Willks

For those that haven't seen my post in the Charity Events forum; I'm riding 255 miles solo with 11k of climbing from Connecticut to Maine to raise funds for a friend of mine (Details in signature - feel free to read and donate if you can). The plan is to depart CT mid-day on 9/29 and arrive at my destination sometime on the 30th.


I'm not a distance cyclist by any means. My longest ride to date has been 106mi with 10k of climbing; I felt pretty good afterward. My normal weekday rides are always >= 30mi but have been averaging around 60 to 70 lately with 3k of climbing being on the low end with 5-6k being average.

I've got just under a month to get my final training in. Assuming each ride will be >= 30mi with a minimum of 1/4 the rides 60+ mi; how does this training schedule look?


I figure if I average 15mph I'll have 7 hours to eat & rest to make my 24 hour deadline. I'm bad about on the bike nutrition/hydration so I plan to set an alarm to remind myself to nibble on something small every hour and to drink as well.

Any tips, suggestions, words of wisdom welcomed.

Keith99

I've only done 4 doubles, though 2 were abck to back.

Since this is solo know your stops, if you have a chance ride the roads you think you will hit at night now.

The back to back doubles were the Land Rush, San Francisco to Los Angeles in 2 days. It just happened that the very last section on PCH on the second day was rather nasty, potholes and having to cross highway (meaning near freeway) traffic tired and at night. But not for me, I knew there are well, dropped onto the boardwalk and had an easy time at the cost of at most 2/10ths of a mile.

The other 2 I did were the Grand Tour back to back years. The first year happened to be the very last year where they had timed checkin for people doing the double (which was the shortest ride). The ride was 200 miles in 24 hours and they did keep track, but that was the point where they realized that not one single person had failed on time for over 10 years. OK 255 is a bit longer, but the point still stands, yuo should ahve pelnty of time to finish as long as you maintain a reasonable pace and stay fed and hydrated.

EDIT: Just remembered an important point about my first double. The wind always comes up in the late afternoon, and going north to south. That means at teh riders backs for the last 50 miles. Trust me it made a huge difference. Check your expected winds. It can be big, esp. when yuo are tired.

DXchulo

It's hard to say much about your calendar without knowing how long and how intense each ride is. Take my advice for what it's worth (I've done a 250-miler before and other doubles, including 3 this year, but I'm not a coach and don't play one on television), but this would be my plan:

1. Focus on doing one long ride a week. Hopefully your schedule allows at least one 6+ hour ride a week. Do this ride at a steady, sustainable pace. Don't go super slow, but don't go so hard that you bonk, either. This will get you used to long rides. Gradually increase the length of that ride each week. Work out all the kinks in your nutrition plan. Find what works and stick to it on the day of the event.

2. Spend the rest of your time alternating between recovery rides and doing intervals. For example, if you did a long ride on Sunday, recover on Monday and Tuesday, then do intervals on Wednesday and recover on Thursday. You may be tempted to do 2 long rides a week, but it really isn't necessary. One long ride is enough, and the rest of your week is all about quality over quantity. It may not seem like it, but it will make you faster on that long ride.

If you don't have much night riding experience I would also want to throw in a night ride of some sort once a week. Make sure you are comfortable with your light setup and you get the feel for riding at night.

On event day, it's all about (a) not going faster than you should, (b) sticking to your nutrition plan, and (c) keeping your off-bike time to a minimum.

StephenH

Go ride a couple of 300k's in the next week or so.

For me, one of the hardest parts of some of these rides has been mental. Riding with other people, it's fun (or should be) and keeps you entertained. Riding by yourself in the middle of nowhere, it's easy to start thinking "What the heck am I doing out here?" and go back. And it's worse at night.

Willks

Right on. I'll take this into consideration. Thanks.

Good advice, Thanks. I'll take another look at my training schedule and revise it to add a couple longer rides. Also, I'm not worried about night riding. I do it all the time.

I'm worried about the mental the most myself. I've got my friend Christine to think about as the purpose of this ride is ultimately for her so I'm hoping that thought will get me through the "WTF am I doing" moments.

Richard Cranium

I'm not sure why it makes much of a difference to do it in exactly 24 hours. I mean you could have a lot more fun - just taking 4 or 5 extra hours.

I like the mid day start - only because it should mean you can sleep in and be as rested as you want for the ride.

In addition to all the planning you've already done, I wonder what you know about the route conditions. If possible - drive the route first or have some one scout it for you if possible.

I have ridden "all night" several times this year - and I will assume you have perfectly "groovy" lights.

There shouldn't be a "big mental part." The trip should be divided into sections, with each piece having a specific "goal window."
Each section should be completed inside the "window" - taking care not to try to go too fast early on - realizing just how hard it will be to make schedule later on. Only think about the sections - not the whole ride.

You look like a neat person - good luck.

Willks

Thanks.

Completing the ride within 24 hours is just a personal goal I've set for myself.

I know some of the route and 2 friends of mine recently offered to follow SAG so I'll send them up a ways to scout the area if needed.

I'm all set for lighting. I'm using a 600 lumen Niterider as my main light and I have a smaller 300 lumen as my backup. I've got extra batteries for each.

Excellent suggestion on breaking the ride down into smaller goals.