Training without HRM for a 100 mile ride

Google RPE. Think it stands for rate of perceived effort. A means to judge level of effort a similar way to HRM without the gadget.
When I unwisely took up running I used to judge effort by trying to sing aa line from a favorite song. If I could easily sing it I upped my exertions, if I could just gasp out the odd word I could reduce the effort depending on the required training level for that session. I just sounded like a right nutter, but it didn't matter as I was running at night in winter along a towpath in the countryside so no-one to see or hear me.

For a 100 mile ride, you'd do well to keep the pace at a level where you can easily talk in full sentences, and that a slightly faster pace would feel like noticeably more effort.

For a 'recreational century', speed is not the concern - being able to stay on the bike and keep pedaling for multiple hours is enough of a challenge. Also be sure to have a plan for getting plenty of water and food throughout the ride.

Don't use a '1 hour' saddle on a 7 hour ride ...

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

The Audax manual used to have a training plan of sorts for long distances. Basically ride for a long as comfortable, take a few days of, ride further, take a few days of, repeat. I am not being sarcastic it works.

Look after your back mate. A century ride is reasonably manageable with a little fitness but could be miserable of you don't let it heal properly or set your bike up well.
Good luck

Fudgey wrote:

Back in the day cyclists never had heart rate monitors, power meters or even speedos and they done ok.

I have a speedo, and thats it. But i am not a pro rider, i just think its more shite to take away the enjoyment of actually riding a bike...
Just my opinion of course.

That's exactly what I had when I first rode a 100 miler - an early Avocet "computer" that gave me time and speed, and average speed IIRC. I just did some gym work, mainly legs and cardio stuff, but all round workout (decent core strength helps keep the weight off your hands, though back then no-one mentioned core strength), and rode my bike - no further than about 30 miles before I did the 100. I took it slow - average was not more than 10mph - but I enjoyed it

My feet are firmly in both camps.

- Sure, just get on the bike and ride. Ignore Heart rate, ignore cadence, just get out there and roll. You will get stronger and provided you eat and drink enough you'll make 100 miles. Cycling makes long distance easier than running because you don't have to support your weight with every step.

- The angst comes when we want to feel that we're squeezing the best possible improvements from our limited available time. Training using (insert gizmo X) will make your time efficiency improve by Y%, but X may cost a lot of money and Y will probably be small. Far smaller than just making it simple and fun and just roll.

Going back to the OP (and his 3000+ posts) suggests that perhaps it is time to make a small investment in a cheap HRM, where a basic Polar is £20-£30. From there, my advice would be to follow Chris Carmichael's New Century plan in Time Crunched Training Program (TCTP). And if you're *sure* that you don't want to buy a HRM then that plan can also be used with RPE alone.

If its just 100 miles - not a race or anything - then no you dont need a HRM or power meter.

Just ride the bike ride the bike.

Work on endurance and making your weekend rides longer each week.

If you can get out in the week - ride shorter and faster.

Have fun.

Eat cake.

SecretSam wrote:

marcusjb wrote:

I promise you, you don't need a HRM to ride 100 miles.

Any tips? Given that you've ridden a few centuries, according to your website

I've ridden a few over the years (actually closing in on 100 for my Eddington number quite quickly now).

Don't get hung up on speed*

Get comfy

Enjoy it/Don't take it seriously

Visit interesting places and decent cafes.

It is only a bike ride.

*(to start with)

I would argue that anyone with even a little bit of fitness, who wants to, can ride 100 miles with only a little bit of practice before. If you take speed out of the equation, 100 miles on a bike is not particularly difficult provided you want to do it enough.

Eat porridge

If you plan to just do it by working on base endurance, then you can go on a set route and just time it, RPE will give you a good guide to effort.

HR monitors are good for tracking fitness improvements over time and countering the lazy slacker tendency that we all have from time to time, where we ease off the effort and pretend we are working hard.

You can get apps for most phones that will help you with pre and post ride snapshots, these are helpul to ensure your resting is dropping and your recovery working. High bpm for long periods post work out is an indication of underlying problems for example.

If you dont know your body well enough to instinctively feel the right amount of effort to ride long distances then you arent ready to ride 100 miles in my opinion. Either you dont do enough exercise or you dont have enough cycling experience.

This isnt elite level 'marginal gains' where you need to be that precise.

I went on a cycling trip for a week where there was a guy constantly pacing himself with a heart rate monitor and it just seemed to suck the fun out of it and I am sure he could have gone faster but wasnt letting himself.