a century the weekend before a century.

ozzy1000_0

Hi all,

I have a century ride on the 30th that I'd like to be going well for, its been a bench mark for me for a couple of years, and if weather is permiting I'd like to PB it . I haven't 100% managed to stick to my training plan and I'm not quite as formy and wonderfully strong and happy as I'd hoped to be... but I have made steady effort since January. I've covered about 3000miles this year and have done a couple of centuries and a few other longer rides.

however... the 30th is only 2 weeks away.. and I feel pretty knackered now... my last long ride was 94miles the sunday before last, but other than that I've not done much over 60-70miles for a while... I have a chance to do the Dartmoor classic with some friends on the 23rd, which I think is just over a century with a few hills, the people I'd go with are slower than me so I shouldn't be digging deep... so my question is; do I ride a nice steady Dartmoor classic one week before the century I actually want to go fast in? will it serve as last minute base miles or will it just knackered me out and ruin me for the following weekend??

all the best, O

buckles

An entire week is more than enough time to recover from riding 100 miles.

Buckled_Rims

Well only you can answer the question. How long do you take to recover from a long ride? Personnally, it takes me a few weeks of recovery from a full on sportive. Going at a steady pace should not do any damage,but it depends if you want that PB. My body takes about 5 days to start to recover, then add 3 to 4 days rest. So, in all I would take 2 weeks from a PB to to a PB (weather excepted of course) if I tried.

If you are a professional, just ignone what I just said ;-)

JayKosta

While you should be able to completely recovery in a week, I doubt that it will actually increase your fitness by any noticeable amount.

I think your choice depends on how disappointed you would be IF you rode the Dartmoor and then found yourself in less than best condition for the 'important century'.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

jmillen

Have you done the Classic before? Have your training rides been on similar terrain with similar climbing figures?

If yes to the above, you'll know what's coming so think the recovery time will be okay, but is it worth the risk if you're very keen to PB your century the week after?

tlw1

flip side is the weather is shoot for the PB aim and you missed out on a laugh with some mates at Dartmoor.

Though remember, Dartmoor isn't a flat course

ozzy1000_0

ok thanks for the advice.. it nothing new but its good to hear it from other people as sometimes I get tied up with these should I shouldn't I type things... I've been feeling really tired latey and have been training properly for a few weeks with my longest rest being 48hrs or so... so I probably need to take the taper seriously (even though its not a seriosu race.. but you know what I mean...) so I've decided to limit myt sunday ride to 80miles, I'll do it at a hard pace with similar terrain to the PB century.. then I'll rest for 2 days, then a short sharp ride, then rest a couple more days, then a quick spin the day before the hopefully PB ride

My Friend at work used to be a nationale level swimmer, she just swung it for me; "its ok to feel shitty and tired now, thats just means your training properly. I allways felt like that unless I was tapering, just take the taper seriously and you'll be good on the day"

mamba80

Obvious ans is that you do DC but the 100km course, you can ride with your mates til Princetown and then have a really fast workout back to the finish.... best of both worlds

On the 2 occassions i ve done the DC 100miler and than a week later, the Maratona, though i think im recovered, im not ! - weather isnt great on Sunday