Little Red Riding Hood-Utah

[Flybye]

Hi. I am SOOOOOOOO new to riding. I got hooked last year riding my DH's mountain bike everywhere for exercise (I have lost 50 pounds, yeah me, bye bye baby fat!!) because my foot got hurt. In January, I got my first road bike and I am addicted, fine line between a hobby and a mental illness (I can say that, I am a Social Worker ) Anyhow, I am up to 24 miles on my training and want to register for the LRRH ride in Utah. Do you know if I register for the 38 miler and want to do the 64 b/c I am feeling great that day and doing great, can I??? Are the T-shirts different for each ride? I wouldn't want to ride 64 miles and get a 38 mile shirt How long did it take all of you to get to a 64 miler (or a 50 miler)?
Thanks - Cindy

[AuntieK]

Hi Flybye,
LRRH is a lot of fun! I hope you'll join us.
As far as I know the t-shirts are the same for all the distances (they were last year). Also, I think that registering for a certain distance is just so the organizers can know what to expect as far as food goes (how much to have at each stop). I don't think it would be a big deal to go further than what you signed up to do.
BTW, I signed up for the 64 miler last year. It ended up really being almost 70 miles. The last few miles are a killer if you're not expecting them, so be forewarned. My ride time (not including food stops) was just under 4 hours.

[Flybye]

How realistic is it to sign up for the 64 miler when my top ride now is 24? I could have gone further on this ride, but didn't.
Thanks!

[sulis]

Hi Flybye

Welcome to TE. I think 64 is definitely doable. I rode the ULCER a few years ago as my first ever organized ride. I had not even trained and my max miled as probably 20 miles. I had no problem riding the half century...well I was a bit sore the next day. But with rest stops every 15 miles or so, there was time to get off the bike, stretch eat. If you find a trianing plan online and ride different mileage during the week, I think you will be fine for the metric by June 2nd. And remember, its a ride, not a race. You can take as long or as short as you want to to ride it. The fab guys at BBTC won't leave you out there alone on the course. You'll also probably end up riding with other ladies at your speed. Go ahead and register for the longer ride. Let that day determine how far you actually go. LRRH is a great first organized ride.

[jobob]

Yep, what sulis said, you can certainly do the 64 miler if you start training now.

The key is to gradually increase the distance you ride over the next 6 weeks.

The general rule of thumb is to increase by about 10% or so each week. The other rule of thumb I've seen (where did they come up with that term anyhow?) is that if you can comfortably do about 75% of your target distance before the ride, you'll be fine. So you'll want to be able to do about 50 miles at one time by the end of May.

You say you're up to about 24 miles right now, so here's a sample plan (assuming you do your long ride on Saturday). It's not exactly a 10% increase per week but close enough.

4/21: 28 miles
4/28: 32 miles
5/05: 36 miles
5/12: 40 miles
5/19: 45 miles
5/26: 50 miles
6/2: LRRH

Also, during the rest of the week you should try to fit in two or three 5 mile rides (gradually increasing one or more of those to about 10 miles) so you don't do just one single long ride one day a week.

Hope this helps! - Jo.

[SadieKate]

The other rule of thumb I've seen (where did they come up with that term anyhow?) . . . .

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/307000.html

[jobob]

Thank you dear.