Training for epic tour mileage advice?

[Wheelspinner]

It's about hanging in for long multi day tours. 31 days is huge, I would expect the OP will find a huge fitness leap if he can pace the first couple of weeks

This is the bit I'm concerned about. The first 7 days straight before a rest day are all between 110 and 155 km. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right!?!?

 

[N0bodyOfTheGoat]

All this talk of gearing, 34/34 means when I was ~83Kg, I still had to generate approx 300-320W to turn the pedals over while climbing the steep section near Peniel (on the 6.9 mile 1200foot Road To Hell climb), which maxes out near 20%.
https://www.strava.com/segments/32769421

At 96Kg these days, I make far more use of 26/36 on my hybrid on climbs than I used to 3+ years, when I was 80-83Kg.

If you're lighter, you can get away with a smaller dinner plate sprocket for steeper climbs.

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

1100m climbing average per day sounds low if you are riding through the Alps? A single HC or Cat 1 climb would eat that up (appreciate it is average so some days may be double that and others fairly flat). Not done anything quite as long but have done 5-10 day big events like Raid Pyrenean. Lots of good advice already but to add some thoughts below:

- With the sheer volume of riding on the tour, I would add to your current monthly total. You are going to be doing 600+ km a week for a month or so if my maths is correct. This is huge and the accumulated fatigue (even if you ride at low intensities) will be massive. I would be looking at building up to 1200km a month at least.
- As others have said, get in long back to back rides of 100km with the required climbing metre's. Book a few long weekends where you can do 3 or 4 consecutive hard days to get used to it.
- climb as many hills as you can, get in days where you are doing way more than needed , 2000 or even 3000 metres to get your body used to it. Also, climb in as hard a gear as you can. When it comes to the tour this means you can ride within your limits in easier gears.

The biggest factor aside from fitness will be recovery, this means as much sleep as you can get and as much food as you can muster. Such a long period of cycling will burn through calories, far more than you think. Hydration is also massive in recovery and having a good routine for eating/drinking and sleeping will be hugely important.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I think more that if you need an even lower gear than that for a 10% hill, then you're going to really struggle to complete 100km/1000m+ climbing day in, day out for weeks.

I really doubt that you can determine someone's endurance over multiple weeks on the basis of what gear they choose for a single hill.

 

[Legs]

The biggest factor aside from fitness will be recovery, this means as much sleep as you can get and as much food as you can muster. Such a long period of cycling will burn through calories, far more than you think. Hydration is also massive in recovery and having a good routine for eating/drinking and sleeping will be hugely important.

On the tour itself, yes, but as the earlier posters testify (particularly those who advocate minuscule gearing), losing a healthy amount of weight beforehand (if that's what you mean by 'the chassis' not being in such good nick) would make life much easier.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

...

I really doubt that you can determine someone's endurance over multiple weeks on the basis of what gear they choose for a single hill.

Maybe, but I stand by that comment: if you can't go up a steady climb of 10% in 34x32 then you're very likely (not certain) to struggle with multiple days of significant climbs at that gradient regardless of gearing.

 

[Dogtrousers]

...

Maybe, but I stand by that comment: if you can't go up a steady climb of 10% in 34x32 then you're very likely (not certain) to struggle with multiple days of significant climbs at that gradient regardless of gearing.

And if you can ... you aren't?

It seems a bizarre and, dare I say pointless, test. If you want a quick test of someone's ability to do lots of long climbing days, wouldn't their ability to do a whole day or two days be a better comparison? Regardless of gearing.

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

On the tour itself, yes, but as the earlier posters testify (particularly those who advocate minuscule gearing), losing a healthy amount of weight beforehand (if that's what you mean by 'the chassis' not being in such good nick) would make life much easier.

Yes, I meant on the Tour!

 

[CXRAndy]

...

Maybe, but I stand by that comment: if you can't go up a steady climb of 10% in 34x32 then you're very likely (not certain) to struggle with multiple days of significant climbs at that gradient regardless of gearing.

You can make a 10% gradient (which is not easy by any means) far easier by having much lower gearing. Being able to sit a easily spin up 10-15% gradients with gearing that allows for it, will enable said rider to maintain that lower level of exertion to be able to recover each evening and overnight. If a rider has to go deep and ends up with destroyed legs, it could compound into excess fatigue he can't recover from overnight

The distances and elevation a manageable even at steady pace of 9-10mph average.

 

[Jameshow]

We all know or should that spinning up a hill is less physically challenging than grinding. The muscles fibres don't take as much of a battering. The glycogen stores aren't as depleted. Therefore the recovery for the next day is less demanding.

I'm only talking from my own experience of 7 day tours in Tenerife, there are many here who make my cycling achievements look piddly 😁

I trained to spin at 85rpm for 2-4 hours when climbing Teide. The following day my legs felt fresh, not heavy.

At the end of the week we were asked how we felt the weeks riding had gone and how tough the group felt the days riding had been.

I felt really good, I paced the climbs to cadence and HR riding just in upper Z2, never pushing beyond and sometimes dialling back to near Z1 when needing a breather

It's about hanging in for long multi day tours. 31 days is huge, I would expect the OP will find a huge fitness leap if he can pace the first couple of weeks

Definitely.
I have to remind myself to spin, rather than grinding on tour. What you might do on a Challenging evening session isn't the best idea on a tour.

Riding the Leeds Liverpool canal two weeks time I'm going to have to remind myself to ride very steady. 12mph average. So 15mph max.
Eating to crucial tbh. But with continental bakeries that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Wheelspinner]

On the tour itself, yes, but as the earlier posters testify (particularly those who advocate minuscule gearing), losing a healthy amount of weight beforehand (if that's what you mean by 'the chassis' not being in such good nick) would make life much easier.

:-) I'm 184cm and about 77 kg now, probably aiming for 75 as my ideal minimum. The "chassis" damage is just that - (badly) worn joints, crash damage, dodgy repairs and general getting older decrepitude. I've been told by more than one neuro or orthopaedic surgeon that a lifetime of active participation in a load of sports has only accelerated that deterioration well beyond typical status for someone my age. First round of CT scans I had done in my late twenties on my spine had the specialist querying whether he'd been given the correct film images as he assumed the pictures were of someone in their 60s, not me.

A fractured neck in a bike crash at 50 led to a vertebral fusion. Bad idea. Significant lumbar spondolysthesis occasionally goes bad enough to give me severe sciatica. Carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands. Major degenerative changes at several levels of thoracic and cervical spinal joints. Periodically I get peripheral radiculopathy down both arms from the neck problems, which is somewhat manageable with careful exercise and therapy. My physiotherapist and chiropractor are both on speed dial on my phone. I last played tennis 6 years ago because my shoulder won't take it any more, not tried a full round of golf in a decade, and miss running *a lot*. I do loads of walking, but even slow running does more harm than good. Oddly though, I can still ride a bike fairly comfortably.

I am genuinely concerned that I don't really have that many years left where I'll even be vaguely capable of tackling a challenge like this tour, and if I don't give it a crack now, I might never. I retired several years ago, and am lucky enough I can (probably) afford the time and money to do this.

I'll try ramping up the efforts and see how I go. I was just curious what might be a sensible volume target to aim for in preparation, as I've no benchmark for something like it. My aim will be to enjoy and finish it "comfortably", rather than just survive the ordeal.

 

[Tigerbiten]

Your joints sound how a lot of mine feel .....

Oddly though, I can still ride a bike fairly comfortably.

Same here, but mines a recumbent trike rather than a bike.

I've done 6 muti-month cycle camping tours. Cannot do them any more, my bad back means I cannot get in/out of the tent without the pain in it getting a lot worse.
I used to train for them by mostly doing around 80% of expected distance, with some shorter/longer days for variety.
I had 7-8 loops around home I could go around, so never did the same ride 3 times in a row.
For more variety I had a set of slow tyre I could swap on for some ride, that way I worked harder.
I also fully loaded the trike down with the camping gear on some rides, again upping my power output on a "standard" loop.
But the most important thing is you keep it "fun", once it becomes a slog you'll back off.

As for "spinning", I learnt to do that by telling myself "I need to keep a light pedal pressure".
So no upping the pedal pressure when I got to a hill, change down instead.
After a few month of doing that, it became second nature and I finally worked out my ideal cadence was around 70-80 rpm.
I may reach 85 rpm when hyper fit, but trying to "spin" at 100 rpm is just waste of energy.
I now keep a light pedal pressure at all times now as this puts a lot less stress/stain on my knees.
So no more powering up hills, but doing this lets me cycle for longer before they start to hurt.

Luck ...

 

[Psamathe]

.

I am genuinely concerned that I don't really have that many years left where I'll even be vaguely capable of tackling a challenge like this tour, and if I don't give it a crack now, I might never.

Similar to my own view. I'm late 60's and enjoy touring but also feel that if I stop, that's it, very difficult to restart. As one gets older easy to lose muscle but a lot lot harder to get it back.

Ian