subzeroLV

I just did my first over 10 mile ride on Saturday. It was great! My normal rides are 6-8 miles.

However... I also signed up for the Tour de Cure ride in April, and I chose the 45 mile option! EEk!

There are 15, 45 and 65 mile options. The 15 they advertise as a family fun ride, so I wanted to make sure I was in a serious mileage option. I'm thinking now that maybe it's too serious. I don't even like driving 45 miles! What was I thinking?!?

I've got 2 months to prepare for it. Any words of advise? Or should I try to change my ride option? (If that's even possible).

Neil_B

Two months is plenty of time. Keep riding longer as you can. You will get there.

bautieri

Plenty of advice: but first off, let's start by saying that you CAN do this. Way to support the cause

On an event day, it's safe to say that you can go roughly twice as far as your average ride length providing you are in similar terrain. You have two months to get your comfortable ride length up to 22.5 miles. Start by increasing your ride miles by 10-15% each week. Sometime this week, I want you to go out and ride 11 miles, then 13 etc. Work your way up. On the event day, eat a good breakfast and drink an entire bottle of water before you start. The tour de cure will have regular rest stops, stop at each on you encounter so you can refill your bottles and have a snack. Remember to try and eat about 250-300 calories and hour.

You'll be surprised how easy it is to get swept away by the energy and vibe of an event like this. If you get tired, rest. There is no rule saying you can't walk up a hill if need be. Oh, and it's not a race. Enjoy yourself out there, those 45 miles will be up before you know it.

jagraham

+1 on what's been said already. You can do it. Prepare by riding longer distances each week until the event. I usually pack my own snacks and drinks, mainly because I'm "picky" about what sits well with me when riding lately.

EdmontonIrish

Absolutely you can do it. And on the plus side, at least you didn't go for the 65 km option.

indyfabz

Unless this event is run differently than others, just because you signed up for one distance doesn't mean you have to do that distance. The organizers try to get a rough idea of how many are doing which distances in order to plan support. They are aware that some people will ultimately choose distances come ride day and they account for this. It usually only a problem when a large number change distances. I have been on at least one ride where an inordinant amount of people chose to do the full century (as opposed to the metric) on ride day and it taxed the century rest stop.

CliftonGK1

+1
I'm on my 5th year in the TdC and they're just looking for estimates on each course to know how much food/water to stock at the aid stations. You can sign up for any of them and ride whatever one you want.

Other than that, I agree with everyone else who says "you can do this." Gradual increases in mileage and you'll be there before you know it.

bbeasley

Start now learning how to eat/drink. I need a small snack (2 low fat fig newtons or 1 GU pack) every 12 miles, and a larger one every 40 (1/2 turkey sandwich) with plenty of fluids. Anything less than this and I'm a bonk waiting to happen.

Diet in front of the TV not on the bike

I average high 15s to low 16s MPH on long (greater than 50 mile) rides

subzeroLV

Thank you all for the encouragement! Being a diabetic myself, this TdC is very important to me.

Come hell or high water, I'll do that 45 miles!

Your advice and support is very much appreciated!

Now if you'll excuse me...I'm gonna go for a ride

exile

Enjoy and good luck.

cyccommute 

Riding longer distances is all about training. Here's a training schedule for a century but you can easily adapt it to shorter distances. Reduce the distances by 45% so that they more closely match your current abilities. For example for the first week, do 3 miles on Monday, 5 on Tuesday, 6 on Wednesday, 5 on Friday, 13 on Saturday and 5 on Sunday. Ramp it up each week until you get to the your goal.

Get a map...or at least an idea...of the route before the event. Break the distances into chunks. You can do a 7 mile ride pretty easily so your ride will just consist of six 7 mile (and a bit) rides. Map where the end of each 7 mile segment would occur so you'll know where you are and how far you have to go.

velocycling

" I don't even like driving 45 miles!"

You know what I bet, pretty soon you will come back from a ride that you did not even think was that hard and when someone ask "How far did you ride?" and you tell them. That feeling is pretty cool.

Keith99

You are big. I never saw 45 milers as a problem. But about 45 miles was the barrier for me as my local club had in valley and out of valley rides. The in valley rides were about 45 miles maximum. Out of valley was about 45 miles minumum (anf most 55 or more). The issue was NOT the extra 10 miles. It was the verticle feet. Find out the climbing. If you train at all you can just take a long lunch and finish if it is just miles. If it is climbing and you are not ready for it that could put it beyond yuor abilities.

WestCoastDan

+10 (or so) with the inspiration!
I started riding in late August with daily rides of 5-6 miles. At first, I was EXHAUSTED & it took about 30 minutes.
After about 2 months or so, I ramped up my daily ride to about 9-10 miles. After 2 months I was able to DOUBLE my daily ride to 20 miles!
Now I routinely ride 20-25 miles DAILY with additional mileage added on weekends as my schedule permits.
I rode 40+ miles yesterday (my longest single ride thus far).
I too, am planning/gearing up for my first half-century ride next month.
If I can do this, then just about anybody else with a bike and a little motivation can handle it too.

I'm sure you will do great; just keep logging the miles and upping the distance to get you more confident.
+++

subzeroLV

I'm feeling better and better with each post!

I am a bit worried about the route though. I know there's going to be some climbing involved, and that's definitely not one of my strengths. But with 2 months to go, maybe it can be. Hill repeats here I come!

Pamestique 

You can do it... just keep riding and trying to push up the mileage to at least 20 miles. Remember you have all day. There will be sag stops. Remember to stop, eat (an orange slice, a fig bar some pretzels - not much - just enough to keep fueled) and move on - don't dilly dally much. Just keep pedaling. You will be surprised how the excitement of the event cheers you on.

I did my first century ride after having only ridden 55 miles once before. I went with some friends and planned to stop at 50 and sag in. Well (1) found out too late, the ride had no sags (oops!) and (2) the event was so exciting I just kept riding. Before I knew it - I finished 108 miles. I was only 33 minutes behind my friends who had actually trained for the ride!!!!

Remember long distance riding is 99% mental... keep it in your head this is going to be fun and you will be done before you know it!!!!

You mentioned you don't like hills... I suggest you pick one out you don't like or has been a challenge for you and go ride it. Take your time, low gears are your friends. Just complete the climb. Realize climbing is no more difficult than flats it just takes different gearing and attitude. I used to hate hills so spent one whole summer doing nothing but. Now I don't like rides that are flat!

Also one other suggestion... check out the route, just in case you need to cut mileage, at least know where you can.

Mr. Beanz

Here's one!

If I donate to a fund raiser, I'd expect the participant to fulfill their obligation. We did a hilly diabetes ride on our tandem. I received about $200 and Gina raised over $300 in funds. No way were we cheesing out on the mileage and climbs.

1FatBikeRider

You will be surprised at the roll adrenaline will play in this ride. It will be over before you know it.

RichardGlover

45 miles is about the point where riders will bonk. Make sure you keep the energy levels up by eating/drinking while on the bike.

Any ride over two hours, you need drink an honest-to-goodness full-carb sports drink instead of any low-calorie drink you might have been using to stay hydrated. You'll need the electrolytes that a real sports drink will provide to prevent muscle cramps (and a host of other problems), and you'll need the energy from the carbs to keep you from bonking.

Drinking about 24 oz of sports drink per hour is usually about right on the hydration and electrolytes, but you might need more on a hot day in someplace like, oh, Nevada. But that's only going to get you about 150 calories/hour, and you need about twice that much. You can get that by either eating while riding, or stopping for a snack along the way.

That's where riding on a charity ride like the Tour de Cure really helps. My local one will have rest stops every seven miles. That's about every half hour for me; if they're that close together, you might not need to stop at every one, but it'll be nice to know that if you blow past one, you don't have an hour ride before you see another.

skilsaw

Go for it. 45 is very achievable.
No guts, no glory.
Believe you have the power and stamina to do this.
You could do it tomorrow if your life depended on it.
It might take you 7 hours if you did it this week, but it will get easier as you train.