Training for endurance events - random tips from you long-distance gals?

[lph]

Ok, I'm finally about ready to start thinking about my Big Hairy Bike Goal, which is this endurance tour/race, 430 km/267 miles, lots of hills, very scenic, next summer round about now. I have a whole year to be annoyingly detailed and structured, but hey - I like planning

I think I have a handle on the bike training as such, not least from excellent tips given here, but I was thinking - what other tips would you give a newbie to this sort of thing? My last rock climbing trip went over 24 hours, and I learned a whole lot of stuff I didn't know from before, from regular all-day trips. So - what are the things you wish you had known but didn't, before your first endurance event?

Like: don't train just endurance, intervals are good too. Or, make sure you ride with someone, because at 2 am you're gonna be lonely and freaked out. Or - anything else you can think of that you wish someone had told you!

[Trek420]

Next summer? That's plenty of time for you, you'll do fine. I was thinking last minute like this thread ~ http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=13336&

Two words for you at this stage of the game: base miles.

I'd build a solid foundation of LSD (noooooo, not drugs. Long Slow Distance). In my humble slow, not strong on hills opinion add intervals and hills later on.

Oh wait, Norway, you don't have any flat rides As I recall Norwegians can make any event a race. "Last one to the sticky buns and hot chocolate hut at the top of the hill buys"

Have you talked to your local ALC rider D.o.Wheels? She told me that you're already a fast rider. To do longer rides and back to back centuries you'll need the ability to recover. I'd start now by building base fitness for distance with long rides.

Are you going to do "The Great Test of Strength"????

[SadieKate]

Is it a tour or a race? It would make a difference in my training.

What is the event?

[lph]

Well, I'm uncertain what to call it because almost all bike events here are called "tour races" in Norwegian, but are what I would call races - ie. competitive and timed. This one is a little more on the tour side for most participants, with short food and rest stops, but there is also a fairly large contigent that go flat out to win or get the best possible time. There are a few mandatory stops for these too.

I'm interesting in giving it my best shot, though I'm not extremely competitive. I'd want to pull my weight in a paceline, and get a decent finish time if possible.

It's Jotunheimen Rundt, pictures from this year here:
http://www.sognavis.no/bildeseriar/k...cle4445171.ece

Trek - no, not Trondheim-Oslo aka "the great test of strength". This one's supposed to be shorter, hillier, less crowded and much more beautiful :-)

[jobob]

Sounds wonderful! I'll poke around my collection and see what I could dredge up for you.

OK, I'm back.

The Ultramarathon Cycling Association (UMCA) website has a great deal of information on training for long-distance rides. Although a lot of emphasis on that site is on RAAM and other long distance endurance races, there is a lot of info on long-distance riding (randonneuring etc) and training in general.

Lots of good info can be found here:
http://www.ultracycling.com/training/training.html

[Pedal Wench]

I agree with Jobob (imagine that!) that the ultra cycling website is a wealth of good info. Also, there's a book called Long Distance Cycling that has tons of good stuff too.

I've found that you really need to do a few long, long rides to work out problems. I've done countless centuries, and a few really long rides. I have a bike that I've used on those centuries and a weeklong tour. But, on my first 300K on that bike, my knee started killing me at around 115 miles. Did more centuries on it no problem. I did a 300K on a different bike, no problem. Tried a 400K on that bike this weekend, and at around mile 175 the knee problem started again. (Had to DNF after 200 miles. )

Moral of the story: a bike that's fine for 100 miles might not be for 150, 200 miles. Same applies for saddle, shoes, shorts, etc.

[lph]

Lots of good info can be found here:
http://www.ultracycling.com/training/training.html

This is really a terrific website, thanks so much. Lots of focus on the little details AND the whole picture, and refreshingly little rah-rah you-can-do-this.

[Pedal Wench]

. Or, make sure you ride with someone, because at 2 am you're gonna be lonely and freaked out. Or - anything else you can think of that you wish someone had told you!

Oh - and that too. The ride I just did started at midnight, but we all stuck in groups until dawn. By the time I DNF'ed, I knew I would be riding alone that night too, and I really wasn't looking forward to that, especially on a holiday night. (rural roads, drunk drivers, solo cyclist don't mix well.)

Make sure your lighting is more than adequate. Again, in a group, it's not bad - you can use the light from the rider in front of you, and also have them to point out obstacles in the road. On your own, you want to see everything you can. I also like having a good helmet light to see whether that rustling on the side of the road is a squirrel or a monster.

Stop to wash your face. You'll feel like a new woman.

[maillotpois]

400 k or so is a good distance. I would definitely work up to it, brevet style, and do a few 200ks, then a 300k about a month before the main event. When I did my 600k, I had no clue what I was doing, but it went fine. When I did my 300 and 400k a year or so later I was a lot better prepared. Anyway, here are some things that worked and didn’t work for me on my 600k:

Great planning:

Extra pair of shorts to change into and put the old ones on over the new ones at the 100 mile to go mark
The hotel room at the 100 mile to go mark instead of the out and back half way point – good timing
Hooked up with some people for the 10 pm to 4 am stretch. May be more of a concern for a woman than a man (it was a sketchy place from a safety perspective), but the company in those hours was welcome regardless.
A small roll of duct tape allowed me to patch unexpected hole in shorts.
One of those astronaut foil emergency blankets (I am a backpacker at heart)
Ride to the next controle. Period.

Not so great:

Brought too much food – literally POUNDS too much food.
Way too many tubes and CO2s brought, but this was a completely unsupported ride with no bike shops at the controles or on the route – you never know. I’d probably do that again.
Tested a light system for the first time that did NOT work (the mizuno spacebar which broke and almost cost me my $500 Nite rider moab). Fortunately brought back up helmet mount for said light. Aces.

More points:

- Don't underestimate the last 100 miles. The last part of the ride was all "home territory" for me, and I never thought it would take me 11 hours to ride 110 miles, but it did!

- Things that hurt now may not hurt later. Keep riding.

- It is ALMOST all mental. Your body can keep going (granted not at its highest level) for a very long time. It's your mind that it going to talk you out of or into it.

- What you like to eat at mile 150 may make you throw up at mile 210.

[Pedal Wench]

I had decided not to mess with CO2 and just brought a mini-pump. The route was very hilly and I just didn't want to carry all the CO2 my cautious mind wanted.

As MP said, don't be surprised at how long it takes you. You have to go into these rides with a different mindset - what you can do on a century is entirely different once you load up your bike with all the extra gear, lights, batteries, etc. that you'll need. Don't get disappointed with how long it's taking.

She's also perfectly correct about your mind. I was ready to go back after 100 miles, for no apparent reason than I wasn't "feeling" it. I'm glad I moved on, even though I did give up when my knee blew up.

[andtckrtoo]

- It is ALMOST all mental. Your body can keep going (granted not at its highest level) for a very long time. It's your mind that it going to talk you out of or into it.

+200

Know there will be times when your mind is ready to call it quits and be prepared with ways to deal with it. Maybe it's just as mindless as counting the trees or whatever - just something to work your way through the times when you just don't think you can pedal one more stroke.

[lph]

couple of comments:
[QUOTE=maillotpois;443198] 400 k or so is a good distance. I would definitely work up to it, brevet style, and do a few 200ks, then a 300k about a month before the main event. ]

This sounds like very sound advice. I'd be tempted to skip the longest training ride, but I know that that's probably where the unknown elements are lurking.

[Extra pair of shorts to change into and put the old ones on over the new ones at the 100 mile to go mark]

[The hotel room at the 100 mile to go mark instead of the out and back half way point – good timing]
I didn't understand this, what was this for? Could you choose rest stops?

[- Don't underestimate the last 100 miles. The last part of the ride was all "home territory" for me, and I never thought it would take me 11 hours to ride 110 miles, but it did!]
Yup, that's just what happened on my recent climbing trip. I might as well have crawled on my hands and knees up the last pitches...

[maillotpois]

Re the hotel - that was for a 600k brevet. You can pretty much choose your rest stops (aside from designated check in points). I am not sure how that jives with your event and what your event's rest stops are, designated or otherwise. But my take away from mine was that it was good planning to delay the rest/sleep stop as long as possible and get as many miles in before that.