Flounce

Ive done 200 and 300 km brevets without issue and hope to do SR series and a 1200km this year.

Being a physician with four young children, my responsibility have increased as the kids get older and have more extracurricular events. It’s become very difficult to ride during the week.

But I have Saturdays free.

Do you think it’s reasonable to train for SR series by riding centuries (or longer) every Saturday , and the brevets of increasing distance (200,300,400 etc ) of course , and nothing else?

unterhausen

possibly, but I would get a trainer. Much more efficient and effective

Steamer

This is probably one of the main reasons that a big percentage of randos are over 50.

Flounce

Thanks, I have a trainer set up, but hard to find time even for that. Maybe some intervals once mid-week.

StephenH

I've got friends that pretty much work it that way, but they also go to the gym or do spin classes during the week, too, so that's not all the exercise they get.


One reason I try to ride during the week, is not just for muscular fitness, but also to help keep my weight down. If you don't have problems with weight, you can probably get by with less workout otherwise.


As your schedule permits, try to ride back-to-back rides on weekends, IE, ride both Saturday and Sunday. Partly for the workout, partly to see how it works.
Several times, we've had a 600k scheduled on Labor Day or Memorial Day weekends, and then rode a 200k or 300k on the Monday, so 3 days of riding, and that gives you a good idea.


Also check climbing differences. If you ride around at an easy pace on flat 200ks, then go try a 1200k that goes over the Great Divide 8 times, you may have trouble. If you live somewhere that's about as rugged as your proposed 1200k, you'll be a little more prepared for it. And, if you ride at conversational pace with slower friends, you won't get near the workout on a 200k as if you ride solo as fast as possible, or try to hang with faster friends.

Steamer

I am not sure the point of this thread. If all you can do is ride on Saturday, and even a couple quick trainer sessions during the week aren't practical, then do what you can do and see how it goes. Just understand that riding so little is not particularly typical, or recommended. So don't be hard on yourself if things don't turn out the way you hope.

To answer you original question: no not really, but I am sure it has been done. The question is: Can you do it too? Only one way to find out.

When I had more motivation and fewer commitments, I still had to get a lot of my riding in after 9pm, after the kids went to bed. If folks really want to do something they find a way.

These days, my rando dreams are largely deferred until approximately 2026 (when my youngest will go to college).

kingston 

Sounds like you're sleeping too much. I got up at 4 this morning so I could get an hour on the rollers before work. When the weather warms up I get up at 4 on Saturday and Sunday too so I can get long rides in before the day with the family starts. I also have 4 kids so I know how much time that takes. I'm skeptical that someone could actually ride 100 miles every Saturday with no other exercise during the week. It would be slow and painful that's for sure. Randonneuring is a time consuming hobby.

Flounce

I guess I will try it out and see how I do. Appreciate the comments.

I'm supposed to start helping with some of the kids in the morning 6:00-7:30am, i.e. before work, and that cuts into the time that I used to ride my bike. Hard to tell my wife to bear more of the load so I can ride. I can wake up at 4am once in a while to ride for 90 minutes or so before getting ready for the day, but can't sustain that regularly.

kingston 

My wife doesn't work so that doesn't bother me.

Flounce

My wife homeschools the four kids and then takes them around to all their sports and extracurriculars in the evenings, so even though she doesn't have job other than homemaker, she works quite a bit - probably more than me, all things considered.

unterhausen

I really question the century on weekends plan. I had one brevet season where I was sick the whole time and didn't ride on weekdays. Probably should have given in and taken antibiotics. So almost all the riding I did was the series. Barely qualified for PBP.

The low volume plans on trainer road only take 4 hours a week. Probably better than your plan. I would at least do two rides on the weekends, and a century is too far. 100k is plenty. Don't know if you can see this training plan: https://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/...ild-low-volume
Or you could do the medium volume and skip the easy rides during the week. So 4 rides a week.
If you want, I can give you a free month of trainerroad if you pm me your email address.

atwl77

I don't know how late you get off work, but if possible that's also another option if you cannot sustain 4am morning workouts. On weekdays I typically train twice a week -- have a light dinner before 8pm, hop onto the trainer about 1-1.5 hours after dinner, and my interval training sessions are typically 1 hour long.

Machka 

I trained for a 400K and what was meant to be a 600K in 2016 by doing the following:

Weekends - long rides of varying lengths.

Evenings - we'd alter between a short ride or a brisk walk.

But then also ...

I walk as part of my commute, I walk at lunch, and I started climbing flights and flights of stairs on breaks at work. I work in a 10 storey building and worked my way up to 40 flights a day. OK that was a bit much as my long weekend rides increased, so I backed it off to about 25 flights a day.

I found that the stair climbing went a long way toward improving my cardiovascular system and also my leg strength.

And we rode that 400 km without too much difficulty. Well, I did break a tooth at the 200 km point which meant I wasn't eating much in the second half which did present some issues, but we made it!

We kept on with the plan in the hopes of doing a 600K in a month's time. But unfortunately I picked up the measles on that 400 km trip, and two weeks after the 400 km trip, I broke out in a head-to-toe rash. So the 600 km in a month's time was off the table, but there was another one a month after. I recovered from the measles, got out for my first decent ride, and then came down with a flu. Evidently it was inevitable, my immune system was that bad.

So we started that second 600K with next to no exercise, and still recovering from measles and the flu ... and made it to 400 km before we pulled the plug and decided that we just simply weren't fit enough to finish. Or at least, I wasn't.


But the point of the story is that it is possible to train for these events doing long rides on weekends and a little bit of this and that during the week. Especially the stair climbing. Just don't get the measles!!



BTW - when I say "Weekends - long rides of varying lengths." I have a bit of a plan, a structure to that which I can go into if you're interested. And it doesn't involve a century ride every weekend.

Flounce

Thanks, and sure, I'd be interested in the weekend training plan you used.

Machka 

It goes roughly like this ...

Weekend 1 - Century or 200K or something on the Saturday. Easy 20-25 km on the Sunday.

Weekend 2 - 50 km / 50 km (Saturday / Sunday)

Weekend 3 - 80 km / 60 km (Saturday / Sunday)

Weekend 4 - 120 km / 80 km (Saturday / Sunday)

Weekend 5 - Century or 200K or something, like Weekend 1.

That's to get going and get comfortable, then we start moving up a bit, and change the pattern slightly ...

Weekend 6 - 60 km / 50 km (Saturday / Sunday) ... we find we need a weekend where we don't ride all that much at least once a month, but we might use these weekends for doing hill climbing rides too.

Weekend 7 - 125 km / 80 km ... might even consider something as long as a century + short ride. Or if this falls on a long weekend, we might do a 100 km / 75 km / 50 km.

Weekend 8 - 100 km / 60 km ... tapering off slightly.

Weekend 9 - 300 km

Weekend 10 - back to a short set again, maybe hilly

Weekend 11 - century ride, plus a couple short rides ... try to get a good 200 - 250 km over a 3-day weekend.

Weekend 12 - 100 km / 75 km

Weekend 13 - 400 km



I don't do anything set in stone, so if it happens to be pouring rain and howling a gale or something, we'll call that the lighter weekend and hit the gym to run, row and use the spin bikes.
And these amounts may vary depending on how we feel or what else we might have on.

Rowan

Of course it's possible! Grit and determination are as much a part of randonneuring as fitness. You won't be fast, but if you have the miles under your legs, you still stand a good chance of finishing every event.

rhm

I don't know if your plan will work, but I think it's worth a try. I mean, you have identified what you can do, and you're pretty sure you can't do more than that; I think that's a good start (realism is always a good start). So your options are doing what you can do, or not doing it? I say: do it.

I, for one, do not train. My commute gives me a minimum of 12 miles of cycling every work day, which I'm sure helps. As big rides approach, I always consider doing some training of some kind, maybe intervals or something, but it never happens. I am seriously considering doing some 'training rides' during the next six weeks, but most likely I will just go for the occasional bike ride.

ThermionicScott 

@Flounce, what do you do for work?

Flounce

@ThermionicScott, I am a diagnostic radiologist and do some administrative work, so-called Physician in Charge of CT, MRI, and Ultrasound.

Flounce

Thanks Unterhausen for the trial account , I haven't had a chance to log in and look at the training you shared, but will do that and let you know if I have any questions.

Machka, thanks for sharing your training plan, I think I might try just that. I definitely have stairs I can walk during lunchtime every day, and can see if I can squeeze in a single ride every Wednesday, probably a 1 hour ride that includes intervals or hill climbing.

rhm

And @Flounce, how do you get to work? Is there any way to commute by bike?

Flounce

It's a good thought, my work is 3.5 miles away - barely enough time to get warmed up - and I already ride there when I can which is not often, as I sometimes need the car during the workday or to pick up the kids straight from work.

unterhausen

anyone else wants a free month of trainerroad, PM me your email. They are really good about canceling and you can go month by month if you want. Which probably makes more sense for randonneurs than the yearly plan. It really worked well for me last year until I started riding brevets, and then I overtrained. So I should have switched to a maintenance plan in April. But until that happened, I felt better on the bike than I had for many years. Trying not to sound too much like an ad.

Flounce

Do you use power meter with it?

rhm

I hear you. I'm a little more fortunate: my ride to the station is more like 5.5 miles, and when my train gets to the city, I ride a CitiBike for another mile or so. 13 miles in four separate rides is probably not a great training regime, but it's my routine, and I can't get out of it, not having a car. I managed to complete an SR series last year, as well as an R12 series (which I finished only last Saturday). [Not having a car, I usually mooched a ride to the start points from @jlippinbike; but I digress.]

Obviously, you need to find your own solutions. Aside from that, I'll only observe that (from a training perspective) time spent in the car is time wasted. Perhaps you can keep the car at the office, so you have it when you need it during the day, freeing you up to ride to and from, and committing you to riding to work the next day? Of course you won't want to arrive at work sweaty, but if it's okay to arrive home sweaty, you could extend the ride home a bit. Any possibility of using a Burley trailer for moving kids around? I'm sure there are ways to make a little bit of riding part of your daily routine.