Originally Posted by
eithr
How true is this? I'm reading on several sites that your cumulative weekly mileage can be ridden in a single go up to 200-300 miles. As in, if I can regularly do 200 mile weeks, I should be able to do a single 200 mile ride. Anyone put this concept to the test?
Absolutely. When not slacking I ride 25-35 miles on week days 40-60 miles 3 of 4 on Saturdays (165 - 235 miles in a typical week) and a longer ride 1 of 4 Saturdays. That worked fine for rides to 200 miles last year. When I was half as old, 100 miles was comfortable on 25 miles 4x a week + 30 commuting miles.
I think riding no farther than 150% of your longest recent ride is more about having less distance remaining when you discover a comfort issue. You don't want to find out your saddle height causes knee pain or shorts/saddle become uncomfortable 100 miles into a 200 mile out-and-back ride.
According to the training schedule I picked up, it looks like I need to scale back my weekly mileage for a few weeks. That makes me nervous.
I never did that, although after six consecutive months with a monthly long rides of 100 miles twice, 200km twice, and 200 miles twice I had over-reaching symptoms. OTOH, that seems about as long as I can go with fewer miles but more intensity before I need a break.