2013 Etape Mercia

PaulHass

Having been a runner since i was a teenager running for my school x country team and ran every distance since i came to the painfull decision last july to retire due to bad knees i thought i would try riding (no impact) and would you belive it no problems at all since all my running injuries have dissapeared

i have been averaging 45-50 miles a week with the odd 30mile long ride thrown in aswell as my weekly average and i have decided to try my first organised ride the Etape Mercia and would then like to go on and complete the Etape Caledonia and then the Etape Pennines before trying a coast to coast ride will it be to challenging or am i doing it in the right order is anyone else doing it ?

46 years old
79 kilos
averaging 17mph in hilly North Mcr
Bike
Cube Streemer
Mavic Ksyrium Elite
9 Speed Triple
Fizik Arion & Thomsom Elite Combo
Mio Cyclo 305 HC (not used the HRM or cadence monitor yet )

any advice would be greatly appreciated regards training for this and also what should i be doing on the day regards eating/energy bats gels drinks etc ?

bianchimoon

I started off by doing c2c's first in 3 days, then 2 then single day ones. After that did the caledonia which is a relatively easy ride, hardest bit is worrying about the sweeper van, but in reality very few get swept up. The etape pennines is a different beast, the hills are more frequent and a lot steeper than c2c and caledonia, i had a bad day on that one and bailed out halfway. Once you start doing a few 60 milers you'll be ready for the c2c's and etapes... It's all in the head, it gives up long before the body. Good luck and enjoy!

canyon boy

My advice would be to gradually build up your mileage until you are doing a 60-70 mile ride once a week. This will prepare you nicely for the Etape Mercian which looks to be a relatively flat ride and then maybe next year go for the Caledonia. The Pennines, which I did this year, is a very tough ride even in perfect conditions and would require a far higher standard of fitness and stamina. Saying that, in a year or so, I'm sure you would have no trouble finishing it as long as you keep moving forward with your training.

stinger53

i am looking at doing this for my first event. wanting to do the Charity Pledge Place but unsure if i'd get over 250