Mileage base question

[Catrin]

I am planning on a 200k brevet on October 16. What is a realistic mileage base to reach before then? I have hopes of getting to 110 by early October, am currently at 60 - next weekend hope to reach at least 66-68. Considering my speed (average about 13 right now), does my base really need to exceed 100 before the event?

My thought is that it would be good if possible, at least, once. I figure it would be helpful for my body to know what it feels like to spend that many hours in the saddle. Is it necessary though? I don't want to set myself up for a DNF because my base isn't high enough, but I want to have realistic training goals as well.

[DarcyInOregon]

You should do a full century over similar terrain as the brevet first. It is more than doing the mileage. It is about all of the things that can happen to the body during a long ride, how to recognize incipient signs of problems and what steps to take immediately to avoid having problems. You are over the age of 50, correct? It is different cycling for an older person than it is for a young person, and the older body may struggle with increased distance whereas a younger cyclist may not have any difficulties. You need to do a century first, to find out if anything will happen. It is a big difference between 60 miles and 100 miles.

[Catrin]

You should do a full century over similar terrain as the brevet first. It is more than doing the mileage. It is about all of the things that can happen to the body during a long ride, how to recognize incipient signs of problems and what steps to take immediately to avoid having problems. You are over the age of 50, correct? It is different cycling for an older person than it is for a young person, and the older body may struggle with increased distance whereas a younger cyclist may not have any difficulties. You need to do a century first, to find out if anything will happen. It is a big difference between 60 miles and 100 miles.

Certainly, I do understand that I need to do at least the century. Just wondering if I need to do MORE than the century before the brevet. I would like to do so if I can. I think my speed is good enough as long as my endurance will hang in there - but of course so far the longest I've been on the bike is 5 hours, and that is a long ways from 10-13. I am slow.

I have been trying very hard to not increase my mileage too quickly. However I was just looking at the calendar and pondering the number of weekends I have left before the brevet and wondering how realistic it will be for me to do more than a century prior to the event. I am hoping to do two 70-75 mile rides Labor Day weekend (a day between them).

As an aside, I did receive the RUSA handbook in the mail today, and it appears to have quite a few articles on preparing for the different brevet lengths.

[marni]

the general rule of thumb, I was told is that if you can do 75% of the distance over the same terrain but I think for oldsters or old farts or gray lionesses or whatever label you choose I would tend to think that if you can do 90% of the final total distance and do it without being totally devestated, you should be able to muster the distance on the day.

the one and only 120 mile ride I have ever done took 14 hours but by golly I did it. You can too. Good luck, ride long ride strong.

[DarcyInOregon]

Catrin, do the century first, then make the decision whether you need a longer ride or two before the brevet. You have to go out and do the miles and see what happens, then reassess. One example of what I mean by what happens to the body will be the wind. You can get out and do 60 miles, start early and be back before noon. Typically there is no wind or low wind in the am hours, so a metric is easy and fun to do in the morning hours. But around noon the wind starts to pick up, and depending on the weather and the region, the wind can pick up real fast and get strong and gusty. If you do a century, you will be doing the last 40 miles in the afternoon, and potentially riding into a headwind or encountering strong side gusts, all when you are getting increasing body fatigue due to distance. You need to find out what happens to your body fighting the wind for the last 30 miles, can you maintain your speed, or do you get increasingly more fatigued until the average speed drops, the time on the bike increases, the blood sugars drop, and so on. If you get a strong tailwind for the last miles, then stop and buy a lottery ticket on the way home because it is your day.

Also, on your schedule, allow time for rest before the longest rides, at least several days off the bike.

[OakLeaf]

It's true that wind has a LOT to do with it. So I would inflict some wind on yourself whenever you get a chance, just to mentally prepare for it.

I swear that my first TOSRV (flat and easy) was WAY harder than my first (and so far only) Columbus Fall Challenge (insanely hilly), and 90% of the reason was the wind. Wind is something that can happen on any ride, so you need to be mentally prepared for it, because (for me) it can really beat me down mentally.

As far as the distance, my longest ride before CFC last year (118 Saturday) was I think 105, maybe a couple of miles less (but I'd done several at that distance and difficulty in the weeks leading up to it). I also hadn't done back-to-back centuries all year. I was just short of 50 at the time and it wasn't the slightest problem. But then, we didn't have wind.