Pyrenees Training

mr_shinobi

Hi

I have signed up for a trip to do the coast to coast across the Pyrenees in mid-September. I ride pretty regularly (16 mile per day commute), plus I do some long roads (e.g. London to Brighton).

I am looking for some training tips to help me get ready for this trip. I think my main aim is to improve my endurance so I can do the daily long mileage. My plan is to:

1) Increase my commute (in one direction) to make it longer - maybe 20miles a few days per week

2) Practice hill climbs in the gym so I can do 30-45 minutes at moderate intensity

Any tips to help me get ready would be appreciated (I guess I should be doing some sort of interval training?). Struggling to find a basic training program. Starting to get a little nervous about the whole thing tbh! - interested to hear from anyone with experience of this trip.

Cheers

joeyhalloran

2x20 mins is excellent training to target a range of energy production systems. Improves both aerobic base and your maximal ability to take on and deal with lactic acid etc... (some coach will prob come along and tell me i'm wrong, lol).

the other the thing to think about is weight, I don't know you, so this may not be important. the lighter you are the easier it is for your legs to get you up something. This can either come off your bike or yourself (one hard, one expensive :P ). Or you can set yourself a weight target, lose x amont and buy something shinny for your bike (if your brain works that mine does :P).

ut_och_cykla

Pyrennees ride coast to coast will require several consecutive long quite hard days in the saddle. Practice for this with long days out at weekend a few times, back to back rides (friday evening short /really hard, saturday long (a typical pyrenee day long - sunday same,).

Practice eating & drinking and keeping going when you're body wants to stop. Make sure you have gears low enough to work even when you are tired.

As others have already said - weight is important - but dont lose weight at the price of losing quality training or getting a bad cold because you are run down! Slowly but surely not more than a kilogram a week. And 2 x 20 mins intervalls are excellent preparation for - one to two sessions a week - on a turbo or on a slight incline - steady sustained effort i steh key!
Good luck

joeyhalloran

if doign 2x20 its important not to start to hard, and this will stress the wrong system (anaerobic) and then leave you to tired to properly work the aerobic base that you will want to build for such a trip.