Daily ride limit?

oldskoolskater

Hi All

My company is arranging a charity ride which involves covering 900 miles in 9 days (think they've been inspired by the LEJOG Sport Relief telethon!) and I've volunteered to do a section of it.
I'm able to specify how much I do and the route will be Edinburgh to Newcastle, so I'm wondering how much I should do.
I've commuted for years on a 15 mile round trip during which I always push myself, hardly ever taking it easy so wonder whether this would put me in a good position to ride 50 miles in one day, or even 100??
I'm wary of over-committing and am realistic in knowing that I've not got the time for loads of training as family life takes priority
Any pointers on what distance for 1 day I should be looking at?

Cheers

Oldskool

Wallace1492

Go for 100..... I commute 15 miles round trip each day. However you will need to crank it up, as you cannot go from 15 to 100 instantly. Do a few 35 to 40 miles trips home to build up, then a 60-70 miler on a weekend, and a few 80 - 90 milers. Then you know you will be able to do it. There really is nothing like getting the miles in your legs, you soooo need to do it.

Otherwise, froma regular 15, if you are reasonably fit, you could do 50 at a push.

If you want to do longer, no alternative to training.

oldskoolskater

I think that confirms my thoughts - no substitute for miles!
One other thing in my favour is that I ride with 2 heavily laden Panniers every day, which I won't have on this ride.
Guess that's a good form of resistance training which may help?

Wallace1492

Absolutely!! 2 weeks ago i did 70 miles with fully laden panniers, week after did 83 miles without them and it was a breeze. Last week did Etape and it was fine also.

There is no substitute for miles - exactly!! But fully laden panniers count 1.5 what you do (by my estimation)

Anyway, Edinburgh to Newcastle is not 900 miles...... :shock:

oldskoolskater

Thats good to hear then - I may go for the middle ground and commit to 75 miles given the amount of training hours in the saddle I would be able to realistically get in..

You're right, even going the long way round Newcastle to Edinburgh is not 900 miles!, but this is just the last stage of a nationwide tour, visiting all the company production sites prior to that

TarmacExpert

Wallace1492 wrote:

you cannot go from 15 to 100 instantly

This doesn't match my experience. My training sessions are almost exclusively shorter than an hour. I do a lot of turbo trainer sessions around 40 minutes duration, and I compete in time trials that are mostly 10 miles, lasting around 20 minutes.

Despite almost never riding for more than an hour, I had no trouble at all completing an 80 mile club ride the other weekend, indeed I was leaving everyone behind on every hill climb towards the end.

What you have to understand is that adaptations are not dependent on distance. When you increase your heart stroke volume, it doesn't suddenly shrink after you've been riding for 40 minutes. The extra capillaries you've grown don't suddenly disappear after 40 minutes. The extra mitochondria that you have acquired don't cease to function after 40 minutes. The adaptations that you get from doing short training sessions will keep on working just fine when you do a longer ride. You'll need to pace yourself appropriately, of course, and eat and drink appropriately before and during the ride, but I personally haven't had a problem with making that kind of leap to do a longer ride based on hugely shorter training sessions.

amaferanga

Do 100. Cycling is nowhere near as hard as the sports relief numpties made it look.

surreyxc

I am in similar position short commuting every day and facing a 100miler off road. I did some big rides last year, from my experience you need to put the time in on the saddle. Your legs and lungs will be fine, however it is the stuff I never thought about that made the big ride last year hard. Hand numbness, stiff neck, stiff back, saddle sore. bigger rides will allow you to find out which bits hurt and how to rectify it, different bike set up etc. Plus food a few gels might cut it on a shorter ride, but all of us doing the SDW last year were feeling sick towards the end of all the sugar. I also think doing some of the stuff we all tend to ignore helps massively like core exercises and stretching.

oldskoolskater

Thanks all for your comments based on your own experiences.
I've found out today the the last leg will be 90 miles, so I'm going to go for that I think.

I'd been reading elsewhere that it's the other stuff (numbness, etc) that need to be taken into account, so it's good to hear that reflected here. There's going to be a fast group and a slow group which increases my options further

I'm wondering about bike choice as I have a hybrid (albeit is a slick fast one) and it fits me like a glove, but wonder whether I should be looking to borrow our kid's roadie :?:

fenski

There's nothing more likely to spoil a day in the saddle than an aching back, shoulders, neck or whatever, so I think comforts the key. Stick with your own bike if you know it fits.

TarmacExpert

Yes, I agree, if you've *never* done a long ride on that bike, then definitely do a ride of that distance beforehand to check the bike is suitable in terms of saddle and riding position etc, and also to get a feel for how to pace yourself over that distance and test your eating and drinking plan.

I was talking more about whether it's necessary to frequently do such long rides as training to do a one off ride of that distance - I don't believe it is necessary.

Wallace1492

TarmacExpert wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

you cannot go from 15 to 100 instantly

This doesn't match my experience. My training sessions are almost exclusively shorter than an hour. I do a lot of turbo trainer sessions around 40 minutes duration, and I compete in time trials that are mostly 10 miles, lasting around 20 minutes.

Despite almost never riding for more than an hour, I had no trouble at all completing an 80 mile club ride the other weekend, indeed I was leaving everyone behind on every hill climb towards the end.

What you have to understand is that adaptations are not dependent on distance. When you increase your heart stroke volume, it doesn't suddenly shrink after you've been riding for 40 minutes. The extra capillaries you've grown don't suddenly disappear after 40 minutes. The extra mitochondria that you have acquired don't cease to function after 40 minutes. The adaptations that you get from doing short training sessions will keep on working just fine when you do a longer ride. You'll need to pace yourself appropriately, of course, and eat and drink appropriately before and during the ride, but I personally haven't had a problem with making that kind of leap to do a longer ride based on hugely shorter training sessions.

I don't doubt you, but you do appear to train a lot, hard and often, so will have built up a decent level of stamina. I don't doubt you could go out and ride long diatances. However, to be able to do this in decent comfort, and enjoy it I would still highly recomend putting in the miles. It is like a 5,000 mtr runner doing the marathon - yes, could be done, but to do it well, in comfort and know how your body will react you must put in the time and distance training.

thecrofter

When I started upping the training in the lead up to the Etape the biggest problem was definately the sitting on the bike for four hours without a break. Neck shoulders and bum all had varying levels of pain. but after two or three runs I got quite used to it. Etape was a breeze compared to what I thought it might be. It was twenty miles further than I've ever done in one go before.