Need tips for training for a cross country

Hello Women!
I am going to be doing a Southern Tier cross country starting in March 2008. The longest ride I have ever done is the 2006 MS 150. (Have I bitten off too much?) With winter coming up, and it's a Minnesota winter, I'm worried about training. I have been trying to ride some longer rides and generally increase my cadence, but does anyone have specific advice on how to train for such a trip? Should I concentrate on cadence? Distance? Both? Speed? What about getting a trainer versus joining the Y for spinning classes? Any help would be appreciated.

March is very early if you can't ride outside during the winter. I'd say a trainer would be much more effective than spin class for long-distance cycling. You'll want to increase your aerobic endurance base to match the length of the days you'll be riding (ie 6 hours, 8 hours, etc). You can do this with a variety of fitness mediums (not just cycling).

BTW, many who ride cross-country consider the first week of touring to be their most important training week. This would seem appropriate with you since you won't be able to log many outdoor hours prior to the trip.

Make sure your bike fit is completely dialed in before your trip.

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Originally Posted by captenaj

What about getting a trainer versus joining the Y for spinning classes? Any help would be appreciated.

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Why not do both? At my Y, you don't have to join the Y to take spin classes. Just buy a "ticket" for a specific number of classes. Are you doing weight training at home? You'll need that too.
If you join the Y you should be able to spin anytime you want so you could do your own endurance training though that's not the same as riding your own bike on a trainer.

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Originally Posted by zencentury

Why not do both? At my Y, you don't have to join the Y to take spin classes.

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At my Y, the spinning classes are not open to non-members. The trip, a new bike, and all the necessary equipment and costing a TON. I'm trying to save money where I can without being stupid. I know I have to train indoors through the winter but with $50 here and $100 there, it is really adding up.

Because it's a new bike, it sounds like a trainer is going to be the way to go.

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Originally Posted by zencentury

Are you doing weight training at home? You'll need that too.

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I guess that's a good idea, too. What muscle groups are you thinking of? I have some free weights at home. Time to dust them off.

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Originally Posted by velogirl

Make sure your bike fit is completely dialed in before your trip.

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I'm still working on this one. I've gone about 100 miles on the new bike and it seems I'm in to the LBS every other day to get something else tweaked.

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Originally Posted by captenaj

I guess that's a good idea, too. What muscle groups are you thinking of? I have some free weights at home. Time to dust them off.
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Lets see....
NO EQUIPMENT NEEDED-
push ups
planks
side planks (they call them bridges)
side planks with inward rotation
shoulder bridge
Dead Bug

LIGHT DUMBBELLS NEEDED FOR THESE-( maybe 8-10 lbs)
push ups with weighted rows
squats
plyometric squats

mmm.....that's all I can think of off the top of my haid.

That is absolutely fantastic. Thank you. This is going to be great.

Zen's advice is a good place to start. Upper body strength is always good to have for a long ride.

My little piece of this will help with the distance. For the record, I'm jealous. I've wanted to ride cross-country since I was 15. When I was young, broke and didn't have a job, family or bills, I was too stupid to realize it was the perfect time to do it. Ah well, I'm not dead yet so it could still happen.

First off, don't think of your ride as 3,000 miles (or whatever your route is). That'll just mess with your head and make the whole thing seem bigger and scarier than it really is. What you are really doing is riding 50 or 60 miles a day for a couple of months. The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.

Train to the point where you can ride 50 or 60 miles a couple of days a week and not be wiped out. Having a smooth cadence will make this easier.

Also, plan rest days on a regular basis. Every four days or so. And if you get up one morning and decide you just need a rest, pay up for your campsite for another day and spend a day doing bike maintenance, writing letters, read, eat or lay on the grass and look at the trees.

Realistically speaking, I'd be more concerned with ensuring you and your bike get along. Can you sit in the saddle for several hours a day without your butt going on strike? Are there any little quirks to your bike that bug you a little? Sort them out now because they will drive you looney after several hours a day.

Thanks to all for the feedback. I have been working on my upper body strength and concentrating on getting my bike comfortable (in addition to putting on some miles). Now here's a new problem: winter. OK, it's not winter but it's 45º and raining and it's going to be like this until it is 30 below and snowing. I have a trainer but I haven't used one before. Do I need a special tire for my bike? The LBS says I should get one that's tough and dissipates heat. I think I would do well with training videos. Are there any that people can recommend? Most of the training schedules I have looked at online just say to ride 15 miles this day and 40 miles that day but does all that still work when you're on a trainer?

The ride doesn't start until March but I'm getting a little nervous here. My goal is to ride every mile of the 3,115 mile journey (but I know things happen - anything over 3000 miles would keep me happy). Any help is greatly appreciated.

I used this plan to train for Cycle Oregon, and would follow it again to train for any type of extended touring:

https://www.trainingpeaks.com/traini...p?plankey=2755

It's a twenty (or 21?) week training plan to get ready for extended touring, with climbing. It took me from occasional recreational riding to Cycle Oregon ready in 20 weeks.

The rides are specified by time, effort, and type of course. So, it might say "One hour recovery ride on a flat course, this should be a 1 on a scale of 1-10 for perceived exertion." -or- "4 hours, flat to rolling course, 1-4 effort on a scale of 1-10."

The long rides were back-to-back, building up from 1-2 hours, up to 5 hours. I usually did those on weekends. Week day rides were normally 1 hour, sometimes base building, sometimes climbing, sometimes recovery. All of this could be done on a trainer. If it were me, and I was doing this training over the winter, I'd sign up for a spinning class. I'd do my "hill/climbing/interval" style workouts in spinning class, and my distance rides at home on the trainer. Just to mix it up, and keep the training a little more fun.

My goal was to do Cycle Oregon & be trained so that I could enjoy the experience, not just survive it... and I did. I was riding with my smile on.

Good luck!
Blueskies

p.s. Are your riding with a group? Is it an organized tour? Will you be carrying your own gear or have support? I ask because we're thinking about next year's vacations, and a bike tour is high up on the list of possibilities...

Thanks for the link, Blueskies. But the training plan costs $60 and shelling out more money isn't feasible right now. That goes for joining spinning classes, too. They cost. I do have an indoor trainer so I can get used to my new bike during the winter. I'm going to have to find some specific training plans for it. The tour is fully supported and is sponsored by WomanTours. They seem like a great organization.

My husband has one of these Conti trainer tires http://biketiresdirect.com/productde...COUHT&ssn=6066 and he's been quite happy with its performance on the trainer.

Beware that trainer riding can be boring and more diffcult than a road ride (you never get to coast on your trainer!) so putting in a long mileage ride may not be a great/desirable thing to do. The longest trainer ride I've ever tolerated was 2 hours and I didn't want to do it again any time soon. If you want to do very long trainer rides I'd suggest getting off and taking a good break every once in a while.

If you do want to keep track of mileage to keep with your training plan just set your bike computer up to pick up from the rear wheel - hopefully you have enough cable to get back there (my TT bike is set up this way - not sure why, but I bought it used and it was already like this). Of course a wireless model would be ideal.

I can't handle riding on a trainer. I got one, took it back and got some good winter gear instead. It need not cost you anything, since layering is really the way to go regardless. I always have cold hands and like mittens so I splurged on some lobster gloves and a helmet-friendly hat.

I am getting ready for a touring trip too (in Dec.) and find that 30 degrees and windy is a lot less painful than mind-numbing going-nowhere exercise indoors. But I get bored easily, and while it snows here it definitely doesn't get to minus 30! :eek:

Is your trip self-supported? I am feeling confident with my ability to put in a good number of miles each day but my big worry was doing that on a fully-loaded bike. I've been taking my bike to the grocery store, recycling center, etc. to work on that aspect, the store is a good workout when you are eating as much as I am!

I read that you can either start 'fit or fat' on trips like these, though, and in the end you will emerge fit regardless, you just have to give your body time to adapt to what you are asking it to do, either way, listen to pain, give yourself rest days and most of all enjoy it!

Anne

Wow...first, I'm envious! It sounds like a great trip. :)

I just started base building for the "off-season" <~~~not that we truly have one here in California. That means long, steady distance at a lower intensity than I would normally ride at. Most of my events are ultradistance (double centuries) so this should help with my endurance. Closer to the start of the season, I will begin to do some speedwork. You can accomplish all of this on the trainer (not promising it will be fun) but it can be done.