New member and differences between 100km and 200km

[LEE]

If you can get to the point where 100km isn't particularly challenging, then 200km should be achievable but knackering.

It's that same logic that found me at the start of PBP1200 thinking .. "This all started with a bloody 100k !!"

Brave man, how did you enjoy the PBP? (If that's the right question).

I completed the 2011 version and can't honestly say I enjoyed it.

I bailed on the 2015 version, on the way back, and can honestly say it was the best cycling adventure of my life (with a just few hours of carefully forgotten grimness).

[vorsprung]

I completed the 2011 version and can't honestly say I enjoyed it.

I bailed on the 2015 version, on the way back, and can honestly say it was the best cycling adventure of my life (with a just few hours of carefully forgotten grimness).

2007 didn't particularly enjoy the worst conditions in 50 years on PBP.  Plus I lost my brevet card and had to go back and find it.  I did say "never again" at the time but..
2011 I did enjoy it.   The weather was much better, it was easier, stayed with good people before and after

I usually enjoy long rides.  If you don't enjoy long rides and do these kind of events then you are slightly odd (there's a lot of it about)

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

Hi, I have been reading this forum for a while and wanted to join up and get involved.

I'm a 34 year old with very little time due to children and commuting from the shires into London.

I last did my one and only Audax the 100 organised by Hampshire police road club in March 2014 around Hampshire, I can't recall what it was called, then that year let my membership lapse due to work and other things.

I'm returning this year and want to do a 200km maybe a few! What is the main difference? Other than doing it, what is the best way to step up the distance? In small blocks or just resolve to get out and do a 200?

Thanks for your replies.

I rode a 150 between my first 100 and my first 200. An obvious halfway stage is either a 150 or an imperial 100 (more or less 160km).

One thing I've done when figuring if I'm ready to do something new is to take a best guess how I'd handle extra distance at the end of an existing ride. What I did in 2014 (the last year I did audaxing due to leaving the country) was to gauge myself based on a couple of my own rides, then shorter audaxes. I'd been off the bike for a while for weather issues, and really wanted to get a 300 under my belt. So I rode about 80km at my own pace, then figured if I could still ride further albeit at a slower pace. The next step was a local 120 (plus 30km each way, which I cycled) and after riding 180km I concluded I could ride another 120km in the time I'd have left on a 300.

Ultimately the only way to find out for sure is to enter and see how you get on. If you're in Hampshire you could try the Elstead series (that offers a 100, 150 and 200) or the Hungerford Hurrah/Hungerford Hooray (140/200). I've done the Elstead 150 and 200 and the Hungerford Hooray and enjoyed them both.

I remember seeing the Elstead series and I wanted to enter one of those in the past, look forward to do it in the summer if back on.

I think my first 200 will be the grand national park2park Romsey

The New Forest Audax rides are also a good option, starting from Lymington.  A couple of years back we used the New Forest Century (160km) as a bridge for CET Junior to make his step up to a 200km.  Although the terrain is rolling there are no major hills and there are plenty of trees to provide shelter.

We travellled to Mildenhall for CET Junior's 200 as it was relatively flat and had more frequent controls/cafe stops for refuelling.  Worked a treat.

[Phil W]

You'll experience a wider range of temps on a 200 so having arm  and leg warmers comes in very useful. You'll also feel the cold the more tired and further into the ride you are. You're likely to have a bit of riding in the dark unless the height of summer.  You may find you get sick of sweet stuff towards the end, so having some savoury snacks to eat helps a lot.

A simple thing to consider. Most of the time lost is when you are stopped at a control. On a 200 you'll have more controls than a 100 and more opportunities to lose time. So try to minimise time at the early controls when you're feeling good, which allows a longer stop towards the end to regather your strength for the final push to the finish,

[Kim]

Try not to break your glasses halfway round.  Getting them fixed is a great way to lose time.  (DAHIKT)

[sammyl1000]

Try not to break your glasses halfway round.  Getting them fixed is a great way to lose time.  (DAHIKT)

i broke my glasses the other day but luckily my friend fixed them. It is a very real risk.

[hellymedic]

I don't go far without a spare pair of specs now.
As I buy cheap frames which I never get reglazed when my prescription changes, I have a ready supply of adequate, though not quite perfect spares.

[Ningishzidda]

Once you’ve got the hang of riding 100s, your pulmonary, cardio and muscular systems have settled down to adapting the most efficient workload for fat use over the expected timespan. Funny how the mind decides what workload to employ.

The BIG mistake when progressing to 200s is going off from the start at a workload applicable to a shorter ride. The brain has never experienced a ride double the distance, so does not know where to set the workload.

Having made the BIG mistake, the next time out on a 200 the brian will remember and adjust the workload. If it doesn’t and you go off at short distance speed again, consider yourself more stupid than a very stupid thing.

[Kim]

I don't go far without a spare pair of specs now.
As I buy cheap frames which I never get reglazed when my prescription changes, I have a ready supply of adequate, though not quite perfect spares.

I have spares, but I wouldn't think to carry them on an audax.  Touring, probably.

But I can see well enough to do most things^[1] that don't involve reading signs without them.  But there's a difference between bailing out and riding >100km with no glasses.  I'd be worried about getting things in my eye.

I do carry a small jeweller's screwdriver, though.  Because you never know when you're going to have to tighten a screw on your glasses, or strip down a shifter to extract a broken cable.


_{[1] Including bodging broken glasses back together.}

[Ningishzidda]

I don’t wear my specs when I’m timetrialling.
They get drenched with sweat, AND, if I wore them, I would see what I’m doing and it would scare me to slow down.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Once you’ve got the hang of riding 100s, your pulmonary, cardio and muscular systems have settled down to adapting the most efficient workload for fat use over the expected timespan. Funny how the mind decides what workload to employ.

The BIG mistake when progressing to 200s is going off from the start at a workload applicable to a shorter ride. The brain has never experienced a ride double the distance, so does not know where to set the workload.

Having made the BIG mistake, the next time out on a 200 the brian will remember and adjust the workload. If it doesn’t and you go off at short distance speed again, consider yourself more stupid than a very stupid thing.

this is very true. ease into the ride

[velosam]

I have only done a 100km and 200km, once each I think. Well definitely on the latter only once.

I had a small flapjack and a sip of water every hour on the hour.  We also did not stop much, until about 110-120km in, where we had a proper lunch. Pretty much the same story back, with any stoppage pretty much on the bike having a snack.

I prefered it as we kept on going and I would struggle to get going on a longer say half an hour break for a cup of tea or something.

When I do it again, I think I will try and adopt the same strategy.

The last 45km were hard as the sun was going down and the roads were busier.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

The last 50km is almost always the hardest, even on a 50km ride.

[tippers_kiwi]

When I started building up distance I was worried that at the end of a 100 I seriously thought I couldn't get on the bike and ride another 100. Funnily, that happens for me at every distance (and still happens at the end of most rides).

While food and drink is definitely important (and I have had some bad days where I have got that wrong) I think it's mainly about believing you can do it, breaking the ride into smaller pieces and just not thinking about the full distance until you are nearly home.

For no good reason from 200km events up I start thinking in Metres from about 15k in....no idea why....it just happens!

[sammyl1000]

I understand the feeling when you stop it can just be so hard to get back to it, short breaks will be the way to go. Hopefully if I get the miles in I will do a 200k sooner perhaps May.

[Ningishzidda]

The last 50km is almost always the hardest, even on a 50km ride.

There's an old saying in cycling, "The first ten miles are the worst."

"What distance is this timetrial?"
"Ten miles."

[Ningishzidda]

I understand the feeling when you stop it can just be so hard to get back to it, short breaks will be the way to go. Hopefully if I get the miles in I will do a 200k sooner perhaps May.

Ignore my last post.
Every bit of physical exercise a person does should be preceeded by some warming up to get the lungs open and the blood system dialated.
When a cyclist stops, they have about twenty minutes before their systems have tightened up again. If a stop is longer than twenty minutes, a new 'warm up' is required.
Therefore, after half an hour stop, restart gently as if you had not done anything yet. 

[Highlander]

There's many schools of thought on the best way to approach long distance riding but modern day life dictates that very few of us can train for 200k rides by routinely riding 200k. 

But you should aim to get a four hour ride in one a week if you can.  By that I mean four hours on the bike.

Don't think of a 200k as being twice 100k, that way you'll psych yourself out of it by dwelling on how you feel at the end of 100k and that's only halfway.

Think of a 200k as being three forty mile rides.  If you can do forty miles and feel reasonably comfortable how hard can it be to do another forty? 

Remember also that in a 200k you will almost certainly fall in with someone else or a group of similar ability and there's nothing makes the miles go by quicker than riding with a group.  However don't assume the others know where they're going...

If it's a hilly event don't be afraid to get off and walk occasionally, it helps relieve the stress on the "cycling" muscles.   

[Greenbank]

Try not to break your glasses halfway round.  Getting them fixed is a great way to lose time.  (DAHIKT)

A plastic tea stirrer and some insulating tape is all you need:-

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/66870021@N02/6086680803/in/set-72157627532954606

I rode ~800km with them like that (although I did have sunglasses to use during the day).

[contango]

The last 50km is almost always the hardest, even on a 50km ride.

Almost always

Sometimes Nature and Fate combine in most unpredictable ways to bring you that most coveted of assistants, Tailwind. I still remember wondering how I was going so fast during the 50km ride home when I ECE-d a ride, and then realised I had a 20mph tailwind. For good measure as my GPS rolled over the magic 200km milestone I had a gentle downhill so got to just shy of 40kph, just for the hell of it. I figured it's probably the only time I'd ever get to that speed after that distance, and so far I've been right.

[Kim]

Try not to break your glasses halfway round.  Getting them fixed is a great way to lose time.  (DAHIKT)

A plastic tea stirrer and some insulating tape is all you need:-

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/66870021@N02/6086680803/in/set-72157627532954606

I rode ~800km with them like that (although I did have sunglasses to use during the day).

Sadly my failure mode was the nose-piece falling off, leaving a knobbly bit of metal.  Harder to bodge, but luck would have it there was an optician round the corner.

[LEE]

In my opinion a 200km isn't as hard as 2x100km seems in your imagination.

Yes it's harder than 1x100km but you tend to find that your brain settles into the 200km end-point and 100km, which used to seem a long way, comes and goes fairly easily.

Pace yourself (Save any sprints for the final 5km not the first 5km)
Keep drinking
Keep snacking
Keep pedalling.

The final 20km will seem like 40km but, as other have said, that's the same on any ride.

You have all day.

Oh, I suppose most importantly, any comfort issues you have during 100km will NOT get any better during the next 100km. 
Address any, even the smallest, comfort issues because discomfort follows an upward exponential curve with distance I've found.

[Ningishzidda]

Its also 'timing'.

Say for example, you ride 50 km in two hours. You rest at the cafe for over half an hour, and then you start again on the next 50 km.

These are 2 x 50 km rides.

If you ride 50 km in two hours and then take a quick five to ten minutes piddle and slurp, and then start the next 50 km, this is a 1 x 100 km ride.

A 200 km ride with three, half hour breaks is a 4 x 50 km day-trip.

If you can ride 100 km as a 1 x 100, and then take an hour's break before starting the second 100 km, its 2 x 100 km rides on the same day.

This is all based on the time it takes for the body's systems to return to sedentary mode. 

[drossall]

This is all based on the time it takes for the body's systems to return to sedentary mode.

About a week, for some of us.

[Ningishzidda]

This is all based on the time it takes for the body's systems to return to sedentary mode.

About a week, for some of us.

I mentioned somewhere else. "Fitness". At Audax speeds and exertions, it could be half an hour for the fit crew. For heaven's sake, at Audax speed, you're only outlaying average 6 - 7 kCals/min, 8 tops. That's a slow 'speed march' round a marathon course and back.

 

To be brutal. If it takes you more than a couple of hours to recover from an Audax event before going to your local dance, the distance was too long. Ride shorter distances until you can boogie the night away after, and then progress to a longer distance.

Ah, but there are some who enjoy the pain,,,,,