Originally Posted by
Beaker
Thing is, I suspect that the OP is pretty experienced has a lot of miles under his belt. umd is definitely in this category - cyclists with less miles in their legs (such as myself) likely have a greater need to get themselves prep'd for these kind of rides than either of you. I know now that I can ride 6-8,000 ft 70-100mile rides without much issue, but the same was not true a year ago. I also anticipate needing some more focused training before I do the death ride next year.
Pete Sampras had more hours on a court then just probably any of us could ever hope of having in any one place, and yet he practiced and prepared just as much, if not more, then any amateur out there. No one ever got better from saying they were good enough. I think it's foolish to say that you can "practice too much" or be "too prepared." Sure, running a 40 mile TT every day for weeks in preparation for a 20 mile TT may be more then what most people would do, but it doesn't make you "over prepared" just more adequately prepared then you were before. There will ALWAYS be someone better out there, so I'm not sure how anyone can say that they're good enough as is.