[Closed] Training for 100 mile road ride - advice please

Uh......get some miles in - long steady distance stuff like Audaxes, build to within 80% of target mileage within a month or so of the event than tail off.

If you only have 1 session a week, just get out there and do long rides, I'd say. Build yourself up to 50 then you'll be fine at 100.

Ride your bike alot more. I ride quite alot, did the Fred Whitton last year but the furthest training ride I did was about 45 miles (at a fair pace though)

I know a couple of guys who did 6hour 45minute times and they were cycling really far on their training rides.

Like lucien says, get some miles in.

Join your local club and go on the group rides. Three or four hours on a club run chatting takes no time at all. Three or four hours on your own takes forever.

SB

When I did my first 100, the only training I'd done previously was regular 35 milers. It killed me. Get a few 50+ rides in and you should still be able to walk. 😉

Not long started road, coming from a riding schedule very similar to yours it's been a bit of an eye-opener.

Making good progress though, did a 50 door to door last week without too much of a struggle.

If I was planning a 100 I'd probably just spend a bit more time on the bike, up the mileage gradually rather than change anything drastic.

similar issues here. I'm doing the tour of flanders sportive in 6 weeks. Unfortunately its -12 here this week and currently 15 m/s wind. disaster for trying to ride.

wouldn't you be better off taking the car to do 100miles on the road 😉

<sorry, couldn't resist>

Kev

Is all that training really necessary for a 100 mile rides?

I say this because a couple years ago when i broke my collar bone i did sod all riding for 7 weeks. Then when the doc said i could ride but don't fall off (it had not healed fully) then i took to a road bike. Went out and did 3 rides during the week, a 33, a 40 and a 56, then i rode 105miles and still performed at the end of it. Then rode 50 miles the next day.

I'd not consider myself fit at the time.

Just go and get some long hours in the saddle, speed isn't such a big deal on long distance rides.

And enjoy it.

You need some MUCH longer rides under your belt. Switch to road every Saturday, MTBing will do nothing for your ability to do a 100 mile road ride.

Build it up gradually, start with 30-ish miles and increase by 10 miles a week. Try and plan the rides so that there's a bail-out option if you start to suffer, either a cafe or a short route back home. Use the bike that you plan to use on the day, it'll allow you to get properly used to it and adjust it for comfort as necessary.

Is all that training really necessary for a 100 mile rides?

I dont think so, its only riding your bike. If you want to do it quickly then training is probably a good idea, but if your reasonably fit and take it steady away you'll be fine. Just remember to eat some food throughout

No substitute for some long steady training rides. As much as anything it's learning to pace yourself [1] eat and drink enough and deal with the aches/stiffness/soreness (first time is the worst).

However if you're getting out regularly for shorter rides you don't necessarily need to do a *lot* of long ones. Two or three ~60 milers in the month beforehand is enough for me to survive a century.

Meanwhile try and get out for a 2-3hour ride one evening a week as the light comes back.

[1] elliptic's guide to pacing for long road rides: start out slower than you think. No, slower than that. No, really: slow down! In the first couple of hours if you're not *itching* to shift up a gear then you're overdoing it.

If you stop and rest frequently it helps a lot. I did 130m on a slick'd up mtb back in the day when I wasn't that fit.

I stopped once every hour or two to eat & rest - was pretty fresh when I got home.

I think steady away is the key. If you go at it in the same way you'd go at a brisk commute or a 20/30 mike road ride you may well blow after the first 50/60 miles (from my painful experience). If you take it steady you'll be fine. My problem is an inability to pace myself - if you have the same problem then get in the miles!

Training for Trans alps. I have found that I can get an hour each day on the exercise bike at lunchtime and its paid huge dividends. I train use my HR to do intervals and long slow for endurance. You can find how to calculate your HR zone it on line. Until now I never used an exercise bike, just did miles on road and MTB. TBH I have made far more improvement by using HR zones and exercise bike at local gym and some general fitness exercise for back and arms. Made a real dent in my time for say the W2 ride at Afan at weekends. I have also found the delights of spin classes. Being part of the group tends to push my effort levels and they are pleasant on the eye ;-D

I would stress that improvements in back, arms and core muscles have really help too fron a comfort perspective. I can now ride all day without neck ache or arms wilting on mega downhills. If you do long distance you will know where I am coming from.

Take the train to somewhere 100 miles away & ride back. No cash, no cards.
Wife ordered not to pick you up however much you plead.

To introduce time constraint, arrange for a mate to bed your wife after a certain no of hours.

This assumes you have a Wife.
And a trustworthy mate.

Reason I want to train for it is to keep up with two mates who are fitter than me and to prove a point to them and myself. Turns out the first ride is in a month and its 70 miles - time to get the road bike out again!

So how many stops during a 100, i'd always assumed it was non stop, but Al's advice seems more condusive to succeeding to me

I have ridden 75 miles with a 45 year old woman who last rode a bike 20 years earlier. It was flat but most peole can cycle for 12 hours this issue is how fast they cand do it and how often they stop

I would aim for 50-65 mile rides at circa 4 hours ish 15 mph solo speed no stopping
For the 100 either steady or at normal pace and hope you maintain it due to being in a group/bunch

as above though start out slower. It is always better to get to 75 miles and have much more energy left that you expected than get to 75 and find you have a lot less energy than needed to finish.

your commute is junk miles as it's so short you don't even get warmed up, better to do longer sessions if you can and rest or do recovery rides in between (so no caning it for 5 miles when not warmed up)
i would do a long commute midweek or a long evening ride at a steady pace and have a rest day following.
50-60 mile ride on saturday again at steady pace. football is probably not ideal recovery after your main ride, it's more like an interval session which is not what you need to do long road rides.
i'm guessing your commute is like that too? blasting off at the lights and taking every other cyclist on? 🙂

MrSmith - Yes commute is pretty much full pelt on a singlespeed, especially on the way back when its up hill all the way. Agree football isn't the best recovery but it must be better than nothing.

I'm going to try and fit in a 20 mile commute once a week (on the way to work) and a longer ride at the weekend.

Would definitely reccommend a HRM and do long Zone 2/3 rides.
I do similar and I have found that by keeping my heart rate down in those zones that I can conserve a lot of energy and it also teaches you to be more efficient with your pedal stroke too.
[url= http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/training-heart-rate-monitor-basics-28838 ]This might help[/url]

TBH,it more a mental thing than a physical thing with long steady road rides.I did 70 miles non stop on Saturday & that's my first long ride for nearly 12 mths.Usually only ride off road for around 25-35 mile on a Saturday,with 2-3 rides in the week of 10 or 20 miles.Did it on a hefty Inbred 29er with flat bars & slicks too....
Just take plenty of food & water(& remember to use them),don't worry you'll be fine....

Why not use the road bike to commute , then alternate between long way there = short way home, Short way there = long way home?
Its miles and time you need not burst energy .
I need to work on lengthening my time out of saddle on climbs , but the roads locally are hellish busy .
Are there food stations on a 100 mile road ride?

No food stations but we will take food or stop to buy some. I've planned out a 20 mile commute to work on thursday I'll do if its not raining.

just get out when you can and as often as you can, make you hard rides hard and your easy rides easy, recovery rides are as important as proper training rides

try and train with the blokes you going to be riding with it will bring you on no end

and when it comes to the big rides try and do them at your pace if poss

Haven't read the responses but don't bother! 😉 I did 89 mile ride last October without training ooo but it hurt around the 65 mile mark for 10 miles or so then I came through with the help of jelly babies!

what if it rains on the day of the 100 miler- seriously you need ot egt used to the weather and ride whatever the weather.

I'm a 40 year old postie , 2 years ago a mate and me did a 127 mile canal ride (so semi off-road) on no training apart from the usual couple of off road 20 mile rides a week. 100 miles on a road bike that's a steady 5 1/2 hour ride.

When i did the London to Paris in July last year, one day at 82 miles, one day at 92 miles, longest day at 116 miles and a short 50 odd to finish.

I started properly training in the March, commuting to work and back was 18 miles a day on a heavy SS road bike, then pretty much every Saturday I was out on the road, started off doing 25 miles for a few weeks, then upped that to 50, did my first sportive in April and that was the 85 mile route, after that regular 80 milers and building up to a hilly century in late May. Throw in another couple of centuries and you're there.

You'll find your natural pace for short and longer rides, I'm by no means quick but I got my average up to 19mph on the road, and averaged 17mph for the L2P, with a bit of larking about.

Also did a few MTB Marathons, as the amount of climbing over a relative short distance helps no end.

Get your fueling right and just as importantly get your recovery right otherwise it'll take you ages to get over doing even relatively modest distances.

The [i]'Not training, you'll be fine'[/i] is a bit stupid really, you want to be able to do the ride and a decent pace and not be ruined at the end of it, safe in the knowledge you could do it again the next day.

Once you gain the pedaling fitness for the road rides you'll love it 😀

As some have said, you'd probably get round anyway, but you obviously want to get round with some degree of comfort.

As others have said, get used to longer rides - build it up a bit more each week till you are up to 80 miles, and you can get through 100 on that.

Make sure you are comfy on the bike, decent shorts, and chamois cream

Get used to refuelling while you ride - try different energy drinks and foods till you find a combination that you like and don't upset your stomach. Practice having a mouthful of food and a big swig of water every 15 minutes.

Think about recovery - you need at least one complete rest day a week if you can. If you are riding or training the day after your long ride then make sure you get some decent food or a recovery drink/bar inside you as quickly as you can after a ride.

Stretch every day - a lot. It's very easy to get tight doing long road rides, and that can lead to injuries. If something hurts more than it should, see a physio asap before it gets worse - take this from the guy who spent most of last year building up to a 100 mile ride and then struggled to do 100km because he couldn't be bothered to get a knee problem checked!

MRanger your problem is going to be keeping up with your mates on the day, without blowing. I think you might be better off hanging back and meeting up later.

100 is only a number so don't get hung up over it. That was for many years a stroll in the park. It tickles me that even a 100k is considered a challenge, that's a London to Brighton. I'm sure the early 'sportives' where nearer the 190 mile mark. And only recently I rode the Harp Hilly 100, which was a 100 miles, now it's still called the same thing but is only 100km. What Sort of progress is that?
Now look what you've done....you've got me going 😡

Grrr everything is going B&W and wool & leather.

oldgit by name..... 😆

[img] [/img]

Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

I was in this situation last year.
I signed up to go on a spring tour with some very competent roadies getting ready for their season. That was 4 days at an average of 85 miles a day in the north west (Scotland).
Try and get out on a 3 - 4 hours rides every week, on similar terrain to your rides. Time in the saddle will be important. Get used to pacing yourself.
Make sure your bike fits and feels comfy over the distance. If it does not get it sorted or you will hurt much more because of that, not the mileage. Be sure about your kit, your spares and your food.
On the ride know what you can do. Dont try to keep up if it hurts. Dont be scared to take a small break when you need it.

I ended up putting a lot of road miles in last year on a few big trips. I had a good enough time to be setting myself up to do it all again this year.

I think your right oldgit. I'm pretty sure I could do it at my own pace but it would be nice to keep up with my mates.

I "dropped" a few very fit looking lads early one Sunday morning last Summer on the Col de Montets. I finally got round to Googling the event tonight.

http://www.sportcommunication.info/letourdumontblanc/index2.php

No wonder they were taking it easy!

Have done a 100 & 200km Audaxes so far this year, with another 3 x 200 before the end of this month.

So far the most important thinks I have found are

Short - make sure the are comfortable + Chamois cream (or similar)

Other clothing, does it fit, do you have enough cold weather / rainproof gear

Bike - 100 miles + will bring out any weaknesses, are you gears working, lights, bolts etc - make sure you do a shake-down ride before.

Spares - as above, useful to carry some bolts, zip ties maybe even a spare tire

Food - this is where I find I need to improve on eating during the ride

Recovery - it's a good excuse to pig out the next day

If you have got the above done the ride will be the easy part

My personal theory (assuming you don't really care about pace and we're not talking mega distances) is that if I can do x miles reasonably comfortably then I can do 1.5x miles with the expectation of being fairly hosed, but fundamentally fine, at the end of it. So I'd work back from there: to do a 100 mile ride you need to be able to do 60-65 comfortably. And to get there, you first need to hit 40-45 comfortably. And to get there, you need to hit 30 comfortably. And to be honest, for road riding, 30 is a short ride. So I'd get to doing 30 comfortably, which shouldn't take long, then throw in a 45 or two, and go from there.

Everyone's different, of course.

don't bother training, just try and ride yer bike a little more, take it easy on the day and keep eating and drinking

works for me but might explain my slow century pace 😀

I had something similarlast year. The work was doing a LE-JOG and I was put forward for 2 days riding. I plotted teh route I was going to be riding onGoogle maps and aver the 2 days it was going to be about 130 miles and 8500 feet climbing.(Perth to Braemar then Braemar to Inverness both days passing through the Ski centres). The ride was in October and this was the end of July. I had ridden MTB's for years and not touched a road bike for 20+years. I went and bought a Cannondale CAAD8 at the start of August and planned a door to door loop. This worked out at 61miles and 1100mtrs climbing, which I did on a regular basis. I also did some 10miles timetrial on the local track. I just couldn't believe how easy the road bike rode and how quick it covered the miles. The most I had ridden before this was 50 miles, but on a MTB. I then upped my miles to 76 in preparation for the 2 days. All miles covered easily and I am now riding a lot more on the road. Moral is plan a route ride it and just enjoy, the miles will fly by. Come this time next year 100 won't sound much.

Some good advice here re training rides but no-one's mentioned the more holistic stuff: sleep and diet.
Long rides will take a lot out of your body. Make sure you get plenty of sleep and stay away from the beer in the days before.And eat well, especially plenty of carbohydrate (pasta always good for this) When you get back from yr training rides stay away from the cake and stick plenty of water, and protein in you. And make sure you get a good night's sleep after. Also make sure you start the ride well hydrated and keep it that way. Find out what energy products work for you too...
And enjoy. A century ride is something to be proud of. Especially when people at work can't work out why you'd even want to do such a thing 🙂

I was in the same position as you recently - 4 mile commute each way, 5 days a week on a fixed gear. did some 30 mile rides on said fixed gear (riding to parents house) and a couple of times did out and back after sunday lunch.

did some mountain biking

then did manchester blackpool on said fixed gear in about 3hours (not with anyone else but handily got in a loose group for the last 20miles and was glad to share the headwind)

did similar pattern of rides next year, put together a road bike out of internet sale bits and did manchester 100 (again on own but got in groups) but did take longer as I broke chain and didn't get food right (tip is to eat early on in ride as well as later on, and take powerlinks)

depends on how hilly the 100 is?? but I reckon you'll fine if you get some longer rides in, don't get overly worried about training plans... if your mates were hardcore looking to hammer it or thought you couldn't hack it they'd have told you

I assume the rides you have signed up for are sportives. If so they are likely to be hilly which will make them significantly harder than a flattish 100 miles - sportive organisers like to find the longest, toughest and steepest hills for their routes.

If so the suggestions above about doing little or no extra training may well end up with you bonking or going through a lot of pain to finish. If the weather is bad that can also have an adverse on your energy, as somebody I rode with a couple of weeks ago found out.

Assuming the routes are hilly I would be aiming to be building up to riding a hilly 65-75 miler before the event.

Also find out what energy food and drink suits you best - getting stomach cramps half way round will be both painful and embarrassing.

If you want to complete the rides, keep up with your mates and enjoy the events I suggest you put some serious training miles in!

My experience recently of riding with newcomers, say less than a year of road riding under the belt is very different to what I'm reading here.
I would say that most of them over do it and suffer after two hours, and they generally become slower with every climb. Though I know they are all capable of riding fair old distances , if they'd keep the pace and heads in check. For example one of them was clocking up 17.5MPH into a headwind ( i'm assuming that it was correct as I was peering over at his kerputer whilst riding along side him) then about three miles into this wind he started to fade big time. I know he could have gone further doing a little less.
I also think that nudging 18MPH for a 100 first go might be, well pushing it.
Going back to what I said earlier, I think keeping up might be your downfall.
Also your butt, back and neck might have something to say about this. 5 miles to a ton!

just ride bikes a lot, up n down, far and wide. 100 miler is hard though. just get the miles in yer legs. am planning one myself.

The only 100 miler I've ridden was after little training: rode 10 miles each day before work ( I could walk to work) and the just did it. 100 hilly miles on a singlespeed. Not that far really