training for a sportive

chris_phillips

Does anybody know what sought of mileage I need to train to accomplish my target distance of 80 mile, I have entered a challenging rolling to hiilly sportive in june and need any help and advice in the build up to the event, also any info on pre ride food intake.

markos1963

Hi Chris
Need more info, ie what can you do atm, how much time can you devote to training, what sort of condition are you in?

Also try posting this in the training section of the forum for more in depth knowledge

jgsi

Specifically the TimeCrunchedCyclist has a' new century' training plan which would be adaptable for this mileage.

chris_phillips

markos1963
Hi Markos, thanks for your comments. Presently not getting any quality miles in,partly due to shift work, and partly due my training partner having family commitments.Doing 2x20 miles a wk, i know pretty poor viewing figures. work three days in and three days off, just find it really difficult mentally to accomplish longer rides on my own. I do a lot of gym work but mainly weight training, not ideal for cycling i would imagine due to the bulk up top. so moderately fit but not really cardio fit. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. was contemplating joining a local cc just to get regular training rides in.

pneumatic

I would suggest that, in addition to whatever training you are able to fit in, you need at least one ride of about 70 miles just to prove to yourself that you can do the distance. If it doesn't go well, do another a few weeks later (but no closer than a week to the event itself).

If you know you can manage 70, the extra 10 will be catered for by the adrenalin of the event.

chris_phillips

pneumatic
pneumatic
Hi Alistair. Thanks for your comment. Have done a couple of fifty's and found them quiet doable. I appreciate its a big step up to an 80 from a fifty, but understand what your saying. what average speed should i try to achieve? or is simply a case of getting time in the saddle. recently changed my saddle to a selle italia flite hoping that it will be a little more forgiving than my previous saddle, suffered quite a bit with my old saddle.
regards
chris.

chris_phillips

Stanley222
Hi Dave appreciate your comments, that sounds good advice. Do you ride sportives yourself? whats your typical weekly mileage if you dont mind me asking, just so i can get a starting bench mark.
thanks again
regards chris

Garz

Last C+ I read this type of training in siad you should hit that distance six weeks before the event so you can peter off and concentrate on hills/speed in the remaining weeks.

markos1963

Chris, like the others have said, at your level just get some regular miles in. One day a week try to fit in a long ride, start with 30 miles and add 10% to it every week until you are up to 70. Start using some quality food and carb drinks on this ride to find what you can stomach ready for the big day. Other rides during the week should be short and hard, try some hill repeats and intervals closer to the time to build up some strength. Don't worry about speed it will come to you nearer the day.

Philby

You have plenty of time to build up to the event so don't panic. As above just get some base cycling fitness under your belt for now and start building up the mileage when the days get longer in Spring.

It might be worth trying to do a few more rides on your own, rather than relying on a training pal - after all you may have to rely on your own resources during the event.

Lots of training plans for sportives on the net and in mags like Cycling +.

pinchazomike

Free sportive training plan for summer sportives.

Please follow this link written by BC coach Paul Bailey for riders in our event but happy for anyone to partake.

http://cyclistsfc.org.uk/?page_id=591

Mike

mattshrops

markos you do realise that the hinternet hexperts have little alarms that go off when someone types the word strength in here. you is calling down a whole heap o' trouble, well 14 pages of discussion about the difference between strength force and power. somebody make it stop.

LeighB

Rough guide I use is to keep a note of what distances you cover over a couple of weeks, work out what your weekly average daily mileage is and multiply this by three; the result will give you some idea of your collapse point (assuming you ride your Sportive at the same pace/intensity of your training miles).

For example:-
Monday 25 miles
Tuesday 6 miles
Wednesday 20 miles
Thursday rest
Friday 10 miles
Saturday 45 miles
Sunday 50 miles

So 25+6+20+10+45+50 = 156

156 divided by 7 = 22.28 average daily mileage

22.28 x 3 = 66.85 miles to your collapse point.

When I say collapse point I don’t mean it literally but the point where you run out of useful energy/power. This is a method/guide used by marathon runners and I have applied it to cycling and its worked OK for me. It is only a guide and I would recommend you do a couple of rides of at least 60% of the distance of your chosen event to get used to time in the saddle. Don’t forget that rest days are very important and two weeks before your event cut back on your training (tapering) so you don’t go into your event with residual fatigue.

markos1963

mattshrops wrote:

markos you do realise that the hinternet hexperts have little alarms that go off when someone types the word strength in here. you is calling down a whole heap o' trouble, well 14 pages of discussion about the difference between strength force and power. somebody make it stop.

God knows what I might have started if I had mentioned Team Jerseys as well

Dave-M

I booked in for my first 100 miles ride last june.

I started on 20 miles and added 10 a week until I got to 80ish a week or so before the event.

I'd try and get out a few times during the week for a one or two hour ride.

In the end I found the 100 miles quite easy.

rick_chasey

Dave-M wrote:

In the end I found the 100 miles quite easy.

Weren't going fast enough then!

Garz

True!

What was the average speed over that distance Dave?