Is there life after the RL100?

chrisaonabike

So I've now been cycling for 10 months; my 3500 miles of riding has been mostly focused on training for RL100, which was my first century and first sportive, completed in 6:53.

So what next? Although I'm 50, I feel as if I could get quite a bit fitter and stronger yet (and I could do with losing a few more pounds), and I'm the sort of person that needs a mission, a goal, to motivate me (not racing, though).

Would appreciate some ideas!

velvetytoast

I went to France with a few friends this year and rode around Paris, we did 60-80 miles each day. Great fun and you need to be fit enough to ride day after day which is quite different to a single day of 100. Maybe a couple of cols?

smidsy

JOGLE is your next target then :-)

Gizmodo

London to Brighton
London to Paris
Coast to Coast
LEJOG or JOGLE
Etape Cymru or Pennnines

Loads of events on http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/sportives

Mettan

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

So what next?

Coast to Coast.

pride4ever

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

So I've now been cycling for 10 months; my 3500 miles of riding has been mostly focused on training for RL100, which was my first century and first sportive, completed in 6:53.

So what next? Although I'm 50, I feel as if I could get quite a bit fitter and stronger yet (and I could do with losing a few more pounds), and I'm the sort of person that needs a mission, a goal, to motivate me (not racing, though).

Would appreciate some ideas!

If you need motivation after doing a century sportive your probably in the wrong game.

stueys

Etape

desweller

If you want something that needs planning for etc. then maybe take a look at touring. You'll have a more varied set of circumstances to plan for and a bit more risk to spice things up (depending on how far off the beaten track you decide to ride).

marcusjb

pride4ever wrote:

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

So I've now been cycling for 10 months; my 3500 miles of riding has been mostly focused on training for RL100, which was my first century and first sportive, completed in 6:53.

So what next? Although I'm 50, I feel as if I could get quite a bit fitter and stronger yet (and I could do with losing a few more pounds), and I'm the sort of person that needs a mission, a goal, to motivate me (not racing, though).

Would appreciate some ideas!

If you need motivation after doing a century sportive your probably in the wrong game.

Not at all - many people feel blue post a big event. It's been your primary focus (obsession?) for many months. Once it is over, it is easy to feel a bit low and so on.

I've just ridden my large event of the season, and am having some motivational issues - even though I need to remain fit for a tough ride in September.

The suggestion of touring is a good one - totally different. Doesn't have to be very far, and doesn't have to involve hauling a lot of stuff if you B&B it. Different pace, stop and look around - it feels nice to slow down on a bike from time to time.

peejay78

join a club if you haven't already.

start racing.

Pross

If you aren't interested in racing what about starting audax? You can do some shorter ones in the remainder of this year then set yourself a target of 200km, 300km and 400km as you improve (maybe even do some long ones eventually ). I'm considering stopping racing due to the amount of crashes, including a couple of fatals in fairly local races, and audax is where I see my future cycling going together with some long distance TTs and cyclocross.

chrisaonabike

Ok, some great ideas here, thanks all. I don't fancy racing - for one, I'd have to get *so* much faster than I am that it would be ages before I could achieve anything useful. And for two, the risk of crashing and injury would be so much higher, and old bones don't heal as quick as young ones.

I like the sound of harder sportives and audaxes.

Also touring sounds interesting - especially now that my OH has a bike. Panniers are going to be pretty important though, I'd guess? Can you get ones that attach to a carbon frame with no attachment points?

I'm not at all sure about joining a club. I've been on a couple of group rides with a local club, but in all honesty, I didn't much enjoy them although I could keep up easily enough. Partly it was the confidence in close proximity to others thing, but I really didn't like not being able to see where I was going properly. I feel much safer, particularly on descents, where I can see ahead and pick out my route.

In the short term, it's going to have to be the sort of thing where training can be done from home. Now that riding a long way is no longer an obstacle, would speed and hills work be an idea? I was thinking something like intervals (in Richmond Park) and routes like the Surrey Legs of Steel - not all that long, but lots of climbing.

Sensible, in the short term at least?

Edit: I'm liking the idea of C2C, though Hardknott/Wrynose looks fairly impossible at present!

marcusjb

The more people riding Audax the better - a very enjoyable form of cycling for sure. Can be extremely addictive though.

As the OP is in the South-West London area - here's a recommendation of a very good 200km ride out of Chalfont St Peter in October:

http://aukweb.net/events/detail/13-887/

This is a slightly tweaked version with 3000m of climbing, compared to original classic route with around 2400m of climbing:

http://aukweb.net/events/detail/13-885/

Great rides, well attended and quite a challenge (especially with another 500m of climbing thrown into the new route), some real beastly climbs, but lots of rewarding views etc.

The season is starting to wind down a little now - London Edinburgh London was a couple of weeks ago, so not many longer (300km+) rides post that. But still plenty of great 100s and 200s over autumn and winter. And why not consider a 300 or 400 as a goal for next season? Very different style of riding, challenging in a different way - a lot of a personal challenge for sure. Whilst fitness is important, you are testing your mental fortitude much more than that.

JackPozzi

How about trying a few time trials if you don't want to risk crashing? Only race against yourself and there's always the motivation to beat your PB.

cyco2

May need some fatter tyres for this one.....The Thames Path which is very near you. Ride it in sections with a train journey if need be. Loads of places to see and finding the different routes can be an adventure.

Mikey41

Fred Whitton Challenge.

No, I haven't tried it... yet. It sounds insane.

IanREmery

I'm in a similar position to OP: been road riding since march, rl100 was first century ride, the most amazing day, been on a high all week. Until today.

Today has been good, took 4yo to Disney live which he loved, wandered around Cardiff bay, lovely! Still got empty feeling deep inside. Remember having similar feeling after 1st L2B.

I've never done drugs before, but I imagine this is what a come down feels like.

Next big plan for me is simple: fatherhood round two - daughter due on boxing day. :-)

Dmak

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

So I've now been cycling for 10 months; my 3500 miles of riding has been mostly focused on training for RL100, which was my first century and first sportive, completed in 6:53.

So what next? Although I'm 50, I feel as if I could get quite a bit fitter and stronger yet (and I could do with losing a few more pounds), and I'm the sort of person that needs a mission, a goal, to motivate me (not racing, though).

Would appreciate some ideas!

Mount Teide

kingderham

I had the same feeling after completing last year's Etape Cymru, i did not enjoy club ride's after this event, enjoyed them before, so i went to my shed dusted down my XCountry bike, took it to my LBS for a service and put on some new tyre's and went out and discovered some new trail's. I stayed of my road bike for month's and when i got back on it i started to enjoy road cycling again.So glad i got the XCountry bike sorted.

If you can, enter the Etape Cymru, closed road's and a great challenging route.
Give yourself a personall challenge eg cycle 1600km in a calendar month, try a 16k TT.
Enter some CTC Audax/Randonnees.

sbbefc

How much climbing is there in the etape cymru? Did my first century this weekend too, solo with 1600m of climbing, contemplating the etape.

paul2718

Chris, why not book yourself onto another sportive this autumn. The Wiggle events are generally well organised for example, http://www.ukcyclingevents.co.uk/ but there are myriad others.

And I'd recommend doing some club time trials, the experience is invaluable for finding your limits when you want to tackle longer climbs and the results over time give a measure of progress. And you are really only competing with yourself, much like a Sportive.

Paul

markhewitt1978

You do some sportives. Take a look at Evans Cycles and UK Cycling Events. Few will offer the closed roads of Ride London but there's no shortage of events to take part in and focus your training on.

abanazar

In answer to your question, of course there is life after it.

You set yourself a target which you have achieved, you should feel proud of that as a century is not to be sniffed at. Well done! You now just need to set yourself another target.

I can only speak of personal experience, but when I did my first sportive it was an achievement just getting round. The second one, the time and placing became important. Merely completing it was no longer an achievement. Later, the achievement was gained from doing five sportives in six weekends with good times etc.

Anyway, I set myself a target of 4,000 miles for this year. I hit this target a couple of weeks ago, sportives helped with this, as did the fact that I took the bike on holiday to the Dordogne and rode 550 miles in ten days whilst there. Having hit the target I rewarded myself with a new carbon frame and my new motivation is proving that it is faster than my old bike - it is!!!!

You've proved you can do a century so ride to places you want to visit, you no longer need the 'protective blanket' of a sportive. Things to think of include booking a weekend away and taking the bike. I can recommend the Yorkshire Dales. But above all, enjoy your riding.

cyco2

Heres a challenge for you. Hop on the train to Didcot and ride up on to the Ridgeway via Upton. Then make your way to the Thames Path via Streatley. You'll have a great day out with some interesting scenery.

kingderham

sbbefc wrote:

How much climbing is there in the etape cymru? Did my first century this weekend too, solo with 1600m of climbing, contemplating the etape.

Well done on your first century.

To be honest i cant remember, need to find the detail's, but it was up and down allday, Horseshoe pass is not that bad, it had stunning views and i could have gone faster up it, there was worse climb's than that.
A really enjoyable day on the road.

sbbefc

kingderham wrote:

sbbefc wrote:

How much climbing is there in the etape cymru? Did my first century this weekend too, solo with 1600m of climbing, contemplating the etape.

Well done on your first century.

To be honest i cant remember, need to find the detail's, but it was up and down allday, Horseshoe pass is not that bad, it had stunning views and i could have gone faster up it, there was worse climb's than that.
A really enjoyable day on the road.

Ive done the horseshoe a few times and its an ok climb really, im just a little bit concerned of the distance combined with the total climbing as its a bit of a step into the unknown, probably over thinking about it.

elderone

Another vote for the fred Whitton,utube it Chris,hardknott after 100mls + is insane.It,s on my to do list,one day.

Wrath Rob

As said earlier, join a club. They'll be out for 30-80 mile rides every weekend on local roads that you can explore and get to know. This will improve your fitness and also open up you up to other opportunities. Time trialling is a good example as it a relatively safe form of competitive cycling where ultimately you're competing against yourself. Distances go from 10 miles up to 100, and then to 12 and 24 hour events.

knownothingbozo

How about stepping further afield? Look at some of the classic climbs and routes from the Tour De France, the scenery is stunning, road surfaces great, drivers polite, and recovery drinks (ie wine) cheaper.
I went to the pyrennees this year, it's an eye opener as the TV doesn't give the mountains justice. The effort was immense, but the feeling at the top of one of the mountains was as good as my first long sportive.
I've only been cycling two years and I'm 47, so in a similar position, difference is I guess, I started cycling to de-stress and get fit without making my knees any worse than they are, the challenges are a bi-product of that.

greasedscotsman

Tour of Flanders Sportive!