Frenzen

Hello, I would like to do a long light touring trip where I would have to bike 300 km daily over a period of 21 days. I was wondering how I can practice for such task, is it even possible to achieve this with a 6 months to 1 year of training? I would not say I am in my best shape, but I can bike 100 km with 21-22 km/hour pace with around 15 pounds.

What sort of training do I have to do, any tips or advice anyone?

znomit

200km a day might be achievable, can you add 10 days to your trip?

jadmt

best way to practice is just spend long days in the saddle. Problem is sometimes the weather does not cooperate.

downtube42

Two things: get fast, and get proficient at distance.

Speed gives you time and options on big mile days. Even if you don't use it frequently, it's good to have from time to time. HIT will build speed. Pick a HIT plan, stick to it.

A lot of good can come from long days in the saddle - working out comfort issues, learning how and what to eat, learning to stay hydrated, dealing with issues that will arise, learning how to be efficient off the bike. A monthly 200k, if you can start at that distance. If not, start at 100k and work your way up.

Eventually you're going to want to get some back to back long days, to learn what that's like. Before that, you want to have all the things above pretty sorted out.

Having said that, what you're describing is a pretty big challenge, even for a veteran rando. Physically, logistically, and emotionally. It's also going to be somewhat expensive. I'm not going to say impossible, because that's not true and I don't know what you're capable of. Most likely you don't either.

I think six months is probably unreachable; a year might be enough, if you commit pretty deeply and make preparation your primary focus for the next year. Doing something like this involves getting close to what you're make of, testing your tenacity, or whatever cliché that gets the idea across: this is really quite hard and quitting is always right there. That itself can be an engaging journey.

unterhausen

I think you'll end up with some kind of injury, probably knee related. People who are now training enough to be pro racers might be able to do it.

downtube42

That's just what I'm talking about. The reasons to quit come before you even start. Perfectly valid, reasonable reasons to quit before you start, and at every step along the way. It makes no rational sense at all to attempt riding 300km once, much less day after day.

samkl 

Also, just math wise, at your pace that's 15 hours a day on the bike, not including bathroom stops, eating, breaks, and sleep. So call it 18 hours a day from the beginning of your ride to the end--leaving 6 hours for sleep + checking into your hotel, taking a shower, changing clothes, etc. Doing that 21 days straight doesn't sound fun.

pdlamb

Well, I was going to snark about joining a professional cycling team. But then I realized that even they have a few short (100 mile) days and a couple of rest days mixed into 21 days.

I've met a few light cyclists who were on 100 mile/day trips for a month and a half or so, so that's possible. I'm not sure what the maximum daily mileage might be that's sustainable for less than superhuman cyclists. But I'm pretty sure that if O.P. doesn't know already how he or she can do it, 300 km/day for 21 days is an overreach.

Atlas Shrugged

Work your way up to a 300km ride first, then try a 300km back-to-back on a weekend and see if you still want to go for it afterward. What you are thinking of doing is a tough challenge that very few individuals can handle. At that pace, you could potentially finish in the top 10 in the Trans Am Bike race, as an example.

blacknbluebikes 

Either you are highly highly motivated, or this is highly highly unlikely. You are basically describing the Tour de France without the clock. Where are you planning to go for these 6,000 km ?

gesta

I’ve done around 250-270km per day over the period of 8 days (twice). At first days, it’s possible to collect kms to ”bank” so I did ride around 400, 350, 300km per day, but that was not sustainable (for me) and so the pace went down until it was. If forced, I might manage to sustain this ~250km/day pace around 10-14 days, but then it would be a very hard stop.

Build it up, it’s the only way I know. Might be doable, but I’d say it needs either a strong athletic background or very good luck with the gene pool.

Keep in mind that your bike and the terrain you are about to tackle will have an impact on your daily kms. I rode those events with 650b modernized vintage steel bikes with autumn clothes (for 0-12deg celsius), tent and sleeping bag in the tow. First time, my ”fully loaded” bike weighed 24 kg, second time it was different bike but the same kit and about 30 kg total.

On both of those fully self-supported events I rode, my average moving speed settled around 21-22km/h and daily ratio for riding and being stopped was about 56/44% for available 24hrs per day. That equals 14hrs riding and 10hrs stop time per day, all breaks and sleeping included. Being efficient when you stop is super important so you can get some proper sleep every night. If you have a crew to help you, that will make things very much easier for you.

I’m not the most active cyclist in the world, on yearly level I ride about 8000-9000 km with ~45km of total elevation. I compensate those missing kilometers with quite strong and somewhat stubborn mind, which is also a very must thing in these longer, big rides.

Randonneuring/Audaxing is a good stepping stone, maybe try a series of 200/300/400/600 brevets and become a super randonneur while at it?

unterhausen

I harbor a theory that anyone can ride a 400km brevet, so you have misinterpreted my post. It's a pretty big jump from one 300km ride to 21 300km rides in a row. I was mostly reacting to the, "can I train for 6 months and do this extreme ride?"

I feel faster after on 300k. I have even felt faster at the end of a 1200k. But after my first SR series, I was worried my knees would never recover. I'm not sure what changed, probably the fact I adopted lower gears.

Carbonfiberboy 

The first thing to do is simply to ride 300km - in daylight. That'll give you a pretty good idea of what you're up against. Oh - make sure that 300k contains about 9000' of climbing. The world is mostly not flat.

downtube42

I wasn't disagreeing with your post at all, sorry it came across that way. I was trying to speak to the OP about the strong urge to quit, even before starting.

It's an audacious challenge the OP has proposed, and if they are actually going to do it, they will have to overcome a lot. Starting with all the valid reasons to not try. Then all the valid reasons to stop during training and during the event. Cold, rain, sore, tired, bored, hot, humid, windy, lonely, dangerous, expensive.

I'm of the opinion that people should do audacious things; things they are not sure they can accomplish, things they might fail to accomplish.

Having said that, I think the difference between crazy and hard core is preparation.

gif4445

At age 61, I averaged 240km/day for 28 days. I was in fair shape before I began a 6 month training plan that did not include a whole lot of ultra-distance. Mostly daily interval sessions among 2 hours of cycling and spin classes. Once a week, i would do 6-8 hours of pedaling. Six days a week, I put in a good chunk of gym work for stretching and strengthening, especially the core. As the midwest U.S. weather improved, I rode 200, 300, 400 and 600k brevets. My take was that most ultra-distance riders do not train by doing long miles end on end. Some do, but I think most do not. The intervals will push your limits and provide the "best bang for the time buck". YMMV

CliffordK

What I call the "Morning After Rides" are always tough.

Long day in the saddle. Get perhaps 8 hours of sleep... then get up and do another long day in the saddle.

I end up going quite a bit slower, and often shorter the second day.

I was going to suggest doing 3 days in a row... 300+300+300. If you can still stand up on the 4th day, then you could probably do OK for several more days, or at least getting up to that level.

Or for now, even try a bit shorter. 200+200+200.

I agree with others that speed may well be a key, so both push yourself to go longer, but also faster.

Also look at your course. Is it flat, or is it mountainous? A bunch of mountains, especially going over the continental divide if in North America will really drag you down. Yes, going down may be fun, but getting up there is a lot of work. Also consider the typical wind direction.

Ideally you might also consider finding a way to start high and end low with the wind always behind you.

Now, there are people that do similar feats. Consider the couple of coast to coast rides/races. Trans Am Bike Race (unsupported) and Race Across America, or RAAM (supported).

I can't do a 200 mile ride and start and finish in the daylight.

Anyway, you will have to consider your equipment. A way to recharge batteries if you're using batteries for lights. Or perhaps a generator/dynamo. Perhaps a spare chain, tires, tubes, etc. And, of course, start with a well tuned bike with a lot of new parts. Are you also carrying all your gear? Do your training rides loaded as you'll be planning the ride.