[Closed] training plan for the Dirty Reiver. idea's please.

In a word - 'no'

You will have good base fitness but my own experience is that no amount of smart training with intensity and stuff can prepare you properly for a long distance

I have done a few mega events in the past and although I have never done the full distance as a training ride I have built up over a couple of months by doing a long weekend ride until Id ridden 2/3 of the event distance a couple of times in the month before

Looks like a good event - enjoy it 🙂

Training?

I'd say, if you can, stick a series of hill climbs in your routine then do reps on it or pick a [i]really[/i] hilly touring weekend and hit it hard.
Then I'd say train for a long time in the saddle, base fitness you'll be fine on, but it's a long day and over very rough/mixed terrain. This you'll need to train on if you can, a weekend up in North York Moors hitting both the climbs and the gravel roads will help no end.

All the rest you know.

It might. I got round the Kielder 100 on a training schedule of 3 or four 20 miles each way commutes a week. I was riding quite a lot of them fairly flat out though so you might want to up the intensity.

Also, I did scrape into the last checkpoint 5 minutes before the cut off time and I'm not sure I really enjoyed the end of it but it's was do-able for me.

20mi per day isn't going to come close to cutting it for an 80mi ride.
You don't necessarily need any structured intervals etc, and can continue to use your commute as the backbone of your training, but need to ramp up some long rides at the weekend.

I'd start with 3hrs for the long ride and add 30 mins per week or so.
3, 3.5, 4, [b]2[/b], 4, 4.5, 5, [b]2.5[/b], 5, 5.5, 6
You get the idea.
Aim to do 70%ish of your anticipated event time 3 weeks before the event, then dial it back taking the 10 days before the event very easy.

Do some long bike rides.

Following this thread with interest,as I'm also doing the Dirty Reiver 130km.
I'm not planning on 'racing' on the day,I just want to go out & enjoy it.
I'm planning on doing a few long rides in the preceding weeks,at least one will be 130km.
One interesting part of my 'training' is a week on Fat Bikes over in Finland two weeks before the Dirty Reiver.If nothing else at least I should be aclimatised if there's a arctic blast at the DR 😆

we will be having a beer the night before then Mark...... 😀

If you are doing it on a Cross bike I would practise changing tubes after last years event. I have never seen so many in one day.

no, comfy touring bike with bombproof tyres.

Ton looking forward to pre event beer or three,the only problem is that the campsite's booked up!
I've got a pitch for the Saturday,just got to sort out something for the Friday.
Oh & I'm also doing the Lakes Jennride as training so I'll be having a few scoops on that one too.Cheers!

Hmmm im doing the 130 Reiver as well Ton. Better do some sort of riding before hand 😕

I did it last year, bailing at the 130km mark for a number of reasons but basically because I'd long since stopped enjoying it. I'd had a really crap night's sleep the night before as well which really didn't help.

The distance wasn't too bad, the feed stations were very good and if you pace yourself well it should be OK - with the caveat that all long rides beforehand will really really help!

Use the widest tyres you can; I did it on 35c CX tyres and while they coped fine there were a few bits where I'd have been grateful of some extra cushioning.

You will be requiring waterproof socks and overshoes no matter what the weather is at the start!

also entered a couple of audax rides in feb and march.
miles make smiles........ 😆

I recently bought a Norco Search & I've just got some WTB Nano's 700x40 to fit .I've read that this is the largest volume tyre I can fit in the Norco so I hope it's up to the task...
If any of you are on Strava there's a Dirty Reiver group on there,some of the mileages people are putting in make my knees ache just looking at them 😯

Ton, I'd do some long, timewise, rides ideally with a good proportion of off-road. What's fine for shorter rides might not work for many hours in the saddle and you'll start to focus on the niggles rather than the riding.

i will be going for the slow steady approach.......maximum value for money that way.

My recent training experience would be no it won't be enough.

I've trained for long distance events each winter doing long z2 rodes on the turbo - up to 3hrs and getting out and doing long mtb miles in Spring. On the back of this I can do 12hrs in the saddle eg Torq in your Sleep etc.

I've been time crunched this winter have done more shorter sessions and split sessions. On the back of this I'm finding 4hr Z2 rides very hard.

Your commute will give some base and opportunity for intervals but you need a weekly session dedicated to building distance/time.

I found club road rides of 60-80miles was good prep for the couple of times I did the Kielder 100. Would love to do this but see its sold out. If anybody has a change of heart I'd be up for it.

Lots of long slow cycling, lots and lots and lots of hills. If you see a hill, cycle up it.

Regular 100k rides with 400m of climbing every 20k should do it.

I'm staying in a pub this year, tent froze from the inside out last time

Hummm...

I did 150km in the torchbearer last year after 150km a week commute (virtually flat out) and generally an additional 60-80km on a sunday.

I was bollixed at the end of it. I weigh a chunky amount too (100kg).

I know the 24/12 is a mtb course so not as fast as a fireroad thing but you won't have suspension for comfort.

I definitely do some long rides beforehand, I struggled with numb hands as I'd fitted barends for more comfort and the lockon grip was pushed right into the comfy spot for my hands. Ergon all in one jobbies for next time (I'd thought about them but decided I would be ok), so I can grip on the more tech sections (cost me chunks of time at the end as I minced).

I'm staying in a pub this year, tent froze from the inside out last time

Accommodation is the main problem there, there is just nothing nearby. The campsite filled up straight away, the B&Bs that are around are scattered over hundreds of square miles of forest.

I ended up staying in the castle with various other friends but that brought its own set of problems, not least that there were no toilets in it. Sound carried right through the place too, as soon as anyone moved the floors would creak badly and even whispers could be heard from a fair distance. I got hardly any sleep which was a major factor in me feeling so shit the next day.

Long back lane/track/forest road rides for me. Today was 104km and a bit under 1400m of ascent. Last week was longer but with less ascent. I'm planning a 200k audax a bit later - in March.

Turbo trainer, trainer road sweet spot base plan, Netflix or amazon and you're good to go. 🙂

no way......i had a turbo when i was poorly with my ticker. my god the sheer boredom almost did for me........ 😆

Do some long rides, plenty of hills and give up beer for a bit 😉

😆

Good hilly route the Reiver, though most of it is not mega steep. And whilst the vast majority of it is fire road and blue forest tracks, and even a little road, there are a number of sections that are full on MTB territory. Proper boneshaker stuff on a cross bike. In fact I found my back and arms were doing so much work they were getting sore at times and I was struggling to hold position, which I don't normally get. That was on 40c tyres. Thinking of going bigger this year...

i have ridden 2 polaris events in Kielder forest over the years.
first one we did great on the saturday, but overestimated our fitness on sunday, lost all our points, and the 2nd one was a full on midge fest, being eaten alive the whole weekend, and spent the whole time in a mozzi net.

i remember the tracks being made of grey hardcore which was a bastard to ride on.

[quote=simondbarnes ]Do some long ridesPretty important this as you're such a princess when it comes to bike comfort.

Yep, and last year we had some lovely blizzards to complete the misery !

Pretty important this as you're such a princess when it comes to bike comfort.

i shall be riding the distance prior to the day, hopefully i will sort a comfy position by then.

Unless your doing it purely as a mental comfort blanket, i'd suggest only doing 70-80% of the distance before hand. No point piling on the extra fatigue for very small additional benefit.

i remember the tracks being made of grey hardcore which was a bastard to ride on.

Not sure exactly which tracks are being used but I've been out on quite a few of the more southern ones last week and over the weekend. Mostly they're reasonably smooth but there's quite a bit of logging action going on at the moment and those wagons don't half chew the roads up. Also where it's frozen and thawed the top layer is quite soggy. Mind you, it should be balmy by April. I'll be checking your life jacket marshalling at the ford again 🙂

Training plan here for those seeking something more structured ...

https://home.trainingpeaks.com/products/trainingplans/plans/12-week-200km-dirty-reiver-gravel-race-power-based

20mi per day isn't going to come close to cutting it for an 80mi ride.

If your racing, then yes, but if you're only looking to complete the distance then I'd disagree.

I managed an overnight 100 miler (RTTS) last year, just by doing my usual 8.5 mile each way commute and 20 odd mile MTB rides at the weekend. Was actually surprised by how easy it was, thoguh admittedly it's not a hilly route at all from Carlisle to Edinburgh, 1200m over 100 miles is pretty flat.

Miles in the legs is not to be sneezed at, people who have toured and the likes for years are more likely to be okay than someone who is fitter but unused to long days in the saddle.

You'll be fine Tony.

I agree, I can't imagine someone who rides 20 miles every day either side of a day's work is going to struggle with 130km in one day as a one-off, as long as you're happy with the bike setup.

Anyone know roughly how much elevation is on the 130km course?
The route files only come out a few weeks before the event,so I know I'm in for 130K's of fireroad type stuff,but I don't know how much ascent is involved.

Anyone know roughly how much elevation is on the 130km course?

If the 130km course is the first half of last year's course, then it's around 7,500 feet.

Certainly you'd be looking at somewhere in the region of 1,000ft per 10 miles.

Certainly you'd be looking at somewhere in the region of 1,000ft per 10 miles.

Thanks Butcher,I'll start putting a few training routes together.
Plenty of hills around here,unfortunately I seem to prefer going to the beach!

Last year I did it on 32c cross tyres. If I was doing it again I'd use the fattest ones that would fit in my frame as my arms and shoulders were ruined by the end. No need for super grippy tyres. Doing it on a mountain bike is cheating!!

As for training, get used to descending at 45mph on a cross bike on fire roads with rocks on. That, and go for some really long training rides. You need to know how it feels to be riding for 8hrs straight. Do lots of core stability work as it will help with back pain etc over that sort of distance.

We stayed in a hotel right next to Kielder Dam last year - it was brilliant and very cheap between the 3 of us.

GB

ton - Member
i remember the tracks being made of grey hardcore which was a bastard to ride on.

Yup, that's the stuff. It hasn't changed, you should expect the same course (maybe a slight change here or there) but most of it is on that grey hardcore rough stuff. You'll remember the smoother tracks where the forest trucks have been over, but the rest is just access routes.

Accommodation wise, well I stayed in Slaley Hall over Hexham way, bloody long trek over to keilder but I needed the sauna and massage treatments.
When I turned up in the morning for the "race" the tent park was frozen solid as it was in the lea of one of the hills.. looked bloody freezing and not really ideal for warm muscles.

Still, no midges to worry about.

Great day on the bike, the event was run exceptionally well.

We came back the following night for a "dark stars" night at the observatory.. blooming amazing.

looking forward, it has given me a bit of a aim to get fit after my forced time off the bike.
got a couple of audax rides to do, a weekend in the lakes in march, so hopefully i will be ok.

gonna be riding my disc trucker with 47c tyres, hopefully it will be comfy enough.

Just a thought for you - Ed Oxley (Great Rock bike training and now HebTroCo) - did one of the Rovaniemi Arctic events about 4 years ago; can't recall if it was the 150 or 300km version aaanyway he did no specific training, he just did lots and lots of bike riding which included a CX race on a fat bike.
End result - he was third finisher.
Motto - as others have said, just ride and enjoy.
This from a bloke who did newcastle to swindon and return on a whim and an old road bike with no planning and little training - couple of randomly packed panniers and no pre-booked accommodation.
You'll be fine; go do big fella!

ton - Member

gonna be riding my disc trucker with 47c tyres, hopefully it will be comfy enough.

POSTED 1 HOUR AGO # REPORT-POST

Perfect.

Take a camera, don't forget to take photos. It's awesome, some of the landscapes are quite astonishing. The fast lads will be well gone, forget them, ride the route and look around.

I saw some stunning frozen tree felling sections down one long decent that were very very spooky, if I hadn't been going flat chat I'd have stopped and taken some photos.

Rides like this, unless you are chasing the lead, are fabulous for landscapes and views and aching legs.

It'll be exhausting, but fabulous.

Really forward to this, doing the longer route as it seemed like a good idea at the time on my trusty Salsa Fargo. So if you see a man that looks like a rugby prop forward trying to be a cyclist, no rude comments...

i remember the tracks being made of grey hardcore which was a bastard to ride on.
Yup, that's the stuff. It hasn't changed, you should expect the same course (maybe a slight change here or there) but most of it is on that grey hardcore rough stuff.

I think you're mis-remembering. The route is planned to avoid those 'grey' tracks wherever possible. The fire roads around the reservoir/village is mostly that stuff, but the bit in the east is sandstone based and the Wark forest sections are much smoother. Around 10Km of very minor back roads in the west - and don't forget the long MTB descent to Bewcastle 😉
Training? There's nothing too steep, so long days in the saddle. Get used to the bike/gear you'll ride. Finishing is in your head - we all know we can ride 130/200Km, or you wouldn't have entered. The feeds will be ace and there's a drop bag option at 100Km. If you're at the 100Km feed, finishing the 130Km route is pretty much the easiest way back to your car.

1 month to go... how's the training going? Fit and fast or crapping yourself and considering whether it's ok to miss out on a unique T shirt?

My weekly long ride is currently at half distance and just over half elevation, heart rate is coming down and average speed creeping up. Will prob top out at 130km in training in about two weeks time and take it easy from there. With a bit of luck and favourably weather on the day I'm hoping to sneak in under the 10hr mark for the 200

I'm doing 100 / 130 k rides on Sundays at the moment. Week before last was a bit under 7900 feet in climbing and last Sunday was my first Audax (Carmarthenshire Stopper) just over 6000 feet.

i am a non starter i am afraid.
started the year well, but have gone slowly downhill.
at present i am struggling to ride 10 miles in one go.

🙁

That's it. I'm not reading this thread again. I was just about convincing myself that if the weather isn't terrible and I eat loads I'll possibly make it round. I might crawl weeping over the line, but there's a chance I'd get there. But no. Now I've seen how far you're riding as training and I fear I am very wrong. Very very wrong. And I have a sore throat, and it's probably too late to get any fitter now...oh bollox.

@ton, that sucks. Hope things improve,

@stwhannah I'm training to hit a specific time, I expect a few others are doing the same. But the cut of is 13kph which is pretty doable without 'completely' busting yourself.

FWIW Ed Oxley came third in the Rov150 in 2013 - it certainly wasn't the 300 as that wasn't run until 2015 and there's only been one Brit finisher by bike....me!

As for the OP your base level fitness will probably carry you through, but it depends on the level of discomfort you're prepared to suffer - longer rides help you to tolerate it better. If you're really stuck for time, high-intensity intervals will have most impact on your fitness. Z2 on a turbo - I'd rather be lobotomised!

Have to admit I've resigned myself to missing out this year.
There's only 24 hours in a day & recently I've spent most of my weekends away from work finishing of the renovations on the 'fixer upper' house I bought the other year.
Still on a positive note,at least when I get in from work I won't be walking into a glorified building site any more..

It's alright, Mrs Yak has only just realised it's 200km . She had it in mind that it was 101, but that's a different race... Anyway she's booked Monday off work to get a long ride in.

Proper prep n'all.... 🙂

Quick follow-up question for Mrs Yak.
Is it tyre-slashing snakeskin sidewall sort of stuff or will the lightest fastest xc tyre be fine? I know I should know this as I've ridden there before in the kielder 100, but forgotten what I used. What I do remember is that my mate slashed a tyre at about 90miles... but that could have been bad luck, and that course had a bit of singletrack too that this one won't have.

So then, what tyres please....?

Yak, its a long remote route, snakeskin/protection/exo versions are always a smart choice, not least because regular versions may not even hold air tubeless for the length of such a long event.

Plenty choices out there for fast tyres with a bit of protection though.
Riding a MTB, a Thunder Burt snakeskin (2.1) would be my choice.

Thanks. I'll whip off the standard ralph/raceking she's currently running and put on a snakeskin ralph and saguaro combo as that's probably the fastest 'tough' combo we have in the tyre stash.

Disagree, I reckon most of the many, many punctures I saw were pinch flat related. There was nothing particularly dangerous to tyres that I recall.

Disagree, I reckon most of the many, many punctures I saw were pinch flat related. There was nothing particularly dangerous to tyres that I recall.

For an extra ~50g per tyre and 1-2W of rolling resistance the more robust casings are always pretty much a no brainer on a long event. Save the light flimsy ones for XC races where you are never more than a couple of km from your spare wheels in the pits.

Bear in mind that Schwalbe and Conti don't actually guarantee their lighter carcasses will hold air tubeless, so relying on them beyond a 90min XC race is a somewhat questionable tactic unless running tubes.
And if running tubes, then a 'tough' variant run tubeless is going to roll faster, be more puncture resistant and be no heavier.

All tubeless. There's no problem with them holding air. It was really whether slashed sidewalls are likely. She's not particularly hard on sidewalls, but still, it would be gutting to have to pull out because of a big sidewall tear that couldn't be booted.

I'm assuming that if the tyres are already on the bike then Mr & Mrs Yak know whether they consistently hold air in normal use or not. 🙂

If you are on a CX bike then a bigger volume tyre would be a definite requirement, up to 40c if possible and tubeless, but for an MTB whatever you have on should be fine. This is fireroad, it's going to be 'less' demanding on an mtb tyre than normal use. Just a lot longer

I've gibbed onto the 130 event. I want to have some hope of enjoying the day. Done lots of miles to date but can't quite get my head around 200k whereas 130 is more comprehendible based on the rides I have done to date.

Accommodation now sorted - all excited now 😀

How are people carrying the gear required? Many doing it solo or in teams?

I've just got back from a cheeky recce of the section which takes it from 130km to the finish.

Hillier than I'd hoped but, on a more positive note, I'm fairly certain I've identified the [b][i][u]exact[/b][/i][/u] point where I'll have a major sense of humour failure and launch the bike into some bushes before sheepishly having to extract it again. So that's good.

Is it ridiculously bumpy ascent where you dream about killing someone? *

* that was my point last year

Nope, it'll be the section of wet & sandy, momentum sapping mtb-ey track running through some woodland after you turn off one of the longer climbs at about the 95 mile point.

Really? Can't remember anything too hateful after 150k, is it new?

Shouldn't be, was taken from a gpx of last years route.

*that* section climbing alongside the river up to the welcome to Scotland sign almost made me want to throw Paul in said river.

Rocket Ron front, thunderburt rear both snakeskin any good on MTB

Just happily pootled 130k with a smidge under 7000ft climbing on the single speed today. Slighty over geared so will drop a couple of teeth and should be fine for the 200 with mangled knees but if painkillers and brute force stop working then 130 will be comfy and keep my physio from slapping me for being a bloody minded tit 🙂

Did my last big ride yesterday, legs are nicely tired today and the tan lines are sharpening up too 😉

Lovely tapering* until the big day now.

*beer drinking, fettling and fannying about