600k in 48 hours?

Anonymous

Hi,
After being recommended this forum by a friend, I would really appreciate some training advice for the above.

I and a group of friends are doing This distance, which looks like it might come out at about 650km.

The ambitious plan is to do it Friday night to Sunday night and not take any time off work.

The thing is that they are all fairly fit (2 have done devizes-westminster canoe race, one is doing marathon des sables next year etc...)
I am 24, a competent, leisure cyclist - to and from the shops at home, to the beach, odd mountain bike missions here and there. Nothing special at all, fairly fit (but have highs and lows), and the plan is to start training next week. Running at 1st until my bike arrives then saddle time!

I have a load of questions, but I might get onto those as the training goes on.

I have a fairly ish limited timeframe to get all the training in, as we are going in October, but I wanted to ask,

What would be the best way to timetable my training? I plan on cycling to work when the bikes arrive, then start racking up the miles - plenty of them!

Would I be best training on a mountain bike (to make it harder) then move onto the road bike later?
I have read about bike fitting - I have a good, albeit old road bike (probs top of the range about 25 years ago!) and wondering if I can have this fitted to me (and where is good in London)? I dont think budget will allow for a new bike, but I think I might get a new one depending on how training goes through bike to work and savings.
Is diet important at this stage?
Is there anything important I need to factor in this early in the training?
Anyone else done this in a short window?

I'm pretty excited about the prospect of this massive challenge ahead. I'm a bit bored at work so its something to keep my mind busy and the improved fitness is always welcome for my other sports!

I know I just got to get training. I cant really imagine how hard this is going to be. My mind says dead easy while my heart is saying its not even possible (and sometimes the other way round).

I know there are millions of other things about the actual trip, clothing, types of pedals, which shoes, which is the best saddle, lube and gloves but 1st and foremost, I got to get fit!

All encouragement welcome, and all tips really appreciated![/url]

antikythera

There are two important elements to consider:

a) The Psychology of riding for > 18 hours, don't under-estimate the mental strain... its hard if your not mentally conditioned. It's why Audax riders aren't quite normal . Stare at a single piece of white (blank) paper for two hours without interruption (that's not a joke by the way)

b) the Physical conditioning, there's no way in hell you can condition yourself for a 600K ride without actually riding 100's of K's repeatedly. There is not "fast" here.

If this is for "sh*ts and giggles" then have fun and go for it, make sure you've got an easy out. If your serious, then get in contact with people that are serious about this stuff like your local Audax groups, coz asking for easy answers here wont get you far.

tlw1

It's all about time on the bike

When doing the ride it's about keeping each others spirits up as you will all get diff highs and lows

Anonymous

hey antikythera,

I know there is no easy way out, and I know its hard, hence my questions.I want to make sure that I have all bases covered as I start rather than thinking sh!t at the last minute.

I just want to see if some people can advise on building up structured training plan over the next few months, as I don't want to c0ck it up and have to duck out as its too hard.

Will definitely get in touch with Audax, and thanks for the psychology aspect - I had thought if it, but I guess I'll find out how bad it is when I start training!

mercurykev

600km in 48 hours is more than achievable. A steady 300km ride can be bashed out in 15 hours including plenty time for food stops - you then have a kip and repeat.

A couple of weekends ago I rode a 600km audax in 33 hour but that meant not sleeping. For longer distances comfort on the bike becomes more important and it's all about eating and drinking enough. You'll consume up to 20,000 calories riding a 600km and you can't get this type of energy from gels and energy drinks, so you need to eat real food and schedule in time for this.

Go for it though and remember on longer rides you're exposing yourself to the potential for every type of weather, so pack appropriately. And enjoy.

antikythera

coriordan wrote:

hey antikythera,
I just want to see if some people can advise on building up structured training plan over the next few months, as I don't want to c0ck it up and have to duck out as its too hard.

Spent two years training for PBP, was fortunate to have some of the best Audax riders helping me even then it was more than I could imagine.

At the time I had both a (pseudo-professional) race training schedule and trying to develop an endurance profile. To be honest, they are mutually exclusive. But in both cases the preparation was measured in months (>=4). But the endurance programme was much simpler.... get lots of miles in. Quite literally 300-400K's at a time and without relying on others. Even if your physically fit and have support, after 24 hours of riding - no amount of company can get your head straight (without practice).

If your serious I truly wish you the best,.. best training advice...... get on your bike... a lot

Some will say "it's easy", but its not! but you'll fell f*cking awesome when you achieve it!

Anonymous

antikythera, and mercurykev

Thats what I wanna hear! 48 hours of pure gruel, but a great feeling afterwards!

What I think I really need at this stage is a structured training timetable and some diet tips. I really am coming at this from somewhat of a 'novice' angle - in that I know how to ride a bike, but never really undertaken anything like this!

Any pointers on daily training (other than cycling to work where possible), what mileage to be building up to (cycle both weekend days?) and any off-the-bike stuff I need to help?

That would be massively appreciated...

mercurykev

For training nothing can beat getting miles in your legs. Ride a few 200 and 300km rides, even try to fit in a 400 if you could so you get some exposure to night riding.

You say that you're going to ride Friday night to Sunday night. When I ride 600s we usually have a 6am start on Saturday and finish on Sunday afternoon/early evening depending on a sleep stop. It means that you don't start with a sleep deficit. The normal strategy is to start at 6am and aim for a sleep stop at around 400km (2am on Sunday). Have 4-5 hours sleep and then ride the final 200km - 5-6pm finish. Obviously if you're riding 650km then there's another 2.5 hours of riding to cover but it basically means that you wouldn't have to ride through the Friday night. You can do this with a 15mph moving average speed, so it isn't racing.

Anonymous

Day 1 training....cruising around London on a Boris bike for an hour or so!
I'll try and get some running done tomorrow evening as well.

All alcohol has been cut from the diet (except for Ascot!), will be getting the bike up to London the weekend after next.

I am thinking road cycling every day, building up to 30miles every day (or every other) then at weekends, build up from 50K up to 100K every weekend through july, with maybe a 200 once a month, and maybe a 300 in September?

How late in the day do I want to be looking at trying out a 400k ride? I'm not sure I want to spook myself too soon before the actual event.

LangerDan

Coriordan
One thing you might want to look at is the route itself. If the goal is to do M2M, but you are not too caught up on the actual route, there are possibly better alternatives - maybe not as obvious - but they might take less out of all of you. For example, you are routing up through Bantry and over a climb called "the Priests Leap" which a horror in itself. Based on your start time / schedule, you should hit this at maybe 1 or 2 in the morning:


Plus you are circumnavigating Limerick using a route (tunnel) which is not open to cyclists and then on motorway / dual cariageways up towards Galway.

If you search for any of the M2M records, you'll see they route more through the centre of the country - not as scenic but a bit flatter.

I'll let the others advise on appropriate training but one thing you'll need to look for are decent lights. If you leave on a Friday evening, you'll have two full nights of travelling on unlit roads, often with very poor surfaces.

Valy

Well, TBH tl;dr :oops: but:

Comfort does become a big factor at such long time in the saddle - make sure you are comfortable and adjust all things before the trip - so obvious I decided against it for my cleats... :oops:

Distance and some shorter more intense rides. I would imagine core strength would play a role too as you will need support over the 600kms.

Make 100km rides a fairly common place - if possible even throw in 1 during the week after getting up to speed. Try to be close to the edge of your fitness but try not to tear through it as that may result in making you tired/over trained and preventing from getting the most - build it up basically!

ozzy1000_0

i'm no training guru,.... but... i'd say rather than ride everyday, aim to save energy/fatigue for distances... theres not much point training you body to do daily 1.5-2hour rides, when what you need to do is distance... i'd aim to save some beans forlonger rides, maybe do 100k on wednsdays, then do a big one on saturday, make the weekend one pregressively longer, then if you've got energy left slip some powerfocused rides in inbetween.....

but.... keep a diary of how your feeling and the miles you're doing.... if you've been feel f*cked for a few days, back off and have an easy week.... if i were doing this i'd do maybe 3-4 hard weeks pushing things then one easy week... i wouldn't try and advance my fittness much quicker than that, as i allways end up with a cold and feeling dead!!

good luck and remember rest is the other 50% of training, your body can only adapt at a given pace so don't push try to move it on too quickly, other wise you'll end up going backwards....

mrushton

You should post the question over on YACF as a lot of them are now qualified for PBP in August. 600km is doable (my partner was a RTYR twice a year for two years - she nearly did 3 in 1 year. Make no mistake tho' you won't be laughing after a 600km. You'll be tired for a few days as your body readjusts. Going out audaxing is the best way to get the miles in. Guys like Stev Abrams are clocking 1000'sof miles per year (but he is mad)

sub55

600 k in 48 hours , really should`nt be a problem, though it may seem like a long way. Its not really. As for training , anything is better than nothing. Get on a bike and ride it at an appropiate intensity given time available. Get your riding position right so that its comfortable and away you go.
I find the biggest problem with ultra distance cycling , is not physical but sleep deprivation. Once i go much beyond 25 hours im literary falling asleep whilst riding to the point where you come round in the middle of the road, not knowing how you got there. The only answer i found to this that works , is to sleep.

Anonymous

Amazing. Cheers guys, really appreciating the tips!

mr ushton - do you know the threads where they put their training in etc - would be very useful to see how they trained.

sub55 - I think I'll take myself and the bike to a road/racing specialist and see what they say, and possibly try and meet some other cyclists who can give some advice about getting the position right!

mrushton

It's in the Audax section on www.yacf.co.uk also in the PBP 2011 subsection but you'll find some references in other threads and sub-threads.

Last 600km my partner did was back in 2007 on her last qualifier for PBP. She set off at 6am Saturday and would have been finished by approx.2pm Sunday had she not ground to a halt and decided she couldn't be bothered any more (she'd had 3 years of racking up 1000's km and she just did too much.

Also have a look at the ride calendar over on www.audax.uk.net

Anonymous

Great stuff there mrushton!

Went straight to this one:

http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1201.0

their Audax area is brilliant. Seems like there is lots of confidence that it is doable. I just desperately need the training!

sub55

Calendar of Audax UK cycling events
http://www.aukweb.net/events/

vorsprung

antikythera wrote:

... its hard if your not mentally conditioned. It's why Audax riders aren't quite normal .

No, say it like it is. Don't beat about the bush