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.

[Catrin]

Thanks, this is helpful!

[maillotpois]

You don't have to do a specific mileage in order to hit an event target. The general rules are good benchmarks, but nothing's set in stone and a lot has to do with how mentally prepared you are to tackle the event (part of which is certainly helped by getting some good long rides under your belt) and how the day of the event goes for you.

[Crankin]

I agree with Maillotpois. There are so many things that you need to consider when planning such a long ride. And at least 50% of it is mental. I've only done one century (4 years ago), with pretty much no training, other than the normal riding I do, which is riding lots of hills. While this century is billed as one of the easiest on the east coast, what they don't tell you is that on the return trip, there is a vicious headwind, as it's by the coast. Add in a torrential downpour and 20 degree temperature drop at mile 85, it was a recipe for disaster. But, I knew I could do it, and I wasn't going to quit. Sure I felt a little out of it that night, but I have had the same feeling after a hard 40 mile ride.
So plan, prepare, and ride, but don't over analyze. You'll either do it or you won't, and even if you don't finish, you will have achieved something pretty awesome.

[DarcyInOregon]

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.

True. Every century I've done, the wind has come up, and combine wind with extreme heat or cold/rain, it is the nastiest. It is always around mile 60. It is an effort to maintain cadence, the speed drops, the fatigue sets in. One century I did, going in to that headwind, I had to stop about every 3 miles in the shade because the wind was sucking the moisture right out of me. Riding in such conditions zaps a cyclist mentally and physically.

All sorts of stuff happens between miles 60 and 80. On one century I did this year a male cyclist who had passed me at mile 19 had a heart attack at mile 64.

Catrin, do a century. At the end of the century ask yourself, "could I have ridden 125 miles today?" If the answer is yes, there you go. If no, then you need to do more centuries. You can ask the same question of yourself at mile 90 too.

[Catrin]

Yesterday's long ride was a bit more difficult than recent long rides, and it finally dawned on me that it was due to the wind (and likely to a nutritional experiment). I made reference to the wind in another post yesterday. I guess that I've fallen into the habit of starting my long rides quite early in the day to beat the heat, and typically finish between noon and 1:00.

Yesterday I got started later than usual, about 9 or so, so it was closer to 2:00 when I finished. That wind was kicking my a** and my flat road speeds had dropped from about 15 to 10 mph. Even the fast boys weren't disappearing as quickly as normal.

Sounds like it is time to get a bit more sleep on Saturday morning and get out there later to get the benefit of the wind "trainer"

[DarcyInOregon]

Riding as much as possible during the winter months is also good training for riding in strong wind conditions.

Always look at the temp and wind on the weather forecast before setting out on a ride. The forecast will tell you from which direction the wind will be and how strong it will be blowing. One trick I do during the ride is I look at flags whipping in the breeze so that I know the direction of the wind and then when the direction changes. Just because the forecast says the wind that day will be from the northwest doesn't mean it will blow from the northwest consistently. Farmers love to have flagpoles in their yards so there are lots of flags to see. There are more flags when going through the small rural towns. How much the flags are whipping in the breeze is a good clue to how fast the wind is.

Think back on your ride yesterday. On a long ride the wind comes up around mile 60, more or less, and then picks up tempo and can be real gusty by mile 80. So on yesterday's ride, could you have ridden another 40 miles in the wind to have completed a century? And could you have ridden another 65 miles to have completed a brevet?

[Catrin]

Think back on your ride yesterday. On a long ride the wind comes up around mile 60, more or less, and then picks up tempo and can be real gusty by mile 80. So on yesterday's ride, could you have ridden another 40 miles in the wind to have completed a century? And could you have ridden another 65 miles to have completed a brevet?

Of course not, last weekend was the first time that I've ridden 60 miles but my mileage base is increasing

Thanks for your comments, and for everyone else who has commented on this. I just wasn't sure if I need to do more than a century prior to the brevet and it is obvious that I need to do so if at all possible. The adventure continues

[crazycanuck]

Catrin, I have to agree with MP on the mental aspect of long rides. I am training for a mtb 100km event & whilst wind won't be an issue..The ability to keep mentally fresh after 60km to do 10km of really tech singletrack is. For me, it's the exact timing of my nutrition that matters.

No matter what you do to prepare, think about how you'll push yourself through the wind or whatever.

Keep up the good training work!

I'm doing a 200k the weeend after yours...(Trekhawk possibly too..)

[Catrin]

Catrin, I have to agree with MP on the mental aspect of long rides. I am training for a mtb 100km event & whilst wind won't be an issue..The ability to keep mentally fresh after 60km to do 10km of really tech singletrack is. For me, it's the exact timing of my nutrition that matters.

No matter what you do to prepare, think about how you'll push yourself through the wind or whatever.

Keep up the good training work!

I'm doing a 200k the weeend after yours...(Trekhawk possibly too..)

I've been thinking about the mental aspect of long rides since Saturday, MP's comment was well timed. I did see some of this Saturday, I seriously considering pushing for a few more miles just to do it - but didn't like how the clouds were piling up into what looked like thunderstorm configuration (which never came).

Thanks for the encouragement, and it is good to hear what events others are training for. Good luck on your mountain bike event, that does sound like fun, and a challenge as well!