# Training For 100km Ride Tips



## paulb55 (7 Nov 2011)

Hi Guys,

i will be doing the London Nightrider 100km charity ride beginning of June 2012 and need to start training for it so has anybody got any traing plans that i can use

I do about 75 miles per week now and that includes 3 x 15 mile rides in the week, one on Saturday with a 25 mile ride on Sunday

What i want to do is keep this up, Weather permitting, up to beginning of Feb 2012

I then want to start training from beginning of Feb 2012 to Beg June 2102, that equals 4 months to train for a 100km ride, so any tips and info would be gratefully appreciated guys and girls

I now leave the stage to you all


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## paulb55 (7 Nov 2011)

sorry that should read:-

i will be doing the London Nightrider 100km charity ride beginning of June 2012 and need to start training for it so has anybody got any *Training* plans that i can use


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## pepecat (7 Nov 2011)

Hi

I did a 100k ride in June this year - over Dartmoor - and didn't really start training properly for it until March / April time. I could do 20 miles easily at that point, and just upped the distances gradually. I don't have a training plan as I didn't use one! I just did a couple of short rides a week and a long one at weekends. 

I'm guessing the event is at night? In that case you might want to try cycling later in the day and into the evening (as it gets lighter next spring) so your body gets used to the exercise at a particular time of day. I'm NOT a morning person, but knowing i was starting early when i did my 100k ride, I made sure i got up and out early when i was training so i'd be vaguely used to it.

Good luck!


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## Slaav (7 Nov 2011)

My 2p worth.....

On a charity ride back in May/June this year, the guide said that we all have a 'go forever' speed. FInd that speed and you will do the ride no probs - with a few breaks and refreshment stops obviously.

My guess would be down to raising your training bar slightly? If you regularly do 15 mile rides and a 25 mile ride at the weekend, take your time and do a 35 miler on the next dryish fine weekend. Even if you average 12/13 mph, you have just ridden way over half the distance! A few weeks of doing that and you will bang out a 45 mile ride with ONE stop no issues.... it will be downhill from there and just repetition to ensure at no point you lose what you have gained!

Good luck.



ps - And the above is from personal experience and not any sort of theory so someone will be along soon with proper advice <BR>


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## paulb55 (7 Nov 2011)

pepecat said:


> Hi
> 
> I did a 100k ride in June this year - over Dartmoor - and didn't really start training properly for it until March / April time. I could do 20 miles easily at that point, and just upped the distances gradually. I don't have a training plan as I didn't use one! I just did a couple of short rides a week and a long one at weekends.
> 
> ...



THANKS,

Yes its a night ride and i haven't thought about the night riding but took the challenge on as it would be more exciting riding through London at night, apparently its going through all the landmarks and tourist spots so that should keep me awake and also having food & drink stops every 20 kms

really looking forward to it and i am starting at 12.35am on Sunday morning with about 1500 other riders so need to start saving for lights etc


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## paulb55 (7 Nov 2011)

Slaav said:


> My 2p worth.....
> 
> On a charity ride back in May/June this year, the guide said that we all have a 'go forever' speed. FInd that speed and you will do the ride no probs - with a few breaks and refreshment stops obviously.
> 
> ...



Thanks Slaav

Good advice


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## the snail (7 Nov 2011)

If you keep up the mileage you're doing at the moment, you'll be in good shape next year. Like pepecat says, just up the length of your sunday rides gradually. It's often suggested to aim to do at least 1 ride at 3/4 distance before the ride. If you are happy with 25 m now, and you've got the time, then I'd suggest trying 30 now. At the beginning of the year I hadn't ridden for a few years, and no further than 30m in a day. I did a 50k ride in Jan, then a 100k audax in Feb. I struggled to get round, but I did it, and with a couple more 75/100k rides, I could do 100k no problem. Now I've managed a few 200k audaxes, and did 400k the other weekend (completely knackered though!). Just take it easy and get the miles in, you'll have no problems by June!


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## lukesdad (7 Nov 2011)

If your aim is just to complete the ride. You wont go far wrong with The Snails advice.


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## Willo (7 Nov 2011)

Largely echoing others, as someone who has built up my distances this year (up to 120+k so far) I reckon you're on the right track and will have no problems at all given you're doing plenty of miles each week as it is. As has been said, try building up the mileage if you have the time (but don't panic if you don't have time immediately, as you have plenty of time in the New Year). 

Only thing I can add is that, because of limited time, I've jumped around a bit, sometimes stepping up frequency and distances a bit suddenly when time permits (e.g. holidays). That's when I've tended to suffer achey knees etc. so would recommend stepping up gradually (and giving the legs some recovery time between rides when you start to go longer distances). 

Haven't done night rides myself, but know a couple of folk who have and they enjoyed them particularly the sun rising (which will be nice and early in June). Only comment they made was the tiredness and the odd routine which adds a little challenge, albeit offset by the buzz of the event itself.


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## paulb55 (7 Nov 2011)

lukesdad said:


> If your aim is just to complete the ride. You wont go far wrong with The Snails advice.



Yep,

totally agree with that


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## TheSandwichMonster (8 Nov 2011)

I did my first 100km last month and was pleasantly surprised with it. As others have said, if you can up the mileage of your "long" ride, then you should be fine - my longest ride prior to doing it was a little over 40 miles, yet I managed 60 with no real issues. It was my first time riding in a group of people and I was very happy at how much easier it makes things: Find a bunch of people riding at a comfortable pace for you, and tag along with them.

If you want to increase speed, in addition to building endurance, then you maybe want to look at the content of your shorter rides through the week. Maybe drop one of them to 10 miles, but increase the intensity so that you complete it as quickly as possible (after warming up, of course!). If you do that though, maybe change one of the other 15 miler's to be a "recovery" ride, where you ride at a very easy level just to keep the legs spinning.

Realistically, you have plenty of time between now and June to build up your miles, even allowing for the colder months. I have two 100-miler's less than a week apart at the end of June and I'll be content to keep my riding at the current levels until the spring starts to roll through again!


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## paulb55 (8 Nov 2011)

Thanks Everybody,

Brilliant as usual form everybody and some really good tips, really glad to be part of such a good forum with everyone so eager to give tips etc


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## Gnawwa-on-a-bike1 (11 Jan 2012)

Hello everyone, I didn't want to start a new post seeing as this was quite relevant to what I wanted to discuss, hope that's ok...
I'm also thinking of doing the London Nightrider this June. But unlike Paul B, I'm a novice to road cycling. My boyfriend got me back into it last summer with a birthday present of a really nice hybrid bike (he's a keen cyclist with London-cambridge, Isle of White and a few Dorset rides under his belt!). I love cycling but haven't really racked up the mileage yet - I've done a few Sky rides (steady 8-10mph) of about 16 miles around Epping forest, and I finished these with ease and feeling that I could have ridden for longer at a faster pace. 
One limitation I should also mention is that I'm not very confident riding in traffic - something I want to get over. I'm fine in a group or with my boyfriend - main reason for my limited experience despite loving cycling and having a bike for >6 months! 
So my question is, with this limited experience do you think I still have time to train for the Nightrider if I start doing long-ish rides around about now? My plan is to motivate my boyfriend to help me get in shape for it. Do you think a 100km is too ambitious at this point? 
Your honest advice and tips will be much appreciated.
S


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## KtKat (9 Feb 2012)

I did the Nightrider last year after starting to commute to work in the autumn before that and thinking that anybody cycling in London is suicidal 2 years before that. I was not comfortable at all on busy roads when I started cycling again but for me the key was to slowly built up my confidence on quiet roads. Now I am happy to go through pretty anything, e.g. Old Street Roundabout! 
As for training, I only really started in April before that to do one long weekend ride, gradually building up the mileage, besides my daily 13 mile roundtrip commute, and all this on a hybrid, so you should be fine.
Try to get more confident and also go out cycling in the dark, as a lot of people on the Nightrider last year seemed to flummoxed in the dark & e.g. going through busy Tower Bridge or Shoreditch and the party people.
Am sure you will have lots of fun, just enjoy it.


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## Banjo (10 Feb 2012)

I think you could go out and do the 100kms today if you wanted to. Any training you do will improve your speed and enjoyment of the day.

Try to make your training rides on similar terrain to the charity ride. Good Luck.


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## Old Plodder (11 Feb 2012)

As a previous (as in 20 years ago) mileage eater, I also had to start somewhere.
When I first started cycling, 7 miles & a hill used to kill me.
I just went a bit farther each time; after a few years I rode 70 milers comfortably.

My advice is to add about 5 to 10 miles to your ride, until you reach 50miles, or there abouts.
That will see you through a 100km ride. Also, riding with others makes a ride easier.

Night riding is different to daytime cycling, I would advise you to at least ride one of your known routes at night.
It can get cold at night as well, but maybe not too bad in town; I ride in the countryside.

Good luck & enjoy it.


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## jefmcg (11 Feb 2012)

Relax. If you can ride 20km without too much stress, then just treat it as 5 x 20km rides. Stop at each refreshment station, indulge in the biscuits and move on again when you feel up to it.

75 miles a week is huge, and 100 flat kilometres is not. I dragged a poor friend who was not doing too much cycling to Brighton which is about the same distance, but much hillier and she did ok. At one point she was pretty miserable, so we pulled into a petrol station, bought 2 litres of water and shared the cake she brought. In 1/4 of an hour, she was feeling ready to finish the journey.

btw, if you really are doing 75 miles/week, you'd be in the CC top 5 on endomondo http://www.endomondo.com/teams/280461/leaderboard


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## Gnawwa-on-a-bike1 (3 Mar 2012)

Thanks all for the encouragement. I have decided to sign up for the Nightrider 2012 through my work - I'm waiting for them to get back to me on Monday. Something to train towards now :-)


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## Herzog (4 Mar 2012)

Gnawwa-on-a-bike1 said:


> Thanks all for the encouragement. I have decided to sign up for the Nightrider 2012 through my work - I'm waiting for them to get back to me on Monday. Something to train towards now :-)


 
Having a defined goal certainly makes it easier to train, especially on those cold, rainy days when you simply can't be bothered. Good luck


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## Scilly Suffolk (4 Mar 2012)

100km training plan


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