Advice for my first sportive needed

RyanBrook

I'm riding the London to Cantebury Sportive in three weeks. My preparation so far hasnt been up to scratch. Before this weekend I hadnt rode in two weeks. And before that I was only doing Saturday and Sunday rides of 40-50 miles plus a session on the bike in the gym.

I did 60 miles over the weekend and a gym ride yesterday. I was thinking of doing 2 rides in the week followed by two long rides at the weekend for the next fortnight and then the rest week before just do two rides. How does this sound?

I did a cycling tour in France in 2005 of nearly 1000 miles so Im not a complete newbie but this will be the first time Ive ever done 120 miles. The furthest I have ever been is 80miles.

How does my plan sound? Also does anyone know the best way of glycogen loading before the event?

Unknown

Given the time you have left remaining then your plan sounds sensible.

There is no great secret to riding a long distance - you need to be well fed and rested before you start and then eat and drink little and often once you get going. The hard bit comes when you try and go faster than you are able!

Unknown

Most important 3 things to remember:

- don't be tempted to ride too fast at the start just to stay with a fast group - if you feel like you are outside your comfort zone, sit up and wait for another group whose pace is more suited to you. If you have anything left in the tank towards the end, you can always up the tempo then (and hopefully pass some of those who flew past you at the start with a smug grin on your face)
- as Andyp says, eat and drink regularly during the ride - small sips of water and nibbles of food regularly is better than downing a whole Powerbar in one hit at a feed zone for instance
- Kent is not flat [:D]

Ideally, I always try to do solo rides of at least 80% of the distance I am doing in a sportif (over similar terrain) in the build up to a long 'un. When you are riding the actual event, the number of other wheels to sit on will save you enough energy that the extra distance will not be too much of a shock. One long ride a week is more than enough, mixed in with shorter rides during the week.

As for glycogen loading, a good old pasta feast the day before always works for me. Make sure you eat early enough so that it is well digested so that you can still have an early night and sleep well before your early start........nothing worse than sitting in bed with a full belly worrying about getting up early the next day!

Good luck fella


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http://www.ccluton.com (It's a lifestyle!!)

RyanBrook

Thanks for the good advice guys. Altough I do have a few nerves about the day Im really looking forward to it. Seems like I chose a pretty special spotif as my first

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Mountains Climbed:Chamrousse, Col De Lauteret followed by the Galibier (fully loaded panniers), Col de la Madelaine (fully loaded), Alpe D'Huez

dsoutar

Whilst ideally one would like to have put in loads of long training rides in advance, it can be done (although I'm not advocating this approach).

My mate did the Morenxc - Pau Etape a few years ago which I gather was pretty tough and his longest ride prior to this was 60-ish miles.

Neverthless eat & drink little and often on the day.

Best of luck and hope more importantly that you have a great day out.

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live." ~ Mark Twain, "Taming the Bicycle"

Unknown

If you're used to riding in a group then make sure you find a group going at a decent pace and sit in it for as long as you can. The effect of drafting is good at conserving energy.

Good luck and most of all enjoy it.

bahzob

Few of more tips:
> Yes cut down the week before but not to extremes. Ride the day before (I would suggest an hour or so at the pace you want to ride the sportive).
> Advice about eating little and often regularly is crucial. But in the heat of the event it can be easy to forget. I have a timer on my computer that beeps every 15 mins to remind me to have a nibble and a glug from bottle.
> Practice eating/drinking while riding if not already done so (I didnt and regretted it as very frustrating to drop out of a group simply because you have had to slow down to fish a bar out of your back pocket). For drinking a camel backpack makes things a lot easier and I carry this as well as two bottles as you dont want to run short on fluid especially if day is hot.

ricadus

If you are not used to the distance carry some pain-killers (asprin/ibuprophen/paracetamol) in case you start to suffer aches (like back pain) later in the ride. You may not need them at all, but if you do start to suffer you'll be glad of them.

Take enough food to skip the first couple of feed stops - everyone else will be stopping at them to faff about. Plan perhaps to stop at every second or third only. I'm assuming that BC have bothered to organize any, of course... [:D]

After the first 1/4 distance the sorting out process will have taken place and you find yourself riding with people of similar speed. Keep an eye out for a good little group to ride with rather than riding/thinking solo. I don't mean through & off stuff, just that later on, if you're flagging, you can get a boost by being amongst relatively familiar faces/jerseys - it can keep you going through an uncomfortable 3rd quarter (it's a bit undulating between Tonbridge and Tenterden). The last 30 miles won't be a problem, you'll get a second wind counting down the miles then.

Despite all this talk of suffering, don't forget to enjoy the day out. [:)]

<font color="black">london</font id="black"><font color="red">phoenix</font id="red"><font color="black">.co.uk</font id="black">

wildmoustache

yeah sit in by all means, but make sure you do some work too as UK sportifs are starting to fill up with people who do nothing but sit in!

ian_oli

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by wildmoustache</i>

yeah sit in by all means, but make sure you do some work too as UK sportifs are starting to fill up with people who do nothing but sit in!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Darn it, that's my race plan blown then. [:)]

My tip from having done a series of ever increasingly long audax's. Keep it easy up the hills - so that your leg muscles never start to burn. That way you'll feel fresher throughout.

El Conejo Ingles

What about riding in a group?

Self confessed King of The Mole Hill

RyanBrook

How does this sound for food? Take about 5 gels 5 bars, Some honey and banana sarnies (white bread I presume as I want fast burning high GI foods??)
Flapjack.

Powerade 10 minutes before start 2 bottles of water plus a lucosade pouch thing. My pockets will be bursting.

I think the painkiller idea could be a gem after 80 miles. Dont know if it will affect my cycling though, probably not.

________________________
Mountains Climbed:Chamrousse, Col De Lauteret followed by the Galibier (fully loaded panniers), Col de la Madelaine (fully loaded), Alpe D'Huez