Increasing Distance
 

If you were easily able to do 25 / 30 miles and had been doing so regularly for 6+ months but were looking to increase and build up your distance without incurring any strains / injury how much would you step up by and would you then do the new longer distance for just 1 or 2 rides or more like 4 / 5 before jumping up again. Also what would be your biggest jump from say a level you'd trained to for something like an event / a sponsored ride.

I did a 52 miles sponsored ride at the end of September which did result in some strains possibly due to not enough training at longer distances in the run up to it but want to do a 100 miles this summer just as a personal goal having taken up cycling more seriously in the last 1 1/2 yrs.

Coach Dave Ertl posted a training plan for RAGBRAI that is designed to increase a riders stamina and enable the rider to successfully complete a seven day bike tour. The plan assumes a max mileage of about 75 miles/day. It does not involve intervals and appears to be focused on endurance. Here's the link to his 2017 plan https://ragbrai.com/2017/03/12/ragbr...ets-get-ready/

Tom

The tendons can react to over use. Get into that hole and it can take months, or years to dig out. Ironically this seems to affect younger more (anecdotal personal experience).
The tendons can improve over years of use, for day to day big hours it can take half a decade to build.

So to you.
The 6+ months is key. You have that. I assume riding 30 miles 2-3X a week?
Keep riding 2X in that lower mileage. If you fell fatigue that goes beyond a few days, back off.
One day/week increase miles. You can likely add 5-10 miles / week for that longer ride, keep your base.

There is an assumption you will ride your 100 miles at a similar pace. Often, get a big group and riders tend to start too hard, build up lactic acid they can't eliminate in the ride and don't finish. they were trained enough, they just road the ride incorrectly. 100 mile ride will tax other things too. Esp eating, position, comfort.

Intense (weights, Intervals) training can help, but you can only do so much in a given time. I'd suggest leaving things as they are and dialing it up slowly. As an aside, I have seen spinning faster case as much issue as spinning to slow (110 vs 85) when it comes to tendon/ligaments.

Each season when I start out I begin with 2 - 11 mile rides. Then 1 day off and then 2 - 18 miles rides and then a day off. I usually just keep increasing like that until I get up to about 50 miles. I usually hit a plateau around 30 - 35 miles, spend about 2 weeks doing that mileage and then start bumping it up again. 50 miles is my sweet spot for about 2 rides a week with maybe a 30 mile ride in between.

For me the problem I had when I rode about 100 kms a few years ago without gradually increasing my milage beforehand, was cramping.

After a summer of riding mostly weekends, and shorter 25 mile rides (most peoples winter), I just ride 25's after work, and start bumping my weekend rides up a bit longer, until I'm happy. They usually end up around 50-60 milers, and that'll get me to 70+ just fine. Nothing complicated, and no training formulas to follow.

​More than 70ish miles and my brain gets bored with riding anyway.

Staying fed/hydrated, moderating intensity, and not overthinking it. Riding more miles isn't hard. Figure out your endurance pace, and you can ride all day at that pace. My level of fitness is wholly unremarkable, but I still churn out 200 miles a week, every week.

My wife is lucky to get in 3-4 rides a month, but can go cold into 60+ miles and finish it just fine (so long as it's not too hot out.) She hadn't done a ride over 30 miles in over 6 months, then did 100km with me on my birthday, and a month later 102 miles on our anniversary.

People blow themselves up on longer rides by trying to keep up with people faster than they are. Ride at your own pace and 50, 60, or 70 miles is no problem.

I would increase the ride time by 10 to 20 minutes, and do that distance until saddle discomfort was gone or at least minimal. However may rides that takes, sometimes just the second ride sometimes more.

A lot depends on your age. 25 years ago when I was in my early 40's I could ride every day. My daily commute was a 60 km round trip, I would do a couple of weekday evening rides and a couple of weekend rides of around 100 km. One year I had a stretch of 45 days of consecutive rides averaging about 550 km per week.
I can't do that anymore. I need rest days. However, long rides are still possible. Last spring, I did a 110 km ride near Mont Ventoux which included a 30 km climb, plus another short steep climb that exceeded 20% gradient. I was tired at the end, but I certainly didn't strain anything. A couple of years ago, I did a 95 km ride in the Pyrenees with about 3500 metres of climbing with a climb that is rated as HC in the Tour de France. Very tough, but again, I didn't strain anything, I was just tired at the end. If you felt strained after a 52 mile ride, the first thing I would look into would be bike fit, followed by looking into the gearing you have and use on your bike. After that, remember, longer rides are not approached the same as shorter more intense rides. On a long ride, start slowly and warm up thoroughly. Maintain a pace that you feel you can keep up forever, stay within your comfort zone at all times. On long rides with a group, I try to use energy so that I can feel strong at the end of the ride, I don't waste any energy I can avoid at the beginning.

Stepping up 10% every couple of weeks works pretty well- adjust to how you feel.

If you can ride 60 miles comfortably, then a supported century is perfectly do-able.

If 'strains' are sore muscles or sore butt- NBD. If IT band symptoms, back off a bit & work up slower.

If tendon/ joint issues- don't push through, work on fit, flexibility, etc.

(my abbreviated .02)

Most organized rides that include high mileage (e.g., Seattle-to-Portland--STP--200+ miles in one or two days) have a "training for this ride" page, advising on how to increase mileage so that you're ready. My wife and I did one last summer (Ride From Seattle to Vancouver Plus Party--RSVP, 187 miles in two days), and the training suggestion was perfect. We had no trouble doing it (and we're old); the main thing to keep in mind, if you're going to do such a long ride, is to keep hydrated, keep electrolytes in your system, and ingest enough calories during the day. Training for such a ride is not a trivial task, taking a lot of time and energy.

I started road cycling last year and went from 36 miles max solo distance to 100 in 3 months last summer after asking for century prep advice on BF. Added 10-20 miles each weekend with only ill effect being one ride where I didn't eat enough and had to skip a final planned climb. Definitely nutrition, hydration, and comfort were more things I needed to get used to than any rigorous physical training.

Edit to add that my biggest jump was my first training ride, where I went 30 miles over previous max on a route with a lot of climbing. Took my time and focused more on enjoying the ride with my then-new bike computer, rather than speed or time.

Interesting to see different people's takes .... Going back August / Sept last year was regularly doing 15 miles and then went out with someone else who took us up to 24 for the 1st time .... not sure why but this jump felt huge, the worst part I didn't have cycling shorts at the time and my poor rear at the end of it and will never forget we went down a road with speed humps about 1/4 from the finish which damn near destroyed me :p

That distance fairly quickly became the norm with slightly longer rides going to 27/28 and then up to 34 as a max on my own one day but with most of our rides being 27/28 at weekends and 20 during the week ... all on the flat.

Signed up for the 52 mile charity ride and knew there were loads of hills so extended out to 40, then 42 taking in some reasonably tough climbs and the week before was out on my own and feeling fairly fresh so decided to take the long cut which took it up to 47 and beyond the point of no return but about 3 miles from the finish started getting some pain so ended very slowly and cautiously.
Seemed fine for the next week so did the 52 miler which seemed "OK" but the following week a 20 miler bought it back again.
It's finally settled down having had a break with a bad cold etc and the last couple of rides have been fine, I'll start building it back up but maybe the 33% + jump in mileage overnight combined with taking on hills at the same time which I wasn't used to was just a bit too much.

Really do want to hit that 100 this year and so glad I found this as a hobby as am so enjoying it along with the social side and regularly going out with friends.

Cheers for everyone's input :thumb:

If you're comfortable doing 30 miles but 50 miles is a bit much ... then go to 35 miles next week and 40 miles the week after. Do 40 miles till you feel comfortable. Then up it to 45 miles.

During the week, do shorter rides ... climb some hills, do some intervals, do a recovery ride.

But make sure your bicycle fits you. That's probably the first thing you need to do.

That's what happens to me after about an hour. After an hour I've had enough and am ready to go home and do something else. As this is a hobby for me I have no interest in pushing myself to where I'm sick of it.

When I asked my bike fitter about her customers, she said a good amount is from those who are having discomfort and cannot figure it out by themselves.

And even if they try to self diagnose, they try different remedies on their own.

Stop for luncheon..
 

Start earlier, stay in the saddle longer .. enjoy the ride..

I can relate. In 2017 I rode several metric centuries, mostly solo, some combined with 20-30 mile casual group rides. But injury and illness limited my miles to half of 2017, down from more than 7,000 miles in 2017 to just shy of 3,200 miles this year. After the injury and illness in May my rides have mostly been 15-30 miles. A handful of 40 mile rides that included 20 mile casual group rides with friends, and the 20 mile round trip to and from the meetup.

The one full century I rode in November 2017 was less than enjoyable because I took the wrong bike, my racing geometry road bike instead of the more comfortable hybrid. Neck was aching so much after 75 miles it was a grueling chore to finish the 105 miles. Won't do that again.

Looking back to the 1970s-early '80s when I rode a few centuries a year, what I enjoyed was the camaraderie of group rides with friends. I enjoy riding solo for workouts but get bored after 20-30 miles. Long rides go easier with friends.

Other considerations:

• Don't carry so much stuff. Just consider the worst case scenario of a planned route and decide whether to carry all the water and snacks you'll need, or whether it's easier to stop along the way and buy more. A couple of pounds of unnecessary stuff can get pretty heavy on a long ride, especially if there's a lot of climbing.
• Tools and spares. I tended to overpack, taking a spare folding tire, enough tools to practically strip and reassemble an entire bike. None of that was necessary. What I really needed was a smartphone and apps for Uber and Lyft.
• Bike fit. What's good for a fast 20-30 mile workout with no stops may not be good for 6-12 hours in the saddle. Most folks I know who ride long distances tend to use bikes with handlebars right about level with the saddle, maybe even a little higher than saddle height if you include those ergo grip extensions on some brifters/hoods.
• Meat-to-bike interface. One of my friends prefers North Roads and albatross bars for everything, including centuries. He let me borrow a Nitto albatross bar for my hybrid. I'm sold. It's almost perfect, as versatile as drop bars with plenty of hand positions. Not quite as aero but not bad with a longer stem and lower bar. I use big grips with palm shelves for the end of the bar, and I plan to wrap the rest in lightly padded tape -- mostly for hand insulation in cold weather. Added bar end shifters and it's perfect.
• Saddle. Changing from flat or riser bars to albatross made my formerly comfy, wider, padded saddle less comfy. I dickered around with a few saddles before settling on one that's a sort of comfort version of my Selle Italia road bike saddle -- a Selle Italia Q-bik. Same configuration, slightly wider, slightly more padding plus perineum relief cutout -- really helps when I'm wearing jeans so the stitched seam doesn't mash the naughty bits. If money was no object I'd have tried a Selle Anatomica -- almost everyone who owns one seems to love it.
• If something doesn't feel right, stop and adjust it. Saddle height, fore/aft/angle positions, handlebar/stem height and angle. Different pants and shorts can change the way my saddle feels, so I'll make little adjustments to suit what I'm wearing that day. Ditto shoes when I'm on my hybrid with platform pedals -- some have thin soles, some thicker. I adjust saddle height to suit. Heck, racers like Merckx could be seen adjusting stuff on the fly, not even stopping. Froome is known to make fairly radical adjustments in bike fit from day to day. Some days in the Giro and TdF, he looked like he'd stolen a much shorter guy's bike and didn't bother to raise the saddle. He does whatever is comfortable for him that day, subject to change at whim. I make little adjustments to my saddle as I like on longer rides. If I feel a knee twinge, I'll stop and adjust stuff. My knees are in surprisingly good shape for being 61, despite many injuries and family history of arthritic joints. I'd like to keep 'em that way.
• Find your comfort zone between spinning and mashing. Stand occasionally to pedal and get the blood circulating to the naughty bits and legs, and stretch out the arms. My comfort zone cadence for longer rides is 70-80 rpm, so I shift gears to suit that cadence. Below 70 I know I'm mashing too much and the legs will be cooked too soon. Above 90 I'm huffing and puffing from an aerobic workout but not necessarily being more efficient. I used to prefer 90 rpm but I'm older, so I adapt.
• If you're a sociable person, consider riding with friends as much as possible on days when you plan to put in more miles. Most of my metric and imperial centuries have included 20-40 miles with friends as part of a planned group ride that I tuck in between my solo miles. Helps pass the time.
• Clothing. Layers of thin wicking fabric when appropriate. Tighter fitting stuff on windy days to save a little energy.
• Snacks. I do better when I snack while riding. I really like Clif mocha gels with caffeine. And ThinkThin energy bars -- they're cheap and good. Even if I plan some stops to eat real food I'll still carry some gels and energy bars, or just some cookies I like that aren't too sugary or messy. I look forward to ride snacks because it's pretty much the only time I'll eat cookies, donuts and junk food.

occasionally go farther and see how you feel. adding as few as 3-5 miles from your previous best. your legs will be fine, but can your behind take it

I jumped up big miles this summer with no major issues to my muscles. I'm currently only skiing and doing a single 25 mile ride each week. My muscles could do a century if I asked, it's the butt, upper back, and knees that need some more time.

I strained the connection of the biceps femoris, a hamstring muscle, its extremely close to where you'd have ITB pain. My orthopedic doctor was able to tell me the difference and give me a shot in the right one. That gave me 2 months of relief, while I worked on resting it. Self massage and compression sleeve also help. I don't expect it get dramatically better anytime soon, I am trying to keep it from getting worse.

I say this because it's often misdiagnosed as ITB by people when jumping up big on the miles.

The only thing I can add is vary your terrain for the obvious endurance-strength training but also for the mental fatigue as well.

My most memorable rides with distance were scenic mountain-high desert rides in the Eastern Sierra.

When you have great scenery, the miles just fly on by.

Ride often and try to ride a different route every time that you go out. Farther and faster will just happen.