Planning a very long ride - 8 hrs

I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall, after a summer of
400 mile/months, and I'm interested in some ideas as to pacing. Here's
something I've been thinking about:

Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a shower?), eat, then ride
for 2 hours, repeat rest, then ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride
final 2 hours. Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?

People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a day for like 2 weeks.
'Course they're sightseeing so it's more fun. It would probably require a
"support crew" to bring food and change of clothes and stuff. If you were
gonna do it how would you break it up?

I'm thinking the mental aspect would be the most difficult. Gonna try and
get the family interested in it to help with that.

I'm sure some here would say 'just ride for the 8 hours, what's the big
deal', but that would be OK for those who have ridden a lot (like frequent
3-4 hour rides), but my longest ride has been 3.5 hours, and only did that
once. I'm hoping to get some posts on others who have done something like
this, and their experiences vs the initial expectations.

I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish, or first light.
o 5:30-8:30
o 9:00-11:00
o 12:-1
o 2-4pm

TIA,

-Badger

Badger_South wrote:
:: I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall, after a
:: summer of 400 mile/months, and I'm interested in some ideas as to
:: pacing. Here's something I've been thinking about:
::
:: Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a shower?), eat,
:: then ride for 2 hours, repeat rest, then ride for an hour, repeat
:: rest, then ride final 2 hours. Does that seem like a good scheme?
:: 3-2-1-2?

Why not start doing long rides on the weekends, but increasing them by 10%
every other week or so. You can work on speed during the week, but do your
endurance riding on weekends.

Personally, I don't like the "killer" riding events like you mention since
you're on the road with cars and need to be 100% all of the time, and you
have no base developed. Also, you don't give your butt and muscles time to
adjust with your plan. Chances of injury seem too high to me....


::
:: People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a day for like 2
:: weeks. 'Course they're sightseeing so it's more fun. It would
:: probably require a "support crew" to bring food and change of
:: clothes and stuff. If you were gonna do it how would you break it up?
::
:: I'm thinking the mental aspect would be the most difficult. Gonna
:: try and get the family interested in it to help with that.
::
:: I'm sure some here would say 'just ride for the 8 hours, what's the
:: big deal', but that would be OK for those who have ridden a lot
:: (like frequent 3-4 hour rides), but my longest ride has been 3.5
:: hours, and only did that once. I'm hoping to get some posts on
:: others who have done something like this, and their experiences vs
:: the initial expectations.

Build up slowly...

::
:: I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish, or first light.

That's what I do..

:: o 5:30-8:30
:: o 9:00-11:00
:: o 12:-1
:: o 2-4pm
::
:: TIA,
::
:: -Badger

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 13:09:19 -0400, "Roger Zoul"
wrote:

Badger_South wrote:
:: I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall, after a
:: summer of 400 mile/months, and I'm interested in some ideas as to
:: pacing. Here's something I've been thinking about:
::
:: Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a shower?), eat,
:: then ride for 2 hours, repeat rest, then ride for an hour, repeat
:: rest, then ride final 2 hours. Does that seem like a good scheme?
:: 3-2-1-2?

Why not start doing long rides on the weekends, but increasing them by 10%
every other week or so. You can work on speed during the week, but do your
endurance riding on weekends.

Oh, I plan on doing more long rides, and want to have several more three
hour rides, and maybe a four hour ride. I seem to do pretty good on 3-a-day
rides of 60-90 minutes right now - no pain anywhere the next day, etc. I
think trying to slowly ramp up to 8 hours would involve just too much
boredom. (I have to get pretty psyched to do 2.5 hours, but I know I'm just
a noob, so I'll suspend that opinion a bit.)

Personally, I don't like the "killer" riding events like you mention since
you're on the road with cars and need to be 100% all of the time, and you
have no base developed. Also, you don't give your butt and muscles time to
adjust with your plan. Chances of injury seem too high to me....

Well, I'd take exception to the 'no base developed'. I'll have been riding
for a year, every single frikin' day, and many, many two-a-day and a lot of
three-a-day rides. I know it can take up to 10 years to really develop your
base, but sheesh. g I'm pretty sure I could go out today, given
sufficient motivation and do 4 hours on the road. (I'm not counting
distance, just time, although I would hope the total distance would add up
to around 100miles at the end.)

I find that unless I'm nearly 'ready' to do a long ride like this, I don't
start contemplating it. I did the 50 miler after kinda having the idea pop
into my head a few days prior, (at the time my longest ride was 22 miles,
and 9 months of riding) and thinking 'why not'. It was -way- easier than I
thought it would be, and it was on the 45lb beater bike. Had I been paying
attention, I'd have tacked on the extra miles later that day to equal a
metric century.

I've read stories (admittedly of younger riders) only training for a year
to do some touring and then actually get in shape during the tour. Of
course they were riding with a group and stuff.

:: People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a day for like 2
:: weeks. 'Course they're sightseeing so it's more fun. It would
:: probably require a "support crew" to bring food and change of
:: clothes and stuff. If you were gonna do it how would you break it up?
::
:: I'm thinking the mental aspect would be the most difficult. Gonna
:: try and get the family interested in it to help with that.
::
:: I'm sure some here would say 'just ride for the 8 hours, what's the
:: big deal', but that would be OK for those who have ridden a lot
:: (like frequent 3-4 hour rides), but my longest ride has been 3.5
:: hours, and only did that once. I'm hoping to get some posts on
:: others who have done something like this, and their experiences vs
:: the initial expectations.

Build up slowly...

That's a good idea, but I'm going on the thought that in jogging, you can
run middle-of-the pack races pretty well on a 25 mile per week base (for a
year) and the longest run 1/3 that of the total distance. For instance my
first 10 miler I did on a few months of 30miles/week, and doing a 10K race
every couple weeks. My longest jog was about 6.5 miles. I had no negative
sequelae after the race, and resumed my training post, no problem.

Thanks for the input, though, Rog. How's the new wheel holding up? ;-)

::
:: I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish, or first light.

That's what I do..

:: o 5:30-8:30
:: o 9:00-11:00
:: o 12:-1
:: o 2-4pm
::
:: TIA,
::
:: -Badger

In article ,
says...

I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall, after a summer of
400 mile/months, and I'm interested in some ideas as to pacing. Here's
something I've been thinking about:

How long is "long" (mile-wise, that is)?


Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a shower?), eat, then ride
for 2 hours, repeat rest, then ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride
final 2 hours. Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?

People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a day for like 2 weeks.
'Course they're sightseeing so it's more fun. It would probably require a
"support crew" to bring food and change of clothes and stuff. If you were
gonna do it how would you break it up?

I'd probably put the first rest stop well before the 3 hour point, and
space them more evenly. Maybe 1.5-1.5-1.5-1.5-1.5, or 2-2-2-2. Also,
30 minutes might be too long of a break; it might give your muscles too
long, so that you would need a long warm up again when you start back up
YMMV a lot on this, and will probably depend on the weather (temperature
particularly). More frequent, shorter breaks work well for many people,
such as 5 to 10 minutes every hour.


I'm thinking the mental aspect would be the most difficult. Gonna try and
get the family interested in it to help with that.

I'm sure some here would say 'just ride for the 8 hours, what's the big
deal', but that would be OK for those who have ridden a lot (like frequent
3-4 hour rides), but my longest ride has been 3.5 hours, and only did that
once. I'm hoping to get some posts on others who have done something like
this, and their experiences vs the initial expectations.

I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish, or first light.
o 5:30-8:30
o 9:00-11:00
o 12:-1
o 2-4pm

TIA,

-Badger




--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

Badger_South wrote:

I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall, after a summer of
400 mile/months, and I'm interested in some ideas as to pacing. Here's
something I've been thinking about:

Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a shower?), eat, then ride
for 2 hours, repeat rest, then ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride
final 2 hours. Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?

Why not just do an organized, supported ride? They typically have
rest stops every 1.5-2 hours apart. It's a great place to find out
about pacing and fueling, and there's sag if you need it. Try a 100k
to see if you like it. If that was too easy, try a 100-mile.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 13:22:38 -0400, David Kerber
wrote:

In article ,
says...

I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall, after a summer of
400 mile/months, and I'm interested in some ideas as to pacing. Here's
something I've been thinking about:

How long is "long" (mile-wise, that is)?

I'm not too worried about the mileage, although I would hope that after 8
hours of well-spaced riding that it would be around 100 miles.

Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a shower?), eat, then ride
for 2 hours, repeat rest, then ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride
final 2 hours. Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?

People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a day for like 2 weeks.
'Course they're sightseeing so it's more fun. It would probably require a
"support crew" to bring food and change of clothes and stuff. If you were
gonna do it how would you break it up?

I'd probably put the first rest stop well before the 3 hour point, and
space them more evenly. Maybe 1.5-1.5-1.5-1.5-1.5, or 2-2-2-2. Also,
30 minutes might be too long of a break; it might give your muscles too
long, so that you would need a long warm up again when you start back up
YMMV a lot on this, and will probably depend on the weather (temperature
particularly). More frequent, shorter breaks work well for many people,
such as 5 to 10 minutes every hour.

Oh, I forgot to mention that. I find that a 2 min rest every 10-15 miles
helps a lot, and I plan to incorporate that in addition to the other rest
stops.

I like the idea of the first segment being around 3-4 hours, b/c I have
that much motivation, initially. Then knowing I'm 1/3 to 1/2 way there
helps with the last part. But I like your plan of 2 hours and a 10 min
break after that. As I said, I'm anticipating that the major hurdle will be
80-90% mental. ;-)

-B

I'm sure some here would say 'just ride for the 8 hours, what's the big
deal', but that would be OK for those who have ridden a lot (like frequent
3-4 hour rides), but my longest ride has been 3.5 hours, and only did that
once. I'm hoping to get some posts on others who have done something like
this, and their experiences vs the initial expectations.

I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish, or first light.
o 5:30-8:30
o 9:00-11:00
o 12:-1
o 2-4pm

TIA,

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 10:34:30 -0700, Terry Morse wrote:

Badger_South wrote:

I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall, after a summer of
400 mile/months, and I'm interested in some ideas as to pacing. Here's
something I've been thinking about:

Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a shower?), eat, then ride
for 2 hours, repeat rest, then ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride
final 2 hours. Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?

Why not just do an organized, supported ride? They typically have
rest stops every 1.5-2 hours apart. It's a great place to find out
about pacing and fueling, and there's sag if you need it. Try a 100k
to see if you like it. If that was too easy, try a 100-mile.

Well there probably aren't any organized supported rides in my area.

There are weekend group rides, I hear, but never been able to track any of
them down to an actual person. (I'm in Charlottesville, Va).

In addition, I'd want to ride my own pace, and would worry about being
dropped and having that affect the motivation. I realize in an ideal sitch,
your suggest -would- be the way to go. Also the area around here that
people ride these things are probably too hilly.

I'm planning the ride in Va Beach, where it's mostly flat, and doing it on
bike paths. (there's 137 miles of them down there!). It would take a big
stroke of luck to find an organized ride in Va Beach to co-incide with my
attempt, but I'll definitely try to check that out. I'm heading back down
there in about a month. Even if the ride was a 50 miler, I could do that
and then finish up on my own. Great idea...

Thanks TM!

-B

Badger_South wrote:


I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall, after a summer of
400 mile/months, and I'm interested in some ideas as to pacing. Here's
something I've been thinking about:

Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a shower?), eat, then
ride for 2 hours, repeat rest, then ride for an hour, repeat rest, then
ride final 2 hours. Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?

People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a day for like 2 weeks.
'Course they're sightseeing so it's more fun. It would probably require a
"support crew" to bring food and change of clothes and stuff. If you were
gonna do it how would you break it up?

I'm thinking the mental aspect would be the most difficult. Gonna try and
get the family interested in it to help with that.

I'm sure some here would say 'just ride for the 8 hours, what's the big
deal', but that would be OK for those who have ridden a lot (like frequent
3-4 hour rides), but my longest ride has been 3.5 hours, and only did that
once. I'm hoping to get some posts on others who have done something like
this, and their experiences vs the initial expectations.

I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish, or first light.
o 5:30-8:30
o 9:00-11:00
o 12:-1
o 2-4pm

It's now 15 days before I will do my longest ride so far this year. It's a
16-18 hour long ride (540 km). I will be riding with a group and we plann
3-4 stops during the ride. Each stop will be about 5 minutes - enough time
to fill up bottles and the jersey pockets with food. Eating will be done on
the bike.

We start early in the morning. The worst part is when it gets dark. Some
people can get very sleepy during the dark period of the night (we live far
north, so it will not be completly dark), and it can cause some dangerous
situation if riders get too sleepy.

The amount of training before such a long ride, is very important. Long
training tours is a must. So far I have 3 rides over 100 km (3 1/2 hour or
more each tour). I hope to get at least one more 100+ km ride before I do
the looooong tour...

Good luck on your 8-hour ride.

--
Jørn Dahl-Stamnes

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 20:03:33 +0200, Jørn Dahl-Stamnes
wrote:

It's now 15 days before I will do my longest ride so far this year. It's a
16-18 hour long ride (540 km). I will be riding with a group and we plann
3-4 stops during the ride. Each stop will be about 5 minutes - enough time
to fill up bottles and the jersey pockets with food. Eating will be done on
the bike.

We start early in the morning. The worst part is when it gets dark. Some
people can get very sleepy during the dark period of the night (we live far
north, so it will not be completly dark), and it can cause some dangerous
situation if riders get too sleepy.

The amount of training before such a long ride, is very important. Long
training tours is a must. So far I have 3 rides over 100 km (3 1/2 hour or
more each tour). I hope to get at least one more 100+ km ride before I do
the looooong tour...

Good luck on your 8-hour ride.

Wow. Good luck to you, too. Mine's still in the 'fantasy stage', but I'm
pretty sure I'll try it in the fall when it's cooler.

Uh, you say long training tours are a must? If my mental calculations are
correct, it sounds like your training tour is very short!

I'll have done several rides at ~50% of the total time/distance, and have
already done 1/2 the expected distance on a 45lb broken beater bike.

I can't imagine riding 8 hours on a base of only 1-2 hr as the max ride, or
on 1/10th the total distance! Of course if you've been riding for 10 years,
and / or are pretty young and resilient...may be a different story. (Maybe
you made a typo?)

Where are you (Denmark?) and do you have a map online of that cool ride
you're doing?

Some day I hope to be able to do a Brevet like that. Good job.

-B

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 14:21:49 -0400, Badger_South wrote:

Where are you (Denmark?) and do you have a map online of that cool ride
you're doing?

oops, Norway. Meant to check the header but hit send too quickly. So where
in Norway? Near the arctic circle, eh?

-Badger