200 miles - 2 days

Pip13

Can anyone give me some advice/ tips? In a few weeks time a group of us are cycling 200 miles in 2 days for charity. :shock: Whilst I am used to long distances over one day or v. short distances each day (ie my 10 mile commute to work) I have no idea how I am going to find getting back on the bike the second day to repeat the process!
I do stretch after my rides, will this be enough? Also any ideas on what to eat on the evening meal or the breakfast before the second ride will also be appreciated!
Hoping you can help.

teagar

Try to simulate it in training. Do a hard day, and follow it up with another. Get your body used to it.

Other than that, really work on your streches before and after you ride, and not just your legs. Neck, back, etc.

Streching before is as important as stretching after.


A gigantic plate of spag-bog works for me.

tmg

Make sure you don't wear the same shorts on the second day, and make sure you have a nice big tub of chamois cream!! If your backside isn't used to the distance it will be an interesting thing to watch you get back on the bike on day 2

Good luck

CiB

tmg wrote:

Make sure you don't wear the same shorts on the second day, and make sure you have a nice big tub of chamois cream!! If your backside isn't used to the distance it will be an interesting thing to watch you get back on the bike on day 2

Good luck

I recently did 85 then 90 miles on succesive days from a base of a 20 mile commute 2-3 times per week + a couple of 50 miles rides to test the rerserves. Have a read of the excellent advice in this thread.

I suffered at about 70 miles on both days - not the full bonk, but a serious loss of energy resolved by a 10 minute rest at the side of the road, so take the energy inputs seriously. I was on Powerade, bananas, chocolate raisins & jelly babies on day 1, on day 2 I'd learnt my lesson and stopped for a decent pub lunch which made a big differrence, although walking in in full cyling togs with the bike half way through the door to be met with the question 'have you come on your bike?' was a bit surreal - worth it just to be able to say that I'd come from Stafford, which was 50+ miles away.

What really struck was that it's not that hard - with a bit more training & a better energy input it would have been a lot easier, but even so it took 5 hours and 5h 37m to do the two rides, so not a huge amount of time, around 17mph avg day 1 & 16 on day 2.

Savlon is superb - I used pretty much a whole tube over the distance. Get big handfuls of the stuff and slap it on. My wife seemed to enjoy watching it, which made it worthwhile. It works though. Slap it all over & all around. You can't use too much.

You'll do the 100 on both days without too much difficulty if you pace it properly. The question is how long will it take.

Jez mon

Perhaps a very cold bath after day 1 and a large amount of protein and carbs after the ride. Other than that a good nights sleep is essential. Furthermore, when you get back on the bike you're bound to feel a bit sore (talking about legs here, although other places might be sore aswell :shock: ) just take the first couple of miles easy and you should be able to get back into it.

Good luck, hope all goes well.

Pip13

Thanks for all the advice. Now have savlon on my shopping list!
Will let you know how I get on!

morrisje

I think that one way to ensure the 2nd day isn't all pain and suffering is to take the first day at a managable pace. Don't go mad and wear yourself out otherwise your legs will feel shagged for day 2.

cougie

Yeah nice steady pace and keep eating. Make sure you've had some good carbo meals in the day or two before as well.

u01akrg

teagar wrote:

Other than that, really work on your streches before and after you ride, and not just your legs. Neck, back, etc.

Streching before is as important as stretching after.
.

I read that stretching before may not be such a good idea. The reasoning being that it destabilises joints making you more prone to injury, not less.

I recently did 210 miles in 3 days (70 per day, ok not huge distances, but some big hills!), and added 5-10 miles to my usual first 10 miles in a light gear taking it easy until my legs loosened off. My biggest ride this year before that was 54 miles, but I'd planned to build up the distances and get used to consecutive days in the saddle (a pesky virus put a stop to that!).

Plenty stretching at the end of the day, followed by enough water to re-hydrate, heaps of protein and carbs. Tried to have a good sleep, but not so easy in a tent when its below zero...

robthehungrymonkey

u01akrg wrote:

I read that stretching before may not be such a good idea. The reasoning being that it destabilises joints making you more prone to injury, not less.

Really? Are you sure that's not purely for people with specific weaknesses in their joints?

I can't imagine that to be correct for the majority of people.

Porgy

My biggest ride every year is the Dunwich Dynamo - 120 miles - and last year I spent 4 days riding back to London via the scenic route.

For that I need plenty of water - about 5 or 6 litres (no shops open on a night ride), bags of sugary sweets (wine gums are very nice), cereal bars, chocolate, bananas, and other sweet snacks I can eat a little at a time.

I eat a proper meal at the half way point - pasta usually.

I also pack vaseline, painkillers, anti-acid tablets, anything that can stop the pain and make it more comfortable.