How Hard is Cycling 350 km compared to 200 km?

buckmulligan

So I've had a fairly good year of cycling so far and I'm thinking about trying to hit my first 200-miler whilst the days are still just about long enough!

I've been training pretty hard for Ironman UK, which was a couple of weekends ago and then I followed that up with a hard week of cycling around Wales, so I feel as though I'm in reasonably good shape. I've been hitting long rides most weekends this year, since the weather became amenable and have probably clocked up 12x rides in the 150 to 200 km region in 2017.

I'm thinking about cycling from London to York in the next couple of weeks; the ride would be around 320-350km (depending on the route) and just wondering how much of a step-up is it going to be, cycling 350 km vs the longest, 210 km ride that I've done this year?!

I wasn't passing out at the side of the road by the end of that ride, but I was quite happy to stop by that point :? Is there anything else I should be aware of, trying to cycle this far in one day?!

Any advice is appreciated!

ugo.santalucia

I did the step from 250 to 400 km, which is similar.
Didn't find it as big a step as it sounds... you need to pace yourself... if you are the kind of rider used to do 200 km in 7 hours, you'll probably find it very hard, but if you are used to do it in 8-9 hours, then you will find your body will be absolutely fine... you just need to keep your head focussed and motivated... give your self some milestones, being those places you look forward to cycle through or cafes you are going to stop for food... basically break the ride down to smaller chunks in between mini-targets

buckmulligan

ugo.santalucia wrote:

if you are the kind of rider used to do 200 km in 7 hours, you'll probably find it very hard, but if you are used to do it in 8-9 hours

Hmm, this does sound foreboding :shock:

I'm quite happy knocking out 160 km at a 30 kph average, but I definitely have a problem reigning it in and trying to pace myself conservatively on longer rides; the 210 km ride that I mentioned above was an Audax around Essex, where I got bored of the more sensible pacing of the group at ~25 kph and just rode off within the first hour; I was definitely feeling the fatigue towards the end :oops:

I have a preliminary route planned out from a couple of sources, but yes, identifying some nice stop-offs and milestones along the way would go a long way to breaking it down mentally; 4x 80km really doesn't sound too bad at all... :?

ugo.santalucia

BuckMulligan wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

if you are the kind of rider used to do 200 km in 7 hours, you'll probably find it very hard, but if you are used to do it in 8-9 hours

Hmm, this does sound foreboding :shock:

I'm quite happy knocking out 160 km at a 30 kph average, but I definitely have a problem reigning it in and trying to pace myself conservatively on longer rides; the 210 km ride that I mentioned above was an Audax around Essex, where I got bored of the more sensible pacing of the group at ~25 kph and just rode off within the first hour; I was definitely feeling the fatigue towards the end :oops:

That is typical... if you don't learn to pace yourself, you will find it hard to get into long distances... I don't think 350 km at thigh burning pace are possible... you run out of glycogen much quicker than you can replenish, you will get dehydrated quicker than you can drink and generally burn out before you can finish.

The longer the ride, the slower you go, until you find an optimum, which in my case is around 25 km/h for a rolling course.

That doesn't mean you have to go slow all the way, it means don't ever go into the red... you can still go 20 mph on the flat, if the wind is behind you... but you can't chase a KOM along the way or hit a climb hard... you have to be aerobic all the time.

You will need to eat a lot more than you do for a 200 km... more than double, same for drinking... you typically ride a short distance at a calories loss but you can't do that for long distance... have a look at what I ate during my 400, it seems a lot, but it was about right

https://whosatthewheel.com/2017/06/27/s ... ional-400/

buckmulligan

That was a very interesting read, thanks and congratulations on the ride!

I was out that way myself last week, did you go over Gospel Pass on the way out of Hay on Wye? The descent down into Aberystwyth is pretty good fun isn't it?!

Doing it unsupported is going to mean having to source food along the way, but hopefully that shouldn't be too much of an issue.

ugo.santalucia

BuckMulligan wrote:

That was a very interesting read, thanks and congratulations on the ride!

I was out that way myself last week, did you go over Gospel Pass on the way out of Hay on Wye? The descent down into Aberystwyth is pretty good fun isn't it?!

Doing it unsupported is going to mean having to source food along the way, but hopefully that shouldn't be too much of an issue.

No, we didn't do the Gospel pass... but I have done it several times in the past.

The descent into Aberystwyth is good, but the one down the A 44 going east is even better... didn't touch the brakes for miles.

Sourcing food is not an issue, but it's not straightforward either. Cafes can be slow and eat into your daylight time... I suggest you rely on shops for bars/crisps/sandwiches/drinks and for a proper meal you can see if you find a takeaway... fish and chips or a KFC/MCDonald. The last thing you want is to waste half an hour waiting to be served a sandwich to then realise the portion is so small you will need to stop again 2 hours later.

Carry with you a small lock, I use a BBB combination cable lock... I paid 9 pounds for it, it weighs nothing and works as a deterrant