Cycling Mob Cycling Forums - View Single Post - Planning a very long ride

06-11-2004, 09:22 AM

In article <o1ojc05qfqndt3piisbmfg36rrlok6jeg0@4ax.com>,
Badger@South.net says...
>
> I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall, after a summer of
> 400 mile/months, and I'm interested in some ideas as to pacing. Here's
> something I've been thinking about:

How long is "long" (mile-wise, that is)?

> Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a shower?), eat, then ride
> for 2 hours, repeat rest, then ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride
> final 2 hours. Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?
>
> People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a day for like 2 weeks.
> 'Course they're sightseeing so it's more fun. It would probably require a
> "support crew" to bring food and change of clothes and stuff. If you were
> gonna do it how would you break it up?

I'd probably put the first rest stop well before the 3 hour point, and
space them more evenly. Maybe 1.5-1.5-1.5-1.5-1.5, or 2-2-2-2. Also,
30 minutes might be too long of a break; it might give your muscles too
long, so that you would need a long warm up again when you start back up
YMMV a lot on this, and will probably depend on the weather (temperature
particularly). More frequent, shorter breaks work well for many people,
such as 5 to 10 minutes every hour.

> I'm thinking the mental aspect would be the most difficult. Gonna try and
> get the family interested in it to help with that.
>
> I'm sure some here would say 'just ride for the 8 hours, what's the big
> deal', but that would be OK for those who have ridden a lot (like frequent
> 3-4 hour rides), but my longest ride has been 3.5 hours, and only did that
> once. I'm hoping to get some posts on others who have done something like
> this, and their experiences vs the initial expectations.
>
> I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish, or first light.
> o 5:30-8:30
> o 9:00-11:00
> o 12:-1
> o 2-4pm
>
> TIA,
>
> -Badger
>
>
>

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

06-11-2004, 09:22 AM	#14 (permalink)
David Kerber Posts: n/a	Re: Planning a very long ride - 8 hrs In article <o1ojc05qfqndt3piisbmfg36rrlok6jeg0@4ax.com>, Badger@South.net says... > > I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall, after a summer of > 400 mile/months, and I'm interested in some ideas as to pacing. Here's > something I've been thinking about: How long is "long" (mile-wise, that is)? > Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a shower?), eat, then ride > for 2 hours, repeat rest, then ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride > final 2 hours. Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2? > > People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a day for like 2 weeks. > 'Course they're sightseeing so it's more fun. It would probably require a > "support crew" to bring food and change of clothes and stuff. If you were > gonna do it how would you break it up? I'd probably put the first rest stop well before the 3 hour point, and space them more evenly. Maybe 1.5-1.5-1.5-1.5-1.5, or 2-2-2-2. Also, 30 minutes might be too long of a break; it might give your muscles too long, so that you would need a long warm up again when you start back up YMMV a lot on this, and will probably depend on the weather (temperature particularly). More frequent, shorter breaks work well for many people, such as 5 to 10 minutes every hour. > I'm thinking the mental aspect would be the most difficult. Gonna try and > get the family interested in it to help with that. > > I'm sure some here would say 'just ride for the 8 hours, what's the big > deal', but that would be OK for those who have ridden a lot (like frequent > 3-4 hour rides), but my longest ride has been 3.5 hours, and only did that > once. I'm hoping to get some posts on others who have done something like > this, and their experiences vs the initial expectations. > > I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish, or first light. > o 5:30-8:30 > o 9:00-11:00 > o 12:-1 > o 2-4pm > > TIA, > > -Badger > > > -- Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the newsgroups if possible).