How do you prepare for a long ride / sportive?
Discussion
My tips are to make sure you have plenty to eat (and nothing new on the day) with something every small every 20-30 minutes if possible. Don't go too fast at the start of ride London as everyone will be flying with adrenaline and enjoy the sites / novelty.
Malt loaf, jaffa cakes, home made rice cakes and flap jacks are my preference and keep gels for emergencies and the last few miles.
Malt loaf, jaffa cakes, home made rice cakes and flap jacks are my preference and keep gels for emergencies and the last few miles.
London to Brighton- too many people to do it fast unless your starting stupidly early. Just enjoy the atmosphere and watch out for erratic riding skills. I came very close to getting taken out (by a guy who should have known better squeezing past on an expensive road bike rather than a £100 Halfords special type) luckily I was on a MTB and managed to bunny hop a traffic island and avoid hitting the deck. Ditchling beacon isn't too bad but it can get so clogged up with people walking up it that you might be forced to walk anyway. Wouldn't worry about "tapering" for it just use it as a training ride. I hope you've got transport home sorted too ;-)
Edited by lufbramatt on Tuesday 12th June 11:10
The L2B is a doddle.
Some good pub stops on the way. Don't rush it, it's just a good laugh and a day out.
The forecast is pretty much perfect for this weekend (cooler than last year thankfully......that was a biatch). One of the official rest stops (just under half distance) is at a pub that serves beers even at 9am
RESULT!
6am start for me and me pal this year!
Some good pub stops on the way. Don't rush it, it's just a good laugh and a day out.
The forecast is pretty much perfect for this weekend (cooler than last year thankfully......that was a biatch). One of the official rest stops (just under half distance) is at a pub that serves beers even at 9am
RESULT!6am start for me and me pal this year!
lukefreeman said:
One gram of carbohydrate, per kg, per hour.
Personally I think this is way too much for 99% of us, I know it gets quoted a lot as a rule of thumb but there are two things to remember, firstly 60g is the maximum the body can absorb, process, whatever, therefore to require even 60g per hour would impy that you are working at a very high threshold, that you actually needs the maximum that your body can process, and that your body is atuned to process it. You cant dump 60g of carbs in anyone and expect their stomach and intestine to process it efficiently if they are not used to it. Even the likes of High5 and SiS go with the 60g and they are trying to flog the stuff. Secondly it doesnt take into account any stored energy in the body. Its nothing personal, i just think its dangerous to quote stuff like this as a one size fits all IMHO. If you are racing then I get it, your body is used to the intensity and the processing cycle. If its a sportive or a long distance ride at a conservative pace, I think somewhere between 30g and 60g is ideal based on weight, intensity and distance. I've seen people finishing sportives feeling broken because they think they have really pushed themselves but in reality, they are suffering from a bloated stomach full of undigested carbs.
Dr Murdoch said:
Cheers that sounds sensible. I'm going to 80 tomorrow and 25 on Thursday and Friday.
Start upping my carb intake on Friday.
I wouldn't do any of them, if I wanted a good ride on Sunday. If I was planning a big ride, one where I wanted to be able to say I was able to push myself, then any of those three would leave me with that tired leg feeling, and I would want to have fresh legs for Sunday. 80 miles is a good distance, which leaves my legs needing 2-3 days to recover. The two 25 miles, there is too much chance to push yourself which again would leave my legs wanting recovery time, and I don't think my fitness would improve from them. It's a personal thing, I can ride with tired legs, but for an event, I would want to avoid that. Start upping my carb intake on Friday.
Daveyraveygravey said:
I wouldn't do any of them, if I wanted a good ride on Sunday. If I was planning a big ride, one where I wanted to be able to say I was able to push myself, then any of those three would leave me with that tired leg feeling, and I would want to have fresh legs for Sunday. 80 miles is a good distance, which leaves my legs needing 2-3 days to recover. The two 25 miles, there is too much chance to push yourself which again would leave my legs wanting recovery time, and I don't think my fitness would improve from them. It's a personal thing, I can ride with tired legs, but for an event, I would want to avoid that.
Agree with that.I've got a 90 mile ride on Saturday. Did an easy hour on the turbo this morning, but don't think I'll do any more time on the bike until sat. Might go for a little swim on Friday to keep everything loose.
Ideally you would taper. Peak training ride a few weekends before. Last weekend before, do a reasonable ride. During week leading up to the event, do some gentle rides to maintain muscle tone and cardio capacity. You are not trying to improve at that stage. Rest and maintain.
Ideally, that is. In reality, stuff happens and you have to rethink. I had a big ride last Sunday - the Dragon Devil, 190 miles and 4300m elevation. A chest infection meant the training plan got interrupted. I had wanted to do a 140 mile "calibration" ride a few weeks beforehand but was ill. I ended up doing it on Wednesday, with the event on Sunday. It was more important to have got my head around length and timing of effort, than being fully rested.
Work out a strategy for the ride and stick to it (eg how many stops; how long to stop for; when you are going to take it easy and when to push). It doesn't need to be a perfect strategy. Just make sure you have one. And stick to it. This means: when you are meant to be taking it easy, don't be put off my people overtaking you. Let them go. Later on, you'll still have something left in the tank
Good luck.
Ideally, that is. In reality, stuff happens and you have to rethink. I had a big ride last Sunday - the Dragon Devil, 190 miles and 4300m elevation. A chest infection meant the training plan got interrupted. I had wanted to do a 140 mile "calibration" ride a few weeks beforehand but was ill. I ended up doing it on Wednesday, with the event on Sunday. It was more important to have got my head around length and timing of effort, than being fully rested.
Work out a strategy for the ride and stick to it (eg how many stops; how long to stop for; when you are going to take it easy and when to push). It doesn't need to be a perfect strategy. Just make sure you have one. And stick to it. This means: when you are meant to be taking it easy, don't be put off my people overtaking you. Let them go. Later on, you'll still have something left in the tank
Good luck.
pablo said:
Personally I think this is way too much for 99% of us, I know it gets quoted a lot as a rule of thumb but there are two things to remember, firstly 60g is the maximum the body can absorb, process, whatever, therefore to require even 60g per hour would impy that you are working at a very high threshold, that you actually needs the maximum that your body can process, and that your body is atuned to process it. You cant dump 60g of carbs in anyone and expect their stomach and intestine to process it efficiently if they are not used to it. Even the likes of High5 and SiS go with the 60g and they are trying to flog the stuff. Secondly it doesnt take into account any stored energy in the body.
Its nothing personal, i just think its dangerous to quote stuff like this as a one size fits all IMHO. If you are racing then I get it, your body is used to the intensity and the processing cycle. If its a sportive or a long distance ride at a conservative pace, I think somewhere between 30g and 60g is ideal based on weight, intensity and distance. I've seen people finishing sportives feeling broken because they think they have really pushed themselves but in reality, they are suffering from a bloated stomach full of undigested carbs.
90g/hr for froome it seemsIts nothing personal, i just think its dangerous to quote stuff like this as a one size fits all IMHO. If you are racing then I get it, your body is used to the intensity and the processing cycle. If its a sportive or a long distance ride at a conservative pace, I think somewhere between 30g and 60g is ideal based on weight, intensity and distance. I've seen people finishing sportives feeling broken because they think they have really pushed themselves but in reality, they are suffering from a bloated stomach full of undigested carbs.
“DB: "We recognised that to pull it off, you would have to fuel it. The body can only absorb 90 grams of carbs an hour. If you're using more than that, you're going to run out pretty fast.
"So it was mission critical that Chris had to get 90g of carbs every hour. But when you looked at where that would be in the race, you realised it wasn't always going to be practical to eat three rice cakes in an hour, or three gels. If you are riding hard up a climb or going flat out on a descent, it's not possible.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44372328
I was listening to a podcast recently where a nutritionist was explaining that these high levels of carbohydrate can only be absorbed by mixing different types of carb- glucose/maltodextrin as well as fructose, as they are absorbed by different mechanisms in the intestine. So if you just go heavy on glucose you quickly reach a point where your body just cant do anything with it.
Type R Tom said:
Malt loaf, jaffa cakes, home made rice cakes and flap jacks are my preference and keep gels for emergencies and the last few miles.
I’d go for this, and when doing mtb marathons, will add a marmite sandwich for variety and a bit of salt.And don’t forget water. Lots of water to keep it all moving...
Well I went for an 80mile ride yesterday which was fine, 'helped' by picking up two punctures with only one spare tube..............luckily resulted in just a 1/2 mile walk to a bike shop to get a replacement + 1.
Feel fine today apart from the beginnings of a cold, so will start feeding up tomorrow and just chilling until Sunday. Whilst I have done the L2B before, this will be the first with the younger bro.....
....and one can't be shown up!
(otherwise 12months of piss taking will be coming my way)
Feel fine today apart from the beginnings of a cold, so will start feeding up tomorrow and just chilling until Sunday. Whilst I have done the L2B before, this will be the first with the younger bro.....
....and one can't be shown up!
(otherwise 12months of piss taking will be coming my way)
Dr Murdoch said:
Well I went for an 80mile ride yesterday which was fine, 'helped' by picking up two punctures with only one spare tube..............luckily resulted in just a 1/2 mile walk to a bike shop to get a replacement + 1.
Feel fine today apart from the beginnings of a cold, so will start feeding up tomorrow and just chilling until Sunday. Whilst I have done the L2B before, this will be the first with the younger bro.....
....and one can't be shown up!
(otherwise 12months of piss taking will be coming my way)
Im confused - why are you worried about a 52 mile ride, if you did an 80 mile ride yesterday without problem? Or are you planning to really go hell-for-leather?Feel fine today apart from the beginnings of a cold, so will start feeding up tomorrow and just chilling until Sunday. Whilst I have done the L2B before, this will be the first with the younger bro.....
....and one can't be shown up!
(otherwise 12months of piss taking will be coming my way)
daddy cool said:
Im confused - why are you worried about a 52 mile ride, if you did an 80 mile ride yesterday without problem? Or are you planning to really go hell-for-leather?
It may be at a faster pace. Brother (10 years younger) has a new lighter road bike, i'm using a steel framed adventure bike....The main reason for asking was the Ride London 100 coming up, which again will be with the aforementioned little bro.
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