ammo

Hi guys

Im in need of some serious advice by experienced cyclists. A few months ago I signed up for a charity bike ride (my first ever bike ride over 10 miles) which is 90 miles on day 1 and 40 on day 2. Training was going good for the first few weeks until I had a rather bad knee injury. Now with only 5 days to go until the ride my doctor has said my knee is recovered enough to ride.

At this point my fitness level is very poor however due to the decent amount of money raised in those first few weeks I (probably stupidly) still want to attempt the ride. Its meant to last 9 hours of actual saddle time on day 1, so 10mph average. The terrain is generally flat with about 4 small hilly parts on the route.

My question is, is this do-able for someone out of shape with only 5 days to prepare?
I ordinarily wouldnt mind pulling out but due to the massive support and donations I genuinly feel guilty at even the prospect of pulling out. Im not asking for anyone to talk me out of it, I just want to know if at an average speed of 10 mph an ordinary guy could 'wing it' or if i would likely end up in hospital - due to my limited experience I dont know much about ordinary biking speeds and efforts to naintain them.

Thanks for any help.

clarkbre

I would say within the next 5 days, get out and see if there's any dry rot below the waterline!

No one can tell what kind of shape you're in or out of currently. I would say if the doctor gave you the go ahead to ride, try it out. Ride on similar terrain at an average of 10-12mph to see if that's comfortable for you.

10 Wheels

Take a test ride and find out...

RPK79

Never ridden more than 10 miles in one shot and you want to ride do a ride that includes 90 miles on day one and 40 miles on day two? The time you have to train for the ride is 5 days? Not going to happen.

Fastfingaz

Tell you what I think,, get more info about the ride , I done many M.S tours and other charity rides and events The organizers want as many participants as possible that's why it's not a race, all the long rides such as you speak of have something we call the SAG wagon ! more or less nobody gets left behind,, it's a truck or van that has communication with the organizers on the entire route if you break down they're there for you if you break down and can't go any more they take you and you bike and bring it to the next rest stop about 10-12 miles dependes how it's set up,anyway find out if they have the SAG wagon ,, if they do ,,,, I say go for it , good luck

nkfrench 

Most of the things you can accomplish in 5 days are wearing yourself out or dehydrating yourself. Do some easy rides just to get mr rump acquainted to mr saddle and make sure the bike equip is working perfectly.
Charge up your cellphone and make sure you have the SAG number on speed dial.
My guess is 35 miles day 1 and 25 day 2.

StephenH

i'd say, go for it.
I believe there are athletic people that have never been on a bike that could hop on one and outride me. And other people have trouble making it around the block. Where you are in that spectrum, who knows?
Years ago, I walked 20 miles in a walk-a-thon. That involved zero training, and didn't require any, just plod along until you're done, and I and my highschool buddies all finished it fine. It's kind of that way on the bike if you're not too out-of-shape. If you have a generous amount of time available, it helps. If you're not fighting heat, headwinds, and hills the whole way, it'll help. It'd help if you had more time on the bike to check for saddle issues, etc.

MRT2

To OP. How old are you, aside from cycling, do you do any other kind of aerobic activity?

Edit:
When you were training, what was the longest ride you took on your bike? How many miles? How many hours?

How many total miles do you have on your legs this season?

I ask this because these things matter. At 48, I am more cautious about these sorts of things than I might have been 25 years ago.

CandSAdventures

It is risky. If you go, make is slow and steady, even if you ride the entire thing by yourself. Take the rest stops, even extra ones. I don't know where the ride is but hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Do not get behind on this. Pack yourself some extra snacks. It's a ride, not a race so stop and take some photos.

ammo

Im 25 years old. Started training in may but got injured 3 weeks in. Longest ride iv done is 10 miles. In those 3 weeks most of my training was done on an indoor exercise bike to get a base level of fitness, with outside cycle rides on weekends. Since then iv done very little aerobic exercise. A couple of swims thats it. Tried the exercise bike last night and was averaging 25 km per hr for 2 hrs. Going to hopefully try a longer outdoor cycle ride tonight.

hyhuu

It's gonna hurt, especially on the second day. And if there are hills, even small one then it will really hurt.

practical

It depends on what the ride is like and what kind of support the event provides. For example, there is a 50-mile charity ride near me that you could do easily because it includes two ferry rides and lunch - so, in effect, it's a series of three 15+ mile rides with lots of rest in between. In addition there is lots of support with water and sag wagons. Also consider the terrain - is it mostly flat? If it's hilly, you won't have fun and probably won't finish. Are you riding with friends? What do they think?

MRT2

10 miles is 45 to 50 minutes on a bike at a slow pace, and if you are covering 10 miles in an hour, a really slow pace. Don't get me wrong, I am not all that fast either, but I am a lot faster just going out for less than an hour than I am trying to sustain my speed for 3 or 4 hours. You didn't say so explicitly but you implied that you have at best just a couple of hours and maybe 3 or 4 hours and 50 miles (maybe less) on an actual bike. Your butt may not even be able to handle more than a couple of hours of riding before screaming uncle. I wouldn't be comfortable trying to ride 12 to 14 hours over two days with just a couple of hours training on my butt and legs, but that is me. I am 48, and I have hit the wall before, and it isn't fun. This season it only happened once, on a 40 mile group ride. I had already ridden 25 miles a couple of times and 35 miles once, so didn't think it would be an issue, but the 35 mile ride I had done included two breaks including one lunch break, whereas on this particular ride, there was just a quick bathroom break and then back on the bikes. I had just a small breakfast, didn't drink enough water, and wasn't acclimated to the heat (BTW, another reason why you need to ride outdoors. Acclimating to the elements is part of the ride!). Anyhow, at around mile 28 or 29, my legs just lost power and started to overheat. I tried to eat something and washed it down with the rest of my water, but it was too late. The remaining 10 or 11 miles were as long and hard as any I have ever ridden, and they weren't even especially hilly. Lesson learned. Build up mileage slowly, eat some food every hour, drink lots of water. On group rides when they take a break, I make sure to drink a little extra water, then refill both my water bottles.

Don't really understand why you rode a stationary bike last night. If you are going to do this, you need to ride outside. Stationary bikes are OK for maintaining some semblance of bike fitness when the weather is ****ty, but they really aren't the same as riding outdoors. Get out on your bike try a 2 hour ride and see how your butt, legs, back and shoulders feel. Then decide whether you have it in you to ride 130 plus miles over two days and stick to an easy recovery ride the next day. You should probably not do too much the day before the big day.

You have youth going for you. We all did crazy s--t in our 20s.

danadear

Oh lord no. There's no way I would attempt that. Just turn in the money, that's what it's all about anyway. Can you just attempt the 40 on day 2 and skip day 1?

Looigi

Just do it. The world won't end and you won't die (hopefully). If you can't finish it you'll get a ride in the broom wagon. That's way better than not having tried in the first place.

wphamilton

There are two ways to handle something like this. One, "It can't be done, skip this one and wait for the next one" and two, "I'm going to do it anyway."

If you're asking if an ordinary guy, who has very poor fitness and is recovering from a knee problem, having never ridden over 10 miles, can complete a 90 mile ride I'd say that's not likely. I'm not saying you can't. We can do extraordinary things when we're motivated enough.

Just going slow doesn't make it doable. The sheer time in the saddle, in a small range of positions while pedaling can become unbearably painful. Fatigue and exhaustion are still possible even at a slow pace and the four hilly parts will exacerbate that. But on the bright side, it's not unheard of for a new rider to just get on a bike and ride 100 miles. At this point no one knows if it's doable for you until you try it. I wouldn't even train at this point, just keep loose and gather your energy.

Vexxer

Sorry to say I don't see it happening. I ride about 100 miles a week (started riding 3 months ago), and I still struggled doing a 40 mile charity ride in one sitting this past weekend. SAG would have been dragging me back halfway if I tried doing 90.

FBinNY 

My general guideline is that anybody can ride half again as far as their best recent distance. In a push, with some pain they can go double, and if things are right even triple, but they'll pay for it. If you were a faster rider before that's in your favor, since you can stretch out the time, and limp in at the end, but otherwise it's no way.

BUT that doesn't mean don't try. GO FOR IT, and crap out with the rest of the over strivers. People pledged to the charity, not as a bet that you could ride that far, and they'll pay just as happily based on effort as achievement.

That said, know your body and physical limits. Overworking tired leg muscles are fine, worst case is cramps and muscle spasms. But if heat, dehydration, or plain exhaustion are making you wobbly, or your body is giving you other requests to quit, do so. It's a charity ride, but you don't want to become a charity case.

If you have too much pride to quit, pack an ice pick, and when the right time comes, jab it through your rear tire. Toss the ice pick and wait with your flat for the sag truck.

MRT2

There is another thing to consider. I am not saying OP shouldn't give it a go, but it really doesn't sound like he or she is ready. OP may come away energized and amazed he or she was able to push his or her body beyond what was previously thought possible, or not.

My wife did a two day, 150 mile charity ride about 20 years ago without much previous training (BTW something she wouldn't try today). But she made it. The only difference between OP and my wife is , my wife had ridden long or longish tours on her bike in previous years, so even though she hadn't been training much that year, she was confident she could ride her bike 6 to 7 hours a day, for two days straight if she rode within herself (and she knew what that meant because she had years of experience).

This is why I suggested to take the bike out for a 2 hour ride. See if you can cover 25 or 30 miles and see how you feel. If you feel good, think of it as your tuneup. If you are completely gassed after just 2 hours of riding at a slow to moderate pace, then you know what you have to do.

jhazel

I'm in the "Go for it!" camp. I don't know if you can make it but your donors will give you lots of points for trying. Be careful with your knee. From my first 2 day ride I will suggest that Chamois Buttr is your friend.

BlazingPedals

About half the people on RAGBRAI do it with little to no training. They just hop on their bikes and have fun. Keep the gears low and spin the pedals to keep the speed. Ten mph should be a piece of cake. BTW, I did my first tour - 320 miles in 4 days - At age 30, with 28 miles' training in the prior month. On a brand new KIA 12-speed from Toys-R-Us. I made it, you can too.

Fastfingaz

alright ,, when you do something like that theres' another factor to factor in!! HEART yea HEART, if you've got that you can do just about anything!! maybe we just don't have any HEART!! Maybe we can call it GRIT

ThermionicScott 

Yep, we'll be seeing plenty of those folks next week. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't know that you "can't" do it.

To the OP: go ahead and do it. As long as you can get past the 10-mile mark, it'll be your longest ride yet!

FBinNY 

Maybe the OP should consider the WORST that can happen. Discounting the risk or injury and death that we face just by leaving the house, the very worst is that he craps out and spends the day riding around on a bus or van.

IMO, quitting in advance is worse than trying and failing, so I can't see not going for it. It would be different if he had to decide whether to do the ride well in advance of raising the dough, but that ship has sailed.

I hope he goes for it, win, lose or draw, and posts the outcome here afterward.

Little Darwin

I scanned the responses, and I have a couple of comments, at least one was mentioned already.

1) Go for it... but have the SAG contact info close at hand.

2) The ride itself doesn't seem completely crazy at your age with little preparation except for 1 thing... time in the saddle. I find that I get tired based on distance and speed combined, and can control that by going slower and/or taking periodic breaks... however time in the saddle is something I have to build up to every year. I have found that 4 hours in the saddle will hurt your sit bones and possible chafed points roughly the same if you ride 40 miles or 100 miles... 8 hours in the saddle without building up to it could be really tough unless you, your shorts and your saddle are in perfect harmony.