datlas 

Please forgive me if this is not in the right forum, I know it's not really even 400Km but close.

I have signed up for the Mallorca 312. I am a reasonably strong enthusiast cyclist but have not ever ridden more than 180Km/115miles. Most of my Saturday rides are in the 60-100 mile range.

I have done lots of centuries (100 miles) and have felt strong at the end. I just did an 80 mile ride (5 hours) yesterday and felt FINE with it.

So in advance of the 312 at the end of April, I had planned to do at least a couple of long-ish rides of say 200-250Km.

However when I google "prepare for the 312" I see "expert coaches" state that training more than 5 hours in the saddle is not going to help with endurance and is only going to cause more fatigue.

I am still thinking I need a few longer rides if only to get my butt/back/body ready for a 14 hour ride.

Comments? Suggestions??

antimonysarah

I think most randonneurs would agree that the reason to do rides longer than 5-6 hours isn't to build endurance, it's to learn what you might need at that point -- does your bike really fit you well enough? Not about breaking your butt in at that point, but whether you've got the right saddle, for example. Or finding out what your digestion does after 10 hours of riding.

But people also say to riders at the end of their first 200k "you finished the 200k and don't look like death warmed over, you'll be fine on the 300k". If you felt great at the end of some 100milers with similar climbing profiles to the 312 (I'm not familiar with it but was under the impression that Mallorca is hilly?), you probably know some or all of those lessons, but there might be a few more that would be good to know ahead of it, especially if this is a big destination ride and you're traveling for it and will be really sad if you don't finish.

Richard Cranium

With your experience level (according to your post details) you'll have no problem. If you use the same good judgement that allowed for finishing centuries - all will be fine.

The more probable scenario - is to do something stupid early on the ride - and then suffer the consequences towards the end of the ride.

Much of distance cycling success comes from the skill of pacing yourself as well as fueling and resting in timely and efficient intervals.

Good luck......

datlas 

Thanks for the tips. I don't want to get too cocky about it, but I am hopeful I will do fine.

One minor concern is I am going with some friends, and one of them is VERY competitive and IMO high-risk to push too hard early and blow up before the end. I have made it clear to him (and my other 3 friends who are doing the event) that I plan to take it at a modest pace, especially early, so I can finish strong. And with 8000 other riders, I am sure I can find a small group of like-minded cyclists to ride with if that is "too slow" for him.

GhostRider62

Doing something like Mallorca 312 or the Marmotte is a big commitment and bucket list type of ride. You can do it now. But I feel you think you are not fit enough to do it with the speed and level of enjoyment you wish.

I would recommend joining RUSA and in particular PaRando with March 4 200k brevet and April 1 300k brevet as interim training goals. The 200k and 300K both leave from Philly with moderate climbing, around 60'/mile vs 80 ft/mile on the Mallorca 312. I would then rest a couple days and resume your normal load and only taper 5 days, something like April 20-25 assuming your travel is within that window. I would be riding Thursday and Saturday at the minimum to keep the legs open for the main event on Sunday.

datlas 

I appreciate the invite. I will likely do some centuries in the spring, and possibly even slightly longer rides with my friends rather than an official sanctioned event, but try to get similar distances in.

Carbonfiberboy 

It is true that rides over 5 hours won't improve endurance performance. However long hard rides aren't really about performance. A century doesn't count as a long ride. You're still in the "I can do that on any given day" distance range. On a long ride the issues shift to hydration, pacing, fueling, rest stop timing, and uh, pain tolerance. I'd never experienced ride-stopping pain until my first hilly 300. No, I didn't stop. Small pacing and nutrition mistakes, hardly noticeable on a century, become big deals. So that's why it's a very good idea to do a couple really long rides before your event. Plus you'll gain a lot of confidence. No need to ride an organized event. Map out your own routes with equivalent gains. Be sure to put a couple nasty long steep climbs in there, where you run out of gears. Nothing like a nice 18% climb when you're a 150 miles into it. You['ll want resupply points every 50 miles or so.

unterhausen

I always felt like I got a positive training effect on any ride up to 300k. 400k's always seem to wear me down a little, although I have felt like I got stronger in the middle of 1200k's sometimes.
100km is my preferred training distance, but I have always felt stronger after a 200km brevet. I learned quite a bit riding 200km brevets, mostly about eating. Same with every other long distance, which are all about eating.

GhostRider62

No problem, just an idea for you.

A typical century or two might be a tad shy to handle 312 km with 16,000-20,000 feet of climbing but you could be much stronger than me.

I would take whatever you read on the internet with a huge grain of salt., especially forums. LOL Not too many coaches have experience with ultra endurance distances. I try to read everything on the topic of training for distances and could find links to support any training approach if I wanted. Blanket statements that a 5 hour training ride necessarily produces excessive fatigue is ridiculous because it depends on one's chronic training load and for many people, 5 hours is not excessive while for others it is excessive. Unless you are very very strong, you are looking at a 10-12 hours in the saddle. I'm getting older but am pretty fast for my age, this ride would take me a little over 12 hours sucking wheels. I'd try to get at least an 8-10 hour ride done around 3 weeks beforehand. Or you could break that 8-10 hours up into two rides, morning and evening, say if your buddies only want to do say a 5 hour ride in the morning. Like all internet opinions, take it with a grain of salt.

datlas 

Just to close the loop, my friends and I did the Mallorca 312 ride and our training strategy worked out fine.

The only thing that did NOT work out was the ride support was awful and the water stop was a mob scene. As a result, we wasted about 30 minutes and ended up not getting water and had to buy it in the next village.

As a result of this delay, we missed the cutoff time for the full 312 by 15 minutes and had to do the 225Km route instead. It was still a great ride, just a bit of a disappointment that we could not do the full 312 in spite of being in good enough shape for it.