Is it possible??!

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env1romelza
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Is it possible??!

Postby env1romelza » Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:24 pm

Argh!
At the start of the year I signed up for a charity ride - you may have heard of it - The Ride to Conquer Cancer. 200km over two days. It's meant to be epic.
Early on though I ended up booking holidays which fell over the date so I never bothered to start training. I use to ride but for one reason or another I'd given up the sport (for 2 years).
I continued fundraising anyway and as luck would have it, my holidays have moved and I can participate in the ride. Only I have not done any training...

I have done the ride in 2012&2013 but was really quite fit so it wasn't overly difficult. But now I'm faced with 7 weeks 'til the ride and next to no fitness.
Is it possible for me to gain the fitness I need to cross over the line, even if its just for the first day (100km) with only 7 weeks of training? And what program would I need to do? I can jump on the mountain bike now and be able to ride 20km without too much issue albeit much slower than I use to. If there's people out there who have been in a similar situation - what did you do??

The ride is not timed and I have a fair chunk of the day to do it but would hate to pull out 50km in because its an impossible task.

All input is appreciated (even if it starts with 'silly girl'...)
:?
Mel

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find_bruce
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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby find_bruce » Sun Aug 30, 2015 6:50 pm

I bet you won't be the least prepared for the ride. Break it down in chunks, ride a comfortable pace, try taking a break every 20km or so.

Every bit of training you can do between now & then will help

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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby Trevtassie » Sun Aug 30, 2015 6:57 pm

Do a bit of training. Ride up some hills. 7 weeks is plenty of time to get a reasonable level of fitness. If it's only 100km you don't have to go fast, even if you only averaged 10km/h which is about as slow as you could get, you'd still do it in 10 hours. As Bruce says, take breaks, eat plenty of snacks, drink lots of water.

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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby Mulger bill » Sun Aug 30, 2015 7:03 pm

If you pull out will you have to refund all the money you've raised?

If not; check Bruce above and on the day, do the best you can until it stops being fun.

Good on you for having a go.
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env1romelza
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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby env1romelza » Sun Aug 30, 2015 8:59 pm

I don't have to refund the money I raised it selling nespresso at my work's aerodrome. And the cash ultimately goes to my team.
I might give training an honest crack and see how I go. Thanks
Mel

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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby CKinnard » Sun Aug 30, 2015 9:30 pm

You don't look over 30, so that's on your side.
Hard to say how much weight you are packing.
Day 1 of the course is devoid of scary climbs.
However, you are riding a mountain bike, and 100k on that is tough.
If you have big knobbly tires, I'd suggest you try and borrow lighter narrower smoother tires from a mate. It will make a diff.
As for training, somethign like this:
2-3 rides a week:
1 or 2 x 20-30km rides, say one on a week day and/or one on Sunday.
On Saturdays, start with a 30k ride, then increase it every week 5km.
The week before the race, cut Sunday's ride back to 10k and only do 1 or 2 x 5km rides during the week.
Your last Saturday ride will be 55-60km long, and that will be a good base for the charity ride, with the time you have left.

However, the thing about riding a much longer distance than you train at is to ensure your bottom, spine, and knees don't get thrashed.
So, heaps of chamois cream (moisturizer will suffice), get your saddle height, shoes, and pedals optimized.
Some people find wearing two pairs of knicks helps keep the bottom more comfy....and the right saddle obviously.
You might also consider moving your handlebar stem up (or down) so that you feel more comfy on your longer Saturday ride.
Apart from that, get your food and water right. There's bound to be good info on the website.

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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby bychosis » Sun Aug 30, 2015 9:51 pm

I just did a 100km MTB event on a very low base of training. Back in March I was ready, having ridden a lot in the lead up but then the event was postponed until early August and my riding time dried up for a couple of months, leaving me with a very low monthly km average, significantly less than anything over the last 18mths. I was terrified of how much it would hurt, but was pleasantly surprised to go very close to a PB for that distance. The longest ride I had done in the 3-ish months prior to the event was around 45min (3-4 times) and only other riding was commuting 3 days per week around 6km each way. I've now done quite a few Century rides on dirt and haven't yet completed more than about 35-40km as a training ride before hand. I ride the events planning to finish, not to win. :)

Yes it pushed me to the limits, but with 7 weeks out you have enough time to get some kms in your legs and should have no dramas.
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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby Tornado » Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:11 pm

I'm sure you will be fine. Train as best you can and off you go.
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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby Trevtassie » Mon Aug 31, 2015 7:55 am

And train on the Knobbies and put the slicks on for the ride. It'll feel like someone has taken the brakes off...

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env1romelza
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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby env1romelza » Mon Aug 31, 2015 8:18 am

Thanks everyone for your reassurance! Just what I needed.
I'll be training on a MTB due to working FIFO and wont be seeing bitumen until the event, but will have a roadie for the event.
I'll crack on with it tonight!
Mel

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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby cp123 » Mon Aug 31, 2015 7:30 pm

it's 100 kms a day.

pretend you leave at 9 am. ride for an hour and a half. have a break for a bit and carry on till lunch time. you've done 50 kms. repeat in the afternoon and you've done 100 kms. repeat the second day.


perfectly doable for anyone whose reasonably healthy. (disclaimer - those that aren't regular riders might get sore butts) but the distance and time isn't unreasonable.

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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby Johnelliss1 » Tue Oct 06, 2015 8:22 pm

Tornado wrote:I'm sure you will be fine. Train as best you can and off you go.

You say true.

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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby AUbicycles » Sat Oct 17, 2015 9:34 am

If you cant get out, buy and indoor trainer for your bike and do an hour each day. It takes discipline but I needed to ramp up my training for a charity ride after illness and this worked.

I gradually extended the time and also the resistence and ended up really a really good foundation. Time on the trainer, used properly, can be more effective (for your training) than out on the road. Of course, get some bigger rides in each week.
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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Sun Oct 18, 2015 2:32 am

I can manage 70km in a day on a unicycle with some hills and even carrying a little more weight than most cyclists do. Assuming there is sufficient support so that you do not have to carry much then, with a little training time, I reckon you can do it. As someone else said, you will not be the least prepared.

However you should do a few long ones in advance. Not just for a little conditioning, but to iron out issues like seat padding, footwear and frame/bar/seat adjustments. Chafing and the like is no fun even on short rides.

Good luck and make yourself proud.
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env1romelza
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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby env1romelza » Mon Nov 09, 2015 6:31 pm

Well, I've completed the ride. In the end I did not do any training. Mainly due to the travelling we were doing across the tops end at the time. I managed the ride quiet well, surprisingly. My thoughts now are (for anyone else in the same boat) - anyone can do it, especially so on a road bike. There were a couple of hills and some head wind to contend with but mostly a flat ride. I hadn't ridden the road bike for two years and that did show, through swerving when reaching for my water bottle (which saw me crash on day one), a bit wobbly on the start clipping in and out and the terrible ache in my neck from not being use to reaching down so low, but it did remind me just how much fun road cycling is! I can't wait to get back on the bike!
Mel

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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby find_bruce » Mon Nov 09, 2015 7:30 pm

Well done Mel, especially persevering despite a crash & some aches

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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby Eleri » Mon Nov 09, 2015 7:41 pm

env1romelza wrote:Well, I've completed the ride. In the end I did not do any training. Mainly due to the travelling we were doing across the tops end at the time. I managed the ride quiet well, surprisingly. My thoughts now are (for anyone else in the same boat) - anyone can do it, especially so on a road bike. There were a couple of hills and some head wind to contend with but mostly a flat ride. I hadn't ridden the road bike for two years and that did show, through swerving when reaching for my water bottle (which saw me crash on day one), a bit wobbly on the start clipping in and out and the terrible ache in my neck from not being use to reaching down so low, but it did remind me just how much fun road cycling is! I can't wait to get back on the bike!

Well done on completing it with not much training! And even better that you want to keep on riding. Keep it up. :-)

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Re: Is it possible??!

Postby Calvin27 » Mon Nov 09, 2015 9:57 pm

Easy.

If you have base riding (i.e. over 2 years) you should be fine.

I've only ridden seriously maybe the last year (5000km in the last 12 months) and been recreational about 1.5 years before that. I did 210km around the bay after 6 weeks in Europe mostly drinking wine having ridden at most 150km before that. You have done 200km before so should be fine. Not fast but you'll be ok.
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