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

Badger_South wrote:
:: 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.)

But that's what your target is...so if you going to be bored on your event,
what's the point? I have yet to get bored on a good route...maybe changing
up your route is in order!

Remember, you perform as you train. So if you want to get ready for an
event, you need to gear your training for that event. A sprinter doesn't
develop sprinting ability by doing only long rides, nor does a distance
riding develop endurance by doing mostly sprinting (even though sprinting
and training for speed will help improve speed on a long ride).

::
::: 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 meant base for very long rides.

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.)

Wow...100 miles in 4 hours. I'm impressed. I'm counting on 8 hours.

::
:: 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'.

Yeah, but think about how adding another 50 miles on top of that 50 would
feel.

:: 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.

Have you read the book "Long Distance Cycling"? You can get it for $0.98
via amazon.com.

::
:: 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

Badger_South wrote:
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.

fwiw, i did a 3 month solo tour of 85 miles/day on a 2.5 year base of mostly
commuting (before that i'd taken a few years off cycling) ~ 25-34 miles/day
3 to 5 days/week 8 months of the year. about a month before i left i did
two longer rides (62 and 75 miles) and felt okay afterwards (the first one
taught me to hydrate, btw .. i got minor flu like symptoms) so i hit the
road. the first week felt good and it only got better from there.

if you're ready it's my belief you know it. the leap from 30 to 85 or even
100 isn't the hard part. the hard part is from 0 or 10 to 30 *DAILY*. my
routine was pretty consistent .. up at the crack of 10am (i'm a night person),
eat a big breakfast, ride 40 miles or so, eat a big lunch and ride another 30
or so, eat an afternoon snack and ride the remainder, then eat a big dinner.
eat, eat, eat and i still lost 15 pounds.

as long as you're riding 30 or so miles daily the hump is probably much more
mental than physical.
--
david reuteler

On 12 Jun 2004 04:52:19 GMT, David Reuteler wrote:

Badger_South wrote:
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.

fwiw, i did a 3 month solo tour of 85 miles/day on a 2.5 year base of mostly
commuting (before that i'd taken a few years off cycling) ~ 25-34 miles/day
3 to 5 days/week 8 months of the year. about a month before i left i did
two longer rides (62 and 75 miles) and felt okay afterwards (the first one
taught me to hydrate, btw .. i got minor flu like symptoms) so i hit the
road. the first week felt good and it only got better from there.

if you're ready it's my belief you know it. the leap from 30 to 85 or even
100 isn't the hard part. the hard part is from 0 or 10 to 30 *DAILY*. my
routine was pretty consistent .. up at the crack of 10am (i'm a night person),
eat a big breakfast, ride 40 miles or so, eat a big lunch and ride another 30
or so, eat an afternoon snack and ride the remainder, then eat a big dinner.
eat, eat, eat and i still lost 15 pounds.

as long as you're riding 30 or so miles daily the hump is probably much more
mental than physical.

Thanks for relating your experience. If you don't mind my asking, where did
you tour? Road condition - flat, gentle rolling, etc.?

As to the mental vs physical, yeah I think that's the main issue.

My brother, 155lbs, and 5'6" has only been riding (and somewhat
sporadically at that) since March on a MTB rode 31 miles with me earlier
this month in Va beach. That's on a base of about 60 total rides since he
started. He's a bit of a 'fussy' person, complaining about leg pain and
stuff, but not so much recently, and he had zero complaints after the ride.
In fact it wasn't even a big deal to him.

If I had to pick a physical 'barrier', I'd say excess body weight and maybe
getting your system tuned so you get over the 'cramping' that can occue.
That's the main reasons I'm targetting it for Oct-ish. I plan to be about
20lbs lighter by then. I'm already feeling the 'big engine/small(er) body'
thing happening since losing the 40lbs since end of Feb. this year!

But who knows, since I'm heading back to the beach on July 17th, mebbe
we'll get psyched watching the TDF and gopher it!? ;-p

-Badger

Badger_South wrote:
Thanks for relating your experience. If you don't mind my asking, where did
you tour? Road condition - flat, gentle rolling, etc.?

minneapolis to cheyenne, wy to pueblo, co to missoula to the oregon coast
to seattle and back down to los angeles. soo, flat, rolling and mountainous,
highways and the occassional interstate (several hundred miles of interstate).
if you think mountains are bad wait until you hit the 20-30 mph headwinds of
south dakota. no joke. riding in the mountains is actually quite fun ..
--
david reuteler

Badger_South wrote:
:: On 12 Jun 2004 04:52:19 GMT, David Reuteler
:: wrote:
::
::: Badger_South wrote:
:::: 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.
:::
::: fwiw, i did a 3 month solo tour of 85 miles/day on a 2.5 year base
::: of mostly commuting (before that i'd taken a few years off cycling)
::: ~ 25-34 miles/day 3 to 5 days/week 8 months of the year. about a
::: month before i left i did
::: two longer rides (62 and 75 miles) and felt okay afterwards (the
::: first one taught me to hydrate, btw .. i got minor flu like
::: symptoms) so i hit the road. the first week felt good and it only
::: got better from there.
:::
::: if you're ready it's my belief you know it. the leap from 30 to 85
::: or even 100 isn't the hard part. the hard part is from 0 or 10 to
::: 30 *DAILY*. my routine was pretty consistent .. up at the crack of
::: 10am (i'm a night person), eat a big breakfast, ride 40 miles or
::: so, eat a big lunch and ride another 30 or so, eat an afternoon
::: snack and ride the remainder, then eat a big dinner. eat, eat, eat
::: and i still lost 15 pounds.
:::
::: as long as you're riding 30 or so miles daily the hump is probably
::: much more mental than physical.
::
:: Thanks for relating your experience. If you don't mind my asking,
:: where did you tour? Road condition - flat, gentle rolling, etc.?
::
:: As to the mental vs physical, yeah I think that's the main issue.
::
:: My brother, 155lbs, and 5'6" has only been riding (and somewhat
:: sporadically at that) since March on a MTB rode 31 miles with me
:: earlier
:: this month in Va beach. That's on a base of about 60 total rides
:: since he started. He's a bit of a 'fussy' person, complaining about
:: leg pain and
:: stuff, but not so much recently, and he had zero complaints after
:: the ride.
:: In fact it wasn't even a big deal to him.
::
:: If I had to pick a physical 'barrier', I'd say excess body weight
:: and maybe getting your system tuned so you get over the 'cramping'
:: that can occue. That's the main reasons I'm targetting it for
:: Oct-ish. I plan to be about 20lbs lighter by then. I'm already
:: feeling the 'big engine/small(er) body' thing happening since losing
:: the 40lbs since end of Feb. this year!

You can definitely be ready by october. I plan to do a century (I'm
predicting 8 hours) around then too.

Being 20 lbs lighter will make a HUGE difference, too. How much do yo weigh
now?

::
:: But who knows, since I'm heading back to the beach on July 17th,
:: mebbe
:: we'll get psyched watching the TDF and gopher it!? ;-p

Me too!
::
:: -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).

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,