Lotoja 2013

[Catrin]

Wow! No advice, the longest I've ridden is 70 miles and I finished THAT ride injured...but have fun training for this! I know we have women on TE who have ridden that far and further, I am sure they will chime in as they notice this thread. Kudos for taking on this kind of challenge!

[kacie tri-ing]

Awesome! Sounds like fun!

I do plenty of very long distance stuff :-)

Most of us would say that back to back riding is important. You don't really need to do a 150 mile ride in preparation for a 200 mile ride. I do think doing back to back 100's (sat/sun) work well in preparation.

Elevation change is a tough one--hill repeats, hard gear intervals on the trainer, drive somewhere to ride real hills one time.

Work on some of your deep-in nutrition. I like coffee/chocolate covered coffee beans, rice krispy treats, etc.

Feel free to ask anything else!

[TigerMom]

Kerplunk....that's me falling on the floor in awe! I was tired after a relatively flat century (2900 feet elevation)

We can't wait to hear about your ride!

[cycle3]

Hey! I got into LoToJa too! This is my first time doing a ride this long and I'm nervous, but every year I wish that I had done it so I finally took the dive. Good luck, and I'd love to hear what kind of training plan you have. My main concern is nutrition....

[smilingcat]

I'll check with my BIL. I think he did the race with his squad. I know he has completed a similar ride from somewhere near Logan Ut and finished at Jacksonhole Wyoming. So that will be a similar ride. I think he was a strong cat 2 rider at that time.

If nothing else, I'll get his ride report and will let you know. Yes do several 12-14 hour rides. And do maintain a 200mi/wk training. Minimum of 8 hour ride on each weekend. Have to get your body used to riding 80-100 mile ride every week!! I've completed several 100+ mile timed rides. At some point in your ride, you are going to feel like DNF'ing and can't ride anymore, so be prepared with the mental games. When that happens, you may not like it but drop your speed and recouperate physically and mentally. And conserve your energy on downhill and recover. Spin going downhill so your muscle doesn't cramp up. And do be careful on the winding road.

[kacie tri-ing]

I'll check with my BIL. I think he did the race with his squad. I know he has completed a similar ride from somewhere near Logan Ut and finished at Jacksonhole Wyoming. So that will be a similar ride. I think he was a strong cat 2 rider at that time.

If nothing else, I'll get his ride report and will let you know. Yes do several 12-14 hour rides. And do maintain a 200mi/wk training. Minimum of 8 hour ride on each weekend. Have to get your body used to riding 80-100 mile ride every week!! I've completed several 100+ mile timed rides. At some point in your ride, you are going to feel like DNF'ing and can't ride anymore, so be prepared with the mental games. When that happens, you may not like it but drop your speed and recouperate physically and mentally. And conserve your energy on downhill and recover. Spin going downhill so your muscle doesn't cramp up. And do be careful on the winding road.

I knew people would have different advice, which is good! You will need to figure out what works for you. How much training do you need to feel good about a century? What kind of speed are you aiming for? Will you have people to ride with, and thus to work with, or will you be nose to the wind on your own?

I personally can't imagine doing a 14 hour ride in preparation for a 200 mile ride (that's what this is, right?). I have a 12 hour ride this weekend, but I am training for 2-person RAAM, which is much much longer. You might do 1-8 hour ride, but you don't need too much. You do want to go into your ride healthy, and not nursing any injuries, so you should pay real attention to recovery along the way.

I think that back to back centuries is plenty.

I would also through in that training your back/neck by good strength training is very very helpful. That is what gets tired on me first--but you can work on that .

[Skippyak]

13 hours is a pretty decent lotoja time, right, so why would you not want some training rides of a similar length? I would love to do this ride but I always think this needs to be a group thing and I can never find anyone who will do it LOL. Blokes a plenty full of bravado but they don't get in, i hear that women apply and women get in, so I have procrastinated. I remember talking to a woman who was doing 150 a week training and I thought that was really light, I often do that and I am training for nothing. Maybe next year. Quite a few girls from the shop ride I do did it last year but they didn't finish as a group. Are you who are in, riding alone? Citizen cat? Do you find co riders between now and the ride?