200 Mile 4 Day Tour for Beginner

ryanwest
ryanwest Posts: 2
edited May 2015 in Road beginners
Hey there,

New to the site, forum and cycling in general.

I just signed up for a 200 mile 4-day tour in the Philippines for charity. I am 24 and in decent shape - lift and bike 10-15 miles a day on a stationary bike 4-5 times a week at the gym.

What kind of training would be recommended to be okay to complete this event without wanted to die at the finish line? The event is 3 months away and I am looking to purchase a road bike to prepare but am wondering if this could be trained in the gym (besides being boring)? I think the road bike will be more fun so I'll probably buy it anyway but wondering if cycling in the gym helps prepare much.

Thanks for any and all help!

Ryan

Comments

  • arthur_scrimshaw
    arthur_scrimshaw Posts: 2,596
    Hello!!
    I'd suggest you get a bike as soon as you've worked out what you need and start riding it in the real world not a gym. That said I'd bet you could do that ride tomorrow if you had to.
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 16,530
    get on a real bike asap, gym bikes tend to have poor riding position and terrible giant pillow saddles

    50 miles a day shouldn't be a problem given that you are fit - as long as you are ok with the heat/humidity - biggest risk may be chafing/getting saddle sore, so wear decent padded bibs, use chamois cream and get used to the bike/saddle you'll be riding as you are going to be on it several hours a day
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • BrandonA
    BrandonA Posts: 553
    sungod wrote:
    get on a real bike asap, gym bikes tend to have poor riding position and terrible giant pillow saddles

    50 miles a day shouldn't be a problem given that you are fit - as long as you are ok with the heat/humidity - biggest risk may be chafing/getting saddle sore, so wear decent padded bibs, use chamois cream and get used to the bike/saddle you'll be riding as you are going to be on it several hours a day

    I hunk there is a difference with being gym fit and being able to ride 3 to 4 hours each day in a climate that is probably very different to ours. My experience of people who go to the gym is that they think they are fit as they do weights and sub one our spin sessions, these are different to the endurance required for this challenge.

    As others have said though, get a bike, by some clothing and start riding. It's really quite simple.
  • whoof
    whoof Posts: 756
    A couple of years ago there was a TV program about a guy who was training to do the Race Across America with the RAF team. He did almost all his training on a static bike. When he came to actually riding on the road not only was he pretty rotten at simply riding he was also extremely poor at going uphill, descending and going around corners. The started without him.

    https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=45069.0

    Although you are not riding the same distance the principles are the same.
  • apreading
    apreading Posts: 4,535
    Is the bike at the gym a spin bike or a hunk of rubbish that's nothing like riding a real bike? Spin bikes can be really good training for hills, but you do still need to get some feel for riding a real bike, leaning, climbing, descending, bumps in road, braking etc.

    I did a week in Tuscany last year and another guy on the trip worked in Dubai - he only used spin bikes at gym as its too hot there, except he went on a week long bike tour every year for 4-5 years. He was always near the front of the group on hills and ok the rest of the time too.

    mind you, he also wore sandals on the bike the whole time!

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