NOT 3-4 times more difficult than a 200K randonnee. In fact, I found doing my first 300K randonnee (323 km = 200 miles) about the same difficulty level as a 200K (125 miles) ... just longer.

Machka you were asking for a summary of my goals :

I completed 130 miles 10 days ago.

For the double-century, I want to attempt it as soon as possible since I want to use the daylight and that means I have about 11 hours nowadays. 18mph for 11 hours is way above my current performance so I guess I will have to install some night equipment.

I exercise an average of 2 hours every day but that includes basketball, soccer, running etc. My total mileage (indoor+outdoor) since I started (5weeks ago as I mentioned) is about 350 miles so 70 miles per week. I have completed a full marathon before (and have hit the wall :) ) so I didn't really get too exhausted during 200K. My resting heart rate is about 35-40 so I have a significant advantage.

Edited by moderators

Cheers Supairman, welcome to Bike Forums.

I just merged your thread from Road Cycling forum to this thread in Long Distance. Carry on...

--Juha, a Forum Mod

When I went from the 200K randonnee distance to the 300K randonnee distance, I did it in 2 weeks.

May 12, 2001 - 215 km (134 mi)

May 19, 2001 - 122 km (75 mi)

May 26, 2001 - 323 km (200 mi)

BUT I had done a lot of centuries and several 200 km rides before that so I had the following things pretty much sorted:

-- bicycle fit
-- saddle comfort
-- nutrition
-- hydration
-- pacing
-- equipment (mostly ... a trunk bag would have come in handy)

As far as nutrition and hydration goes, some guidelines:

-- Eat approx. 200-300 calories per hour ... the fitter you are, the less you'll need to eat
-- Drink one 750 ml bottle of water and/or sports drink and/or coke, iced tea, orange juice per hour ... a little bit more if it is hot or windy
-- Ensure that you consume electrolytes in your food, in your beverage choices, and in tablet form especially if you're drinking lots

One thing I learned is that an easy 300k is easier than a hard 200k. The significance is that, if you were not just totally wiped out at the end of your 130 mile ride, you're ready for a 200 miler right now, if things go right.

When I did my first 300k ride, I had done maybe a dozen or more 200k's. The 300k was a breeze, winds were favorable, I just flew. But then several months later, I did another 300k, and this one involved cranking into a headwind for the last 90 miles. I did one 600k where the winds were non-existent one way and a tailwind the other way, I was in a big group, and I averaged as fast as I've ever done on any ride. But then I've done some long rides in the heat where they just turned into a death march. Part of the benefit of riding is getting your legs and lungs in better shape, but part of the benefit is learning to deal with different problems that come up.

Anyway, back to the topic, if you do a bunch of riding, you'll probably start having reliability issues at some point with a cheap bike, and so the bike question will sort of answer itself for you. If you're just planning one 200-miler and then quit forever, it would probably be just as well to try it on that bike.

My blog post with tips for riding the Davis Double might give you a few ideas.
http://ccorlew.blogspot.com/2011/05/official-old-guy-and-non-athlete-tips.html

How did your body like the 130 miles? Saddle sores or stiff knees or anything? Try to sort out that stuff ahead of time.

to Machka : I will follow 300 calories and 750ml+electrolytes per hour. That was a kind of information I was looking for. It may seem funny but sometimes it is really difficult to understand if my body is getting dehydrated or not. That is probably due to the wind and convection is something I am not really used to. I never go at those speeds totally exposing my body to the wind :)

to StephenH : I actually had some reliability issues already. I got into a dusty area around the 30 mile mark and then the sound of my chains totally changed. I had an accident around 48 miles around the peak of the sole hill just after I started gliding downhill in the trail and had to tighten the steering. My adjustments were totally off (couldn't shift to most of the lower gears) after these and at a very random point around 70 milemark, the chain got stuck in between the smallest gear of the casette and the fork. After all these I felt a significant efficiency decrease ( may be due to my fatigue, psychology, or it was really so ).

to cccorlew: Broken spoke is a case I never even read on. I should also check that, good to know. On a popular bike trail, at the weekend, it may be like cheating but I don't feel like I have to carry every single tool with me. Can you come up with a priority list? Btw it is a good idea to leave the lights and one of the initial (and final) checkpoints but it gives me more confidence when I am all "self-contained".

to Dan The Man : I think I needed a buddy to talk to and use the aerodynamic advantages. Psychologically, I even started to hate my favorite songs :)

I got used to the saddle. I did a metric century with a regular sports shorts on a stock Schwinn saddle and this time. I had a very good Pearl Izumi + Memory Foam Saddle Cover so that part was OK.

I applied R.I.C.E. asap after I reached home ( there was a BBQ Party in between :) ) and my knees were perfect in the morning. I could do another 130 miles on that day but would probably out of everything for 3-4 days afterwards. One thing I noticed is : even though there is an optimum height for the saddle, adjusting it at some point gave me great comfort. I lowered it in the last 40 miles, which put more strain on my knees but my muscles totally liked it. Do you have any ideas on this? Is that dangerous, doable etc?

I was a little bit sleepy, because I had spent the last two nights with 8 hours of sleep in total so that was a bad decision in that perspective. It is also due to the fact that I dropped my sunglasses at the accident zone and couldn't find it again.

But I still assume non-stop 200 miles is going to be 3-4 times more difficult than 130mi, agree?First of all - defining the difficulty of any ride or event using only the mileage is foolish.

As you already know, you need to pick and choose a route, and hopefully pick a day with fortuitous weather as well.

Next comes understanding your strengths and limitations and where and when you your fitness and holding the length and number of your rest periods to that of bare necessity.

But what is missing here - is understanding that not much of your next adventure is guaranteed by the little success you have had.

Go ahead and try for your new 200 mile record, but a better means of continuing your quest toward a life involving real fitness would consider the incremental nature of exercise training adaptations.

I wonder how silly it would seem if someone came to you - told you they just ran 10 miles - so they must go ahead and try a 26 mile marathon run next week!

Carry on.

On the training side, I think a jump from 60 to 130 to 200 is asking a lot. Not impossible, but a lot. If you'd done a handful of 100 mile rides I'd say no problem, but 60 to 130 to 200? wow.

On the nutrition side, you need to know what your stomach will handle. 300 calories an hour all day long is a lot of food for your system to process. More reps of longer rides would teach you how to take care of your stomach. As it is, be prepared for you stomach to say "no more Heed" or whatever you're eating. Maybe it happens, maybe not, but be prepared. Then eat a rice crispie treat or a cheeseburger or whatever it takes.

Then there's the know-how. You need to know how to pace yourself, know when it's okay to ignore pain and when it's not. If you get depressed and feel like it's too far, you need to know to get through it. Then a flat tire or rain or crash happens when you're down - keep a positive attitude, eat a snack or put on a jacket and keep moving. Find someone to ride with for a while.

to cccorlew: Broken spoke is a case I never even read on. I should also check that, good to know. On a popular bike trail, at the weekend, it may be like cheating but I don't feel like I have to carry every single tool with me. Can you come up with a priority list? Btw it is a good idea to leave the lights and one of the initial (and final) checkpoints but it gives me more confidence when I am all "self-contained".

The broken spoke was a fluke, and i don't even try to catty tools for it. If the wheel went on a supported ride I'd hope to be able to score one from support, otherwise the ride would be over.
Lights: If it's hard at all, just keep 'em on. It really won't matter much. Some organized 200 mile rides make drop and pick up arrangements. Do your research.