900 miles in 8 days

spruce86

Hello all,

I am new to this forum and new to long distance cycling so I don't really know what my limitations are and I don't have any training techniques to speak of.

What I wanted to know is, would 900 miles in 8 days be possible for someone in my position, and what's more, would it be possible in time for July 2011?

This is only a prospective idea so I'm not actually going out to do it yet, I'm just asking for peoples ideas on what would be possible.

If it is possible, how would it be best to train for this?

Thanks.

Bronzie

Provided you are willing/able to put in the training time between then and now, it's almost certainly possible even if you are starting off as a complete novice.

Just build your weekly mileage steadily week-on-week to the point where you can ride 80/90 miles on consecutive days and you should be fine.

Is it an End-to-End ride?

spruce86

It is very almost an end-to-end ride. The route is actually Aberdeen to Liskeard. We were planning on doing the ride in relay so covering a much smaller area each day between us, however the more we have planned and the more we look at the challenge the more we are convinced that we would much prefer to ride the whole distance.

We were planning on training with moderate to long distances until May time, at which point we would do a couple of consecutive days of long distances so that we had a good idea of whether or not we were up to the job.

ut_och_cykla

I'd say easily doable - with the preparation suggested above - assuming you have no major health issues and have someone who will drive your kit for you inbetween overnight stops. Once you start doing completely self supported stuff it will get harder and doing everyday against a time limit will also make life harder. My own experience is that 160 kilometers a day is hard work , hard on one's behind and other contact points but even if you only average 20 km/h its only 8 hours a day of steady measured cycling - so yes - go for it !
Plan your training in terms of saddle time, what kit you'll need etc . increase disatnce /time gradually but get used to doing back to back rides (ie ride a fair bit one day then do the same again the next day) early - good for the head if nothing else and certianly illuminates little niggles that can turn up.
Good luck!

vitesse169

+ 1, very doable.
A training camp where you are all doing 80-100 miles a day for a week would be of great training value. I'm off to Cyprus in Dec for a week for similar. Tho you will have to work up to the training camp - its no good going straight into it....

vorsprung

spruce86 wrote:

Hello all,

I am new to this forum and new to long distance cycling so I don't really know what my limitations are and I don't have any training techniques to speak of.

What I wanted to know is, would 900 miles in 8 days be possible for someone in my position, and what's more, would it be possible in time for July 2011?

This is only a prospective idea so I'm not actually going out to do it yet, I'm just asking for peoples ideas on what would be possible.

If it is possible, how would it be best to train for this?

Thanks.

You haven't said anything about where you are now with long distance riding
What is the furthest distance you have ridden in a single day recently?

Assuming you are under 50 and determined you should be able to train up for 100 miles+ a day by next July. You train by doing further and further distances until you can do 100 miles in a day fairly easily. Once this is possible do a few days of 100 miles back to back.
Don't simply train for distance and time in the saddle. Faster improvement is possible with short, sharp efforts. But short sessions alone won't be enough

The main problem will not be "fitness" it will be the contact points. Your backside, your hands and your feet. Unless you "do the miles" your body will give you a painful experience during 900 miles / 8 days

In the last phase of training for a 1,000km ride in 3 days, I trained in 3 day blocks. I would train each day for 3 days in a row before having a rest day. For your 8 day ride it might be an idea to block train in 8 day blocks. This gets the body used to the "idea" that the effort will continue. I wasn't doing 1000km divided by 3 distance each day, just what I could fit in. But putting off resting for the same length as the event made it easier.

Finally don't think what you are doing is some kind of Mount Everest. Loads of people complete LE-JoG every year. It isn't so tough.

Pokerface

^--- Wot he said.

It's not the fitness needed to do the mileage as much as it is if you arse can handle that much time in the saddle! (Yes, you need the fitness to cover the distance also, but saddle soreness and hte like can sometimes be much worse than the physical toll of riding the miles).

bexley5200

why the rush

Rapha

Give nutrition some thought because you will be using up a lot of energy and especially over consecutive days this can have a major effect on your glycogen levels.

For example if you burn 5000 calories on the first day but only take in 4000 calories then you start the next day with a negative balance of 1000 calories already. After 4-5 days this could mean you are missing 4-5000 calories leaving your muscles glycogen depleted.

pblakeney

😂😂😂

Edit - The post that this was referring to by jameswheeler has now been deleted.

imposter2.0

jameswheeler is clearly a spammer. Spammers are becoming the dominant contributors on these forums - and BR simply doesn't give a fck.

seanoconn

Pokerface said:

^--- Wot he said.


It's not the fitness needed to do the mileage as much as it is if you censored can handle that much time in the saddle! (Yes, you need the fitness to cover the distance also, but saddle soreness and hte like can sometimes be much worse than the physical toll of riding the miles).

What happen to pokerface?

imposter2.0

seanoconn said:

What happen to pokerface?

Well, he quit this place (don't blame him), but he's still active on twitter..

womack

More to the point eleven years later we still don't know if the OP managed the challenge.

imposter2.0

womack said:

More to the point eleven years later we still don't know if the OP managed the challenge.

900 miles in eleven years sounds do-able...