Advice for final rides before 24 hour
 

Hi, I will be riding the national 24 hour in 3 weeks. I have ridden it several times, without great results. I am looking for some advice for the final few weekend rides before the event.

My problem comes down to being slow. I can finish the first loop within the required time frame, usually with an hour or more to spare, but it takes too much out of me (especially if it is hot). I don't want to cut it too close to the cutoff in case of mechanical or other issues like wind. I get too drained from the first loop to do well after that. I ultimately want to finish in a comfortable time without pushing too hard so I can do better later.

This year I have done two centuries and two 200k's, along with some short faster rides (well, fast for me). I was fairly fresh after the 200k's, but I did take longer breaks than I would at the N24HC. I am trying to decide what to do for the final two weekends before the event, especially this coming weekend. The following weekend I will do a couple of rides in the 100k range. My choices are:

1. a long 300k. This might help with the long distance, but might not be as good for finishing the first loop more comfortably. I would have to ride the 300k at my current comfortable pace.

2. two shorter faster rides, maybe 120k and 80k. This would help a little with maintaining a bit faster pace over a longer distance, but would not help with longer ride issues such as comfort and food. It would not help with sluggish times on very long rides. Food and drink have been a problem for me in the past on the N24 but I seem to have solved it so far this year, but I have not ridden in high heat.

I know this is not a long term plan for training. I have been working on that mainly by joining a club with faster rides. I was just looking for some advice for what I might do this year before the event. I am leaning toward the shorter rides thinking that the longer ride at a steady pace will not add much value.

thanks for any advice.

I feel faster after a 200k. I usually don't feel faster after anything longer than that. I think the last weekend would be better spent on a couple of 30 mile rides at tempo. I am not sure you are going to get significant training effects over a couple of weeks.

If you haven't been doing any speedwork up till now, I think you can actually get some benefit in weeks 3 and 2. Two interval workouts per week. Don't do any such rides in the week before the big ride. I would suggest medium length intervals. (say, 4 to 6 minutes). If you can do 3 or 4 quality intervals like that twice a week, you'll get some benefits almost right away. I am always surprised by how much, and how quickly, those first couple weeks of interval training produce results.

Thanks for the advice. I decided to follow the suggestions and do a shorter ride at a pace higher than anticipated for the event, with some interval rides during the week and nothing too long the weekend prior to the event. Slogging through a 300k at this point did not seem to provide much benefit.

Here's the best advice I ever got for Ultra training. Used to be a high mileage junky but these days my rides are never more than 75 miles leading up to an event, and only then to confirm bike fit and nutrition.

Training For Ultracycling Events : UltraRaceNews