CycleOregon -- advice for a friend

[92degrees]

Heya, a friend is planning to do Cycle Oregon in Sept. She rides, but really just for the fresh air (more power to her). She's asked for my advice on preparing to ride this with her dad. I've done centuries, 2-day events, etc, and I'm familiar with building miles for those, periodization, etc, but I have no idea how to prepare for 7 days of longish rides.

The mileage is:
59, 83, 53, 77, 91, 79, 49

How do you set up you training rides for that? For my sake and hers --KISS.

TIA

[RichardSeton]

Steve, cycle oregon is just a bunch of long bikes rides back to back....

Having said that, training will depend on objectives. If she's not in a big hurry, here's what I suggest.

1. Get lots of miles on the bike. Should include some back to back miles on weekends - just to get used to getting back into the saddle after a long day.

2. Some of these days will involve some significant climbing. Best to get some hill climbing in. Reducing the riding weight is a good idea here.

3. Equipment. She should make sure her bike is is good shape, and that it has the gearing necessary for a long climb. Climbing up a serious hill feels different at the end of the day than it does at the start.

4. While speed on the bike isn't essential, it does make for a more relaxed ride. You don't want to be wondering if you can finish the distance, or will get in before dark.

5. If she wants to get moral support, she could join up with Team Bag Balm. Sign up at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CycleOregon/?yguid=177156217

6. It'd also be best if she got used to riding with large groups with a wide experience range.

7. Have fun - that's what it's all about. The more prep she does (in terms of fitness), the more fun it'll be.


Heya, a friend is planning to do Cycle Oregon in Sept. She rides, but really just for the fresh air (more power to her). She's asked for my advice on preparing to ride this with her dad. I've done centuries, 2-day events, etc, and I'm familiar with building miles for those, periodization, etc, but I have no idea how to prepare for 7 days of longish rides.

The mileage is:
59, 83, 53, 77, 91, 79, 49

How do you set up you training rides for that? For my sake and hers --KISS.

TIA

[Ray]

I've done a few of these types of rides. Bottom line, ride lots. Do as many long back to back days as you can. Get used to climbing big, steep hills when you're already exhausted. Gearing is really important - this is no time to be macho. As Richard said, a tough climb can feel very different at the end of a long day than at the beginning and I'll add that it can feel EXTREMELY different on day five of a week long tour. I always bring little baby gears on rides like this. My first year of doing a lot of riding, I did a very tough tour of Pennsylvania with a 1-1 low gear, 27 inches. I made it, but on later tours with similar amounts of climbing I went into touring type gears with lows like 24x30 or 24x32. I'd regularly use negative gears on climbs that I'd ordinarily do in a 34x26 or so. I'd be glad to have them and I'd be the envy of a LOT of medium strong riders who brought their road doubles or even road triples with a low of something like 30x25. They'd be laboring up some steep climb and I'd go by them in my little baby gears not working near as hard and they'd invariably stop by my tent that night to ask what gears I was using because they wanted some.

When you're riding long rides every day for a week, start spinning easier gears than you'd ever think about on DAY ONE. My rule of thumb is if it feels about right, downshift at least one cog, and two if you can still stay ahead of the freewheel. This is the single most important part of still having legs by the end of the week. One good day of mashing can kill you for several days. The temptation is to go hard on day one to see where you fit with the other riders on the tour. Big big big mistake. Let the people who are slightly faster than you are burn themselves up earlier in the week. They'll be begging for your wheel later in the week.

And know, just absolutely KNOW, that you're going to have at least one really bad day on the bike, where by the end of the first hour you're gonna wish you were anywhere else and you're going to feel that way all freakin' day. I don't think I've ever done a tour of more than 5 days where this didn't happen to me once. It sucks to ride like that for four or five or six hours, you just have to keep turning them over and get through it.

But these trips are invariably a blast and where a lot of my best cycling memories come from. You find yourself riding in the company of a lot of the same people day to day and you can get to be pretty good friends with them and you help each other out a lot. Neat little travelling caravans.

-Ray

[gone]

In addition to the excellent suggestions from Richard and Ray, I'll add that she should pay particular attention to recovery after the ride and experiment with what works for her on back to back training rides. Although riding fast isn't one of her goals, finishing sooner means more time to recover for the next day and this becomes very important on multi-day events.

A recovery routine that works for me which I start immediately after getting off the bike:

1. Some gentle stretching.
2. A recovery drink (I use Endurox R4 or Ultragen)
3. A cup of tea and a PB&J
4. Sit with my feet up while consuming (2)-(3).
5. Eat a good dinner.
6. Prep the bike for the next day (as necessary).
7. Good nights sleep.

[92degrees]

Cool, thanks guys. That's pretty much what I expected and when I told her these things she said she was open to building a base this year and doing the ride in 07. Not sure if that's really necessary, but I'll keep offering support!

[Bud]

I agree with what everyone has said so far. Last year, my wife and I did RIde the Rockies which was our first multi-day, higher mileage outing. (We're doing it again this year, too- it's a blast). We concentrate on:

-Getting a lot of saddle time in, which does not always translate to a lot of miles.
-Doing some big days back to back on a weekend starting about 4 weeks before the tour (like a 60 miler followed by 50).
-Climbing a lot, and sometimes in the middle of a longer ride. Around here, it's easy for us to find a 3000 to 4000 foot climb. We try to do plenty of these.
-Getting used to riding a bit slower, in easier gears, and taking our time. When you do a lot of miles back to back, it can't be a hammerfest (at least not for us).

Basically, we want to be fit enough to enjoy ourselves while still being a bit challenged, but not uncomfortably so. It's tough to think you've got 3 or 4 more days if you're wiped halfway through.

Hope your friend has fun!

[Ray]

Cool, thanks guys. That's pretty much what I expected and when I told her these things she said she was open to building a base this year and doing the ride in 07. Not sure if that's really necessary, but I'll keep offering support!
Lots of people do these rides with waaaay less preparation than is ideal. Since the ride is in September, she has plenty of time to get in shape for it. If she even rides a couple of thousand miles this year, she'll be in better shape than a lot of people on the ride and she'll do fine. The tour across Pennsylvania that I did is still probably the hardest tour I've ever done and I did it in early July of my first year of really riding a lot. If she starts putting in the miles now, no need to wait until next year.

And, oh yeah, a strong second on the recovery ideas. I generally take a bunch of individual doses of Endurox (or whatever) in plastic bags and have one ready to mix in a water bottle as soon as I pull into camp, before pitching the tent or anything else. Ater that, I set up camp, shower, and then take it as easy as possible the rest of the afternoon/evening. Finally, eat like a pig - that much riding puts more strain on your system than you realize. After a tour, it usually takes me a week to start feeling good again and a couple before I start feeling strong. But then you start feeling REALLY strong. It's good training!

-Ray

[RichardSeton]

Well, I thought that was what the beer tent was for.

Let's see, they didn't have any Porter last time I did CO.


In addition to the excellent suggestions from Richard and Ray, I'll add that she should pay particular attention to recovery after the ride and experiment with what works for her on back to back training rides. Although riding fast isn't one of her goals, finishing sooner means more time to recover for the next day and this becomes very important on multi-day events.

A recovery routine that works for me which I start immediately after getting off the bike:

1. Some gentle stretching.
2. A recovery drink (I use Endurox R4 or Ultragen)
3. A cup of tea and a PB&J
4. Sit with my feet up while consuming (2)-(3).
5. Eat a good dinner.
6. Prep the bike for the next day (as necessary).
7. Good nights sleep.

[CalfeeFly]

If they have a massage person one each night will do a great deal to make for a fresh start each morning.

Eat and drink enough and sleep enough.

[gone]

how shall I say this... "butt management".

Riders who don't do a lot of miles, especially long rides several days in a row, are more likely to ride slower (hence more time in the saddle during the event) and be less well "conditioned" in the rider/saddle interface area :) As a result, saddle sores become a very serious issue. There's been lots written on the topic so I won't repeat it here but this is definitely an area that warrants some serious attention.

Two suggestions I will make. First, if your friend normally uses some kind of chamois cream (assos, chamois butt'r, etc) I would suggest that she not use it during her training rides and that she does use it during the event itself. Why? The chamois creams tend to soften the skin. Like every other part of the body, the skin in that area will get tougher with repeated friction. Letting this happen during training rides will make her a little less likely to have problems during a multi-day event. By the time of the event, she'll be as "tough" as she's going to get so then her aim should be to reduce friction as much as possible and using a cream will help do this.

Second suggestion. Get out of wet shorts as quickly as possible and pay a lot of attention to cleanliness. This is an area where cleanliness really makes a difference. Not to imply your friend is "unclean" but, let's face it, if you were looking for a part of the body that's a potential hot bed of germs you'd be hard pressed to find a better one. If you think about it, a warm, moist environment coupled with a little friction and a little bacteria is tailor made for infections on the surface of the skin.

I've seen a lot of people who were "stretching" to ride a multi-day event brought down by this.