Etape act 2- d'Huez - when to taper?

roryh

the end is almost in sight! 3 weeks till the 80 mile epic up the Galibier and alpe d'huez!
Been doing hilly 70 mile rides at the weekend, and threshold stuff in the week. Now; the question!

When should I start tapering, and what should and shouldn't I be doing in the run up to the etape?? (apart from assembling my fantasy TdF team!)

Mccaria

Definitely double check your diary Alpe d'Huez is Act I not Act II.


I am not sure on the tapering front. I was given the advice that most amatuers don't actually ride enough to taper ! I will be avoiding long hilly rides from now on, but will probably aim to do a few faster 3 hour rides to keep the legs aware that there is pain to come.

Enjoy.

ozzy1000_0

roryh wrote:

the end is almost in sight! 3 weeks till the 80 mile epic up the Galibier and alpe d'huez!
Been doing hilly 70 mile rides at the weekend, and threshold stuff in the week. Now; the question!

When should I start tapering, and what should and shouldn't I be doing in the run up to the etape?? (apart from assembling my fantasy TdF team!)

some people have said lower the intensity and do things that keep yourlegs fired up but not haveing to do much repair work... other people have said reduce the volume but keep some intensity...

i guess it depends on you, i would aim to feel recovered and rested, you need to have your acute trainingload/fatigue down without effecting you chronic training to much.. do what you need to achieve that, this'll be based on the load you currently do...i have recently been doing quite alot in the run up to sportive and feel that the training has paid off, I would take it easy in the 5-6day prior to the event and keep some a couple of 1hr 75-80% heart rate sessions in to keep things moving but not create too much fatigue.. but again its got to based on what you currently do.. for some people an hr at 75% will be a really insignificant compared to how trained they are, so they might have to do more to not feel stagnent, for others anymore might feel pretty tiring...

celbianchi

Tapering for a sportive?

ozzy1000_0

celbianchi wrote:

Tapering for a sportive?

yeah yeah yeah.. laugh it up! its all relative though isn't it... i've come from being a big fat blob who hasn't ridden a bike for ages... this my first century and i want to do a reasonable time..i've been doing a mix of high intensity and long rides for about 9 weeks now and its taken its toll on me, so yes; i'm tapering off to feel better on the day...

wicked

celbianchi wrote:

Tapering for a sportive?

I fail to see why you find the idea funny it sounds very wise to me.

stonehouse

+1

I fail to see why you find the idea funny it sounds very wise to me.

He wants to be fresh for the Etape, so training up to the last minute isn't the right thing to do!

Rule74Please

Tapering?????


Ride every minute you can You are not doing enough yet to make it over the ride easily. You will be forced to have a day or so off to get there That will be enough

so sick of hearing Tapering questions. It's not the f'ing worlds or the like

ut_och_cykla

3-5 days perhaps - but it depends on what you do betwen now and then too! quite a few people would say have a tough week/few days about fortnight before then maintain quality but not quanttiy - but what do I know.

Doing even more just before is unlikely to help much. the body's adaptations are measured mostly in weeks and months not days.

Presumably you're travelling down at some point whcih will mean enforced rest. Once there have a gentle recce, perhaps adn eat & drink (non alcoholic) well the day before. thast what i did for teh quebrantaheusos anyway

rick_chasey

Turning the pedals the day before should be enough, as long as you haven't absolutely slammed it the day before that.

Beyond that, train as normal.

celbianchi

wicked wrote:

celbianchi wrote:

Tapering for a sportive?

I fail to see why you find the idea funny it sounds very wise to me.

Reasons I find this funny:-

1) Unless you are banging in 25 hours per week plus racing I'd doubt your body needs to taper
2) it's a sportive which in itself is surely a training ride
3) Pro's do it because of the physical and mental demands they put on their bodies. Most amateurs don't get close to the type of training load that warrants it.
4) It's a one day ride of 80 miles - you could put in a decent showing doing that on the back of a normal training week.
5) It's not a race so ultimatley finishing time is meaningless.

FransJacques

I ride 200 training kms a week with 18 commuting kms on weekdays. I find the 18 commuting kms a day do not let me recover in just 1 week. Could be b/c I underdo the protein or the sleep but for me the magic number is:

2 weeks.

I'll do 2 back to back 100kms training sessions on weekend #1. From that Sunday PM to Wednesday I focus on protein for recovery and sleep. Then for the rest of that week I try to really ease off the food so I don't gain weight.

On the middle weekend (#2) I try to play tennis or just do something else "for a change" as my family says. Then at the tail end of week #2 I focus on carbs and sleep. The commute (which is almost always 5 days of 5) easily holds the fitness. I push it on the commute from time to time to gauge recovery and tinker with sleep and protein as required.

Then on weekend #3 when I push it I feel noticably fresher. Maybe some top end is lost but that's only a factor in a race - not with a sportive - all the power and endurance is fine.

I'm 40 tho so not that young and I defo don't recover like I used to.

My worst experience was the day before the '06 etape when I realized too late my legs were sore and full of lactic acid and felt dead - typical case of last-minute over-training and not tapering. Had a painful time the next day.