HELP!!! Training for a HUGE ride

[Brandy]

Forgive me if I missed it, but what is the distance and elevation gain of your "HUGE" ride? Also, when is the ride?

As for changing from your compact crank to a triple, that could be costly as you would have to switch out your shifters as well. What kind of cassette are you running? It may be better to just switch that.

As for your 12 hour century, that should be more than do-able for the average person, even a beginner. I'm not super fast and I've done 12 hour double centuries. If you have worked your way up to 62 miles, then a century is a reasonable next step. How much elevation gain will there be? Everyone's definition of "hilly" is different.

[green]

did you really say "Our bike?"

Haha, yes, I just realized I did. I was just referring to me along with the rest of my team, since we all have the same bikes.

I'm impressed you can do 6mph. Sometimes all I can manage is 2 mph. I have had people passing by wonder how I could keep my balance going that slow.

But seriously, please listen to your body and PT. It takes building up endurance to spin up the hills. Please don't push yourself so hard that you kill your knees. I have a couple of friends who have had to have knee surgery already, and they're not even 35 yet. While they have resumed some of their activities, they regret not taking better care of their knees to start with.

Good luck, Green! Just do your best. You have already accomplished so much. I didn't do half of what you have already done my first year, but it was more than I had ever done previously, so I'm still very proud of what I was able to do then. You should be proud of what you've done too. I'll be cheering you on and looking forward to hear your stories about your future accomplishments.

Welcome to TE BTW!

~sgtiger

Thank you for the encouragement and welcome!

And, actually, I have gone about 3 mph up steep inclines. I seem to do a little better on hills, though.

Forgive me if I missed it, but what is the distance and elevation gain of your "HUGE" ride? Also, when is the ride?

It's a charity ride for cancer from Texas to Anchorage, Alaska. I know that sounds , but all of the past teams have made it, including people who had never been on road bikes before. There's two routes, and I'm doing the one that would go through the Rockies. I've heard that the Sierra/Coastal route has more steep uphills than Rockies does, though.

Our bike has a Shimano 10-Speed Cassette, 11-25T. I have no idea what that means...

And from what our fitness directors have been saying, they are thinking about having a 10-hour time limit on the century test. And it'll be through the Texas hill country.

The ride doesn't start until June 6th, which is kind of weird, since we're having the century test this early when we still technically have more than a month left before we leave. And it's also a little weird to have a hilly century test when the first weeks on the actual ride are pretty flat according to past riders... But I guess they just want us to be prepared.

I went on a hilly 23-mile ride the other day, and I was feeling fine. Just a little sore in the shoulders and back.

[tctrek]

My DH is known to take naps at the top of hills, while waiting for me

LOL!! I thought I was the only one that takes hills at 4mph with my DH waiting at the top snoring!

Green- 6 mph up a hill is darn good in my book! Take all this great advice and ride your own ride for the joy of being on your bike.

[Brandy]

It's a charity ride for cancer from Texas to Anchorage, Alaska. I know that sounds , but all of the past teams have made it, including people who had never been on road bikes before. There's two routes, and I'm doing the one that would go through the Rockies. I've heard that the Sierra/Coastal route has more steep uphills than Rockies does, though.

Our bike has a Shimano 10-Speed Cassette, 11-25T. I have no idea what that means...

And from what our fitness directors have been saying, they are thinking about having a 10-hour time limit on the century test. And it'll be through the Texas hill country.

Okay...that qualifies as huge.

As for your cassette...get yourself a 12-28. Call up your local bike shop, tell them what components you have and that you need either a 27 or 28. SRAM also makes a 11-28. That will make a good difference in your ability to spin a higher cadence and not be mashing up the hills. With the compact crank (what you have) I've never felt the need for more bailout gears in that combination.

My guess is that they want to see where you're at NOW, a month ahead of time so they can help you work on your weaknesses. It wouldn't make much sense to find out a week before you leave that you aren't capable of making the time cutoffs.

Honestly...even 10 hours is generous for a century, I think you will be fine. Keep your stops short, this is where people often make mistakes in distance riding. Finish your bottles as you get into your stops so you can refill and have two fresh bottles. Before your rest stops, have a plan. Pee, refill, eat and stretch if needed, back on the bike. Sitting down on these longer rides, filling up on rest stop food, yacking away with people...all fun things...have you out there and exposed to the elements longer than is necessary. The less time you're off the bike, the less time you're out there overall and the sooner (on the actual HUGE ride) you can start your recovery, which will be key to your overall success.

There are some tips on Ultradistance Riding here... http://epictrain.com/ultradistance.html

You might want to look into some compression tights (Skins, 2XU and Zoot make them) for the actual ride, changing into them each night after you finish your ride and sleeping in them will really aid in recovery.

Congratulations on taking on this HUGE challenge. I'm totally envious!

[BikeDutchess]

It's a charity ride for cancer from Texas to Anchorage, Alaska. I know that sounds , but all of the past teams have made it, including people who had never been on road bikes before. There's two routes, and I'm doing the one that would go through the Rockies.

I am very impressed that you're tackling this big challenge, good for you! Is there a blog or other website where we'll be able to track your progress & cheer you on?

[Trek420]

green,

is it this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4pFbSaLyfU

[green]

Thanks for all the tips, Brandy! That website is really useful.

green,

is it this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4pFbSaLyfU

It sure is! Pretty awesome, isn't it? Here's another one that basically sums up the whole summer's ride:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f__vLDEV6ag

I am very impressed that you're tackling this big challenge, good for you! Is there a blog or other website where we'll be able to track your progress & cheer you on?

Aw, thanks. The site is www.texas4000.org, and my profile and blog is http://www.texas4000.org/user/profile/10251

Now everyone knows who I am...

[Skierchickie]

Wow! Awesome! This could actually deserve the forbidden "epic" label! I'm veryveryvery jealous.

[maillotpois]

Wow - that is an amazing ride!! You got some great tips here. Pay attention to nutrition (experiment in your training to see what works for you during your long rides) and above all - try to have FUN!!

[alpinerabbit]

Try to catch them at this point and your riding days are over, done, you'll never ride again.

Texas to Alaska - honestly ??!

I would suggest you seriously re-think this.

[papaver]

Texas to Alaska - honestly ??!

I would suggest you seriously re-think this.

+1

I really don't think this is a good idea if you are a beginner. You can do more harm than good.

[crazycanuck]

Hey, hang on a minute...Why shouldn't the OP do the ride? If it's well thought out & if the team trains properly it could be a great ride. Even if the OP gets half way then she's accomplished something. Not only accomplished something but LEARNT something about long distance cycling as well.

I could be crazy....I'll go back to eating my strange quinoa...

[papaver]

Hey, hang on a minute...Why shouldn't the OP do the ride? If it's well thought out & if the team trains properly it could be a great ride. Even if the OP gets half way then she's accomplished something. Not only accomplished something but LEARNT something about long distance cycling as well.

I could be crazy....I'll go back to eating my strange quinoa...

I meant doing the full Texas Nebraska thing...

[shellkay1212]

WOW - this looks AMAZING! I, too, have really crummy knees. But I would sign up for this in a second!

Please keep us posted on your knee/training/riding!

[green]

Yes, my first reaction when I heard about the ride was that all of the people who did it were absolutely crazy, haha. But each team each year consist of mostly beginners. Really. A bunch of my teammates hadn't been on bikes since they were 10 years old. But the whole thing is definitely possible for beginners. It's the cause we're riding for that drives us.

So my therapist said I could start riding. The furthest ride I did before last Saturday was about 24 miles, and then we did a 75-80 mile team ride. I made it for 50, but I started feeling kind of light headed and blank (Like it was just the road, my bike, and me perpetually turning my legs). Maybe it's because I wasn't eating or drinking enough?

This Saturday's our century test, and we have a 10-hour time limit. Past team members have said that we're all ready for it and that the whole thing will be psychological above everything else (i.e., physical preparation, etc.). They said if we can do 20 miles, we can do 100. Which goes against everything I've ever read about training for a century.

After all this time, I still can't take my water bottle out and drink from it while I'm on my bike, so I think I'm just going to pause every 15 minutes to take a quick drink.

Does anyone have any other advice on riding a century? It shouldn't be THAT bad. I mean, it's like doing four 25-mile rides...right?