Training for 500 miles in 5 days

GT Destroyer

Right - I have the basics I need and have taken the bike out 3 times this week......found a nice little 14 mile loop and first time out did just on 60 minutes, but I was dawdling at the Stennes stones and ring of Brodgar, then 48 mins then just tonight 50 mins...I basically have every night and every Saturday for riding. I have not ridden for ages, so am rusty. I have 4 months to get ready to cycle from here, Orkney, to home which is near Leeds, so about 500 miles, and in 5 days.......you guys are experienced, experts etc.......

how should I prepare best, how often should I ride, how long each time, how many rest days, what sorts of stuff should I be eating....

imposter2.0

GT Destroyer wrote:

how often should I ride,

As often as..

GT Destroyer wrote:

how long each time,

As long as..

GT Destroyer wrote:

how many rest days,

As few as..

GT Destroyer wrote:

what sorts of stuff should I be eating....

As much as..

chrisaonabike

GT Destroyer wrote:

how should I prepare best, how often should I ride, how long each time, how many rest days, what sorts of stuff should I be eating....

After 1500 posts and 7 years of hanging out here, I think maybe some good preparation would be to read some of the good advice given to people planning similar trips.

And then take it.

GT Destroyer

thanks

vorsprung

GT Destroyer wrote:

how should I prepare best, how often should I ride, how long each time, how many rest days, what sorts of stuff should I be eating....

Ride at least twice a week, once fast and once for as long as possible

The reason for a session riding fast is that if your basic speed is increased by a small amount then riding longer distances becomes that much easier. And the way to increase speed is to ride fast.

As your target is to ride 100 miles a day, not as a race but at a reasonable speed you should aim to be able to do this distance with relative ease. So you need to increase your distance to be able to have a go at 100 miles before your trip.

Resting is as important as exercising. If you find that you have a lot of opportunities for riding one week do take them but try and take it easy the following week. Also it is worth bearing in mind the idea of the "recovery ride". This is a bike ride at a very easy pace, don't try hard at all. If you want to ride following a strenuous session then a recovery ride could be a good idea

You don't need to eat anything special for what you are planning, just a normal healthy diet

GT Destroyer

thanks Vorsprung...I have just spent most of the evening reading all about the Audax stuff on your sig link, very interesting and loads of information on there which is relevant to me.

Anyways, my training this week, I started out with a small loop from home and back, is 14.7 miles, more or less flat, but with a little climb at the start/end depending which way round I ride it. Started out at about 60 minutes, but this came down to around 47-50 or so minutes by the 5th time of doing it. Am managing to keep my avg at over 15mph, which is my aim for the 500 miles ride.

So today I wanted to ride longer, just to spend more time in the saddle, and not necessarily concern myself with averages, so I did that, I rode Stromness to Kirkwall, but made the ride into a near 30 miler, then straight back was 14.7 miles. On the ride there I could have given up at about the 19 mile point, I had a long dead straight section with a slight headwind, and I was absolutely knackered, but stuck at it and am glad I did. The ride back was hard, very hard, I could only get a 12 mph average, due to a strong blustery headwind for the entire 14.7 miles, not good.

So all in all I am happy with how its going, mini-rides each night and a longer one at the weekend, will up my mini-rides to 20 miles this week.

Also what are cows problems, whenever I ride past them, they stop eating and all look at me as if I have done something to offend them, poor attitudes in my book.

Here is a link to my strava stuff if you wanted to look - I used ridewithgps for my first couple of rides, but I think strava is better.

http://app.strava.com/athletes/2496100

I am a little sore this evening, not loads, but think I will probably wake up worse than I am now, and the bike didn't want to change onto the smallest ring at the front today, so I just didn't use it.

I also managed to clock up a max of 42.9 mph, which I was pleased with.

jgsi

You are planning half a jog basically... to be brutally frank any muppet with a sense of determination can do 500 miles in 5 days if you plan it well and use the proper bike for your abilities.
... if riding unsupported than you come across as a complete beginner and there you are stuck 1/2 way up a Scottish glen at 10% with a lets say a snapped cable or a run of 4 punctures or 2 broken spokes....
how many Plan Bs have you?

GT Destroyer

i will have a support vehicle with me, so hope that moves me up from the scale of complete beginner, but then again I am a complete beginner, certainly at this kind of riding.
I am off to the crudcatcher.

Grill

The only thing you should be looking at is base mileage. Go out and ride your bike as long as possible. At the end of the day your goal is easily attainable, especially with a support vehicle, but you'll suffer more if you're not used to back-to-back long rides. I did a similar training block to the ride you're planning at the beginning of the month if you want to take a look. http://app.strava.com/athletes/963993

GT Destroyer

thanks Grill...I will have a look definitely

GT Destroyer

well...training is going OK so far I think, in July (from 10th) I managed to get out on 19 rides, 441 miles, and 27 total hours. Longest rides so far have been 73 miles and 80 miles. I haven't yet managed to string together multiple days of longer rides, but am building up to it. Not hit any walls yet distance wise, and also seem to be recovering quite well after riding. Raised nearly £700 for my charity too.