30yearsSF2LA

I am planning a trip from SF to LA at the end of November. I was going to take my time and do it in 10 days but I want to raise money for charity so I thought about upping the anti to a 4 day trip. I am slightly overweight right now but I have done 79 miles in about 5-6 hours in one day on a campus cruiser bike. I feel like once I get a real road bike and drop about 15-20 pounds that 125 miles should be no problem.

What do you think? How hard should I be training?

Darth Steele

how about you getting a road bike and ride it once or twice before asking such a question

linnefaulk

Ride as much as you can. I would ride 125 every weekend.

diphthong

you should try to knock out at least one ride of similar length and profile beforehand as the ones you'll be riding for the trip.

if you're doing the coast highway, there are some stiff climbs and lots of undulations. nothing too crazy but it doesn't really flatten out till you reach san simeon.

coolcamaro12

At first I thought you were going to do that on a cruiser bike You should get a road bike, try out some rides of that much distance, and then that will show if you are ready for trips that long. I do have confidence that you will be able to do it, though.

PhotoJoe 

For me, 125 miles a day for 4 days straight will never be "no problem", but that ride is on my bucket list. I'll ride with this group.

Fireflies West 2014 ? Sept. 19-24

They do the same ride, albeit in a slightly longer window than you're giving yourself.

Sorry, I have no advice on training. I'm not an expert.

Bacciagalupe

I know it's a bit off topic, but I have to ask. Is this an established charity event? Or are you just doing this on your own?

RollCNY

I have done many long rides (120-150 miles) on my single speed, and what you are asking is absolutely doable, even on your cruiser, if you are in shape. My general observation is that 100-120 miles per day is fairly straight forward to repeat, but going over 120 in a day starts to burn candles quick. After doing a 150 mile day, I have a hard time even hitting 100 the next.

30yearsSF2LA

I appreciate everyone enthusiasm. That is just what I needed. I have been reading some stuff on this forum that was kinda bringing me down. I should have my bike by mid August and on the 23rd will probably be my first 100 mile day so I am excited for that.

hueyhoolihan

ya, ride a couple of 100-120 milers back to back on a weekend or two. or you can wait till the event, then you can find out on about the third day, somewhere near SLO... you'll know one way or the other by then.

DXchulo

You're going to have your haters. It's the Internet. Just ignore them.

The training will be the easy part. If you don't even have a road bike yet you have to dial in your fit, which may or may not take a long time. Some people are more sensitive to that sort of thing than others. You'll also want to find out which saddle works for you. Again, some asses are more picky than others. You'll want to get your nutrition/hydration strategy pinned down. That's the one that was most difficult for me.

I did a 5-day, 500-mile ride last summer. The last day was shorter and the first 4 averaged about 110 per day. For me the second day was the worst and after that you just get used to riding with not-so-fresh legs. It takes longer to get warmed up, but once the juices get flowing you'll feel fine. Post-ride recovery becomes huge on a ride like that. Definitely experiment with long back-to-back rides in your training.

hueyhoolihan

yes, ride two 100-120 mile rides on consecutive days, as a test (as mentioned previously). if you choose not to, you may find that on the third day (or second as has been mentioned) you may find that you are so exhausted as to to be unable to finish.

Johnny Mullet

You got time to know if you can do it, so get out there and ride!

willdehne

I have done two Coast to coast fast bike tours across America. That was 25 days 125 miles per day average with some days 160.
Here is what I learned.
Must have the best and low weight road bike I can afford. Must be in good shape. Both, the bike and the engine.
I would not want to do it without SAG support. Perhaps a friend with car and tools, water, energy Gel, change of bike clothes?
Nutrition was critical because restaurant food did not convert to energy fast enough and the SAG food was not great either. Need lots of water.
I trained very hard for 17 MPH average before I joined that tour. I do not want to tell you how hard. Very!
I would not want to do it without decent motels and decent dinner places.

Your four days are not so bad but at 125 miles you will be challenged.
I often do 2 x 100. Will do so next week. It is a workout depending on road conditions.

jsigone

Get the best road bike you can afford minus $500

Get some nice $100-200 shoes, couple $100 bibs and a nice $100+ helmet that is on sale.

Get fitted & get riding (not dreaming), novemeber is around the corner. I'd aim for a century per saturday til end of Aug, 130miles per saturday in Sept, then start stacking them in Oct. Taper 2 weeks before the event. Make sure you have a century on the tires before the event and cross your finger you don't have to use the frame pump too much along the way. Somewhere in those centuries you will find that nutrition is 80% of the challenge. Hills, wind and mental makes up the rest. Good luck!!

Johnny Mullet

You can do this with a decent used bike.

Johnny Mullet

Those other posts are just ridiculous. Over $1000 for this goal? I say you buy a bike similar to this find.............
Gary Fisher Marlin

Map out a 60 mile rest point with a hotel and food or even a friends house.

Finish the ride next day!

Enjoy all that money you saved and that sweet ride!

howellhandmade

OP wishes to ride 125 miles per day X 4 days = 500 miles total, not 125 miles/4days = 31.6 miles per day.

Johnny Mullet

OK, well my bad. That is a lot of miles but does not require an expensive bike.

howellhandmade

Agreed, expensive, no. Bike that fits, yes. Reliable and smoothly functioning, yes. Properly geared, yes. Might be a small subset of bikes, probably used, unless a good mechanic feels like helping.

SHBR

How many hours can you stay in the saddle? That will be the limiting factor more than anything else.

In the beginning of July I did 365km in two days, on a mountain bike with slicks.
For me the biggest challenge was the pouring rain and navigation.

The trick for me was to go at a slower pace than I normally ride at, soft pedaling away from the intersections, standing on the pedals during decents, going hands free when there was no traffic, drinking enough so that I would need to use a toilet every few hours, and using those stops as rest breaks to refuel.

Has gas in the tank to spare at the end of both days, my ride time was between 8 and 9 hours each day with an average speed of 20km/hr.

surfjimc

Are you carrying all your gear or will you use a sag vehicle? I did that ride last summer on a fully loaded touring bike and averaged about 77 miles per day. That was more than enough, as there is a lot of climbing.

DXchulo

It's not about how expensive the bike is. It's about how well it's maintained. I did my 500-miler on a Ritchey Breakaway, which is a nice frame and all but not top of the line. My drivetrain was a mix of 105 and Ultegra with Microshift shifters. My seatpost, bars, and stem were low end Easton stuff that I found on clearance. The whole bike was built from a mixture of leftover parts I had plus the best stuff I could find on sale.

Buy what you can afford. If you can afford a lot, that's great. If you can't, focus on the important stuff like tires, saddle, and bibs.

10 Wheels

Good Luck...You are going to have one very sore butt.

DinoShepherd

Done the ride. Beautiful.

You are familiar with the terrain profile, right? Coastal is the typical bike route, not sure if you had something else in mind.