UKC

I'm being pressured into doing a 100 mile charity bike ride on 1st September this year but I only ever cycle 30 mins to 1 hr bout 4 times a week and this is sometimes on road sometimes off road. Further I've ever cycled in one go is 38 miles! Is 5 weeks long enough to "train" for 100 miles?

In reply to jules699:
If it's charity it's likely going to be cut in bits. I did my only 100 miles like you for a charity, it was fine. I don't train for biking. Biking keeps me fit for climbing... and only using the very short commute and the odd day here and there max 30 miles. You'll be fine.

In reply to French Erick: Ah ok. Sounds encouraging. Yeah its for Christies. Manchester 100.

In reply to jules699:

It's a nice flat course, shouldn't be any bother, I did it a few years ago, my first 100.

In reply to The New NickB: More encouraging news - great!

In reply to jules699:

Just knock the pace back a few kph compared to normal, and remember to eat often. If you arent used to riding in groups, just be aware of riders around. Good luck, youll love it.

In reply to jules699: Did my first 100 miler last night, I found that it was more an issue of keeping going at a nice easy pace along with just staying comfortable whilst on the bike and not pushing too hard at any point.

The hardest thing I found was not trying to go too quickly at the start and just keeping a nice and even pace. I would recommend just going out for several hours easy riding just getting used to being in the saddle for a long time and being able to keep a fairly constant pace over that time.

In reply to jules699: More great advice. Cheers folks! Anyone know of a 4 or 5 week training plan?

In reply to jules699: I would just aim to increase the mileage up to doing about 70 miles the week or so before the ride then have a few days rest. This focuses mainly on what to eat before and on the ride http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=541563&v=1#x7253870.

In reply to jules699:

Most zero-to-hero cycling training plans I'm aware of generally work on a 12 week timescale.

There will be some shorter training plans, but be aware that a 5 week plan doesn't give time for a base build, followed by upping your game and ending with a consolidation & final tapering period. There is an injury risk with rushing stuff.
A 5 week plan is more likely to be a fine tuning plan for someone that either already has a base or has let optimistic objectives.

All really depends upon where you are now?
How far could you cycle next weekend?
Would 50 miles leave you in distress & knackered for 2 weeks?

How about riding 60 miles in 3 weeks time? If you could do that and take on any lessons learned about feeding, comfort and bike setup then you could probably do the 100. Not necessarily fast, not necessarily pretty, but you'd probably get around.
Do some shorter easier rides the week before.

This might be interesting reading for you:
http://roadcyclinguk.com/riding/your-first-sportive-part-1-going-for-centur...

In reply to interdit:

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/training-take-on-the-cycling-plus-...

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/training-get-in-shape-for-sportive...

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/training-get-in-shape-for-sportive...

http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/317/cyclo-sportives/training-for-cycle-sporti...

In reply to interdit: Thanks for this. 50 miles on flat would be ok. All of the cycling I do at the moment is on hills. I tend to go for time than distance as a result. I could do a test ride tomorrow afternoon. What would you suggest?

In reply to jules699:

Depends upon how you feel. Take plenty of food (or some cash) and go for a four hour ride.

Do you reckon you'd do 50, 60 or 70 miles?

Plan the ride to loop or figure of 8 near where you live / your car and you can push yourself without fear of not getting home.

Let us know how you get on, including distance and note your hour splits - We'll see whether you fade and at what distance / time.

In reply to interdit: Super. Ok I'll give that a go. Not sure how far I'll get. Like I say its all hills round me...someone in an earlier post mentioned the Manc 100 is flat.

In reply to jules699:


Just checked the route and it looks like a total of about 400m of climbing! I didn't know anywhere outside of Norfolk was that flat to give a 160km ride with so little ascent. (No 160km ride near me with less than 2000m of ascent.)


Just see what you can do - You'll obviously go slower with hills, but just give yourself a little test.

In reply to interdit:

Cheshire plain. It may be called the Manchester 100, but it doesn't really spend much time in Manchester.

In reply to jules699:
Try to build up so you do 60-70 miles a fortnight before the event, but then taper off and do no more than 25 after that, and only one or two short rides in the last week.

Find out what foods work for you- I swear by Shot Bloks, but don't get on with gels - and make sure you eat well immediately after training rides so you recover.

Oh, and I found having a can of red bull an hour before the start got me going, in more senses than one. Again try it out before hand so you know how it will affect you.

In reply to jules699:

Try and get some longer rides as well as shorter more intense rides. On the day, lets say the longest you've ridden is 60 miles, then don't think about distance till the remaining miles is 60 or less. You then write off those first 40 miles and just imagine you are starting a 60 miler, which you know you can do. It works for distances well beyond 100 miles, you'll be fine.

In reply to jules699:

My friend and I did a Coast to Coast (Kendal-Sandside-Scarborough) last summer. The furthest I had cycled before we set off was about 66 miles, my friend hadn't even done 50. We both managed the 140 miles without too much difficulty.

There is some good advice posted above. Get some longer rides in to see what works for you food wise etc. I did lots of my shorter rides after a good pasta meal then eating sugary things to keep me going. On the long ride I was craving savoury things (oatcakes are the way forward for me).

In reply to jules699:

The Manchester 100 is fine, it's pretty flat for most of the route as it's out on the Cheshire plain.

There are three food stops with the second one being a mandatory 30 minute stop - make sure you use them to full advantage. Set off at a steady pace and split the ride in to quarters and deal with each in turn, the miles will glide by!

ALC

In reply to jules699:

You're a good age, you ride 4 hours a week and are used to your bike, I think you'll find it an enjoyable challenge. How hard depends a lot on how fast so enjoy and chat for the first 50. Good luck.

Cheers

Toby

In reply to jules699:

Done this on a mountain bike a couple of years ago. very flat, very nice course.

In reply to jules699:

I did my first hundred miler (or, more accurately, hundred miler in one go) a few weeks ago. The hardest parts for me were:

Time in the saddle- 6 hours plus in the saddle is a long time. Make sure you have good shorts and have been to the toilet before hand ! break the route down into mental sections.
Pace - seemed to me that at the start everyone fancied themselves as a Chris Froome. Luckily I was cycling with someone who had done it before and we hit a good sustainable pace from the off. Turning a slightly lower gear than normal. A meter of some sort (GPS or something really helps)
Food - we didn't have food stops en route but a decent breakfast and a mix of bars and trail mix worked well. I think the advice on gels is its best to be used to them before using them in anger.
Hydration - unless there are frequent watering stops put a second bottle on the bike. I'm finding simple fruit juice mixed to 50% with water works well for me.

In reply to GrahamD: I would echo all of that advice apart from using a speedometer or similar until you're well within what you can ride comfortably as I found it made it mentally harder, although maybe use a watch or similar so that you can keep eating and drinking regularly.

Another thing which I've recently found to help a lot is recovery products straight after a ride as it allows me to get back on the bike much sooner and with less soreness.

In reply to jules699:
You need to latch on to a fast group, preferably with a few pros or elite cat riders and hang on till you blow, then use the money you took with you to get a taxi home. Repeat this for a few events till you get the hang of it.

In reply to jules699:
O found my first (only) 100 miler earlier this year was pretty comparable to running a marathon. Although it obviously takes much longer, the effort and psychological effort were very similar. Marathon's are often described as being a race of two halves, the first being 20 miles long, the second six! To me, cycling 100 miles was similar, but with the break falling at mile 80 - I was plodding quite slowly by then and just mentally ticking off the last few miles.

In reply to jules699: So much great advice from so many people. Making notes! Thanks everyone. I now feel that it is indeed possible!

In reply to jules699: I'm the friend Further referred to above. We took 14 hours to do 140 miles and it worked for us. I'd only done about 40 miles before and hadn't been on my bike hardly at all for the month before, but it was alright. We just kept going with a quick stop every hour or so to eat some oat cakes and salami etc and a couple of longer stops too.

You'll be fine.

In reply to Baron Weasel: Ta Baron. encouraging news cos I'm now leaning towards the 100km route then the 100m!

In reply to jules699:
I did my first 100 miler this year. Since then I've done the 186 mile Snow Roads audax. And in mid June I rode from Ardnamurchan to Peterhead (240 miles) in under 19 hours, with two friends.
Just take it steady, eat a snack every half an hour or so, and something a bit more substantial half way through and you'll manage no probs. The sorest thing the next day will be your sit bones...
Enjoy it.
J