How Do you prepare for a long charity ride?

[brandon]

I am currently trying to train for my first 2 long charity/leisure event, the first is new forest 44 miles in septemer the 16th and the second london to brighton in 2013, and i really need some pro and helpful tips to help me get ready for the long distances and also the up hills it would be great if you respond.

 

[black'n'yellow]

no secret - just ride the bike. To be perfectly honest, those are not long distances. They might sound long if you have never ridden beyond 5 miles before, but you should easily be able to achieve 40/50 miles after a few weeks of regular riding.

You don't say where you are at with your riding now, so it's difficult to give you any specific suggestions....

 

[paulb_72]

all i can suggest is tackle any hill you come accross to the best of your ability,start in a high gear and as it gets harder nock it down gear by gear untill you have a comfortable pace.
good luck with the charity rides.

 

[brandon]

no secret - just ride the bike. To be perfectly honest, those are not long distances. They might sound long if you have never ridden beyond 5 miles before, but you should easily be able to achieve 40/50 miles after a few weeks of regular riding.

You don't say where you are at with your riding now, so it's difficult to give you any specific suggestions....

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thanks for the comment but just want to know how to attack hills? shall i go sat down low gear at a slow pace of standing medium gear at a fast speed? thanks again for your advice and i will train and just practice till i can easily acheive this.

 

[black'n'yellow]

thanks for the comment but just want to know how to attack hills? shall i go sat down low gear at a slow pace of standing medium gear at a fast speed? thanks again for your advice and i will train and just practice till i can easily acheive this.

forget about hills - hills are just like riding on the flat, except you go a bit slower and with a bit more effort. The best climbing technique in the world will not get you up hills if you don't have a properly-trained cardiovascular system - so just concentrate on riding...

 

[Nebulous]

Hi - as above weight, age, state of fitness are all relevant as to a lesser extent is the type of bike you have and how well you fit it. 44 miles is much more achievable than many non-cyclists believe though.

 

[Pigo]

I found the best way to get my miles up in the beginning was to plan interesting routes, vary them often & stop whenever I felt the need - the most important thing is to enjoy each & every ride so that you're looking forward to the next one. You'll be surprised at how easy it is to achieve 40+ miles!
Be warned......you will become addicted pretty quickly & will start trying to outdo your best time, distance etc!

 

[brandon]

You don't say where you are at with your riding now, so it's difficult to give you any specific suggestions....

um i haven't been that far as i haven't properly started training, at the moment all i ride is nothing over 5 miles at one time. so what do you suggest i start riding distance wise? shall i go up slowly like 6 miles one day then 7 the next or should i jump like form 5 to 10 them 10 to 15???

 

[PoweredByVeg]

Try laps of say a 3 or 4 mile loop, that way if you've got a bit of energy left you just keep going for another lap. Or if you're spent half way round then you know in your head you're nearly home

Then when you've got bored of the same old scenery, either extend the loops or just go for one big one, knowing you can cover that mileage.

 

[Nebulous]

um i haven't been that far as i haven't properly started training, at the moment all i ride is nothing over 5 miles at one time. so what do you suggest i start riding distance wise? shall i go up slowly like 6 miles one day then 7 the next or should i jump like form 5 to 10 them 10 to 15???

Again it would help if you gave a bit more information about your starting fitness level - but how easy is the 5 miler? If its pretty easy then jumping straight to 10 should be okay. If its pretty hard then 6 might be a reasonable next target. Conventional wisdom is to add 10% at a time, but I concluded life was too short for that and jumped from 10 to pretty much 30. You're the best person to decide that for yourself though.

 

[Garz]

I am currently trying to train for my first 2 long charity/leisure event, the first is new forest 44 miles in septemer the 16th and the second london to brighton in 2013, and i really need some pro and helpful tips to help me get ready for the long distances and also the up hills it would be great if you respond.

Practice.

Start with steady rides building up the distance. Once you can hit 50 comfortably work on your speed and hills.

 

[black'n'yellow]

this is in danger of being over-thought. Just ride out 5 miles in one direction - then ride back again. Have a break half way if you like. Next time, ride 8 miles out, then back - and so on. Alternatively (and more sensibly), ride by time, not distance. Ride out for 30mins, then back. Then 45 mins, then back, etc. By the sounds of it, your actual mileage is not too relevant at the moment anyway...

How you feel on these rides will largely depend on how you pace it. Assuming you can climb stairs unaided, you will already have the physical strength to complete these distances - everything else will depend on how much effort you put into each ride - but you won't know that without doing it.

 

[PpPete]

brandon ...
you are local(ish) to me. PM me if you want some company on training rides.

 

[DiddlyDodds]

no secret - just ride the bike.

This is the way to go "Just ride the bike" says it all , get out often and enjoy

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

I found the best way to get my miles up in the beginning was to plan interesting routes, vary them often & stop whenever I felt the need - the most important thing is to enjoy each & every ride so that you're looking forward to the next one. You'll be surprised at how easy it is to achieve 40+ miles!
Be warned......you will become addicted pretty quickly & will start trying to outdo your best time, distance etc!

Agree with that pigo

I look at google maps and pick out a nice route and without thinking you've done 25 + miles.

Do'nt be worried about stopping if you feel tired,it's a ride not a race.

The only other thing I would say is it's better to do it on a hybrid or road bike than a mtb.

Don't look it as a chore and enjoy your cycling.