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Avid rider in 50's looking to try a 200k - Training resources

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Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling Do you enjoy centuries, double centuries, brevets, randonnees, and 24-hour time trials? Share ride reports, and exchange training, equipment, and nutrition information specific to long distance cycling. This isn't for tours, this is for endurance events cycling

Avid rider in 50's looking to try a 200k - Training resources

Old 01-04-13, 11:31 PM
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Avid rider in 50's looking to try a 200k - Training resources

Hello. I am an avid rider, do an annual 7 - 10 day tour and have ridden a few centuries. I am ready to move up to 200k + distance rides this year but would like to find some guidance for nutrition, training, etc. Is there a good book or magazine source you recommend for helping me make the switch? I know this a whole different animal than just slogging out a century ride and I want to learn how to do this well, not just to barely make it.

BTW, I do read this forum quite a bit lately, but have found it challenging to piece all of the little pieces of information into a full plan for myself.

Thanks!

Don
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Old 01-05-13, 12:42 AM
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Machka will probably pop on here with a bunch of online resources for you in the mean time you can check out https://www.ultracycling.com/sections/articles/ There is lots of great info there to get you started.
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Old 01-05-13, 02:40 PM
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Originally Posted by dwmckee
... and have ridden a few centuries. I am ready to move up to 200k + distance rides this year...
If you are comfortable doing the centuries (in a reasonable amount of time), then a 200k (125 miles) is just another 2 hours (about) of riding. You might not need to do anything different. As a rough guide, your projected pace for the 125 should allow you to do the ride during daylight hours.

If you are talking about 200k randonees/brevets, then you might be looking at it as a step towards longer rides (like 300k's). In that case, you might need to consider lighting requirements (many randonees/brevets start before daylight) and being able to navigate without road-markings (fairly common for organized centuries but not for randonees/brevets).

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Old 01-05-13, 10:33 PM
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Join RUSA, it's fairly cheap, and they send you a reasonably handy handbook (may take several weeks to get it in, or at least it did me.)

Assuming you rode your centuries, weren't collapsed in a heap at the end, and didn't take 12 hours to do them, you're probably good for a 200k as well. Look up your area randonneuring group, and give a ride a try and see what you think. Perhaps wait a bit into spring so the days are longer where you're less likely to need lights.
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Old 01-10-13, 09:53 PM
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a good book I like is 'The Complete Book of Long Distance Cycling'. it has good practical advice.

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Old 01-11-13, 12:36 AM
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You've done 80% of 200 km already, doing the extra distance is not a watershed event (when I did my first 200+ km ride, I went from 155 km to 211 km and the longest training run for my first 300 km was a 235 km ride).

When I started doing rides beyond a century distance, elevation was a bigger factor for me than distance. Either way you have to deal with eating and drinking throughout the ride, but climbing slows you down a lot.

Where it becomes challenging is when you are constrained by a time limit (such as in brevets) and need to maintain a certain minimum average, despite terrain and possibly inclement weather. Faster is harder to train for than further.
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Old 01-15-13, 08:05 PM
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Don-
congratulations on stepping up to a new challenge!
check out the googlegroup Randon- you'll meet folks who are all about randonneuring and other crazy events from all over the world. Also check out John Hughes' web site. He's one of the founders of UMCA (referenced in Homeyba's msg), a current long distance ultracycling coach, AND is a good source of info about the aging cyclist (see a variety of articles on his web site www.coach-hughes.com )

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Old 01-15-13, 08:28 PM
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left foot, right foot. rinse repeat. just remember why you're out there..............it is to ride not sit around taking rest breaks of more than 10 minutes every hr.

And don't go out hard and fast, enjoy the scenery.
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