400km

[DrMekon]

Got a 400km ride coming up on Saturday. I was hoping to do it in under 19hrs, but the weather forecast is for thunderstorms. The organiser has commented regarding sleeping facilities "In the true spirit of audax, there are 3 brick-built bus shelters at Blakeney (~310km), at the T-junction with the coast road. They are not pre-bookable, unfortunately, but are available F.O.C subject to the usual warnings about late night revellers. This space can accommodate at least 10 of you if you get organised."

It'll be great.

[village idiot]

looks like a lovely route though... have fun with it!

[Robsti]

That sounds like hell to me!

What sort of training do you put in to be ready for such a mileage?

[TonyHetherington]

Wow.

Good luck

[DrMekon]

Robsti said:

That sounds like hell to me!

What sort of training do you put in to be ready for such a mileage?

Ride to work, run a bit, have ibuprofen readily available.

There are 100 people entered, so it should be good fun.

[Robsti]

Good luck!

[Janosh]

DrMekon said:

Ride to work, run a bit, have ibuprofen readily available.

There are 100 people entered, so it should be good fun.

I'm guessing your ride to work is more than just a few km's?!

I'm currently training for the Etape (which will probably be 'only' 9 hours in the saddle) and in preperation i'm doing at least 1x 100km+ ride per week..

Good luck!

[okgo]

I think he is being a bit modest, IIRC he does some serious miles!

[daz3210]

okgo said:

I think he is being a bit modest, IIRC he does some serious miles!

What do you define as serious?

[DrMekon]

Did 15,000km last year. Not on course for anything like that this year, as I've been trying to do some running this year. It's not going well. So far I've had peroneal tendonitis in both ankles and IT band problems in my left leg. I'm supposed to be running a 50km next month, but I've barely run for the last 3 weeks because of the problems.

[okgo]

More than I do if I remember, I do 200-250 a week.

Think anything over 150 a week is serious miles.

[racerbob]

okgo said:

More than I do if I remember, I do 200-250 a week.

Think anything over 150 a week is serious miles.

it ain' t the miles you do, it's the speed you do 'em at that counts (well for racing anyway) I can ride at 16 mph all day, but find that so boring. I'd rather do a faster ride for say 2-3 hrs and come back and mess about in the garage ;-)



and as for running, sod that, nearly wrecked my ankles some years ago when I got talked into running during the winter, never again, I'd rather ride the turbo !!

[okgo]

Agree, but OP is quite a seasoned rider for this kind of event. If I remember his threads correctly.

[racerbob]

okgo said:

Agree, but OP is quite a seasoned rider for this kind of event. If I remember his threads correctly.

oh yes, totally agree, it's a bit of a specialised subject and not for everyone (not for me anyway)

[DrMekon]

home in 17h42 (09:00 - 02:42) - 2nd out of 100 or so entrants. Got the legs ripped off me by a guy on a Pinarello who's a PBP vet and was averaging >30kph into the wind (horrendous yesterday) for the 120km I stuck with him. The imminent reappearance of the cake/tea/sandwiches I grabbed at the 80km control meant I had to let him go when he upped the pace on a hill. He finished in 15h45. Given I've not done any riding over 100km since february / march, I'm pretty pleased.

[racerbob]

nearly 18 hrs !!! respect doc, just can't imagine spending that long on a bike, you surely have the right mindset for the task !

How long does it take you to recover from one of these things ?

[DrMekon]

I *could* do a 300 tomorrow, but I'd need a bloody good reason. I usually PB my commute 2 or 3 days after a big one, so that's probably when I'm recovered.

Definitely a mind thing for me - I use mindfulness practice to put thoughts of getting to the finish out of my head (but I'm a psychologist, so prone to such nerdery).