How hard you have to train depends on three things:

- Your athletic endowment. If I wanted to be arnold S, I would not have to do all that much for my legs. I was just born with big leg muscles. If you have build or base of fitness that is sufficient, you don't have to build a new body. I got back into cycling after at least 20 years and had no problems. In the interim I had picked up a locked ankle and had one knee cap removed. Just felt great to be back in the saddle...

- How hard the terrain etc... is. If you have a week in the flatlands you are good to go. All day long climbs no problem for me. But even after weeks in the saddle I hit corrugated terrain that was a total killer. If you are going to start with a Himalayan pass you need to train like crazy, Nice moderate terrain is like couchsurfing.

- Can you set your own pace. Stuff like must make it mileage for reservations, or partners can lock you into a pace that is a killer. If you can go till you are tired then it is pretty easy to ignore training altogether.

My first back in the saddle tour, I didn't know literally whether the first day would cripple me for life. Just took it easy and did about 40, then the next day 60, then the next day 90, etc... No prep whatsoever.

Touring is pretty elemental. You have a long time to ride, and a long time to sleep. Usual story, cut out the screen time and there is more time to do other stuff than you can imagine. In this case, take it easy while nailing some mileage.

Thank you so much everybody. I understand better what mileage is reasonable for the first few days...I had no idea of what would be feasible. Now I can better plan my first shorter trips....

I haven't ridden for the last 3 months.

Saturday I got my new LHT, and rode a 19 mile round trip to go see the GF. Left at 7:30PM got back at 11PM.

Sunday afternoon we had a beautiful weekend and I did a test ride to my place of work.
Covered 17 miles in a little over an hour. Left at 4, on the way back stopped by the GF's house again and went to an Oscar part. We left before it was over and it's about an hour to get home from her house. Probably did about 40 miles all day.

And yes, my backside was so sore by the end of the day.
I was keeping an eagle eye out for manhole covers and other excruciating bumps.

Actually I was thinking about this today when I whimped out of riding because of high winds and a couple of inches of rain. I have had friends ask me why I ride in such extreme conditions (except for today) when missing a ride would not affect my conditioning. The primary reason is that I'm not necessarily trying to condition my body; I'm trying to build mental toughness. Long tours are definately physical, but a large part of riding day after day is mental. I sometimes think that mental attitude may actually be as important as physical conditioning for activities like cycling and mountaineering. I had a coach that told me " train harder than you race". I think what he was saying is to work on your mental toughness as well as physical conditioning.

I think that is why solo cyclists have it harder than two compatible, well matched cyclist. Everyone has ups and downs on a long ride. When I have gone solo, it was sometimes hard to get out of funk. However, riding with my wife, I found that we are not usually down at the same time. When one person gets down, it is the other's job to try to buoy up the other person until things start being fun again. Headwinds are not near as demoralizing when the lead can be rotated and drafting when conditions allow. That is hard to do on a solo trip.

And sometimes you take a draft when the opportunity presents itself regardless of wind direction;)

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...PICT6245-1.jpg

Just ride enough to have some bike legs at the start. Once when I mentioned to a customer that I would be gone on a 700 mile tour. He said I didn't look like I was in that kind of shape. All I said was, "I will be when I'm done." Tired? You will sleep well.

Marc

Besides all the things others have mentioned (spending time in saddle, some short weekend trips, etc.), I also recommend strengthening your core muscles (abdominal, back and legs muscles). Yoga is a good option, but my favorite is PILATES. Try it for 8 weeks as part of your training. You'll notice amazing results in your stamina (hills will be less painful) and will also considerably minimize any discomfort in your lower back. Hopefully you have a gym membership where these kind of classes are offered at no additional charge. There are also very inexpensive Pilates classes offered online. That's what I'm currently doing with positive results.

I have done Pilates before, and hated it thoroughly...needless to say...I didn't stick at it very long :innocent: My stomach muscles aren't in very good shape...I couldn't do most of the 'core strengthening' exercises in the program I used. My stomach muscles felt like they cramped up every time...very painful. I had some video Pilates thing. I don't think I have it around anymore...do you think push-ups, reverse sit-ups(I just found out about these and they seem pretty good), and other similar stuff would accomplish 'core body strength' ?

BTW, those panniers are beautiful... :)

I've done mat Pilates on and off for about 4 years. Everytime I get back into it, it really hurts a lot for the first couple of weeks. Yes, my abs and my legs cramp, too. This is, however, all part of the process of strengthening your core. One can see how weak that part of the body is if one is cramping all over and even keeping your legs up or stretching to touch your pinkie toe makes you hurt. It reminds me of bleeding if you don't floss regularly - you gotta strengthen the gums, first. Pilates is challenging but it's the most amazing set of exercises if one sticks with it. Right now I put together a group of 4 people to follow an online video 3 times a week at my house, just for group support. Everyone but me is in their upper 50s. We started with the beginner's course and we're progressively moving up. We're in the middle of our third week and everyone is reporting really positive results. We are all sticking to the course even though we moan, grunt and sweat a lot through it. :)

The exercises you mentioned are great. I would try to add a few more (core-specific exercises) to the mix, a couple of times a week. That's all you need as part of your training.

How long (how many days and miles) is your tour going to be? If it is going to be a month or longer, I wouldn't stress about training too much, just stay familiar with your bike and ride your trainer or outside when you can. If it is a longer tour, you will acclimate while on your tour, just don't push it too hard or expect to much at the beginning. If it is a shorter tour, training and getting in better bike shape now is more crucial to your overall enjoyment, but I still wouldn't stress too much. You will find on a shorter tour that if you aren't in decent shape at the beginning, that by the end of your tour you are just getting acclimated.

Whoever says 'daily commuting' is right... I've been back into it for 3 months... ride 1-2 hours a day depending on how long/difficult of a route I have to work. I'm not as young and small as you (dropping 20-40lbs would get my BMI into the mid to low 20s) but just daily commuting has given me stronger and a tougher mentality too... forcing myself onto the bike in rain and sleet has helped me prep for the inevitable t-storm outta nowhere i expect to meet on tour.

There was a day I didn't think I could even survive 5km, but I've done metric centuries since then and that's the beauty of the bicycle... it's gets easier and easier to start piling up the mileage. I also spent way too much time reading forums instead of riding, but that's another kettle of fish.

Yep, on the Trans America the 21 year old person in the worst shape at the start of our tour was kicking our butts by about day 10.

Personally I think that, for me at least, on tour riding everyday at a level of effort and duration that doesn't require days off works better. That might mean taking it pretty easy in the beginning. I tend to think that if I need a day off I did too much.

Half days once in a while might be a good way to go, I find that they work better for me than full days off. I do take full days off if there is something I want to do or see that requires it. For example I took one day on the Trans America in Riggins ID to go white water rafting and this year I took a week off in Yosemite to hike and see the park. Even on those off days I always rode at least 8 miles or more. The only day on any of my tours that I did not ride at all was a sick day on my Santa Fe Trail tour.

Wow. That is very encouraging...:D
It is nice to know my body is so resilient....

Amen! This advice cannot be given enough weight! I started out training and riding long distances before doing a 5 day tour and got my mileage up much higher than I thought I needed and didn't find out until I was out in the field with 35lbs of gear on my bike that my core was too weak. It will make you miserable if you don't build this up.

When your core muscles get fatigued it doesn't matter how strong your legs are, you will really feel it. It makes every minute in the saddle unpleasant esp your lower back, shoulders and upper arms -- with your core muscles tired all your weight starts to rest on your bones and joints and it's extremely unpleasant.

I did quite a bit of training before my first tour. Since mine was short (8 days), and there was some very difficult riding right from the start, I figured I'd better be in shape before I left! I was already riding 100-150mi/week, but to prepare for my tour I loaded up my bike with the gear I was planning to carry and:

1) Did short (45-50min), fast rides during my lunch breaks 4-5 days/week

2) Did longer (30-60mi) rides on the weekend on the types of terrain I was expecting. For me, that meant 3000+ feet of elevation gain in addition to the distance

Once I got to the point where I could do long rides on Saturday and Sunday with all of my gear, I knew I was ready for my tour. All that training also gave me a great feel for what my average pace would be, which was big help when planning my route. It also helped me sort out saddle and gearing issues before I left. I think I spent 6-8 weeks training with the bike and gear I expected to use before I left. All the training paid off: my tour was a complete success and the riding never felt especially difficult. IMHO, that's the way you want it to be...