will i kill myself?

[Kiwiavenger]

not literally but heres my dilema

ive been cycling on and off to work for the last year and a bit, generally 2-3 days a week with a 20 mile extra loop thrown in every once in a while. my commute is 16 mile round trip. and for the last 2 weeks ive been doing this along with the odd trip to my dads so tagging another 8-10 miles on.

im organising and completing a charity bike ride starting tuesday next week going from bristol to lands end over 3 days with the first day being a 105 mile slog down to okehampton! up until this week my longest single distance is 24 miles with 1500 ft of climbing (in 1 1/2 hours) and longest in a day is 35 miles! do you reckon my base fitness will be enough to get me through? what can i do to make it easier on my poor body, im going to be taking cake and energy gells (hopefully with an electrolyte replenishment drink and a bottle of water) is there anything else i could do with? im getting a bit worried as my mate im doing it with has managed to get a lot more training in than me (he has a turbo and commutes religiously plus gym, football and sunday runs!) and just yesterday did a 60 mile run to cardiff.

help me please! and if anyone wants to tag along for the first leg then let me know

 

[amaferanga]

With your longest ride being only 35 miles I think you may really struggle. Your biggest concern might be comfort on the bike - saddle sores, etc. since you're not used to spending 8 hours or so on a bike in a day. You may make it through the first day, but the 2nd and 3rd days will be tough. Presumably day 2 and 3 are significantly shorter?

Only advice I could offer is to not try to be a hero and set off too hard. Take it easy and spend as much time as you can sitting behind your mate and drafting to save a bit of energy. And make sure you east little and often.

 

[Kiwiavenger]

cheers for that, the second and third day loop around quite a bit so if we are feeling it we can cut 10-15 miles or more off each day!

one bonus is that my mum is being our support driver and shes qualified in thai and swiss massage so can help work out lactic acid etc. i think sudocreme may have to become my new friend!

 

[Scilly Suffolk]

Good luck with the ride and I hope you raise lots of money.

Racking-up long distances is not so much about fitness (although that is obviously part of it) as time in the saddle, of which you have not had enough.

If you don't have fresh shorts for each day, then make sure that you wash them each night: warm, dark and sweaty is just how germs like it.

Use a chamois or nappy cream.

With three consecutive days of riding, you may find this piece useful.

 

[Kiwiavenger]

im hopefully gonna have a few pairs of shorts to choose from (however they are muddy fox ones!) i did do 25 miles before without padded shorts which was an experience in itself! im gonna spend a lot of nice easy time in the saddle today, thursday and possibly saturday afternoon too. no 20+ MPH runs for me this week just building up the time in saddle!

should i start carbing up from friday and then keep it topped up until/during the ride?

 

[Scilly Suffolk]

When I wrote "time in the saddle", I didn't mean "total accumulated", but "longest duration": five, twenty mile rides is not the same as one, one hundred mile ride.

There is nothing you can do in the space of a week that will make any difference, except possibly exhaust yourself. Any training programme would have you off the bike the week before a big event.

Your body can only store enough glycogen to sustain you for around 90 minutes, so bingeing for four days will have no effect other than laying down some fat.

I suggest you read the other articles on the blog I linked to, he offers straight-forward explanations and common sense advice.

Determination and the support of your fellow riders will see you through this one: get your head right and your legs will follow.

 

[Kiwiavenger]

i was planning on just riding tonight until i feel knackered then turning round and riding home just to see how long i can last in the saddle and use this as my last distance ride until the event. will keep ticking over by taking it easy on my commutes and by driving (gasp) on saturday and monday shifts so my legs are nice and rested!
going by your comments re carbing up i'll just limit it to monday and then porridge tuesday morning (with honey! lol) and then the gels etc.

 

[BrumJim]

Problem is that your head can play silly games with you. There is a difference between going from A to B, and trying to work out if you are knackered enough to turn round, but not enough to stop you getting home.

Problem won't be carb loading - your body can handle that and taking on board plenty of carbs is possible (IMHO). Its muscle tiredness.