How do I increase my distance as a beginner?

[CXRAndy]

If you can ride 30 miles in reasonable comfort then 80 is more than doable.

You just break it in to 3 sessions.

Just over 7 hours riding at 11mph. Ride 2 hours have a 15 min break, again, again and a final hour. fuel and drink all the time. Use the breaks to relax,maybe a little stretching. All together about 8 hours.

Now if you can fit it into daylight hours before Christmas is the question. Its like 7-8 hours of daylight available.

 

[nickyboy]

As you don't know how to fix a puncture you really need to learn. It's by a long way the commonest problem you could experience with your bike.

Look it up on YouTube and follow their advice. Do it two or three times at home or until you feel confident you could fix the puncture outdoors without holding yourself up for ages

 

[cambsno]

Again, I would say do in Spring. Until the summer I had only every done 7 miles too and from work, bar the occasional trip on a pub crawl which was up to 25 miles but that was with lots of stops and spaced over a lot of hours! I started going out on my hybrid and knocked out a 12 miler, then a 20 miler, then a 36 miler (local to you - Longstanton to Ely). Went on a longer one which was about 45 miles and then got my road bike. Have since done 3 rides of just over 50 miles, the last was tough as was to Haverhill and lots of hills on way there. Plus I left to late so was starting to get dark when close to home.

If you can do 30 miles now, then 40 is a no brainer, and 50 should be easily doable and then just build up adding 10 miles each time. I am planning in the spring to do similar and a 1 way ride to London.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Here’s a route I rode this month, about 3 days before Lockdown 2. The section from Cambridge to Kings Lynn is 56 miles. It passes through Ely, Downham Market, and Watlington all of which are on the Kings Lynn - Cambridge railway line if you run out of puff and decide to stop early.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34570776

There are two sections of easy gravel. Passing through Wicken fen and the approach into Ely. Which you can ride on road bike if you’re comfortable with it or work out an alternate if not.

At your average speeds that is around 5 hours riding, which will enable it to be done in daylight this time of year with time for some stops or to deal with punctures.

You don’t need to book your bike, on the Kings Lynn - Cambridge line.

 

[PK99]

Hello everyone! I'm Lizzy and (like lots of people) took up riding around Easter time. I currently ride about 3-4 times a week between 20 and 30 mile distances (I'm from Cambridgeshire so its very flat) at a speed of about 11-13mph. I ride a Boardman ladies hybrid 8.6 womens bike. I have a goal of cycling 80 miles (from Cam-Norwich as a one off surprise, no time limit just don't want to be riding in the dark) before Christmas but I'm unsure if I'd be able to make it? I is something that realistically I could just bash out (like climbing Ben Nevis - its a slog but its not going to kill you) or am I way overestimating what is possible? Please can I have some advice? I'm a bit nervous as if I get stuck there is no one who can come and get me - I really love cycling but I'm a bit clueless...! Thank you in advance

Split it up into manageable chunks: rest, and eat between the chunks.

25 miles
eat snack
25 miles
eat lunch
30 miles
Malt or grape-based recovery drink
Job done

 

[HLaB]

Hello everyone! I'm Lizzy and (like lots of people) took up riding around Easter time. I currently ride about 3-4 times a week between 20 and 30 mile distances (I'm from Cambridgeshire so its very flat) at a speed of about 11-13mph. I ride a Boardman ladies hybrid 8.6 womens bike. I have a goal of cycling 80 miles (from Cam-Norwich as a one off surprise, no time limit just don't want to be riding in the dark) before Christmas but I'm unsure if I'd be able to make it? I is something that realistically I could just bash out (like climbing Ben Nevis - its a slog but its not going to kill you) or am I way overestimating what is possible? Please can I have some advice? I'm a bit nervous as if I get stuck there is no one who can come and get me - I really love cycling but I'm a bit clueless...! Thank you in advance

You'll do the distance no problem, especially on the terrain down here. But given you've not done the distance before I'd wait till the new year when it starts getting lighter so you are less hurried more relaxed. Hopefully in the new year you also don't have to worry about that wind, although at weekend Cambridge to Norwich would have been a turbo boost tail wind

 

[mjr]

Here’s a route I rode this month, about 3 days before Lockdown 2. The section from Cambridge to Kings Lynn is 56 miles. It passes through Ely, Downham Market, and Watlington all of which are on the Kings Lynn - Cambridge railway line if you run out of puff and decide to stop early.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34570776

There are two sections of easy gravel. Passing through Wicken fen and the approach into Ely. Which you can ride on road bike if you’re comfortable with it or work out an alternate if not.

The obvious tarmac alternate is Milton to Landbeach, Cottenham, Wilburton, Witchford and Ely. The B road from Cottenham to Wilburton is mediocre due to the motorists but best of a limited number of river crossings IMO.

I'm not sure I'd bother with the Ouse bank section while Welney WWT is closed. I think I would go Ely-Littleport-Ten Mile Bank instead but I think there is not much in it.

 

[LucretiaMyReflection]

I've done Ely to Norwich before and rides out of Cambridge. Good idea on the Cambridge excursions extending the distance, however if you're anything like me, may be vary the routes a bit as you might get fed up tackling the same roads over and over again.
Bear in mind the Newmarket section is lumpy, as are some of the bits into Norwich.

 

[valh]

Hey fellow riders I tend to ride long on the flat no hills as of late , what type of change would this bring to my legs without hills? Any toning?

 

[si_c]

80 miles is doable based on your current weekly riding - it may not be comfortable towards the end as you'll likely get some aches from your posterior. The riding you've done so far would suggest that you're plenty fit enough to do that distance tomorrow if you wanted to, it won't be easy, but you'll look back having done it and think it wasn't so hard after all.

The biggest things to be aware of are that you always ride slower in the winter than in the warmer months and on longer rides you inevitably slow down towards the end of the ride as you get tired. Pacing is important on rides of this distance as well - you need to get used to starting slower as if you ride at you usual pace for 20miles at the start you'll burn out before you get to the end and that just makes for miserable riding.

Others have already mentioned that planning food is also important - it is - you need to assume that you will need to stop to eat at least once, even if you just take some sandwiches and snacks. Look at your route to make sure you are near shops in case you need some emergency chocolate and coke.

Lastly, especially at this time of year, you need to plan what you intend to wear - the weather is much more changeable than during summer, and if you get wet you'll get much colder, so having appropriate winter clothing is important.

These are of course things to consider for yourself, you still need to make sure you have lights - if you get a puncture you could easily lose half an hour or more if you're unfamiliar with changing an inner tube - so you will likely be riding during dusk/dark. If the weather is cloudy it gets much darker than summer towards 4pm. This is less of a problem if you are riding on urban roads as they tend to be relatively well lit however country lanes necessitate a good lighting setup.

My suggestion would be to get used to doing rides for a couple of hours from say 3pm so you get used to riding into the darkness. This will get you used to the conditions you are likely to encounter, you won't then stress as it starts to get darker. I'd also suggest leaving earlier than you might have intended - 7am would be a good start time, you'll start in darkness but as it starts to get lighter that always brings a mood boost.

 

[DCBassman]

My suggestion would be to get used to doing rides for a couple of hours from say 3pm so you get used to riding into the darkness.

Or, as I said up there ^^^ somewhere, start in the dark with a view to finishing before it gets dark again.

 

[si_c]

Or, as I said up there ^^^ somewhere, start in the dark with a view to finishing before it gets dark again.

Agreed, but I did say that I find sometimes though that the idea of riding into the darkness is disconcerting to a lot of people - Mrs C really doesn't like the idea of it - but doing it a few times normalises it and makes it less of a concern. Doing a longer day ride like this with little margin for daylight in winter really exposes you to the possibility that you will have to ride as it starts to go dark - especially if you suffer a puncture.

 

[mjr]

Hey fellow riders I tend to ride long on the flat no hills as of late , what type of change would this bring to my legs without hills? Any toning?

As long as you're riding into the wind sometimes and not always riding crosswinds or timing your rides to avoid headwinds, surprisingly little difference IMO (as I've lived on the edges of the Mendips and the fens).

 

[valh]

I do my best to vary my rpms and times. I went to the gym and did 12k in 30 mins couple days ago.. heading back to try smash a longer ride. My legs feel stronger but I can honestly say they don’t appear to be changing as such. Mind you this has only been a couple weeks of routine so clearly needs to be a little longer

 

[mjr]

If you actually want to train rather than tour, I suggest trying some sort of interval training tool like RunnerUp on Android and putting in a plan from someone who knows what they're doing - which isn't me! I'm just a tourist trying to keep fit, not tone up or anything like that.