surgtech1956

I'm considering doing the 2010 Michigan Wish a Mile Ride, which is a 3 day, 300 miles with some work friends. I don't have all the particulars, except that its July 22-25. What type of training should I do for this? What about food, snacks, etc... on the bike? Any advice, tips, recommendations, I would appreciate. Thanks in advance.

10 Wheels

What bike will you ride?
What has been your longest ride ?

surgtech1956

I will be using my Giant OCR 3W, and will start riding again in March. How long of a ride so I aim for and/or speed, or doesn't speed necessary matter?

cyclinfool

And here when I looked at this thread and saw who replied I was expecting wisdom of the ages to come forth - and all we got was some clarifying questions. Seriously - 10 spot probably has the most miles on his a$$ than anyone here.

10 Wheels

Your ORC is good. I would change the Crank from 50/39/30 to a 50/30/24t small ring for steep hills.

Speed or saddle time is something to consider.
10 mph for 100 miles is 10 hours in the saddle.

I was able to ride some back to back 100 mile days last year.
It takes some energy to to do that.

You might want to go over to The Long Distance thread and do some reading .

n0vyy

Check out Joe Friel's book Cycling Past 50. He has a good program for training to complete your first Century. Well at least I hope it is good, I am following it for my first Century, end of April.

StanSeven

July 22-25 is four days. What is it?

I don't mean to be short but a lot of these events just advertise without thinking.

BluesDawg

You should follow Eddy Merckx's famous advice: "ride lots"

surgtech1956

Its only 3 days.

big john

Exactly. Ride as much as you can. This will toughen your butt and give you the chance to experiment with foods and/or drinks on the bike.
Having done multi-day tours I can tell you the third day is the hardest. Just learn you body and stay within yourself. If you try to keep up with someone who is just a little bit faster it will wear you out on a multi day event.
Probably no big climbs up there?

sauerwald

For the past 7 years I have done a charity ride which goes from Montreal (or Burlington VT) to Portland ME (or Boston), and covers a distance of 450 miles over 4 1/2 days - a similar pace to the ride that you are looking at. (www.charitytreks.org)

I don't know how much you ride now, but riding a lot helps. You want to have a comfortable bike, which is largely determined by fit. Many people on the charitytreks ride have sore butts. I have not had that issue, which I attribute to a very comfortable saddle (well broken in brooks B-17).

I would suggest riding more each week, and planning your schedule so that you do at least a couple of centuries before you start on this ride. Ideally, you will ride in terrain which is similar to what your ride will be like.

Food and drink that you bring with you will depend somewhat on what sort of support is offered. Many organized rides will offer you plenty of snacks and liquids.

NOS88

I sure support the notion of riding as many miles as you can. However, I think you need a graduated plan that increases mileage while also giving you structured rest days. When preparing for long rides I've always found the ideal to be riding enough that I can comfortably complete three-fourths of the event's distance with ease. Hence, in your case you may want your training schedule structured to have three consecutive days of increasingly longer rides until you can comfortably ride 75 miles a day three days in a row. For example: Week 1: Monday - rest; Tuesday - 20 miles; Wednesday - 20 miles; Thursday - 20 miles; Friday - 10 miles; Saturday - 10 miles with hills; Sunday - 10 miles. Week 2: Monday - rest; Tuesday - 30 miles, Wednesday - 30 miles, Friday - 30 miles, etc. The actual amount of increase in your long day rides should be governed by your recovery between days. If you find it difficult to sleep, you're probably over training and may need to cut back. I would know my resting heart rate and monitor this closely each morning. If I find that it is creeping up by 5 - 8 %, I'd cut back in the miles slightly. I also agree that a trip to the Long Distance thread is a good idea. There are lots of "century training schedules/guides" that can be found by doing a simple Internet search. Keep in mind, however, that they are just guides. You may find your body allows you to progress faster or slower than the guides indicate.

Allegheny Jet

^ +1,

NOS88's advice is money in the bank. A structured plan is a must and needs to be monitored and adjusted along the way to assure sucess.

BluesDawg

Can't agree with this. Some people are wired such that they do better with a very structured plan and lots of monitoring. Others work better with a more generalized approach. What is important is that you get yourself prepared. How you get there is less important.

gcottay

Why wait until March?

Start riding today if only on a trainer. Every procrastination day means more pain in July.

If you are carrying extra weight, begin today with eating less than you burn. Riding is a big help with that, but no substitute for smart eating.

Please excuse the brief reply. I need to haul some whale blubber to the basement now and get on the trainer.

NOS88

Actually, I'm kidding. You make a good point. The principle of equifinality rings true. Different paths can lead to the same outcome. It's funny that I see my approach as a pretty relaxed one in that I don't monitor heart rate during rides anymore, I don't plan to do intervals or other structured regimes during my rides. I try to keep it simple... such as, ride 30 miles today, ride some hills tomorrow, ride 15 miles the day after that, and rest one day per week. But I guess even this relaxed approach could be considered highly structured by another.

stapfam

OCR3 is not bad but 10 wheels mentioned gearing. I would only go to a 28t on the crank as lower than that can cause problems with front derailler set up. Rear cassette and I don't know if you are 8 or 9 speed.

I did a holiday in the Alples on my OCR3 finishing with Mt. Ventoux. Plenty of steep slope riding beforehand and I did it with 52/42/28 and a 12/28 cassette. I did need the 28/28 but Ventoux is 13 miles at an average of 7.5%. Don't know the route but unless mountains are involved- I don't think you would have to change the gearing from standard. Just make certain that the lowest gear can be reached as by the 3rd day you will be using it.

Training- Get miles in and saddle time. Get a few nonstop 4 hours rides in for the butt and get up to regular 60 to 70 milers and possibly do a couple of 100milers sometime. You have don't have to do a 100 miler in order to train for a 100 miler. I know this is 300 miles.

Get your training in for Loooong rides at the weekend and gradually increase this distance. Then on Tuesday and Thursday (Or Wed and Fri) Do a couple of 20 milers One of which to take in as many steep hills as you can. The other to be flattish but do that one with a bit more effort and speed than the weekend ride.

And although the ride is not for a while- Start thinking about nourishment now. The extra training you will have to do will need the right food when you start. The extra milage will take the weight gain away so don't worry about that. Find a drink supplement you like the taste of. Should be Isotonic and possibly have carbs in it. Same with gells. They may be needed and should be carried for emergency. They all taste different and some may affect you. Find the one you like now.

But I am afraid you have no time to think about this- get riding now- or if not possible- get down the Gym till you can.

Pat

I have done a few quad centuries (a century a day for 4 days). It isn't a whole lot worse than doing a century. The important thing to do is watch your pacing. If you push too hard, you will pay for it. If you are beaten up on the first day and are more beaten up on the second day, well the third day will not be fun.

I always found eating quite a few carbs is important. You will need to replace your muscle glycogen which will almost certainly be nearly exhausted on each and every day.

As for training, try to get in a good aerobic base as soon as you can. The more aerobic base you have, the better. Once, you can ride in your area, try to ride routinely as many days per week as you can. Try to do some long rides like 70 miles. Also try to do 70 miles or more back to back. That sort of thing.

But do what you can. Any training you do is better than the best training that you don't do.

Good luck to you

Pat

gcottay

I think that one belongs on the wall.

Any training you do is better than the best training you don't do.