London to Paris

[option click]

I've been offered a place on a London to Paris ride in July.
Now I'm reasonably fit and can cope with a 50-60 mile road ride at a moderate pace.
This does leave me fairly useless the next day though.

This ride promises rides of between 60 and 90 miles a day - for four days.
What's the best way to build up to these distances?
I don't want to get halfway through day two or three and have to stop

Any suggestions?

[rico]

I'd imagine the main points are a proper warm down, stretching properly, fuel recovery and the right energy night before and in the morning.

[kiwisr]

And not overgearing.

[gazzab]

Go by train?
Someone I know did this (I thought it was less than 4 days) and he trained very very hard etc.... He loved it but said the professionals are amazing. He said it illed him and he wouldnt do it again though!

[Fixedwheelnut]

Gradually increase your mileage and try doing back to back rides of a similar distance, such as a 40 mile ride on a Saturday and a 40-50 mile the Sunday, have a midweek evening ride of thirty to forty miles.

Find someone to ride with, miles tick by faster in a group chatting.
By June you need to be doing back to back 60-70 mile rides on consecutive days and use these rides to get comfortable on the bike, saddle and handlebar position as it is this more than anything that will spoil the ride.

I can reccomend Brooks saddles once broken in they fit like a glove and are comfy all day long, as for the bars I use 'Specialise Bar Phat Wrap' tape it has small gel packs that fit under the tape to cushion the bars.

You may need to raise your handlebars for a slightly more upright position to ease neck strain, to help with this when on the ride as you look forward hold the head in different positions, i.e. hold the head to the left but still look ahead out of the right of your eyes and vice-versa the other way around, this helps use slightly different muscles in the neck for support.

You should be ok the London - Paris ride has varying speed groups and once you find a group at your speed you will find it much easier plus I think they have vans to carry your luggage etc. I think there are a few short hills in Kent and a few outside Paris but as rides go it is mainly flat.

[marcellus]

I did the London to Paris twice in 2005...the 1st was one of the organised charity rides over 3 days.......they prided themselves on making sure everyone completed.....there were people on it who I guess were 20+stone.....on mountain bikes that hadn't been serviced as we started I seriously doubted they would last...........came to the 1st slight hill (Denmark Hill) and they were off and walking...which did not bode well........3 noghts later I aplauded these same people as they arrived at the Eifel tower and suggest that the event was more of an accomplishment for them than it was for me...

You have to give the organisers the credit too...........they had organised stops every 10miles or so....the "leader" set a pace that he thought everyone could manage...they had a sweeper both on bike and in a car to help...several tour helpers spread throughout the group to offer support........they were concerned that the group I was doing it with decided to start sprinting for sign from the outset and thought we would burn ourselves out.....when we started sprints again on day 2 they had a quiet word and we agreed we could "play" in the afternoon but in the morning could we offer support to the riders that were struggling...........

the 2nd time was a whole different ball game......2 days!!


All of that said if you;re looking for a training programme check out this www.highwycombecc.org/training.html.

YOU basically should aim to be able to ride 80% of the daily distance on the number of consecutive days (iirc Paris is 200miles so if you can ride 40miles a day for 4 days you'll be fine)

Edited by marcellus on Friday 4th May 21:44