Training for my first 100 miles

[Notsototalnewbie]

I'm doing the RideLondon 100 in August. Whereas I have no doubt that I can get round 100 miles, the question is whether I can do it under the time limit (eight hours). If I don't make the three checkpoints in time, I'll be taken off the course (because the pros are coming through on a similar course after). I would be pretty devastated if this happened, particularly because I'm doing it for a charity.

The Surrey hilly bits in the middle will be my problem, I suspect. I go up them, but very slowly. My bike is a Surly LHT, which has its own gravitational pull, but I love it because it's a comfortable ride and I feel confident on it, and the low gears mean I hardly ever have to resort to the 24 inch gear.

People's reactions when I tell them that I'm planning to do the RideLondon 100 on it usually involve them looking at me like I'm a lunatic. I went out with Rob, Jane and two of Rob's speedy roadie friends last weekend, and while I kept up with them reasonably well on the flat, they left me for dead on even smallish hills. Rob keeps insisting I should use one of his road bikes instead (he's not much taller than me), but I'm not really a fan of twitchy road bikes, especially when descending so I'm very reluctant.

Am I absolutely mad to want to use a heavy tourer for this ride?

I have at least 10kg of weight to lose that has crept on over the last two years, which I am already shifting and will hopefully be gone by August. I'm cycling to work and around all my sites four days a week (15-20 miles a day), attending spin classes three times a week where they make you do lots of 'hills', and doing longer rides at the weekend when I can (I'm doing a Masters part time and term finishes in May, so I'll probably be doing them most/all weekends by then).

Advice welcome. I know some of you are well 'ard and think nothing of riding 100 miles or more each weekend, but bear in mind I'm not in that category.

[tatanab]

I maintain that you will ride further and faster on something you are comfortable with than on featherweight that makes you uncomfortable be it physically or confidence.

I remember preparing my bike for my first CTC 100 in 8 standard ride at the age of 16.  It was a gas plumber's Claud Butler with all steel equipment.  I stripped off all the gearing and turned the wheel around to ride fixed, took off the mudguards and carrier - everything I could think of.  My father was not impressed and made me put it all back.  Almost 50 years on I tend to do a number of short rides, cannot be bothered with set rides like 100 in 8, cycle camp at 60 miles a day and sometimes step it up to 90 miles a day.  For me, it is as much between my ears as it is in the legs.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Fit fast-rolling tyres, it'll make a noticeable difference.

[The French Tandem]

Riding 100 miles on an LHT is not a problem, as long as you feel comfortable on it! You will probably be faster on your own bike than on someone else's top-of-the-line racing bike that does not fits you well.

From now until august, you have 4 months ahead. If you can already ride 20 miles, 4 times a week, and have no medical problems,  4 months should be well enough.
Do a a couple of 30-40 miles rides in April, a couple of 50-60 miles in May, 70-80 miles in June, and you will be ready for your first 100 miles!

[Cudzoziemiec]

Could you borrow the bike Rob would lend you and try a ride to Brighton on it about a month before the event? If you decide the handling, comfort, gearing and whatever else is ok for you, great; if not, you still have a month to lose weight from your LHT by taking off the rack and so on.

[Dibdib]

My advice, as someone who's probably in a similar boat to you:

- If you're riding those kind of distances each week then you're probably quicker than you think.
- Try a lighter bike if one's on offer, but if you want to stick to the Surly then I'd second the advice to lose some of the excess weight from the LHT - rack and panniers, mudguards, etc. and maybe try some faster tires
- Don't faff about at the first couple of checkpoints if you can help it, if you can build up a bit of a buffer between you and the broomwagon.
- Similarly, and I have to work at this, don't freewheel on the downhills (if it's safe to pick the speed up, of course). Get in the big ring and tick a couple of miles off with gravity and legs on your side
- +1 TheFrenchTandem's advice for building up the "in-one-go" miles gradually over the next half-dozen weekends or so
- Don't forget to enjoy it!

[vorsprung]

I'm doing the RideLondon 100 in August. Whereas I have no doubt that I can get round 100 miles, the question is whether I can do it under the time limit (eight hours).

The answer is yes unless you have a medical condition, are not an adult or very very old

Just try and ride your bike a bit between now and August, you'll be fine

[Kim]

Do the maths, and you'll see that speed of hill climbing is important, but still very much secondary to faff-reduction.  My general principle is that as long as you can get to the top of $bastard_hill in one go, it doesn't really matter how slow you are.  Then you just have to put the miles in.

Of course the absolute worst thing you can do is wear yourself out early on by trying to keep up with people with a higher power:weight ratio on the climbs.

[L CC]

Fit fast-rolling tyres, it'll make a noticeable difference.

But not yet. Fit very knobbly ones and ride those for a month first. Then you'll fly once you get the fast-rollers on.

Lose weight from a) yourself then b) your luggage then c) your tyres

Read gonzos top tips for better climbing ~~~ from way back when ~~~

And I might be

well 'ard and think nothing of riding 100 miles or more each weekend

but I'd still chose to ride it on a bike I'm comfortable with than one I'm not, even if it's faster.

However, there's a long time between now & then. It might be worth trying to get comfortable on a faster bike, because the faster you can go, the easier you'll find the ride, and the more fun you'll have.

[hellymedic]

Your hill-climbing time/speed will vary only a little between bikes.
Your speed on descents will be best when you are confident with the bike's handling and braking.
There may be significant differences in performance between bikes on the flat; try some out.
Smooth tyres can make a big difference but you might save little time with these if you're not confident about braking and handling.

I'd suggest you try timing yourself over 10 miles with any bikes available and train on the one that seems best wrt speed and comfort.

Personally, I was hardly any slower on the hybrid with flat bars and 700x35c tyres than the Audax machine with dropped bars and skinnier wheels.
The hybrid stopped *very* quickly and accelerated more briskly.

[hatler]

- Don't faff about at the first couple of checkpoints if you can help it, if you can build up a bit of a buffer between you and the broomwagon.

This bit's key to keeping the average up.  Don't stop for as long as you can.

[Kim]

- Don't faff about at the first couple of checkpoints if you can help it, if you can build up a bit of a buffer between you and the broomwagon.

This bit's key to keeping the average up.  Don't stop for as long as you can.

Though the corollary to that is that if you do need to eat/drink/pee/fettle a niggle/adjust your wardrobe, do it sooner rather than later.

[Ian H]

For comparison, a reasonably good time-trialist might get close to 4hrs for a 100. So 8hrs shouldn't be impossible.

[L CC]

Personally, I was hardly any slower on the hybrid with flat bars and 700x35c tyres than the Audax machine with dropped bars and skinnier wheels.

whereas I am noticably (2-3kph adds up over 100+km) faster on a 'racing' style bike with narrow range gears and no luggage than I was on my sadly stolen audax bike, and faster on that than I am on my heavy comfy steel fixed. it's definitely worth trying a faster bike if there's a chance you could get comfortable and confident on it- after all, how long did it take you to get used to the Brompton after riding your sedate Dutch bike?

[hellymedic]

Though the corollary to that is that if you do need to eat/drink/fettle a niggle/adjust your wardrobe, do it sooner rather than later.

Indeed. A full bladder, incipient 'bonk' or being too hot/cold can slow you enormously.
Sort swiftly!

[bikenrrd]

What wheels do you have on there at the moment?  I think that light and "fast" wheels will be a greater advantage than a lighter frame.  So you could keep your comfy frame and buy a new set of wheels.

Apart from that - what everyone else has already written.  Start getting your in-ride nutrition correct - find out what works for you.  Eating little and often will allow you to reduce the faff at the controls.  The fastest Audax rides I've done have been achieved by bouncing the controls, rather than any increase in average on-the-move speed.

I'd normally say do some speed work, as well as riding lots of miles, but I think you've got this covered with the spin classes.  The only way to get faster is to ride faster.  Although I don't think there is anything in the "junk miles" theory, riding a lot of miles at the same speed makes you very good at riding at that speed.  Have a google for "sweet spot" training.  It requires a heart-rate monitor but I've used it to increase my average speed (a little) this winter.

[Notsototalnewbie]

Thanks very much guys, these replies are most useful.

I suppose I should borrow Rob's bike and test it out, but I'm a bit scared of it to be honest. Some of you will remember I used to ride a mixte frame which was rather more compact that the LHT, and I was useless at even getting a bottle out without veering all over the road - I can't risk doing that on a packed ride. But yes, I did get used to the Brompton in a matter of days.

The LHT's got fairly substantial tyres and wheels on at the moment, made for carrying heavy loads, which also help my confidence on shite road surfaces. I'm not sure if they're planning to sort out the crappy surfaces on the Surrey Hills in advance of the ride; you'd hope so. My well-documented dislike of offroading is mainly due to being nervous. Also, I'm not the best at fettling; I can change an inner tube but not as quickly as some, particularly if I'm under pressure, so I'm wary of getting less bombproof tyres. At the moment there's a Continental Touring on the front and an M+ on the back.

Again, because of the tyres and general non-twitchy handling of the bike, I'm confident descending straightish downhills, and will keep pedalling, and dropped Rob a few times last weekend (though this is probably down to me and my bike being heavier more than anything else) but do tend to freak out at twisty downhills regardless and hang on the brakes a bit too much.

Agree that keeping faffage time down is an easy win; I was hoping to only stop twice for just long enough to refill my bottles (depending on weather), eat something, and use a loo; day rides have shown that I can generally go around 35 miles before needing a loo/food stop so that should work in theory. I've also discovered that putting cordial in my water bottles makes a big difference to how far I can go before needing a break.

Boris allegedly did it in eight hours on his hybrid...

[hellymedic]

What this shouts to me is that you may not actually be quicker if you ride a faster, twitchy machine.

You will be faster than Rob downhill/on the flat because you are more girlie-shaped than he is; quelle surprise!
A shorter torso, narrower shoulders and a bit of bum ballast can have their advantages!

[arvid]

At what speed do you ride your daily miles, and since when do you ride those?
If you don't do them at pootling pace you might already be fit enough.

My commute is 25km/day (usually done in about 55mins moving time) and a month ago I did 140km on a Wednesday afternoon, in about 6 hours. After that I found out the last time I did 100+km was in August(!). I have done some rides up to 75km since October, but less than one per month. I have done LEL, but that fitness would've disappeared quickly if I hadn't had my daily commute since October. I was happily surprised with how this long ride went and am now confident about the 200km Audax with 1800m of elevation next weekend.

Those daily miles really count for something. I'd say plan a 100km ride somewhere next month after taking it easy for 3-4 days and find out what you're capable of already, and do that on your preferred bike. Just make sure those huge tires are inflated close to maximum pressure.

[Notsototalnewbie]

What this shouts to me is that you may not actually be quicker if you ride a faster, twitchy machine.

You will be faster than Rob downhill/on the flat because you are more girlie-shaped than he is; quelle surprise!
A shorter torso, narrower shoulders and a bit of bum ballast can have their advantages!

Rob would be the first to admit that he is incredibly skinny and I have always been heavier than him, even when I was thinner than I am now. The jammy sod goes up hills like lightning even when he was just riding my old hub-geared hybrid!

At what speed do you ride your daily miles, and since when do you ride those?
If you don't do them at pootling pace you might already be fit enough.

My commute isn't the best indicator since I go from South London to East London via Tower Bridge, and there are too many traffic lights and junctions to count so it's rare to get up much of a speed; I also end up filtering through traffic which isn't safe to do at speed. Logging my rides on Strava has indicated that on the Brompton I usually do between 11-12mph average depending on which way the wind is blowing. Also, it is a pan-flat commute save for a little kick up where the cycle route goes over a road tunnel (mind you I end up carrying all sorts of stuff in the huge bag on the front which provides plenty of wind resistance and ballast, I can really feel the difference if I take it off). I've done this for the past year, with the odd few weeks off for illness etc.

[hellymedic]

What this shouts to me is that you may not actually be quicker if you ride a faster, twitchy machine.

You will be faster than Rob downhill/on the flat because you are more girlie-shaped than he is; quelle surprise!
A shorter torso, narrower shoulders and a bit of bum ballast can have their advantages!

Rob would be the first to admit that he is incredibly skinny and I have always been heavier than him, even when I was thinner than I am now. The jammy sod goes up hills like lightning even when he was just riding my old hub-geared hybrid!

I can really feel the difference if I take it off). I've done this for the past year, with the odd few weeks off for illness etc.

I have categorised people as 'kites' and 'bombs' before.
Kites fly up hills and have a mighty battle with headwinds. Rob is a kite.
Bombs struggle up hills but have little issue with air resistance.
I was always a bomb...

[αdαmsκι]

Rob keeps insisting I should use one of his road bikes instead (he's not much taller than me), but I'm not really a fan of twitchy road bikes, especially when descending so I'm very reluctant.

Road bike is a very general term in which there's a lot of variation, even starting with the frame material (Steel / Ti / C / Al). Some road bikes will be far more twitchy then others. I find my geared bike very stable, whereas my dad's Hewitt is far more twitchy. The bike I hired in Mallorca was different again, which was different to my dad's Kuota. Try it.

Am I absolutely mad to want to use a heavy tourer for this ride?

IMO, yes.

[Nelson Longflap]

Lots of good advice above, although I haven't followed any of it!  I too have a Surly LHT I bought for touring, and I've added plenty of weight with a Shimano dynohub with Sputnik rim, a Tubus rear rack, a handlebar bag and 2" wide Big Apple tyres that transform cratered roads into cushioned carpets! However I love the bike for its super comfort, its high-reliability components and bomb-proof abilities to cope with any surface and conditions.

To answer your question I thought I'd just go and do it. (That's not strictly true I'm using my Surly on the Elenydd audax next month and wanted to check out whether I have any chance of getting around in time.)

I rode the Denmead 200km yesterday. 100 miles / 160km in 8 hours is the same as 200km in 10 hours. I meant to note my time at 160km for your information, but sadly forgot (I was enjoying the ride too much).  However I did note the 200km mark clocked up in 10 hours and 6 minutes of real-world time (including three cafe/pub stops in Old Sarum, Pewsey and Whitchurch). The 40 km between 160 and 200 included a lot of slow uphill so I'm pretty confident I was inside 8 hours at the 100 mile mark. So yes - it can be done, and I'm not a fast rider.

I think LHTs are peculiar bikes in that they feel slower than they are, my ride statistics don't suggest I'm significantly slower on the Surly, although my fastest bike hasn't come out to play so far this year. However don't fool yourself - these bikes are slow up hills. My Surly will climb anything very comfortably at the speed it wants to go, but get out of the saddle and push yourself into the red zone and in my case it makes little difference - an extra 2 kph that isn't really sustainable and the effort will hurt you before the end of the ride. You just have to play tortoise to the hares on lighter machinery.

If like me you are cautious and carry a wardrobe of spare clothing and tools to cover most mechanical problems the weight of the bike is less of an issue.  (I have a horror of being stuck in remote country in the cold and wet and dark and probably carry too much stuff as a consequence.)

I can't add much to the advice already given. Light, supple tyres are probably the easiest improvement,
where you will notice a difference (rotating weight is especially important up hills). Conversely it's probably best to avoid comedy balloon tyres.

Good luck!

[marcusjb]

I think if you are comfy on the LHT, use it - but make some small changes to put it on a bit of a diet.

My other half will be doing the ride, she has a hybrid and a touring bike - she would have done it on the tourer (cannondale) - i say would as we got a place to ride on the tandem. 

I had already thought about what we'd do to get some free speed on her tourer and the obvious things are taking off mudguards, rack etc. - so if you have these on your LHT, that is going to be 1-1.5kg and some aerodynamic improvements.

Faster rolling tyres will make the single biggest difference - depending on your exact rims, you should still be able to use something with reasonable comfort at 28mm or similar. I am sure someone on here has some tyres that can be borrowed for the event. I have conti 4 season 28mm that I'd be happy to - not the absolute fastest tyre on earth, but probably faster than what you have on the tourer currently.

Remember that this event is different to going out normally - no traffic (motorised anyway), no traffic lights, groups pulling each other along, so it would be considerably faster than going and riding this route on your own.

My own main bike is no featherweight (condor fratello), but stripping off the mudguards and so on, makes a difference when I do faster rides on it.

100 miles in 8 hours is not a walk in the park, but given the unique conditions and a little training, I am sure you will be just fine.

[Cudzoziemiec]

At what speed do you ride your daily miles, and since when do you ride those?
If you don't do them at pootling pace you might already be fit enough.

My commute isn't the best indicator since I go from South London to East London via Tower Bridge, and there are too many traffic lights and junctions to count so it's rare to get up much of a speed; I also end up filtering through traffic which isn't safe to do at speed. Logging my rides on Strava has indicated that on the Brompton I usually do between 11-12mph average depending on which way the wind is blowing. Also, it is a pan-flat commute save for a little kick up where the cycle route goes over a road tunnel (mind you I end up carrying all sorts of stuff in the huge bag on the front which provides plenty of wind resistance and ballast, I can really feel the difference if I take it off). I've done this for the past year, with the odd few weeks off for illness etc.

Doesn't sound slow to me!

What this shouts to me is that you may not actually be quicker if you ride a faster, twitchy machine.

You will be faster than Rob downhill/on the flat because you are more girlie-shaped than he is; quelle surprise!
A shorter torso, narrower shoulders and a bit of bum ballast can have their advantages!

Rob would be the first to admit that he is incredibly skinny and I have always been heavier than him, even when I was thinner than I am now. The jammy sod goes up hills like lightning even when he was just riding my old hub-geared hybrid!

I can really feel the difference if I take it off). I've done this for the past year, with the odd few weeks off for illness etc.

I have categorised people as 'kites' and 'bombs' before.
Kites fly up hills and have a mighty battle with headwinds. Rob is a kite.
Bombs struggle up hills but have little issue with air resistance.
I was always a bomb...

Nice classification but I think I am a kite with lead weights on!