djevans

A group of us are going for a 150 miler in one day in late June. Anyone out there done one? If so, what tips do you have for us?

10 Wheels

Stand up and pedal when your butt tells you to.

chrism32205

What distance can you ride comfortably now?
What bike are you riding the 150 miles on?
Where are you riding the 150 miles?

Machka 

In addition to the questions above ...

What's the longest distance you've ridden in the last year or two?

If you ride a 100 mile ride once a month, a 150 mile ride isn't that much more and doesn't require any special preparation. However, if your longest distance in the last couple years is 50 miles, and your usual distance is 10 miles, you might want to consider building up.

My website has links to a whole bunch of events and sites with tips:
https://www.machka.net/links.htm

I've also got an article here on tips for riding a century ... if you haven't done that distance yet and are thinking about this 150 mile ride, have a read through it.
https://www.machka.net/articles/century.htm


And no, I haven't done one 150 miler .... I've done a whole bunch!

DanteB

Eat and drink!

Richard Cranium

Usually the longer the ride, the harder it is to find a "group" that rides the same pace. Different people will find different energy levels for hills, winds, as well as different approaches to climbing.

This "group dynamic" can cause problems for some riders. It is good idea, for anyone taking on a "group ride" to discuss what is expected during the ride. Often it is better for riders to "pair off" into groups of two or three so they can feel comfortable with their own pacing and climbing speeds.

As I mentioned - the longer the ride - the more important pacing becomes. It is rare to find a group ready to ride 150 miles at the same speed.

508Jaguar

Start slow......then taper off.

dr. spectrum

There are a lot of resources like Machka's site and Ultracycling that will help with the basics. If you haven't built up to long distance rides the thing to do is to make sure your bike fits well, start off with a five- or six-day routine and increase the length of the rides by about 10% a week until you're knocking off pretty long rides easily. (Unless you're totally new to the bike you can definitely get this done by late June if you start now.) For example if you do 50 miles easily you might start with something like this and work on bringing the distances up. If you can pop off 100 miles by late June after keeping to a schedule like this your ride will be cake.

Monday 10 easy miles
Tuesday 20 miles
Wednesday 20 intense miles
Thursday off
Friday 20 miles
Saturday 50 miles
Sunday 15 miles

If you can't commit to this kind of routine you can still do a 150 mile ride as long as you're healthy, your bike fits well and you don't push yourself too hard�this distance really isn't as hard as, say, a half-marathon�but it's probably not going to be too fun.

Even if you're not worried about speed, working some kind of intervals in (they don't have to be anything elaborate, alternating one minute periods of riding as hard as you can with five minute rest periods for an hour once a week will be just fine) will make you a stronger rider and help you from falling into a rut.

150 miles is long enough that you should be thinking about what and how to eat and drink on the bike. Personally I like real food, plain water and coffee, but much better riders than me swear by stuff you can only get at GNC and lots of others love stuff like Kwik-E-Mart burritos.

radshark

Pace yourself and take regular breaks - 60 km (35 miles). Stretch, eat and drink. I take some shot blocks for emergency purposes and never miss a chance to fill my water bottles.

Aside from getting in the requisite seat time I think the challenge is knowing what and how much to eat.

bobbycorno

Velocio's "Seven Commandments" are always good advice:

1. Keep your rests short and infrequent to maintain your rhythm.
2. Eat before you are hungry and drink before you are thirsty.
3. Never ride to the point of exhaustion where you can’t eat or sleep.
4. Cover up before you are cold, peel off before you are hot.
5. Don’t drink, smoke, or eat meat on tour.
6. Never force the pace, especially during the first hours.
7. Never pedal out of vanity, don’t be a show-off

That pretty well covers it, IME.

SP
Bend, OR

bobbycorno

Velocio's "Seven Commandments" are always good advice:

1. Keep your rests short and infrequent to maintain your rhythm.
2. Eat before you are hungry and drink before you are thirsty.
3. Never ride to the point of exhaustion where you can’t eat or sleep.
4. Cover up before you are cold, peel off before you are hot.
5. Don’t drink, smoke, or eat meat on tour.
6. Never force the pace, especially during the first hours.
7. Never pedal out of vanity, don’t be a show-off

That pretty well covers it, IME.

SP
Bend, OR