How hard is it to bike 350 miles in one day

OLIVER_REILLY

being out of shape and in a bad way id imagine terribly hard for me but for pros round here or enthusiasts would u be able to do this?


just i reading a betting thread where a guy is going to bike 350 in 24 hours and he gets 10:1 odds. in his favour so 100 - 1000$ if he wins

matt5311

yep its possible. ive never done it but ive done 160 in 9hours. by that stage you forget about the pain and as long as you eat n drink properly all you need is to stay thinking positive

Mad Roadie

done 220m and swore never again, so never have - I dont think I would unless there was a tailwind, but wear two pairs of padded shorts for sure!

alwaystoohot

You'd have to be a top 1% rider for that. I am not.

TommyEss

Well - the boss managed 305 in just 12 hours

prawny

They're organising a charity ride at work next year and the challenge is how far can you go in 20 hours and 12 mins I'm thinking 300 miles is doable, the only problem is the nearest ride to me is at the York office so it'll probably tale half the day to get there first :?

secretsqizz

I would have thought more appropriate for the vast majority on here, is how slow can you be on a bike 24 hrs non stop. This constant record seeking is so tiresome.........

surreyxc

doable I reckon, but not by me at the moment. The SDW double is 200mile off road and that was done in around 21hrs

marcusjb

Totally possible indeed - Andy Wilkinson broke the record this year at National 24hr TT championships -


http://www.ctt.org.uk/Home/tabid/36/itemid/2561/Default.aspx

541miles! I think the top 48 finishers all managed over 350 miles - so it's totally acheivable.

I'm thinking of giving the 24TT a go in the next year or two and the aim would be at least 600km - 370 odd miles. I do not come from a TT background, so it would be a completely new challenge for me.

Obviously doing 350 miles in a TT with helpers and marshalls to point you in the right direction is slightly different to doing it on the open road self-supported.

So overall, yes, 350 miles in a day is totally achievable.

marcusjb

Oh and to see how hard it is to ride 541 miles in 24 hours - go to about minute 4 on this video to see a man who has given everything on the bike!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tix9iF3reSE

cougie

I'm going to disagree. I don't think it's very achievable.
Sure Wilko could do it but he's a genetic freak and is very well trained.
Its almost 15mph for a whole day.
What speeds does the guy ride at now ?
How long are his rides ?
Have he ever been on a bike for that length of time ?


It can be done, just not by the average cyclist.

Pokerface

Personally, I doubt if I could do that sort of distance (even on a TT bike).

Unless it was on a really flat circuit with little or no wind.


And of there was £1000 on the line, I might find myself a bit more motivated. Overcoming boredom would be one of the biggest factors!

SBezza

It isn't easy for sure, but it is perfectly doable, just depends on how fit you are, and what sort of mileage you are used to.

I certainly would do it for odds of 10:1, think it would be fairly easyish* way to earn a decent amount.

* - That is for me, though I am used to big mileage.

Mark Bom

Doable with a bit of training.

My brother-in-law rode 320 miles in 20 hours as part of his training to ride 800 miles in four days.

Wouldn't be easy by any stretch but definately achievable.

hulla the hulla

marcusjb wrote:

Oh and to see how hard it is to ride 541 miles in 24 hours - go to about minute 4 on this video to see a man who has given everything on the bike!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tix9iF3reSE

holy crap !! amazing achievement but at what cost, that really can't be good for you ?

gilesjuk

Depends if you're talking riding around a flat track or on real roads with potholes, hills, sh1t weather, bad drivers and other challenges.

marcusjb

cougie wrote:

I'm going to disagree. I don't think it's very achievable.
Sure Wilko could do it but he's a genetic freak and is very well trained.
Its almost 15mph for a whole day.
What speeds does the guy ride at now ?
How long are his rides ?
Have he ever been on a bike for that length of time ?


It can be done, just not by the average cyclist.

The question was whether you could ride 350 miles in 24 hours - so I say, yes, I think that is achievable. PBP I did around 290 miles in the first 24 hours and that includes some pretty lengthy stops due to the crowds in the first day or so - so I don't see why 350 isn't possible carrying less weight, using aero bars (banned at PBP) etc.

I'm far from an elite cyclist, but beyond some reasonable fitness, distance cycling is primarily about mental strength (and being mental!).

Monty Dog

FWIW the Southdowns Way Double (unsupported) is now down to 17 hours - having ridden it one way in under 10 hours that is a serious amount of pain. I can't get any of my ride buddies interested in doing a 2-day double either.

You'd have to build up to that level of endurance over a number of months - course, conditions and support are going to be big factors i.e. the need to stop regularly for food etc. Whilst 15mph average seems easy, factoring in stops etc probably means an average of 18mph over all conditions - most people can't complete a 100 mile sportive at that speed, never mind doing 3 in a day.

Richj

As people have pointed out and looking on the CTT website for the 24hr Champs it is doable but tough. a friend has done the 24hr Nationals twice (mad fool) and once over 450 and once just under 400. Both times he did the events they were season long goals and that is all he trained for, I recall him saying the 450+ effort was an 18month project.

Dedicated and motivation are needed in bucket loads, not just for the event but for the training. Although I was surprised that he rarely rode over 8hrs in training.

Not something I see myself doing though.

cougie

Marcus - you've done Paris-Brest so clearly you're not the average rider.

I think we are all arguing over quite how achievable it is. From very to not very.

It all depends on the guy and how keen he is. I've been riding for years but the longest rides I've done have been under 8 hours. So I'd have to do 3x that time - I would struggle.

Dunkeldog

I've just signed up for next year's London-Paris in 24 hour challenge. Guess I'm going to find out all about pain. With ferry crossing and regular very short breaks an average speed of 15mph will get me there. Apparently!

carl_p

prawny wrote:

They're organising a charity ride at work next year and the challenge is how far can you go in 20 hours and 12 mins I'm thinking 300 miles is doable, the only problem is the nearest ride to me is at the York office so it'll probably tale half the day to get there first :?

You work for the same company as me

The Norwich version looks like being relatively short laps around a designated building/office checkpoint. I think I'm more likely to die of boredom tbh.

northpole

Here's a quote taken from the Race Across America website which indicates it is possible to do 350 miles a day, next day, next day......

"Racers must traverse 3000 miles across 12 states and climb over 170,000 vertical feet. Team racers have a maximum of nine days and most finish in about seven and a half days. Teams will ride 350-500 miles a day, racing non-stop. Solo racers have a maximum of 12 days to complete the race, with the fastest finishing in just over eight days. Solo racers will ride 250-350 miles a day, balancing speed and the need for sleep." :shock:

Peter

sub55

As previously mentioned above, 350 miles in a day is more than possible.
Been there,, done that on several occasions.
Slightly more difficult question, would be , how much training you need to put in to achieve it to the point where you have a fair amount of certainty of getting through and remaining sane.

Stewie Griffin

I'd be bolloxed if I drove that far in a day.

prawny

Carl_P wrote:

prawny wrote:

They're organising a charity ride at work next year and the challenge is how far can you go in 20 hours and 12 mins I'm thinking 300 miles is doable, the only problem is the nearest ride to me is at the York office so it'll probably tale half the day to get there first :?

You work for the same company as me

The Norwich version looks like being relatively short laps around a designated building/office checkpoint. I think I'm more likely to die of boredom tbh.

It's all been a bit quiet about it recently, glad to hear there's been some more planning going on. Will have to start organising permission from 'er indoors soon!