Beat my boss

Newton1981

Okay, Im setting myself a bit of a challenge, and need your help.

This year I am signing up for the Manchester to Blackpool bike ride (60 miles) with my boss and another work colleague. I will be doing the ride on my new Orange G2, Im a little out of shape having not rode over the winter and I need a little advice on how best to train to beat my boss' challenge.

He has an aluminium and carbon road bike, and wants to complete the ride in under 4 hours (average of 15 mph), obviously he has a huge advantage over me in terms of kit, but Id love to get fit enough to give this a real good go.

I currently commute 60 miles a week and can ride Saturdays and/or Sundays too. Before the ride (which is in the summer) I will get some Kojaks or similar slicks to give myself the best chance, but has anyone got any good diets, training regimes or exercises I can do to give myself a shot at this, or do you think an average of 15mph for 4 hours on roads on a mountain bike is a little too much to ask!?

(I did the same ride last year on a fixed gear with about 72 gear inches and it took me between 5 and 6 hours, didnt really time myself, but it really did almost kill me!!!!)

Any help would be great, thanks!!!!!

13ADL1X

I think that you might find it harder to keep up with your boss due to the difference in gearing between a road bike and mountain bike.

Most road bikes have a 52 tooth big ring compared to a 44 tooth mountain bike. Plus they have slightly bigger wheels so cover a bit more distance per revolution. Then there is the difference in tyre size!!

Basically, your boss has a better set up for keeping a higher average speed without as much effort. You would probably find that you have to push a higher gear than comfy to keep up.

You could close the gap a bit by maybe changing your chainrings to a 48/36 set-up.

OwenBird

13ADL1X wrote:

I think that you might find it harder to keep up with your boss due to the difference in gearing between a road bike and mountain bike.

Most road bikes have a 52 tooth big ring compared to a 44 tooth mountain bike. Plus they have slightly bigger wheels so cover a bit more distance per revolution. Then there is the difference in tyre size!!

Basically, your boss has a better set up for keeping a higher average speed without as much effort. You would probably find that you have to push a higher gear than comfy to keep up.

You could close the gap a bit by maybe changing your chainrings to a 48/36 set-up.

I find it hard to believe that he'll be spinning out a 44t ring at 15mph. Bigger wheels makes no difference to distance covered per revolution when the rider had the ability to change gears. There is no mechanical advantage in terms of leverage and rpm because it all cancels out. You don't get anything for nothing.

The reason you're going to get spanked (unless you're mega fit) is because road bikes are so much more efficient that mountain bikes on tarmac. You don't get loss from things like tyre deflection and aerodynamics, and they're designed to be sat down and cranked on. You mountain bike can be tuned to be better than it was on roads, but I doubt it'll ever be competitive for this sort of riding. You're doing the right thing getting slicks on it. Have a look at if you can tune the position of bars and saddle to make it better for long, sit down riding. Maybe look into barends too, for a variety of hand positions to help stave off fatigue.

As for training - How long do you have?

Get a cheapo cycle computer that'll give you your speed and an average speed, and use that to work out how you compare with his proposed rate.

Get some miles in. When you ride home, go a longer way that usual. Increase this distance as much as you reasonably can. Dome some representative rides (60 miles, with approx the same climbs/descents) and judge your performance. Adjust your training to make up for whatever aspect is missing (leg power, back soreness, out of breath...etc).

One thing you cannot train or prepare for on short rides is endurance, you need to get some long rides done with more regularity.

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

kieronymous

His bike gives him maybe a 10-20% efficiency advantage.
Therefore provided you are at least 21% fitter & stronger you should win!
This is probably the biggest factor: how fit will he be, and how fit can you get??

Option B: Sabotage!

Monkeypump

kieronymous wrote:

His bike gives him maybe a 10-20% efficiency advantage.

Therefore provided you are at least 21% fitter & stronger you should win!

This is probably the biggest factor: how fit will he be, and how fit can you get??

Option B: Sabotage!

Go directly to Plan B!

kieronymous

I did it last year (slowly, with friends!) on my 'cross bike, and I was still fairly tired at the end. I reckon if I'd puhed it I could have done say 4.5hrs. I'd struggle to get under 4hrs on an MTB, but you could well be a better man. Good luck!

kieronymous

Monkeypump wrote:

Go directly to Plan B!

Indeed! In the spirit of fair play, offer him some chain lube at the start. When he accepts, "mistakenly" hand him a bottle of threadlock.

Radioactiveman

Flip your stem if it is angled. Might reduce the wind brake effect.

Would tri bars help? Probably get you down a bit more and reduce your cross section further? Cheap clip on ones best bet

13ADL1X

The point I was trying to make badly was that his boss will find it easier to sit and push an average 15mph.

Whilst the ability to change gears may cancel out any advantage over wheelsize it plays a larger part in terms of how much relative effort he has to put in. His boss' bike as you said is designed to be road ridden and cranked its also geared so you can hit a higher speed without anywhere near as much effort as on a MTB.

I used to run a 52t big ring on this old crap mtb I used to hack to work and the difference is massively noticable on the road. You can ride for ages at a higher speed without even sweating!

The bosses gearing will also make it look like he isn't putting that much effort in which could have a psychological effect when he's either:
A) Spinning like mad to keep up
or
Struggling to crank a low gearto keep up

You should also maybe shave your legs or consider some lycra!!!

13ADL1X

Or just get a cheap road bike. That would close the gap a fair bit!
Just depends on whether you can face turning to the dark side.

Newton1981

Thanks for all the input guys! To be honest I'm not too fussed about beating him, but def want to meet his challenge with regards the four hour target so I guess I just need to get training!!!

I'm happy doing it on a mtb, it will be easy peasy after last year and I do like a challenge! ( this Sunday I woke early and went for a spin, ended up in Buxton after a hell of a climb!!!)

I do about 100 mikes a week, 70 of which are my commute so I'll be getting the miles in, I could maybe do with finding some good routes out of Manchester that are A or B roads only and try doing some longer rides at weekends!

kieronymous

DO the Cat & Fiddle route a few times. Slightly shorter (55 miles) but much harder (hills!). Do that in under 4hours and you're away.

Newton1981

kieronymous wrote:

DO the Cat & Fiddle route a few times. Slightly shorter (55 miles) but much harder (hills!). Do that in under 4hours and you're away.

Tried that last year on my fixie, didnt get near to the top!

Fancy doing it now though, you got any routes for this out of the City Centre? (I live right in middle of town).

Might give it a try next weekend if Im feeling good and the weather is okay, would love to do it this weekend but my front brake needs bleeding and I cant get any shop to do it tomorrow as they are all booked up, and I think the descent may be a bit of a bad idea with only one brake!

13ADL1X

Bleeding brakes is well easy! Don't pay the LBS to do that.

kieronymous

Newton1981 wrote:

kieronymous wrote:

Do the Cat & Fiddle route a few times...

Fancy doing it now though, you got any routes for this out of the City Centre? (I live right in middle of town).

No, but you might find one on Cyclestreets.