Gym only training for MTB ride

dubcat

I am doing the London / Brighton offroad ride. I have not done anywhere near enough training. I have been doing a couple of 10-20 mile rides per week on the smooth surface of NCR21 and I have managed to lose 16 lb's over the last five weeks. I am also running 3 times a week in preparation for my first 10k run in Oct and possibly a half marathon in Nov (although I may drop the half marathon). I really need to step it up with the time on the bike.

During part of July and most of August I won't be able to go out on my bike at all. This is because I will only be able to train between 10-11pm and I don't want to ride out on the roads at night. I will have access to a gym in this time though. I know an hour is not much but can anyone provide me with some tips on how to get the most out of that time in preparation for the bike ride which is on Sept 22nd?

YeehaaMcgee

Run, for an hour. There is nothing that will increase your fitness more than that.

njee20

Most of the London - Brighton is on the Downs Link anyway, hardly mountain biking, so I'd not worry too much!

dubcat

Njee - I did a 32 mile ride from Gatwick towards Caterham on the national cycle route 21 today. The only hilly bit was getting up on to the North Downs. At the end of it I was wasted - and that was FAR from proper mountain biking. I am seriously stressed out about how I will do the 75 mile ride

Yeehaw - will running help me with riding? I thought running and riding used different leg muscles.

YeehaaMcgee

They mainly use different leg muscles, but your fitness will increase rapidly by going running. There's nothing else you can do in a gym that will give you as much of a fitness boost, in my opinion.

dubcat

That would actually work out pretty brilliant for me - as it means I don't have to join a gym! I can go running on the roads... So no point in going on the exercise bike? Just hit the streets running? Awesome - you just saved me a boat load of cash and boredom Gracias!

YeehaaMcgee

Well, some would define boredom as "running"
How come you'll go running at that time, but not cycling though?

njee20

I'd far rather ride on the road in the dark than run. Easier to mount very bright lights on a bike (front and rear) than it is running.

Just go riding.

dubcat

I actually enjoy running

I can run on the footpath. I would need to ride on the road. From a safety perspective I feel running is much safer. More importantly though - I can do a lot of running in an hour (from a fitness building perspective). To get a similar workout on my bike i would need to go a lot longer right? It's going to be 10pm when I get out after eating and letting it settle. The less time I need to be out the better really as I will have work the next day.

What do you reckon? Are my points valid or invalid? Really keen to hear your views.

YeehaaMcgee

Nah, makes perfect sense to me. I'm no guru, mind, but I'll put money on running for an hour being a much better boost for cardiovascular fitness and endurance than cycling for an hour.
Unless you live in the alps maybe, and you're trying to sprint up a mountain for an hour on the bike, haha.

njee20

Nope, makes sense.

Fatamorgana

You're training for a bike ride.
So ride your bike.

Running or gym work is simply not going to prepare your muscles for riding for many hours, this will probably define what sort of ride you'll end up having & it will also give you time in the saddle, give you some insight into your feeding and hydration, cramp issues etc that will cick into play, especially the longer you ride. It may throw up other issues, such as saddle height, position etc the more you do beyond 3hrs as this will really come to the fore.

Running will prepare you for running. Seated on a bike for maybe 6hrs requires you to be at the level absolutely everything is in place (as near as damn it) and 1hr of road work is a frankly stupid suggestion. That will get you ready for 1hr road runs, nothing more. Take a lesson out Base Training for Cyclists and get some 3hr+ road rides on the mtn bike under your belt.

My suggestion: longer rides on your mtn bike on the road, you're not the first person to have made the error of training on the wrong discipline peior to an event, so learn from those who have made that mistake. Ride the bike for 3hrs+ and see how that goes as that's what you will be doing. Scotch the running 'til post event.

YeehaaMcgee

He said he doesn't have 3hrs.

dubcat

The above only relates to 30 days. Before and after I am/will ride as much as possible. It's how I deal with the 30 days when I won't be training during daylight that I was asking about.

I have a 3 hour non stop ride of 30 miles (mostly good flat gravel/packed path) under my belt from a few days ago plus 5 hours on Saturday but the 5 hours included lots of stopping to look at a map (23 miles with 2500ft elevation of gloppy mud and roots). I will keep hitting the long rides outside of the 30 days I was asking about in the post above.

Fatamorgana

Are you in prison?
"10-11pm"
A turbo trainer is brutal for 1hr rides if that really is all you can do.
Buy one on eBay, sell it 31 days later on eBay.

As you say, 3hrs for 30 miles leaves you a shed load of hard graft to get sorted and only managing 1hr a day is going to see your fitness levels take quite a nose dive.

With a turbo trainer can you manage more time on the bike for these 30 days in Wormwood Scrubbs?
Ask them nicely maybe?

YeehaaMcgee

No need to get offensive.

njee20

Wow, you're coming across as a bit of a pillock!

Seated on a bike for maybe 6hrs requires you to be at the level absolutely everything is in place (as near as damn it) and 1hr of road work is a frankly stupid suggestion. That will get you ready for 1hr road runs, nothing more.

That's just not true, at all. Do you think solo 24 racers train by riding for 24 hours at a time?

1 hour a day is more than enough time to get fit. You could do worse than get a copy of 'The Time Crunched Cyclist' which is full of brutal interval sessions, or get some Sufferfest videos and a turbo trainer on eBay.

dubcat

I did think of buying a turbo on ebay but I would need to buy a road bike too right? You can't stick a mountain bike on a trainer can you?

njee20

Yep you can, ideally you want a slick rear tyre, as it'll eat knobblies in no time, and be very noisy and prone to slipping. Or look for a Minoura RDA trainer, which runs on the rim.

Where in the world are you? If you're anywhere near Billingshurst in Sussex you're welcome to borrow mine.

dubcat

njee that is a REALLY kind offer!!! I am near Gatwick. I have read up on turbo's which i knew nothing about. Seems the tacx speedster is a good beginners one based on reviews at bikeradar. I noticed you can just stick a mountain bike training tyre on your wheel and use your regular mountain bike on these things...

njee20

Yep, any cheap slick will do, you can get proper turbo tyres which run cooler, they're quieter. If you're buying a tyre purely to use on the turbo I'd get one of those. In all honest I'd not get too hung up on which one to get, they're the sort of thing that people will be getting rid of quite regularly!

handful

+1 for turbo if you want short intensive training. I agree with yeehaa in the sense that running does help with overall fitness but don't agree that running is the best way to prepare for your 'marathon.' I try and run at least once a week as well as ride and turbo when it's really bad weather but if I lapse for a reason and only run or cycle for a few weeks I find that doing the other activity results in very stiff legs, particularly calves.

I always find that strange because when you feel like your reasonably fit you don't expect stiffness! My advice is turbo with sufferfest videos to give you the kick up the backside you will need because it is incredibly boring but you will sweat like you won't believe and be working the right muscles. Also, don't underestimate the time in the saddle, unless you have a very well fitting saddle that could be the biggest test of endurance and time on the turbo will help with that too!

dubcat

ok i am totally convinced. I will get a turbo trainer.. now to pick one! Have singled out the tacx speedster new or there are a few tacx satori used on ebay... I will buy a sufferfest video - any idea which one to get first? I will end up rippping them and playing them on my ipad anyway..

handful

My personal favorites are Downward Spiral and Revolver. They are all good though in different ways, best to look at the detail but I like the ones above, probably because they are the shortest.

I do know some unscrupulous people download them from torrent sites but I couldn't possibly suggest that you did that, even if only to try before buying full price.

MDobs

I'll chuck in a mention for swimming. think it's better for all round fitness than running, works full body and without the impact of running on knees/ankles/shins. it's not free, unlike running, but you'll get a lot of pool time for the price of a turbo trainer.

Fatamorgana

"1 hour a day is more than enough time to get fit. "

Falls off bike with laughter. That's like asking you to do 2hrs taining a day and ride the Kielder, or maybe 2hrs a day and expect to be fit enough for a 24hr solo (both of which I've ridden). The last one may get you close to being ready if you you did it for a good few months perhaps, but I think it would be highly disingenous to suggest that a mere 1hrs ride (plus the warm and cool down) will get you physically ready for what may be a 6hr+ , 75 mile (120km), XC bike ride.

Pop the mtn bike on the TTrainer with a specific-for TT tyre or any old tyre will do. It'll shred the tred pattern but if it's an old tyre, big deal. A cheap 26er road tyre costs maybe £8. Then sort out a brutal routine with some long spells in the saddle and some fartlek training.

There's a 72yr old in the next village to me has but Thursday off, trains 50% of his time on a TT and races 10 or 15 or 30 mile TT (time trail) events. He's clocked a 25:34 minute 10 mile TT this year thus far this season as his best time, so it really can be done, but it's hard graft. He limits himself to the shorter rides of 3hrs or less when training on the road. Can't imagine what he was like in his youth!

God luck.

YeehaaMcgee

So are you saying that 1 hour on a TT is enough, or not.
I don't think he wants to be averaging nearly 40 mile an hour for the full duration, so maybe following the old guy's example isn't the best idea.

dubcat

I just want to finish it in one piece. The guys I am riding with are much fitter than me. I am guessing they will ride ahead.. stop at a pub for a pint.. let me catch up.. and as i appear will get on their bikes lol. I am a big boy who is losing weight but is still 14.5 stones - i am NOT the xc whippet you might imagine

First of all - NJEE - wow - what a generous offer to lend me your turbo. That was seriously kind of you.. I think this might be a bit of kit that I will use more and more as I want to try my hand at triathlon next year so I will try to find a good one on ebay. If it all falls through though I may come begging to borrow yours

I will buy one of those sufferfest movies and see how i get on. I have to believe the running is going to help. I put in 5 miles 2 days ago, and another 5 miles today. I have an 8 mile run on sunday too. It HAS to help with endurance. I will do 2-3 bike sessions a week too to get more saddle time and condition my legs. Let's see how it goes.

Thanks to everyone for the advice - really helped me a lot.

njee20

"1 hour a day is more than enough time to get fit. "

Falls off bike with laughter. That's like asking you to do 2hrs taining a day and ride the Kielder, or maybe 2hrs a day and expect to be fit enough for a 24hr solo (both of which I've ridden).

Your point caller? Just because you've ridden a few events doesn't really qualify you to know what you're talking about! I know some very quick guys who rarely train more than an hour at a time. It's obviously not that straightforward, but it's a very outdated method of training that you need to be doing 30 hour weeks to be competitive.

You didn't answer my question either about 24-soloists, do you think they train by riding 24 hours at a time? Chris Eatough has said he never rides more than 6 hours, he does alright, I imagine he's quicker than you.

YeehaaMcgee

Dubcat wrote:

I am a big boy who is losing weight but is still 14.5 stones - i am NOT the xc whippet you might imagine

I wouldn;t worry too much about that. I'm bigger than you, but have plenty of stamina. I'm not the fastest, but I'll keep going until I get bored. like a duracell bunny I suppose

dubcat

Hahaha you sound like my mate who i am riding with. Hill's don't seem to impact his pace.. just keeps going. I am hoping to become like that but get skinny at the same time. Pretty sure the skinny bit will come from eating right though.