100 Miler over the Hills

Scotty-Gee

I have, perhaps foolishly, signed up for my first Sportive on the 14th October thanks to a colleague of mine.

Its a 100 Miler over the "lecht mountain range" twice!

Apparently he will ride with me but I don't want to hold him back and more importantly look like a fool.

I ride regularly but not at this distance and not over these sort of hills so I have 4 weeks to get reasonable.

What is going to be more important- ride hills again and again, and again or just get general miles under the belt.

On the nights I cant get out what is going to be more important- miles on the turbo or specific intervals?

mattshrops

When you can get out do flattish miles(unless you're already doing 100's?) at least once per week.

Do a session of hill repeats -either on turbo or out.

If you're going well maybe a hilly 30 and graually increase.

Any time left -probably either steady or tempo.
(careful if your fitness level is not too good.

Dont forget to rest

Make sure you overreach in the first 3 weeks - then take it fairly easy the last week to allow you body to adapt and improve for the event.
Test out any foodstuffs(gels etc) to make sure they dont disagree with you.

Please note: these are purely suggestions based on my own thoughts- i am not a coach. A coach would also require a lot more info.
Enjoy the day.

dw300

Find the climbs on Strava and find out the duration of the climbs. Are they 5mins, 10, 20, more?

Look for something similar in duration and grade close to you for any you think might cause you problems, and ride it so that you have an idea what it'll feel like. This is more so that you're not fearing the climbs, and so that you have an idea of pacing, so that you don't shoot your load half way up one.

Good luck!

xcmad

mattshrops has some good advice.

- Put the miles in and ride successive days, then rest, then back on.
- Last week prior is all about spinning around with no force, resting up and getting the legs keen.
- Nutrition is sooo important - do research on energy gels/drink. Torq fueling system is excellent and explains it well
- Try and do a 70ish mile ride in 2 weeks, bed in the legs and body to the distance.
- Keep motivated, setting targets does it for me.

And enjoy it! Good luck.

Brian B

You need to get in a similar route but leave the total figure 20-25 miles shy of the 100. You then know how you will feel on the day and if you can manage 75 then you'll get round a 100 on the day.

Get in the miles now and factor in some recovery rides and ensure you get enough rest and stop training if you are really tired and start to get irritable as you may be overtraining. Try hill reps and climb in a gear you can comfortably push sitting down and look for a climb that lasts about 5mins and repeat

I would also try to get go for a really long and steep climb so you know what you'll face on the day - what is your gearing?

The lecht is a pretty serious climb and probably ranks about the third hardest climb in Scotland. It starts off at 20% and holds the gradient in the double figures for a km then after your through the snow gates the road rears up in a sucession ramps for another few km's but you get a rest in between the ramps. the descent is fast and undulating - take care :!:

The rest of the route is hard also and you'll definitely feel your legs after this event.

Scenery is gorgeous though and will help to get you through the day.

Scotty-Gee

Hmmm.

I'm typically a pretty positive person but this is starting to scare me a little and it might be a tad above my ability.

thegreatdivide

The Lecht is evil.

Brian B

How do I enter the event as I cannot find it listed now. Has it been cancelled?

dw300

Scotty-Gee wrote:

Hmmm.

I'm typically a pretty positive person but this is starting to scare me a little and it might be a tad above my ability.

If you can save your energy/legs really well in the first half of the race, then you should be ok. But it's going to be a real economy drive for you if your endurance isn't what it should be for the century. Going up early hills without stressing your legs too much, and making sure to get in a good group and stay sheltered will help.

I'm not one of these 'If you can do 75, you can do 100' people .. I'm small so I probably don't store as much energy and I really do have to be careful fending off the bonk in the 75-85 range. If you get that far, you will finish, but it could be really slow, on your own, and pretty unpleasant if you hit the wall because you spent too much energy / didnt eat enough early on.

And don't worry about it. That mentality can cause physiological reaction that can rob you of energy. Prep by following the info given in this thread, and you can be more confident about it. You will get it done ok .. the right prep and tactics will determine how easy or hard it might be. Good luck!

poynedexter

in the 4 weeks left just ride as often as you can. give yourself a few days off prior to the event and eat properly from now till the event. on the day, drink often, eat little and often and DO NOT ride the last 20 miles on an empty tank. start off steady and dont try and ride in a quick group of club cyclists. do however look for a steady group and get on their wheel early. this will help pull you along. use your chum too if you can.

if you can regularly ride 50 miles, you will do 100 but only if you eat properly all the way. dont sweat the hills, just set a pace and use a hr monitor to judge effort.

davidof

Personally I'd be tempted to do at least a 100+ ride on flatter ground in the next 4 weeks.

thegreatdivide

He’s going over The Lecht...twice in 100 miles. It’s a 10/10 on the 100 Greatest Climbs. It’s going to be very hard to prepare for this in a short space of time but what the hell...go for it!

http://100hillsforgeorge.blogspot.co.uk ... lecht.html

unixnerd

I did a 100 up here on Saturday and the biggest issue was the cold. Forecast said 12C, it was a lie. There was fresh snow down to 3300 feet but I didn't notice it until turned south after 23 miles. I had on long fleecy tights, long slightly fleecy top, thin gloves, thin overshoes, very thin jacket and a fleecy skull cap. I'm used to the cold but I was frozen, fighting the cold was worse than the cycle. Took me six hours (avg just over 16mph) which was longer than I'd hoped for but I must have spent a fair bit of energy just keeping warm.

Conditions on the exposed ridge of the Lecht can be brutal, especially the cross wind which can make descending dangerous. It's a lot colder than the valley, normally 3C colder. I drive over it twice a week and I feel really sorry for some of the cyclists I see on it who've clearly not come prepared. It can snow from September to May.

You need several layers of clothing. You want your normal autumn gear plus waterproofs and a thin second layer of a good jacket. You're doing 100 miles and after 3-4pm the temperature will drop very quickly. Don't forget lights! You need decent gloves, helmet liner and neoprene overshoes (especially if you have mesh topped road shoes!).

Don't want to frighten you but you could easily hit very bad weather up there in October. If you're warm it'll help a lot.

What's the bottom gear on your bike at the moment? I'd use a 34/28 for the steep bits.

What's the route you're taking?

dw300

thegreatdivide wrote:

He’s going over The Lecht...twice in 100 miles. It’s a 10/10 on the 100 Greatest Climbs. It’s going to be very hard to prepare for this in a short space of time but what the hell...go for it!

http://100hillsforgeorge.blogspot.co.uk ... lecht.html

I'll be interested to see how this ride goes having read this .. :shock: